#4 The “Names of God”
Series
“JEHOVAH-JIREH!”
(The Lord Will Provide & the Lord Will See!)
TEXT: Gen.
22:1-18; Matthew 6:25-34; Luke
18:1-8
INTRO: One of the
joys of being a father is the pleasure I get out of providing for my
family.
It is a joy to see my children healthy
and happy – clothed, eating good food; these things I try and provide without
their even asking.
It is also fun to provide something
they ask for, to see them happy makes me happy, sometimes though I must keep
something from them until their priorities are correct or until they are mature
enough to handle what they are asking for, i.e. candy before supper, a gun
cannot be given to a 5 year old, etc.
ILLUS: A
benevolent person gave Mr. Rowland Hill a hundred pounds to dispense to a poor
minister a bit at a time, thinking it was too much too send him all at once.
Mr. Hill forwarded five pounds in a
letter, with only these words within the envelope, "More to follow." In a few days' time, the good man
received another letter; this second messenger contained another five pounds,
with the same motto, "And more to follow." A day or two after came a third and a
fourth, and still the same promise, "And more to follow." Till the whole sum had been received, the
astonished minister was made familiar with the cheering words, "And more to
follow."
Every blessing that comes from God
is sent with the same message, "And more to follow." "I forgive you your sins, but there's
more to follow." "I justify you in
the righteousness of Christ, but there's more to follow." "I adopt you into my family, but there's
more to follow." "I educated you
for heaven, but there's more to follow." "I give you grace upon grace, but there's
more to follow." "I have helped you
even to old age, but there's still more to follow." "I will uphold you in the hour of death,
and as you are passing into the world of spirits, my mercy shall still continue
with you, and when you land in the world to come there shall still be more to
follow." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton:
Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)
PROP.
SENT: The scriptures teach us
that God delights in being our provider; He is a good father who delights in His
children and their happiness.
I. PROMISE TO PROVIDE Gen. 22:1-18; Matt. 6:25-27
A. Salvation
Provided
Gen. 22:8,14
1. This is the ultimate provision and
the greatest gift!
a. Saves us in this
life.
b. Saves us in the life to
come.
2. Without this provision the material
things have little meaning or joy! "What does it
profit a man if he gains the world but loses his
soul?"
3. God has not asked us to save
ourselves, He will save us.
ILLUS: Years ago,
in the pioneer days of aviation, a pilot was making a flight around the
world. After he had been gone for
some two hours from his last landing field, he heard a noise in his plane, which
he recognized as the gnawing of a rat.
He realized that while his plane had been on the ground a rat had gotten
in. For all he knew the rat could
be gnawing through a vital cable or control of the plane. It was a very serious situation. He was both concerned and anxious. At first he did not know what to
do. It was two hours back to the
landing field from which he had taken off and more than two hours to the next
field ahead. Then he remembered
that the rat is a rodent. It is not
made for the heights; it is made to live on the ground and under the
ground. Therefore the pilot began
to climb. He went up a thousand
feet, and then another thousand and another until he was more than twenty
thousand feet up. The gnawing ceased.
The rat was dead. He could
not survive in the atmosphere of those heights. More than two hours later the pilot
brought the plane safely to the next landing field and found the dead
rat.
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
worry is a rodent. It cannot live
in the secret place of the Most High.
It cannot breathe in the atmosphere made vital by prayer and familiarity
with the Scripture. Worry dies when
we ascend to the Lord through prayer and His Word. --
a. We have to climb up to Him to find
freedom, we cannot save ourselves.
b. God provided the
lamb.
c. God desires to save us from sin,
the world, and from ourselves!
B. Staples
Promised Matt.
6:25-27
1. God is concerned about our basic
needs:
a. Food and
drink
b. Clothing
c. Shelter
2. God will provide these
things.
a. If the lesser things of creation
are taken care of, will not God take care of the greatest of creation --
man!
ILLUS: If God
attends the funeral of a sparrow, do you think he does not care for
me? -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
b. To not worry however doesn't mean
that we should not work or do anything; God's word tells us that the man who
does not work shall not eat! 2 Thess.
3:1O “For even when we were with you, we gave
you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not
eat."
