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| SERMON #144 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? MAT 6:26b-27. The central theme of Christ's teaching is how God uses the lesser to establish the greater. He tells us we are much better than the birds. He condescends so low as to take thought for the needs of these little creatures as a tender, loving Father; He looks upon all these small details, not forgetting one, then asks us why we should be anxious about ourselves. We know God takes care of us because we are much better than they. If He condescends so low as to tend to such small things, why would He overlook the greater things? I want to direct your attention to MAT 6:30, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven [such attention to details about things that are so trivial], shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" The Lord is teaching us the necessity of understanding the greatness of God's love. Read Chapter 38 of the Book of Job. The Lord spoke to Job out of a whirlwind. Just ponder how He sets forth the significance of the wonder of his power. He brings to Job's attention how He has looked after all things: thunder, rain, the bounds of the sea, setting bounds which they cannot pass, and asks at the end in V:39, "Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions...?" The Lord showed Job who takes care of these things. It isn't by our taking thought or being anxious about these things that they are provided. In the last few days we have had such a bountiful, beautiful rain. We can see the need of it, but we need faith in the Lord to provide it in such a blessed way. He supplies the rain, He brings forth the herb of the field, He brings forth the food for the young lion, and He uses all these things to teach us that we are much better than they. If He takes thought for such things as the grass and beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, will He not take care of you, "O ye of little faith?" We have spoken about the fowls of the air, and how we are to learn many underlying truths from them. In many ways they are wiser than we are because they have their trust in the Lord. JOB 35:11 says, "Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?" He uses the example of their wisdom to teach us, to give us knowledge of the childlike trust in the Lord. After Job had been robbed and deserted, all his friends came against him; in his distress he sends us to the school of the birds and beasts to see our dependence upon God. Job had been robbed of everything he owned; he was brought to nothing. Job says in JOB 12:6-10, "The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. [Job saw how the Lord gave the robbers everything they had stolen from him. Then he says,] But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. [This is what Jesus says; look at the birds of the air and the grass of the field, and it shall teach you the principle I'm bringing forth.] Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." The Lord wants us to see that even in adversity, when everything seems to be coming against us, it is the hand of the Lord that brought it. In every one of our trials and adversities we must see that the hand of the Lord has wrought all that happens to us. The lesson we learn from God's faithful provisions for the birds and the beasts of the field does not teach slothfulness. We must use with diligence the means which God has provided. We must be careful that we do not become fatalistic when we see the abundance the Lord has provided. We must strive with our might; we must go forth with diligence. We must plan and do things in an organized way because God has given us a reasonable mind. Our text says, "Are ye not much better than they?" God requires much more of us because He has created us much better than the animals and plants. How? "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 2:7. God gave man the ability to reason; we are responsible to use our minds because that is how He created us. He created us above the beasts of the field, and we do have the ability to do intelligent planning. Therefore, we are accountable. We must plan with our eye on the Lord that His blessing is upon us as we labor and plan. As we plow, as we seed, and as we harvest, we must see how dependent we are upon the Lord for His blessing on these labors. That takes away the anxiety because He is the provider. ECC 9:10 tells us, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." The Lord teaches us that He has given a greater degree of wisdom and understanding and knowledge to us as men. Therefore, we are called upon to use this wisdom to make intelligent use of our talents; we are called upon to do intelligent business. We may not go on in a reckless manner and expect the Lord to sandbag all of our mistakes. We must plan intelligently, but we must do it with our eye upon the Lord for His blessing. Those who are slack in their business are sluggards. The Lord teaches that we may not be slack in our business in PRO 10:4-5, "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." We may not deal with a slack hand; we may not just throw away what the Lord has given us. We may not spend foolishly; we must conduct our business in a businesslike manner. We are sluggards if we do not act wisely. The Lord is telling us we must use our understanding; we must use the wisdom He has given us to do that which is wise. It is diligence the Lord wants us to use; we must act diligently, not as a sluggard who uses poor excuses to avoid doing what he should do. PRO 20:4 says, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." We must use good reasoning. One time the Lord gave me the faith to believe I would have a good crop; He would bless the fruit of my labors. Did I sit back with folded arms waiting for the Lord to bless? No. I rose early and labored till night. I was diligent in my planting, in my cultivating, in my fertilizing, and in all the care of my crop. Why? The Lord had already promised He would bless it. Diligence must not be forgotten. