Sustaining

While the beggar kind of implied, will you please donate? And the man didn't. But he did something very much unusual. And he asked to be handed the man's violin. And then he started to play the violin.

Well, unlike when the beggar played, the music created by the strangers of people coming over. And they didn't just pass by. They stopped, and then they started donating. And in time, the man's hat fell to the brim. And he was overwhelmed by just the blessings that had come his way that day. It was only in time that he learned that the stranger who played was Opagonini.

Well, like the beggar, we often have our needs met by God in ways we would never expect or think to ask for. We can all, I think, reflect back to times in our life where God lifted us beyond what we knew we could do, which was very much with the first message, it's not about us. If you'll please turn to Hebrews 1, verses 1 through 4. Hebrews 1, verses 1 through 4. Today's message is going to be framed around a single Greek word, which we're going to see in verse 3. It's the word upholding if you have the new King James, and we'll read it from one other translation. So I'll explain more about it afterwards. But in this context, this whole message is going to be based around that word. Hebrews 1 and verse 1. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he has made the world, who being the brightness of his glory in the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. So the word upholding in verse 3 is the Greek word pharaoh, which is spelled p-h-e-r-o, so not the Egyptian pharaoh, even though it's pronounced sounding like that. And it's a term that's commonly used in the New Testament for things like carrying a burden or an object or bringing or sustaining something. Let me read you verse 3 again from the New International Version. It says, the son is the radiance of God's glory in the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

That's a beautiful wording. I love the imagery of Jesus sustaining all things by his powerful word.

If you'll turn next to Luke 5 and verse 18, I'd like us to look at a couple examples just to give you a feel of how this word is used, and then we'll reflect back on what we can learn from Hebrews. So these are all going to be very familiar verses to us. We'll start with Luke 5 and verse 18.

Then behold men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before him. So both the word brought and bring are this same word pharaoh. P-H-E-R-O. The friend carried the paralyzed man to Jesus. They bore the burden of his weight in his needs in a way that he couldn't do for himself. Turn now to Mark 1 and verse 32. And we're going to read about another set of miracles that Jesus was performing. Mark 1 and verse 32 says, At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon possessed. So here we have the friends brought many sick and demon possessed people to Jesus to be healed. That action was the word pharaoh. If you'll turn to John 2 and verse 8, we'll look at one more example of how the word is used. And the story we're stepping into, famous story of Jesus turning the water to the wine at the wedding ceremony in Cana. So John 2 and verse 8, And he, speaking of Jesus, said to them, Draws him out now and take it to the master of the feast, and they took it.

Take and took are the words pharaoh. The servants guaranteed the safe delivery of wine to the master of the wedding. Okay. With that as background, now let's think back to what we read in Hebrews 1 and verse 3. To say Jesus sustains all things by his powerful words is to say that he is directing, he is carrying creation toward a desired aim. The present participle of what we read here means that he's actively doing it, right? It's continuing to happen. He isn't distant, he isn't removed, and how he sustains his plan. And that's critical. That is so important for us, especially if we're going through hard times, like we're mentioned with Jeff Orkman or others that we see struggling. It's this area of looking and realizing what really matters is still being, we're all being sustained by God. We're God to step back. The creation would collapse. But because of him, the laws of nature and gravity, they don't change over time. If you'll turn next to Ephesians 1 and verse 11. Ephesians 1 and verse 11. If you remember, and we actually sang in the song behind us just before this, but in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave the example of the birds of the air, right? That they neither sow or reap, but are fed by their heavenly Father.

The lesson there is God uses everything needed to accomplish his will.

That includes using nature, if need be, or using details within our lives for things to happen, if that is needed, to teach us a lesson. Jesus Christ sustains everything.

That doesn't mean he removes our ability to choose, right? Or the fact that we may experience hardship. But it shows how deeply he wants us to choose him. Ephesians 1 and verse 11. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

God rules. He executes. He accomplishes.

And that speaks to God as this heavenly architect, right? Who has a blueprint that includes you, that includes me? It doesn't include the fly that Gerald missed. I guess it's coming back around here, so. God is the energy force behind everything. If you'd like analogies, again, he's like a symphony conductor over the universe. If you'll turn now to 1 Peter 1 and verse 13.

