Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. A lot of people think the Bible says, God helps those who help themselves.
It doesn't. When it comes to salvation, here's what God really says, we cannot help ourselves. Only He can save. Today, another lie about God is unmasked. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We're in a series on 10 Lies about God and why you might already be deceived. Pastor Lutzer, lie number 10 sounds so rational, so common sense. Why can't it be true that God helps those who help themselves?
You know, Dave, first of all, I have to emphasize, as you already have, that that expression is not in the Bible and it is unbiblical. And the reason that I wrote a chapter about that is because I remember a man brought up in the church, going to church regularly, trying to do all the right things. His mother used to tell him, God helps those who help themselves.
He ended up being in drugs, all kinds of other experiences that were very detrimental, and then he discovered something. God can only help those who know that they cannot help themselves. Well, I want to emphasize that this is the second to the last day that we're making a book available for you entitled 10 Lies about God. And yes, one of the lies is that God helps those who help themselves. But this is a book that deals with many different issues that are really popular in culture today. That God is whatever we want him to be, the culture says. Many paths lead to God.
God is more tolerant than he used to be. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. And at the end of this broadcast, I'm going to be giving you some contact info as to how this book can be yours.
And remember, this is one of the last opportunities for you to receive this resource. There is an old story about a man who was in his home with flood waters all around him. As he was sitting on his step, a boat came to rescue him, but he waved the boat off and said, God will rescue me.
By the next day, the water had risen greatly, and he was actually standing on his balcony in the house surrounded with water. Again, a boat came, but he waved it off saying, God will rescue me. Well, the next day was on the chimney and a helicopter came and hovered overhead and shouted, let me rescue you.
He said, no, no, no, no. God will rescue me. Well, as it turned out, the floods continued. The man drowned and he arrived in heaven in a bad mood. And he said to Peter, he said, I can't believe this. I thought God was going to rescue me.
Peter said, well, I actually also am quite surprised that you're here because we sent two boats and a helicopter to pick you up. God helps those who help themselves. Eighty percent of Americans believe that that statement is right out of the Bible. What could be more reasonable than God helps those who help themselves? Think of the assumptions behind that statement. First of all, there's a good emphasis on the work ethic. Why should we help somebody who's lazy?
Let him help himself and then we will help him and God does the same. We reason. Don't we do that with our children? We'll pay your tuition if you get a summer job and at least pay for your books.
And hopefully you can earn enough in the summer to pay for your books. It's based on the assumption of work. It's also based on the assumption of ability. If you had a disability, we would not expect you to work.
But as long as you have the ability, as long as you can, you should. And so the belief is that God helps those that help themselves. He's like we are. What if I were to tell you that that statement is not only not in the Bible, but it is very wrong. It is almost all lie and perhaps only if tweaked a little bit the truth. The simple fact is that it's not in the Bible and in a moment I'm going to tell you its origin. As you know, this is a series of messages titled 10 Lies About God and Why You Might Already Be Deceived.
And today we come to the 10th and last message. As I look back over the territory we've covered, lie number one was that God can be approached at any time in any way by anyone. Number two, that he is more tolerant than he used to be. Number three, that he personally has never suffered. Number four, that he thinks like we do. Number five, that he is obligated to save followers of other religions. Number six, he takes no responsibility for natural disasters. Number seven, he does not know our decisions ahead of time. Number eight, the lie that the fall ruined God's plan. Number nine, we must choose between his pleasures and ours and today we come to the last. God helps those who help themselves.
Where in the world did that statement come from? Well, way back 500 years before the time of Christ, Aesop, who wrote all those fables said, the gods, plural, the gods help them who help themselves. Euripides, a Greek philosopher who lived before Christ said, try first thyself and afterwards call on God. George Herbert of the 17th century said, quote, help thyself and God will help thee. And then the present formulation that we hear quoted so often comes to us from Benjamin Franklin who said, God helps those who help themselves.
And may I say that not only is that a wrong philosophy, it is unbiblical. It may have been part of the reason why Benjamin Franklin has ended up, I believe, on the wrong side of heaven's gates. You know that Franklin was a very good friend with Whitfield, 30 years friendship. Franklin actually invited the famous evangelist Whitfield who used to preach to crowds with tears running down his cheeks, urging them to repent.
One of America's great revivalists, though of course he originated in Britain. But Franklin would have him over and they would spend time together. And before he died, Franklin said, oftentimes Whitfield has prayed that I might be converted, but he has not been able to see the answer to his prayers.
And the very last words, and I hope I have this right because I'm doing it from memory, but I believe that I can show some of the last words that Franklin said before he died were these words. Why should I trust Christ now? Soon I shall know whether or not it is so. Well, he's the one who told us that God helps those who help themselves. Now, of course, interpreted just loosely, you can say, of course there's some truth to it. Of course, if God wants us to be rescued, we'd better take advantage of that boat or that helicopter. And certainly if we have the ability to do work, we should do work because we can't expect God to send money out of heaven to fall on our lap. So in that sense, we should be doing our part and then trusting God to do his part.
