13: 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Last week we looked at the statement just before this…a statement that the author takes from the Old Testament and applies it to the situation the Jewish Christians were facing in Rome.
I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you
It’s important to remember who this verse is being directed to…the true meaning of this verse is found in how those Christians were being persecuted for their faith…being thrown out by their families…being cut off from all provisions and protection…having their property seized…these Christians had very little or nothing.
The author is reassuring them that despite all these difficulties God was actively aware of their situation promising to never leave them nor forsake them.
Now the application for us…I preached on this last week and I’m going to touch on it again this week…something I preach on continuously…contained in this statement is a Biblical truth that far too many Christians overlook…going through their entire Christian life without the assurance and the promise of what having Jesus as their Lord and Savior means.
This is an essential truth for Christians today…we are saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and we cannot lose what we have been given.
It’s important to know just how powerful this verse is with respect to knowing that we are eternally secure in Christ…to know how powerful this verse is with respect to God’s promise of eternal security.
In the Greek the author uses the strongest negative statement possible…twice he uses two words οὐ μή. When combined they are the strongest way to express something is not going to happen…no…not never.
English translations don’t bring out the emphatic rendering of this verse…in the Greek the author uses a double negative twice to add emphasis to his point… here’s what it says in the Greek:
Never not (οὐ μή) will I leave you nor never not (οὐ μή) will I forsake you.
It is with that thought in mind that he next jubilantly quotes from Psalm 118:
So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid, what can man do to me?”
Again an Old Testament quote…Psalm 118 is the last of the “praise” psalms (Psalms 113—118) …these psalms were sung by the Jewish people in their annual festivals and especially as part of the Passover meal observances.
The language and theme of Psalm 118 is linked to Israel’s release after 400 years of captivity in Egypt…it was recited in remembrance of God’s great love and deliverance in freeing them from the bondage of their cruel enemies.
The application was for those Roman Christians who were in similar fashion being persecuted for their faith…to reassure them the writer wanted them to know that despite all these difficulties God was actively aware of their situation …promising to never leave them nor forsake them.
It is this reassurance that provided those people the ability to undergo torture and martyrdom knowing that despite their situation…they took comfort in knowing that …the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid, what can man do to me?”
But here’s the issue…whether it’s a hurricane that wipes out hundreds of lives… or COVID that kills thousands…or the fact that
Every day, 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-01/report-open-doors-christians-persecuted.html
In Nigeria in the first 200 days of 2021—17 Christians were murdered every day
The question is essentially the same…why is this happening?
It is called the “problem of suffering,” …it’s a question that theologians have grappled with for thousands of years…whether its “natural” suffering (from illnesses or natural disasters) or suffering that is the result of “moral evil” (suffering from the actions of individuals) the question is the same…where is God in all of this?
I can stand up here and tell you that in all these instances… the Lord is my helper …that’s an encouraging statement…but it doesn’t really do anything for anybody…if you’re one of those people who are experiencing the tragedies I just mentioned…that doesn’t do much good.
The confusion for believers and unbelievers is summarized in what is called the “inconsistent triad:” ….God is all powerful, therefore God can prevent suffering. But God does not prevent suffering therefore, God is not all powerful.
For the Christian being led away to be killed or for the believer who is suffering the immediate question is…can you believe in a God where the mystery of suffering is unanswerable…why is this happening to me?
As a Pastor I can give you the ‘Bible answer.’
…that storms are divine wake up calls…or
…trials are a test like when your patience is being tested by an annoying person
…or the always common misconception that suffering is a punishment for sin …or the heartwarming statement that “Everything happens for a reason.”
For many…suffering is an embarrassment to the Christian faith…God should have healed you…here’s something we need to grasp as Christians…Jesus’ promise of… I will never leave you nor never forsake you is not a promise that everything will turn out for your good…Romans 8:28 is grossly misinterpreted.
Here’s the hard reality…the Bible may begin and end with happiness…but the meat of the story is ugly…nowhere are Christians promised that God will not allow us to suffer…that’s why Romans 8:38, not 28, should be our guiding verse because even in those times when you lose the battle…and there will be times you lose the battle…nothing shall separate us from the love of God.