(1. In fact, if we don't work or aren't
willing to do our part God may not provide these
necessities!
(2. Work is part of the way God
provides for us!
(3. Even the 4th commandment
had two parts to it: “Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD
your God.” Ex. 20:9b-10a God
created man with two explicit natures: working and
worshipping.
(a. Man the
Worker
(b. Man the
Worshipper
II. PROVISION & PRIORITIES Matt. 6:28-34
A. Secure
People Matt. 6:28-32
1. Stop worrying! i.e.“undue
fretting!”
2. Do however plan for the
future!
a. Plants plan for the future by
producing flowers that will yield seed or produce bulbs, but they do it without
fretting over the future, which is the point!
b. Birds plan for the future, they
build nests and feed their young, but they do it without
fretting!
3. Worrying destroys – planning
develops.
ILLUS: There is a
difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees the problem; the
concerned person solves the problem. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
a. Worry consumes good energy and
accomplishes nothing! Matt.
b. Planning however is productive and
utilizes energy.
c. God is not opposed to good
planning, just against useless fretting over the future!
d. The world frets. Matt.
(1. Ulcers
(2.
Discouragement
(3. Fear and
tension
(4. Insecurity
results
B. Second
Place! Matt.
6:33
1. God's provisions will be granted if
our priorities are correct!
a. Remember the candy doesn't come
before supper!
b. Our frustrations many times over
our needs may be the result of not having put God first place in our
lives!
c. God comes
first!
d. This was idea in Old Testament
behind God getting the first fruits!
2. When God is first, then God puts us
first as well!
a. All these other things that we need
are provided.
b. God gives to givers! (He may even take joy in giving beyond our
needs when He sees that nothing in our heart takes His being first
place!)
ILLUS: God is
more anxious to bestow his blessings on us than we are to receive
them. -- Augustine.
Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4.
III. PROVIDING BY PETITION Luke
18:1-8
A. Some
Persistence Luke 18:1-5
1. Jewish concept was that praying
more than 3 times a day made God weary ... thus you shouldn't ask more than 3
times a day, they based this idea on Daniel having prayed 3 times a
day.
a. Jesus here was only using their
concept as a case in point on persistence, not supporting their misguided
concept.
b. He was trying to say to them that
their concept may cause them to miss some of God's blessing, that persistence
may bring an answer. (Not that God is an unjust
master.)
2. God sometimes wants us to persist
in prayer!
a. Never give up until you get an
answer from God!
b. Praying develops spiritual
muscles!
c. God may have reasons for having us
persist in prayer before answering.
(1. Maybe to develop a
burden.
(2. Maybe to test our
sincerity.
(3. Maybe to help us appreciate the
answer more.
(4. Makes us serious about the
need.
(5. Maybe the time is not right for the
answer.
(6. Maybe to teach us responsible and
balanced living too!
ILLUS: I'm
constantly amazed by the number of people who can't seem to control their own
schedules. Over the years, I've had
many executives come to me and say with pride, 'Boy, last year I worked so hard
that I didn't take any vacation.'
It's actually nothing to be proud
of. I always feel like responding,
"You dummy. You mean to tell me
that you can take responsibility for an $80 million project, and you can't plan
two weeks out of the year to go off with your family and have some
fun?" -- Lee Iacocca.
Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4.
B. Savior's
Plans Luke 18:6,7
1. Chosen
ones.
2. Persistence demonstrates our
concern.
3. God answers in His time reference,
not ours.
ILLUS: When we
worry, we believe more in our problems than in God's promises. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990).
a. His perspective is
eternal.
b. Ours too often is
temporal.
C. Strength
& Patience Luke 18:8
1. Makes us
strong.
2. Develops
faith!
3. Gives us an appreciation for His
answers and who He is; develops patience!
ILLUS: We have
forgotten the gracious Hand which has preserved us in peace and multiplied and
enriched and strengthened us, and have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of
our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and
virtue of our own. -- Abraham Lincoln -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations
Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p.
401.
4. And when patience has had its work,
it makes us mature, lacking nothing.
CONCLUSION: We need not worry about our
needs in this life if we have put God first; He is a faithful Father who
provides for His children! He is
still Jehovah-Jireh!