That much is correct. But when it comes to the fundamental spiritual issue of salvation, not only is it not true that God helps those who help themselves, but follow this, God can only help those who know that they cannot help themselves. We're too bad off to help ourselves. Thankfully, that is not an impediment to God. The text is the second chapter of the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians happens to be one of my favorite books, and whenever I have the opportunity to preach from it, I like to take that opportunity. Ephesians chapter 2, and the text opens by telling us how bad off we are apart from Christ. Then we'll be answering the question of whether or not we can help ourselves, and then God comes along to help us.
And we'll tweak that statement at the end of the message. But notice, as for you, verse 1, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. I begin today by talking about our problem apart from God.
What is our problem? First of all, he says, you were dead. You were dead. Let's take a tour of a cemetery. But before we go to the cemetery, let's be sure that we stop at Walgreens to get a prescription so that we can help these people. You don't do that when you go to a cemetery.
You do that when you go to a hospital. Because when you're in a cemetery, the people are not simply sick. They are dead. They are not in a position where you and I can do very much to help them. They are dead.
Now this is spiritually speaking. He's talking about people who are alive physically. They are doing the cravings of the flesh and of the mind. They are doing all kinds of things. They are reading books. They are going to work.
They are driving cars. They are going to operas. They are enjoying life.
They are doing all the things. Some of them are listening to this sermon, which is proof that it's possible for the dead to be able to hear some things and to be able to interact. But spiritually speaking, they are cut off from God and they are dead, incapable of resurrecting themselves. What a statement.
What a statement of our condition. Not only does he say that we are dead, we are deceived. Did you notice that he talks about Satan?
You follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. That's a reference to the devil. The scripture says that the devil puts in the minds of those who believe not. He blinds their minds lest they see the light of the truth of the gospel. And so you have Satan putting ideas into people's minds that they think are their own. And so there's deception involved. Martin Luther characteristically said it very clearly. He said the problem with the unconverted man is this.
Though he is dead, says Luther, and though he is blind and though he is deaf, he thinks of himself as someone who is alive, someone who can see and someone who can hear. So the deception is very genuine and deep seated. Some time ago I did a study of self-deception and I am quite sure that there is such a thing, by the way, as genuine self-deception. There are times when people believe their own lies, but they know down deep that they're lying.
But you can actually get to the point where you are absolutely convinced that you are right and yet it should be self-evident that you are deceived. Years ago when I went to that state fair and you walk into different rooms with different mirrors, one mirror makes you very, very tall and exceedingly skinny. Another mirror does just the opposite and I think you're getting the picture.
And then another mirror makes you very lopsided. You know what we are doing in life? We want to go around finding a mirror that makes us look just right no matter how we may perceive ourselves or no matter how we may be. I'm reminded of the prayer of Irma Baumbach before she died.
She said, oh God, if you cannot make me thin, then please make my friends look fat. In other words, we want to be perceived in a certain way and we'll find a mirror, we'll find some way to justify how we want to be. We are not only dead, we're deceived and then we're depraved. Notice this, it says, following the desires of the flesh and we're now in the last part of verse three, we were by nature objects of wrath, by nature. That little child that's so beautiful, that little child that comes into the world that we think is so perfect, by nature a child of wrath, let him or her grow up and you will see sinful behavior. We sin for the same reason that a bird sprouts feathers.
We by nature are children of wrath. Well, that's a pretty sad story. You can't go around telling people now, you know, you should be able to help yourself and then God will help you. How do dead people help themselves? They are helpless.
This is a parenthesis now, a commentary on contemporary culture. But you see, unless we agree with what the problem is in our hearts, we will never agree on the solution. Today you have some people who say, well, the real problem is environment. What we need to do is to change people's environment because the environment is the problem. Some people say the real problem is not sin, it is knowledge. What we have to do is to teach people the right things and then they will do the right things. The Bible would say that the problem is much deeper. It is a problem of the human heart that only God can solve. Once you understand the problem, you know that we need God to solve it.
Well, that's the problem. What about God's power? Notice now it says in verse four, but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.
Let's just stop there for a moment. Intervening into this cemetery is God. God makes us alive. And let me ask you the question, when did God make us alive? It was while we were dead. He came and spoke the word and said, arise.
And we heard his word and he granted us the ability to believe and we were brought into fellowship with him by a divine miracle of intervention. When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, he didn't say, well, now Lazarus, you know, we know of course that God helps those who help themselves. I'm willing to help you get out of the tomb, but you have to do something first. You at least have to take the first step. Lazarus, at least wiggle your toe and I'll take it from there.