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might...," but we are not to trust in our labors or our wisdom, and we are not to be anxious about the rain or other elements or whether the Lord will bless. With a childlike faith, we trust the Lord will bless. As we labor, the Lord looks at our hearts. We must do all our planning without anxiety or perplexity, but we may not trust in all our planning and labors. In our heart we could come to the place where we felt we were pretty good businessmen. I saw a case of this not long ago. It frightened me. I saw a man become very proud of his ability to plan. Today, that man's plans have proven his folly, but thanks be to God, he did not rise in rebellion: he is lying flat on his face before the Lord realizing that everything he does needs the Lord's blessing. Now he is walking in humble faith. We must understand; we do not put our trust in our planning. Our confidence is in the Lord. Anxiety about anything that is outside of our control is the sin of unbelief. We should be concerned about today and how we handle our time, what we will do today. Twenty years ago many people were very concerned about the future and what the communists were going to do. The events occurring in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during 1991-1992 were unimaginable twenty years earlier. The Lord broke them from within. The corruption of their own system had decayed until it broke open to the outside; they fell apart from within. The Lord controls; we don't have to be so concerned about what the communists or other groups are going to do. We must consider what we are going to do and how we stand before the Lord for today. We need to focus on what we do with our time today while asking the Lord's guidance. That is the key. We don't need anxiety about the future; we need to learn the lesson the Israelites learned when they gathered manna day after day. They learned what it meant to eat daily out of the hand of the Lord. Those are blessed lessons. I am not a stranger to them. It is a blessed thing when we understand what it is to look to the Lord for His provision for today. Tomorrow we look to His provision for tomorrow. Jesus appeals to our logic, or common sense, in the words of our text, "Behold [Don't overlook this! See this!] 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?" MAT 6:26. In other words, look at them; don't overlook this lesson that is close at hand. The Lord Jesus is telling us we are better than the fowls of the air. By this reference to the fowls Jesus meant for us to take notice of all the references in Scripture where it uses the fowls as an assurance of our daily food. As Jesus was teaching, He had the scribes, Pharisees, and all those who knew the Word of God in His audience, and He admonishes them to observe what He has written in His Word. The Lord rebuked Job when He answered him out of the whirlwind using the lesson in Job 38 to show how the lesser establishes the greater. In other words, God was saying to Job that if He condescends to such little things, why didn't he trust Him for greater things? Ponder the beginning of these verses; it is the most insignificant dust that the Lord takes notice of as the ground becomes dry and hard. "When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? [God asks Job, now when this happens] Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat," JOB 38:38-41. The Lord is telling Job that these things are in His control; Job need not be concerned for them. God furnishes the rain to soften the clods and bring in the grass which will bring forth meat for the lion and raven. What is there for us to worry about if we can't make these provisions? The psalmist praised the Lord for His wonders in supplying the young lions the means to obtain their food. In PSA 104:20-22 we read, "Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens." The psalmist is pointing out that it is the providence of God that He created the lions with the instinct to go out in the night. He sees the wonder of the mystery of God's ways. The Lord provided the means and the instinct for each creature to provide their food. The Lord hears the cry of the needy, and satisfies the desire of every living thing. PSA 145:15-20 says, "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." The Lord Jesus is pointing to this when He says to the scribes, Pharisees, and the multitude, "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?" MAT 6:26. Jesus asks them to remember what is in His holy Word that teaches faith in God by observing these birds and things in nature. Jesus says you can read all of these Scriptures which tell of the Father's tender, faithful care for the fowls of the air and the beasts of the earth, as well as see the physical evidence of them. Can you still doubt? How is it that you are still filled with much anxiety? "Are ye not much better than they?" If He takes such care of things that are of lesser value, how much better will He care for you? When one has received spiritual eyes to see his fallen sinful nature, there is no room for man to boast of himself as being better than an innocent little bird who sings God's praises among the branches. We are fallen creatures who have sinned against God. Yet, Jesus is saying that we are better than they are. It is important to understand that. Innocent birds are singing God's praises in the branches while man takes God's name in vain; we hear fallen man cursing and blaspheming the name of God. How are we better than they? Many of God's dear children, who are under the conviction of sin would covet the bird's innocence, but this is not what Jesus was saying. He is not saying we are better in the sense of being innocent. The Greek word from which the word better was taken is diaphero which means "To be of more value." The word diaphero is translated as "better" three times in the New Testament. Our text is one: "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 [diaphero] than they?" MAT 6:26. We find the second one in MAT 12:12, "How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." The third instance is in LUK 12:24, "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?" In each of these Scriptures the meaning is, "Of more value." Wherein do we have more value than those innocent little creatures? Jesus speaks of them in terms of value in MAT 10:29- 31, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." This teaches us that man is set apart from the animal creation because he comes from a much nobler order, one created for eternity. Man has a never-dying soul; the birds are here today and gone tomorrow; they return to the earth from which they came. They do not have a soul. We have been created for eternity, and the value of our never-dying soul is priceless. GEN 2:7 says, "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 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." I have found it to be necessary in the preparation of a message to find the original meaning of some of the most common words to understand what the Word of God teaches. The word image, as used