In this verse, Peter is going to use the word pharaoh, and he's going to clarify that we can rest our hope fully on Jesus Christ and his grace because of all that he does in our lives, both now and ultimately into the kingdom. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought, pharaoh, to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Okay, so we all have human nature. Let's ask a question that's very natural to our human nature. If God is in charge, sustaining things all around us, then why do we suffer challenges in our lives?

Very natural question. Turn to Genesis 50 verse 20 through 21.

We could even look at the key point of the sermon before us. It lends very well to this, but it's about perspective. What we're going to step into is the example from Joseph's life, okay, to address this question because the answer to why we suffer challenges is found when we consider God's perspective, not what we are suffering or experiencing in the moment. Remember, God sees things far beyond our limited, our short-term perspectives, our very self-focused perspectives, our desires for things or protection or health or whatever, but he sees how we can serve a higher purpose. So we're about to read from Joseph's life where his brothers just realized who he was. Genesis 50 and verse 20, but as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones, and he comfort them and spoke kindly to them. See, things intended as harm by Satan or Joseph's brothers, whatever we're facing, it's real. It can be awful, and it can feel overwhelming in the moment, but God is still there in his plan, still trumps everything. Let's now expand and let's personalize the learning from this Greek word. See, the responsibility of caring or sustaining is not only used in the Bible about God, it's applied to us personally. And we're about to read a verse that's very familiar to you, but you probably hadn't connected that word to this side of Scripture. Turn to John 15 verses 1-8, and I'll share a lesson that we can start applying. A lesson to remember from the use of the word pharaoh is, we must do our part and bear, carry, produce fruits of obedience. Different variations of the same word's meaning, right? We must do our part and bear or carry or produce fruits of obedience.

We'll start reading in John. It says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. So again, very familiar verses. We read this every Passover.

The word we are about to read, though, bear, which is going to be seven times over these verses, is the same word pharaoh, carry, to bring or sustain.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Again, that's the same word used for God sustaining all things in the universe. We're to bear or sustain fruit for our God. So let me see if I can link some by some of the lessons we can learn from the analogy he uses, which is growing grapes. Grapes grow best in conditions of hardship. Another way to put that is, given a choice, grapevines will take the vegetative route versus the fruit-bearing route. They're going to grow longer and longer. They'll put leaves out, but they're not going to produce fruit.

But that isn't what God is looking for. Yield is everything to God. Or we won't stay attached to the vine. See, we can't be successful in our journey with God if we aren't fruitful. And again, please realize that the occasional fruit is not enough.

And last year's fruit is not enough.

If we're attached to the vine, then the expectation is we should be consistently producing abundant fruit. Examples of the fruit of God's Spirit. Bearing fruit is evidence of a thriving relationship with God. Let's continue reading. Verse 3. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, that's the fourth use of it, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Modern methods of growing grapes and vineyards have changed somewhat. I mean, but we may pack in the rows a little tighter, we may put them on wire, but this concept of extensive pruning still remains. I was reading it's up to 90 percent that they'll prune it back, and it's done to take advantage of the fact that making the vine struggle generally results in bitter quality grapes. I hate to say it, but isn't that true about us as people? I mean, it really is. If you play someone in a near perfect environment, and you give them every comfort, and all they could ever want to satisfy their physical needs, then it will have rather disastrous consequences for their personality, for their character, for their physique. It's what tends to happen. We need to understand that it's through hardship and through struggles that we bear the most fruit. So becoming fruitful requires allowing God to prune the dead wood from our lives. It's not about us. It's what God can do through us. Continuing in verse 7, if you abide in me and my word abides in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my father is glorified. Notice this isn't just talking about Christ. Now this is even our heavenly Father, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. So it's exciting. When we bear fruit, we glorify our heavenly Father. You can think of the example of a grandfather, right? Taking joy in the birth of a grandchild. My father was so giddy when Drew was born. He just was giddy beyond belief. God takes joy when we bear fruit. And bearing fruit in God's eyes means we're reflecting His loving and His serving nature. It's a testimony that we believe in, or what we believe in, matches what God believes in. It's a testimony that we feel God's fruit is worthy enough to be shared with others. Let me turn verse 8 around backwards, because it's a kind of a humbling way to look at that verse. But if you take that in reverse, it says that we are not Christ's disciples, or glorifying the Father, if we are not bearing fruit. All right, we'll finish in verse 16 to give you the seventh use of it in that section. It says, you did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. So if we're attached to the vine, then the expectation is that we should be producing fruit, because that's how we glorify God. Let's go to another lesson related to this word.