No, God came along and had to do it all. Underline the word had to. Many of you know, I teach every fall, the last couple of years, I teach a class in preaching at Trinity International University. And this fall I did what I've done on previous occasions and I told you several years ago what I did and I redid it. But since some of you weren't here, I'll retell it. On a beautiful fall day, I ask the students to close their notebooks and I tell them we're going to the cemetery in Deerfield. They have no idea what we're going to do there. Once we arrive at the cemetery, we get in a circle and we go to a gravestone and we look at the marker.
This one, it's the one I used before. I think it was Jonathan and Rita dead about 1912. And then I read this passage that we are dead in trespasses and sins. And then I asked one of the students to go over and to preach to them and tell them that the day of resurrection has come and that they're to stand up.
I did it this fall to one of the students. I said, would you please preach to them and tell them to get up? And he said, no. He said, actually, I only preach to those who can take an offering.
And he said, I don't think these people are able to get, we're training our students well over there at the seminary. So once again, I had to do it. I went over and shouted, Jonathan and Rita stand up.
It's the day of resurrection. And then I waited very, very silently. I said to the students, of course they'd rise. If only they could hear me. I didn't shout loudly enough. So the next time I said the same thing with more energy and more power and I waited for a resurrection. Fortunately, there was none. I was really glad.
It's always a little scary for me to wait for those moments. Then I turned to the students and said, how do you think I felt doing that? I said, pretty stupid.
So stupid that when I asked one of you to do it, you wouldn't. That's how stupid we are every time we share the gospel. Imagine preaching to dead people. Except for one fact, God in his mercy might intervene and create a resurrection. God might give the enlightenment, taking away the blindness of the eyes, the deadness of the ears. He might grant to them the ability to believe and they may be converted but God who is rich in mercy intervenes.
Apart from that, it is helpless. And then I went over to the book of Ezekiel chapter 37 where Ezekiel was asked to preach to dry bones. Now whenever I mentioned that at a pastor's conference, all the pastors are saying, yeah, been there, done that.
Yeah, I know what that's like. But in the process of preaching, God created life. Pretty soon the bones came together and then God breathes. And that's why my friends today I want you to know that we must always do it in total dependence upon the Holy Spirit because the gospel is the work of God.
I remind my students that Spurgeon apparently had 17 steps from the base of the floor where he preached in England to the top of the pulpit. You know, in those days the pulpits were very high, but I'm told that as he went up on each one, he said, I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit. And this morning as Marie was singing and knowing that I was going to have to preach, I said, I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
I believe in the Holy Spirit because apart from him, it is helpless and worthless. You'll notice that it is God who intervened. The power of God. You say, well, the power of God is a, is a God of resurrection.
Yes. And when he regenerates you, there is something within you that was not there before he did it. There is actually a new heart that is created for if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. That is a miracle of God's omnipotent creative power. And if you're born again here today, you've experienced that.
And now I need to add another parenthesis. You think it's more difficult to resurrect somebody who's been dead for three years versus somebody who's only been dead for three days. What about you going to a funeral and saying, well, you know, I should be able to resurrect this person because you know, he just died last night. Does it make any difference? Of course not. If you were an omnipotent God, which you have to be to create resurrections, it really does not matter whether you've been dead three years or whether you've been dead three hours.
It takes the same power. I want you to know today, my friend, that the issue before you and God is not the greatness of your sin. It's not how dead you are. Some people are more quote dead than other makes no difference to God.
Of course, it's much better to live a good life than to live a life of a criminal. But as far as God is concerned, he can resurrect either just as easily. And I mentioned that because there may be some people listening to this message either here or by radio. You are listening to this message. And if the truth were known, you have done some pretty terrible things, maybe even criminal acts. And you say to yourself, can God save me like the man who wrote to me from prison because of our radio ministry and said, as I've raped four women, I've ruined their lives. Can I to be forgiven? There's something within me that wants to say no, not you.
You should burn. But the answer is yes. The God who intervenes can save even big sinners. My friend, this is Pastor Luther.
Isn't that the best news we can possibly hear? That the issue is not the greatness of our sin, but the wonder of God's grace. This is the second to the last day we're making a book available for you that I've written entitled Ten Lies About God.
And I wrote this book because oftentimes God in our culture is whatever we want him to be. For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. And we're doing this because we genuinely believe that this resource will help you to understand God better and to worship him more fervently. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because here's that contact info.
You can go to RTWOffer.com, RTWOffer.com, or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry. We appreciate you so much. We appreciate your prayers, your involvement, because together the gospel of Christ is going around the world.
Right now, you can go to the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me say this. It is important for us to understand who God is if we are to understand who we are. And the better that we understand God, the better we understand ourselves and we see ourselves in great need of his mercy.
You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. The Bible says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. The truth is that only God's righteousness opens Heaven's doors. That's why we're deceived if we believe that God helps those who help themselves. Next time on Running to Win, more teaching from Ephesians chapter 2, and some final thoughts about a tenth deadly lie about God. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
