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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 14
3 September 2006
Ye Are of More Value Than
Many Sparrows
(Message
delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Aug 27,
06)
Text: Matt
10:28-33
You and I have seen many kinds of birds. Some species
are very nice and expensive. How about sparrows? It seems that they are
of very little or no value at all and do not catch the attention of men.
I personally love birds and flowers, and I sometimes spend my time just
looking at them and taking photos of them. Actually, they are God’s
message to human beings on nature: God’s sovereignty and His loving
care.
Birds for Sacrifices in the Bible
In Leviticus chapter 1, the Lord instructed Moses how
the people of Israel might offer burnt sacrifices to Him. Those who
could afford may offer a bullock, a sheep or a goat. For the poor, they
might offer turtledoves or young pigeons (Lev 1:14). When Joseph and
Mary presented the baby Jesus to the Lord, they offered a pair of
turtledoves or two young pigeons (Luke 2:24). It means they were poor.
Then in Lev 14, the Lord instructed Moses how a leper
who was healed from his leprosy might offer tiny birds (sparrows) for a
cleansing ceremony (Lev 14:4).
The sacrifices in the Old Testament were the shadow
of the perfect Sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself,
once for all (Heb 7:26-27; 9:24-26; 10:10-12). Thank God so much that
His salvation is available for all sinners both rich and poor. No sin is
too big that God cannot forgive except the sin of blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit (Luke 12:10). We are to come to our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, our Great High Priest and our Perfect Sacrifice for our full
salvation.
God’s Care for Sparrows
In Psalm 102:7, “I am as a sparrow alone upon the
house top.” The Psalmist compared himself to a sparrow to express
that he was lonely and it appeared that no one cared for him. However,
God does care for sparrows and His children. In Psalm 84:3 we learn that
the sparrow and swallow might build their nests for themselves in the
temple and were not driven away!
In Jesus’
time, sparrows were sold for a very low price, two for a farthing (a
small copper coin) but five for two farthings. It means one extra
sparrow free. It seems that sparrows are of very little value in the
eyes of men and that no man cares for them, but God does care for them,
for even “not one of them is forgotten before God”
(Luke 12:6). How about you and me? Are you and
I of more value than sparrows? Surely, God
will never forget His dear children.
Ye Are of More Value than Many Sparrows
God created the heaven and the earth and all things
in it by His Word, “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and
it stood fast,” and “through faith we understand that the worlds
were framed by the word of God” (Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3). However, God
created human beings in a very special manner. The Bible says,
“God created man in his own image,” “and
the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen
1:27; 2:7) with his will, conscience, intelligence, power of reason,
acts of worship, and so forth. Therefore, the life level and value of
man is much higher and different from all animals including monkeys or
apes. All animals, once they died, are finished, but human living souls
are eternal. Sadly, the first human beings, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God
and were cursed. Then sins and death came into the world: physical
death, spiritual death (separated from God), and eternal death
(condemned in Hell forever on the Judgement Day). However, because of
God’s love, grace and mercy, He completed His plan of salvation by
sending His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to die
for sinners and rose again to save anyone who will repent and receive
Him as his Lord and Saviour. We should not take God’s love for granted,
for “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath
of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). My dear friends, may God remind
us always that our souls are of more value than not only many sparrows
but even the whole world and that for the salvation of our souls, the
Lord Jesus came and died for us. The Lord Jesus says, “For what is a
man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul?” (Matt 16:26), and “fear not them which kill the body, but
are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28).
Moreover,
as we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are
God’s dear children, Christ’s brothers and
friends, we must be of much more value in God’s sight!
Then what lessons may we learn from God’s care
for a sparrow?
God’s Sovereignty
Our Lord Jesus Christ confirms that “one of
them (sparrows) shall not fall on the ground without your
Father” (Matt 10:29). Sometimes, we think that God is
concerned for great events in history, or in the world, or in our lives.
But, my dear friends, whether you and I believe or not, the fall of a
little sparrow is still under God’s control and permission. Then how
much more value of you and me? God does care for every detail of our
lives.
Let us have a look at the life of Joseph, and we can
see God’s sovereignty over his life. His brothers envied him, plotted to
take away his life, but God intervened and they sold him to Egypt.
Working under Potiphar, he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, and
was put in prison. From there, Joseph helped to interpret the dreams of
two of Pharaoh’s officers, but the one who was released had forgotten
him for two years! Then God’s good timing came, and Joseph was delivered
from his trials and lifted up to be a ruler over all the land of Egypt.
God used Joseph not only to save the Egyptians and His people from
famine but also to fulfil His plan of establishing the nation Israel and
through her fulfil His plan of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Truly, God was with Joseph, He did not forget him nor forsake him, but
made all things work together for his good. In the end, Joseph could say
to his brothers, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God
meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much
people alive” (Gen 50:20).