And that is, our fruitfulness must be ongoing. Think of the word, sustained to the very end. We're to continue fulfilling our calling to be fruitful throughout our life. You'll turn to Mark 4 in verse 8. Mark 4 in verse 8. We're jumping to the end of a very well-known parable. This is the parable about seed being spread to different soils, right? And we're jumping to where it landed on the good soil. Mark 4 in verse 8. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up and increased and produced some thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred. The word pharaoh was in there. The word produced is that word pharaoh. And the verse gets to the point, right? An individual who both hears the Word of God and truly and sincerely accepts it is like this seed that's on good ground. When that happens, we, you and I, must bear fruit. Bearing fruit in this analogy is not selfish. It's about us doing things, using the blessings that God gave us to inspire and radiate in ways that is useful to God's plan. It's about growing spiritually. It implies our growth radiating outward to the betterment of others. That's what it's about. And in this way, we help with God's plan for the spiritual reproduction of others. It's helping others enter into a personal relationship by us displaying His nature, by us producing. In John 12 and verse 24, Jesus said, Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. Again, produces. Same word, pharaoh. He was saying that a kernel of wheat must be plowed under and covered up by the soil. It must die, is what Jesus was saying. It must die in order to bear fruit. And you get the spiritual connection there, right? That's a very well-known and symbolic example that's used throughout the Bible. Because that seed fell on the good ground and was plowed under, it sank its root deep into the soil. The other seed, what it fell on hard ground, it couldn't do that. It couldn't put its roots down. Well, Hebrews 6 and verse 1. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on, that's the word pharaoh, p-h-e-r-o, let us carry on, let us sustain to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance of the doctrine of baptism, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. So the writer of Hebrews is challenging us as his readers to grow, to move beyond what we have become accustomed to, to seek the maturity of productivity and being productive Christians in how we live. That's what is asked of us. But this is also a very unique set of scripture because it's easy to look at and say, wow, really? We can look at this initially, and we can look at the six items, right? And they can catch us off guard because it's hard to understand why we can be critical of these basic teachings. The point of Hebrews 6.1-2 is simply that the rooted Christian should grow past the ABCs of our Christian faith. We should live spirit in God's knowledge. I'll exemplify that by just taking one of these on and explaining it as an example of the rest. One of them that probably jumped off the page, because when you think of it saying, we should not lay again, is faith in God.

Some of us could immediately ask, well, how can we grow beyond faith in God? Isn't it our faith in God that links all of us together, that makes everything possible?

The writer of Hebrews is saying it's not enough to believe in God.

Believing in God is not going to get you resurrected. It is not going to make you a better person. Believing in God is not going to bring you peace. If James, the brother of Christ, was here, he would get in the very middle of this room and he'd testify you believe that there is one God, good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. James 2, verse 19. Right? We believe in God, good. That is a very good place to start. But now that we have that foundation, we must believe in who Jesus was, what he taught for us to do, and what he makes possible within us. It's not about us. It's about us bearing fruit. Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to sustain us. He's the only way to God. He is the one who came so we could know God. But now, the writer of Hebrews is urging us to seek the maturity of being productive Christians in how we live in that faith in God. That's the continuing going forward. That's the growing onto perfection.

Going beyond faith is just one of the examples you could take from all six of the items that were mentioned there, where we're being urged as his readers to grow on beyond what we have been accustomed to and grow on to maturity, which is the goal for all of us. Having us Pharaoh, to use the word, go on. Growing, bearing fruit, sustaining this growth is exactly what the writer of Hebrew is encouraging us to do.

So, to link the two areas we talked about, what is it that we've been given that may need to be pruned, discarded, or built upon that in order that we could grow into the fullness that our Lord intends of us? Because we all have things like that that we get in our own way. Getting God's way is a better way to put it. If you'll turn to Philippians 3 verses 8 through 14, Philippians 3 verses 8 through 14, what we're about to read is one of many places in the New Testament where we're told to grow on to maturity.

The Bible's filled with this, this concept of press on in our walk with God. As you turn there, I read this interesting word choice in a commentary or a quote. I can't remember where I read it, but I thought it was just that the play on words was fascinating, and it was about the theme of complacency. It said, never settle for a sedentary sanctification or a tepid faith. Interesting word choices.