in that verse is taken from the Hebrew word Tselem which means "a resemblance, i.e., a representative figure." Now see why Jesus says we are of much more value. It is because we were created to be the reflection of God's character. Man would reflect the image or character of God, who is a Spirit; man would be a resemblance; man is a representative figure of God to the world. Do you see why man is of much more value than the birds? The purpose of God's creating man was to be God's image- bearer; man was created to reflect the knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness of God as in a mirror. We were to be the representatives of God's character before the world because we would have His resemblance. ROM 8:28-29 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." That is why Jesus said we are of more value than the birds of the air. God created man to reflect these attributes of righteousness and true holiness as God's representative and to be the ruler over the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. When Jesus asked, "Are ye not much better than they?", He was referring to GEN 1:26, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air [Do you see why they are better? God has placed man as His representative over the birds of the air], and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." God placed man in dominion over all. Therefore, He says, "Are ye not much better than they?" God set man above the fowls of the air. This purpose of God, i.e., that reflection of God's attributes of righteousness and true holiness in our human nature, which man lost through the fall, is that which Christ came to restore. Jesus came to restore the purpose of God's creation. Let's consider how Christ restored the purpose of God in our human nature; for God to accept us in Christ, it was necessary for Christ to be very man. He became the image of God in our human nature. HEB 1:3 speaks of Jesus, "Who being the brightness of his glory [of the Father], and 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Now we see how in our human nature the purpose of God's creation is fully fulfilled in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the express image of His person with the authority, the kingship, God created man to hold. Jesus purged away our sin, restoring the reflection of the image of God in His perfect human nature. We see this also in 2CO 4:4, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." The Lord is teaching us that those who were hardened against the truth (in their degenerate state having been blinded by the god of this world, Satan) may not pretend to reflect the image of God. It is important to understand that the apostle is dealing with the sin of having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof. 2TI 3:5 tells us, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Wherein lays the power of Godliness? It is found in the reflection of the image of God by the law of love, i.e., loving God with our heart, soul, and mind. Such love is not possible under the power of sin. The apostle shows us that the unregenerate, those who are blinded by Satan, are not reflecting the image of God. In V:4 he described those who have this form of Godliness as "Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." They have a form of Godliness; Godliness is to become partakers of the Divine nature, i.e., to escape the corruption of the world. 2PE 1:4 says, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." What is the Divine nature? What is the nature of God? 1JO 4:7-8 says, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." They may be church members and make great professions, but if we have Godliness, we must reflect the image of God, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," COL 1:27b. That image must reflect into the world. Man, even in his fallen nature, is born with a soul, a conscience, and a reasonable mind which distinguishes him from the animal creation and makes him of much more value than they. These characteristics were damaged in the fall, but we have retained them in their damaged form. Therefore, we are still of more value than many sparrows. Even though our soul, our conscience, and our minds have been corrupted, we retain the characteristics which make us of more value. Fallen man is still human, and it is to fallen man that the gospel is to be preached that they may be reconciled unto God to eternally fulfill the purpose of their creation. No gospel is being preached to the birds or the beasts of the fields. Therefore, man is of much more value since he has a never-dying soul. The purpose of preaching the gospel to man is that man may be reconciled unto God to yet reflect His image for all eternity; this is not true of the animals and birds. 2CO 5:20-21 says, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." He says, "we pray you in Christ's stead..." wanting us to understand something of the Lord Jesus Christ and His condescension. He is a mediator, one who goes between two offended parties; Jesus goes before God, the Father, He mediates in our behalf. God, the Father, sets the terms and conditions. He wants perfect reflection of His image, perfect submission to His law, and He demands that the penalty for sin be paid. As a mediator, Jesus covenants to and does fulfill these conditions in His own obedience and atonement, but as a mediator, He comes to you and me saying, "Follow me." He pleads with us; He has all things ready. Reconciliation on God's part is in place; now be ye reconciled. Now let your rebellious heart be broken. He sends His ambassadors to beseech us and to plead with us, to beg us to come away from serving Satan and sin. The goodness of God should lead us to repent when we see what Christ has done to make salvation open for the chiefest of sinners. How can we yet rebel? His ambassadors are sent to plead as though God did beseech you by them. Then we see His argument, "For [see that connecting word, For] he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Such condescension that we might again be able to be His image bearer and reflect the perfect righteousness of God is awesome! How can a heart yet rebel when the God of heaven comes so low to send His ambassadors to beg and beseech us? The terms are to be reconciled, to break the rebellion of a hard and stony heart. Through sanctification of the Spirit, the new man begins to reflect the attributes and true character of God already in this life. We do not wait to reflect the attributes of God in heaven; we must begin in this life. LUK 1:73-75 tells us, "The