My dear
friends, sometimes you and I question God with many “whys”. “Why am I in
this situation? Why did this thing happen to me? Why and why?” However,
we should give thanks to the Lord and rest in peace if we trust in His
sovereignty. God does know us and our situations much better than we do.
Our Lord Jesus says, “But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered” (Matt 10:30). Have we counted our hairs? We have not, but
God has! Do we know how many hairs there are on our head?
We do not, but God does!
Then, nothing happening to us is by chance without
God’s permission. When we are sick, meet someone and share with him the
Gospel, miss a bus, lose something, etc., we should not think that it is
a coincidence.
However, we should not ignore our responsibility. We
are to love God and obey Him, “And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). Loving God means keeping His
words and commandments (John 14:15, 21, 23). Joseph did fear God, live a
godly life and depart from sins and evil, and we are to do the same. We
cannot test God by driving carelessly regardless of the traffic rules
and say that He will protect us. God is never the author of evil. It is
Judas Iscariot’s responsibility when he let Satan come into his heart
and betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord did not ask Judas to betray
Him as the false “gospel of Judas” claimed. Our Lord says, “The Son
of man goeth as it is written (He would die according to the
prophecies in the OT): but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man
is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born”
(Matt 26:24). Our Lord really did not desire Judas or anyone to betray
Him and wished that that person had not been born!
When we made a mistake, we cannot blame God for not
keeping us from sins, but it is our fault as we did not fear God, or
love Him or trust in Him totally or have a close walk and fellowship
with Him. We should learn to be humble and understand that God allows us
to fail or to make mistake to teach us to trust in Him more and more.
God pays close attention to every detail of our lives and if we do the
same with God’s sovereignty in view, we may learn a lot of lessons from
Him. For example, through the thorn in his flesh, Paul was humbled and
made to depend on the sufficient grace and strength from the Lord.
There is a
true story in my country many years ago. There was a brother queuing to
buy a ticket. Then a young man came, cut the queue, and stood in front
of him. That brother was not happy at all but
he just kept quiet. He was very upset when the young man in front of him
was the last person to be on the first coach, and he had to wait for
another coach. However,
when he heard that the first coach exploded
when running over a mine, the brother thanked God for sparing his life.
My dear friends, if we may see God’s sovereignty and
loving care, and strongly believe that God is able to make all things
work together for our good, we will be submissive and thankful to the
Lord in all things. Even when God chastises us for our lack of love for
Him and trust in Him, or for our pride, or for our sins, we must be
thankful that God has dealt with us as His own children and that God
wants us to be partakers of His holiness (Heb 12:10).
God’s Loving Care
Our Lord also teaches us to trust in His loving care
by seeing His care for the fowls of the air. Our Lord says, “Is not
the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matt 6:25).
Truly, if we are dying in bed, we will not care for the delicious food
on the table or nice and expensive clothes in the wardrobe. Then we
should not take it for granted when we still have life and good health.
How about our daily need? Our Lord says, “Behold, the fowls of the
air: for they sow not neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet
your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ...
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things” (Matt 6:26,32), and “If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father
which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
(Matt 7:11). David shared his life experience, “I have been young,
and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging bread” (Ps 37:25). Then we can trust in God’s loving care
for our daily needs.
However, it does not mean that when we are lazy, not
willing to work, we can still expect God’s provision. The Lord commands
us to work hard, “if any would not work, neither should he eat …
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus
Christ, that with quietness they work,
and eat their own bread” (2 Thess 3:10,
12). Then, when we are jobless, we should be diligent to seek for a job
and trust in the Lord and His good timing. With that proper attitude, we
will not lack anything even when we are jobless for God will provide for
all our needs. In all things, “seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you
(Matt 6:33).
God’s Protection
Our Lord
teaches us not to fear, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell … Even the very hairs of your head are
all numbered, Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many
sparrows.” (Matt 10:28, 29, 30). Then we should not be surprised
when we are hated by the world, and even are persecuted and killed. God
does protect our souls, but He may allow our body to be killed for His
Name’s sake and for His Word. God will never cast our souls in hell and
once we are saved, we shall never perish, and
no one, not even Satan can harm our souls (John 10:28-29; 1 John 5:18).
However, we are to be faithful unto death, “be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 2:10).
Conclusion
My dear friends, Satan is like “a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan
desired to have Peter and sifted him, but our Lord said, “But I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:31-32). When our
Lord Jesus comes back again and He may tell us how He has delivered us
from the snares and traps of Satan and of the world many times that we
have not known, how He has cared for us and made all things work
together for our good that we have taken for granted, then we shall bow
down to worship Him with much thanksgiving and praise, but how about
now? May God reminds us of His sovereignty and loving care always and
help us love Him, trust in Him, obey Him with thanksgiving in all
things, even be faithful unto Him until death. Amen.
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