The promise of the LORD is my helper, is still valid today…it has a wide range of meanings…everything from God giving Eve to Adam in the Garden…to your personal safety…to helping us out of the pit of sin and misery…out of the hands of one’s enemies…to helping in our afflictions …helping us out of the dangers by Satan and temptations…up to and including the one who supports us in our task of doing the will of God.
Let me share with you the significance of…the Lord is my helper…it’s found in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel.
In 1 Sam. 4:1 the Israelites go to battle against the Philistines …in this battle the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines.
They go to battle again thinking things are going to be different because now they bring the Ark of the Covenant with them…the belief based on previous battles was when the Ark was present it was God’s presence to help them defeat their enemies…having the Ark present shifts the battle in favor of Israel.
So…expecting that God will deliver them from the Philistines…they go into battle…but they’re defeated again…this time losing 30,000 soldiers in addition to having the Ark stolen…a really bad day for Israel.
Samuel reminds them there’s more to expecting God’s help than just having the Ark present…it’s like the idea that if I go to church on occasion God’s going to help me in my daily struggles.
Samuel tells the people the problem is your lifestyle…the Ark…going to church or nothing else is going to help you if you continue to live a lifestyle of disobedience…you need to get right with God…remove the foreign gods from yourselves and return to the Lord and serve Him alone.
When the people removed the foreign gods and returned to serving the Lord then God delivered them and gave them victory over the Philistines.
So what’s the significance…it’s significant for two reasons and they are both applicable to us today.
The Lord is my helper is an eternal promise…with conditions…if nothing else I want you to know that most everything having to do with God’s dealings in our lives is conditional…Samuel told the people to remove the idols from their lives, that was the condition…remove things that separated them from God’s presence.
This is reminiscent of what the prophet told King Asa after the Israelites defeated a million-man Ethiopian army…
The Lord is with you when you are with Him…but if you forsake Him He will forsake you [2 Chron. 15:2-3]
As Christians we have to come to the realization that God’s involvement in our lives is dependent on how we conduct ourselves…the Israelites defeated the Philistines and the Ethiopians only when they removed those things from their lives that kept them separated from God.
You cannot expect God to be active in your life when you’re living a lifestyle that is in disobedience to God’s commandments.
Secondly…the Bible records many instances when people were encouraged to remember what the Lord had done for them in the past…gratitude.
This is a repeated theme in the Old Testament…after the Israelites crossed the Jordan river on dry land Joshua told them to stack up stones…calling them stones of remembrance to remind them of what God had done for them… gratitude.
After the Israelites defeated the Philistines, Samuel took a stone and called it Ebenezer…translated means–stone of help…the Lord has helped us…[1 Sam. 7:12]
So what’s the importance of that…it is as important today as when Joshua and when Samuel did it thousands of years ago…it shows gratitude.
It’s called having an Ebenezer moment…we’ve all had them…times when you knew that God had specifically intervened in your life and helped you…for a Christian there is no such thing as luck…being fortunate…right place right time.
Samuel said I can’t let this time of God’s help go by without remembering what God has done for us…gratitude…thinking back in your life can you recount the times God has been active in your life…providing for you when you needed it the most?…making it an Ebenezer moment…the Lord has helped me.
Here’s why that’s important…because ingratitude is a sin…but…when we take time to thank God for what he has done it stirs up our faith and enables us to face the challenges of life with renewed trust in God…who:
Never not will I leave you nor never not will I forsake you…
So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper,
Here’s what this means for us today:
1. He is all-sufficient.
God is “El Shaddai,” meaning the God Who Is More Than Enough…a song made famous by Amy Grant…God is the All-Sufficient One.
God reveals Himself by many names throughout the Scriptures to express an aspect of His character that is vital for us to know…He is the all self-sufficient One.
Nothing is necessary to God…He needs no food to nourish Him…He needs no water to sustain Him…He needs no air to breathe…He has no need of clothes… needs no house to live in…He needs no friends…He needs no heat…no light… God needs nothing…He certainly doesn’t need you or me…but…because of His love for those who show their love for Him by how they live…He is the All-Sufficient One.