Sedentary sanctification. Tepid faith. We must not pride ourselves on having learned enough, on having grown enough, on having done enough. God wants us to press on, to push on, to grow on, to give it all so that we might grow on to maturity in Christ Jesus. And you see that in Paul's example here, what we're about to read, just inspiring. The man was on fire. Philippians 3 and verse 8.

Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal, for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul, he couldn't get enough of Jesus Christ in his life. I mean, he said, I want to know Christ.

I want to grow with Christ. I want to taste the joy of his resurrection. And then he goes on to say, I want to enter with him into the suffering that he endured. In any way that he could, he wanted to grow, and he couldn't grow fast enough. Jesus filled his heart and his thoughts and his passions. It's a beautiful example. Turn next to Hebrews 13, verses 12 through 14. Hebrews 13, 12 through 14. The opportunity to know God, to know his Son, is available to all of us. But again, let's put on our mirror of self-reflection.

For many of us at various times, there are too many options out there vying for our attention. We can't know Jesus Christ and his Father when we're filling all of our moments of the day with activities that have nothing to do with growing in our walk with him. Guilty. We all have to balance that. We need to follow Jesus' lead and focus on our future destiny. Hebrews 13, verse 12. Therefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth, speaking to you, speaking to me, let us go forth outside the camp, bearing Pharaoh his reproach. We're supposed to bear his reproach.

For here, we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. I think context is probably good here to put in place for the readers of the time. Remember, mainline Judaism had fallen away from the living God by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Right? So, as a result, it had become necessary for the believers who are reading this to believe in the Messiah, and therefore, they had to go outside the physical city.

They had to be a reproach to the religious leaders of the time in order to follow Jesus Christ. So, now you have these Jews who believe in the Messiah struggling. They're struggling with the fact that the religion, the leaders of the institution of mainline Judaism, who they looked up to their whole life, had abandoned God.

And in response, God had abandoned them. Similarly, we, as true believers, need to come out from any human and ungodly institutions that have abandoned the truth. And we see that more and more around us in this day, right? It's just very, very prevalent. We see churches teaching things are okay that the Bible clearly says are not. A final lesson from the use of the word pharaoh is this.

In the future, nations will realize their God and sustain His. Both of these is pharaoh. P-H-E-R-O. So, in these prophecies, we're told that in the Jerusalem of the future, the kings will honor and they will praise the Lord.

To use our common vernacular, the presidents and the congress of future nations will honor. And it has to be. There will be no separation of church and state because there can't be. You cannot have good government without the Lord Almighty. That's why you can't have that separation. And that's why whole nations will proclaim Jesus as the Lord and bring Him glory, recognizing He is that true king. In that section, we know it from the feast, right?

The future of Jerusalem will never close its gates. Everyone will be able to enter in the presence of the Lord. There will be no night. Night represents sin. God is light. Evil will be banished and there will only be light or righteous, fruitful examples of growth, sustaining.

By city to come, the residents will be holy. They'll be righteous. They will worship God alone and recognize that He is the true sustainer of all of God's plan and His universe. That's what we get to look forward to.

That's what we celebrate each year at the feast. As we start concluding, think about the feast. Think about what we learn each time we're there. We celebrate that Jesus Christ will not be deterred in His plan to sustain, to carry creation to its ultimate glory. And it's this beautiful promise. This promise we can put our feet on, we can rest on, we can be assured of. It's a certainty. So never forget that the only thing that made this possible was by the sacrifice of Christ and His ability to carry, to bear the burden, to pharaoh the burden, and successfully sustain His plan to the very end. God knows of and ordained Christ's crucifixion because of that.

And this same God can and will help and sustain and guide us, you and me, through whatever we're facing, if we keep our faith in Him. Turn to Romans 8 and verse 28. Romans 8 and verse 28. I don't know what's going on in each of your lives, but God allows darkness in our lives. Without perspective, we may see only this and we may question the purpose of God allowing trials.

Hopefully this message helps you better appreciate the word pharaoh.

We can wear our hurt or we can wear our hope, right? Choices. We can cave into the craziness of life or we can lean on the perfect plan of God. We must choose to believe in God's promises because the ability to recognize God sustaining our life as Christians is all about perspective. Romans 8 and verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. So friends, be assured that God has a plan and He is not finished. God is the great sustainer to help bring His plan for all of us to fruition. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.