2. He is ever-available.
God is our ever-present Helper…easily-accessible…readily-available…and persistently-willing to help…who cares enough to share his unlimited resources with us…He is always near, nearer to us than we are to ourselves.
3. He is ever-gracious.
To be gracious means ‘to favor’ … to show kindnesses…to be compassionate … God is gracious all the time…even when we are disobedient…even when we don’t acknowledge Him or worship Him…it is His character to be gracious.
His willingness to help doesn’t diminish…man varies in his moods…today he’s kind…tomorrow he’s cold and harsh…but God is ever merciful, ever disposed to help and bless His creatures.
It is by God’s grace that we have eternal life…God had so much compassion on humanity that He sent His only Son to die for the disobedience of all mankind …extending His mercy to every person who has ever lived even up until the final moment of their earthly lives…wanting none to perish because He created us to live in eternity with Him.
4. He is ever-present.
We worship a God who has no limits…here’s the problem with knowing that… at times I’m afraid to acknowledge the nearness of God…I’m afraid of what I’ll hear…I’m afraid of what uncomfortable truths I’ll have to face about who I am …to encounter God’s presence means to be made more and more like Him.
So to ignore the reality of His presence and live a lifestyle separated from God is to miss out on really knowing God…missing the opportunity to join Him in the plans He has for you.
We were created for this kind of relationship with God…to live in His presence, experience His goodness…and enjoy Him all the days of our lives.
To further amplify those statements, he makes a declaration in [8] that confirms the steadfastness of God:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever
We are living in a world that is constantly changing…in a turbulent and fast-changing world that goes from one crisis to the next where nothing seems permanent… the idea of anything being constantly the same without changing is unrealistic …however…this statement of faith has been a source of strength and encouragement of Christians for centuries.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever [Isiah 40:8]
The word of our God will stand forever…so, who or what is the word of God?
First…it’s God’s Word as revealed in Scripture.
Secondly…John 1:1 says Jesus is the word of God:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
Four times John uses the word ‘was’…here’s the importance… ‘was’ is an imperfect tense verb…describing continuous action in the past…unlike in the English where ‘was’ is something that happened at some time in the past… without regard for beginning or end.
The repeated uses of the word ‘was’ here is indicating Jesus’s continuing existence with God from the beginning…by saying ‘God was the Word’ implies Jesus has always existed with God.
Peluso Paraphrase of John 1:1…In the beginning CONTINUALLY WAS the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) CONTINUALLY WAS with God, and the Word (Jesus) CONTINUALLY WAS God.
Share with you the importance of the words…“…the Word was God” …this simple statement destroys the theology of the Jehovah Witnesses…the Mormons …the Christian Science…and makes liars out of every religious sect or cult in the world.
In the Greek it speaks of continuous action in the past…the imperfect tense…it reinforces the eternal preexistence of Jesus…it denotes the existence with the Father…His equality with Him…BUT…at the same time…having a personal existence distinct from God…being inseparable from Him…BUT…associated with Him eternally…But…being a distinct Person from Him.
A key theme in the book of Hebrews is the idea that God…nor His plans ever change…that’s why the author quotes Old Testament Scripture to reinforce the unchangeableness of God.
Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever…the words “yesterday and today” are an Old Testament expression to denote continuity (Exodus 5:14; 2 Samuel 15:20).
Jesus isn’t one way in the past and another way in the present…or that He’ll be something else in the future…whoever He was in the past is exactly who He is in the present and will continue to be in the future.
Jesus is the same YESTERDAY because He was active in creation.
Jesus is the same TODAY offering salvation to everyone who asks.
Jesus is the same FOREVER reigning in glory at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus is just as faithful now as He has ever been…the same for all eternity …He has not changed, and He will never change…right now, today, you can claim and trust this unchanging Jesus as part of your life…Jesus is the One “Who is… who was…and who is to come…that is why:
we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid, what can man do to me?”