oath which he swear to our father Abraham [This talks of the oath God gave to Abraham], That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." This oath was a covenant to serve the Lord without fear. When are we to serve? It doesn't say it is in eternity, but it does say, "all the days of our life." That means serving the Lord begins here in this life. We must become image bearers of Christ in this life that we might "...serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." In EPH 4:23-24 we learn the conditions upon which the Lord pleads with us to be reconciled to Him and reflect the image of God, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Have you ever thought about what the word repentance means? It is a change of mind and attitude where our rebellious hearts are no longer set on the things of this world, but we come into the mind, or the Spirit, of Christ. Our hearts come into total submission to the Lord without rebellion. We must reflect the attributes of God which are "...righteousness and true holiness" as His image bearer. There is no salvation without this renewing of the Spirit of your mind, which the apostle clearly and beautifully describes in the following verse. He is showing us what we are by nature and what we ought to be by putting on the new man of the heart. We cannot govern our lives by the secret will of God; we must live by the revealed will of God. We are not to live in a fatalistic state; hiding behind our inability and placing the blame on God. We are responsible to live by His revealed will. The revealed will is to be "...renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," EPH 4:23-24. Verses 25-32 continue by showing wherein we must put on the new man of the heart, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour [we may not plead inability as a shield for our hatred for our neighbour]: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. [To be renewed in the spirit of your mind, putting on the new man of the heart,] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Renewing the spirit of the mind is putting away lying. Speaking the truth to each other is required to reflect the image of God. We may be angry; we may have a just wrath, but we may not let the sun go down on our wrath. A just wrath is being justly wroth against sin or any act of sin. We must reconcile and restore one who sins; things may not wear on and on. When we allow something to get between us, going on and on; we are giving place to the devil if we allow such endless bickering. The apostle sets forth the tendencies of the human nature that need to be renewed in the spirit of the mind. We may not neglect turning from the sins spoken of here for it grieves the Holy Spirit if we continue living in malice, speaking untruths, being lazy or sluggards, stealing instead of working for the things we need, or letting corrupt words come from our mouths. We may have spent our whole lives blaspheming the name of God and letting corrupt communications flow from our mouth, but now He tells us "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;" we are not to let it happen again. ACT 17:30 says, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." We are admonished, "grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." We are to renew the spirit of our mind because we are the image-bearers of God; we are to live in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. When we renew the spirit of our mind, we are putting on the new man "which after God [after the likeness of God, which reflects the image of God] is created in righteousness and true holiness." Those who are not renewed in the spirit of their mind are removed from God and the authority of His Word. God is removed from their reasoning; this is why they dare to kill unborn children who are considered a nuisance. God is removed from their reasoning so they see no distinction between a human and a bird. If birds are truly a nuisance, they are often killed. We kill rats who become a true menace, but we do not do that to a human being. Those who believe in a right to have an abortion do not understand that we are better than animal creations; they put away a human life which they consider a nuisance. They do not value human life any higher than a bird or beast; they do not understand the words of our text, "Are ye not much better than they?" God and His image is what separates us from the animal creation and makes us of much more value than many sparrows. We must understand that the renewing of the spirit of the mind is to bring forth the purpose of God's creation, i.e., to be a reflector of God's image in righteousness and true holiness. God's Word clearly distinguishes the blood of a human from that of an animal. See that He positively distinguishes between the value of a human and the value of the animal creation in GEN 4:10-12, "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. [Cain, the first murderer, had slain his brother, Abel, because Abel's deeds were more righteous. The reflection of the righteousness and true Godliness of Abel's deeds were a conviction in Cain's heart.] And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." The Lord did not pronounce that curse on the killing of an animal. We may slay an animal to eat their flesh, but when we take the blood of a person, that blood crieth unto God for vengeance because humans are better than animals. This principle of "more value" is also found in GEN 9:6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." You may not slight the blood of a human because he was created in the image of God. This principle pertains to animals as well. Any animal which slays a man, as well as a murderer, must be slain by man! "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man," GEN 9:5-6. If a beast kills a man, that beast must be slain. If a bull or bullock gores a man and he dies, that bull must be slain because the Lord requires it. If a person has taken the life of another person, the Lord requires that his life be taken by a man. This is why we have capital punishment. By contrast God said in GEN 9:2-3, "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." In other words, you may eat meat in the same light as you eat vegetables that grow in the garden. Why? It is because they do not have a soul. The second way we must see we are of much more value than many sparrows is in the tender love of our Heavenly Father who gave His only Son as a propitiation for our sin. The love that God, the Father, has for His dear children far transcends the love He has for birds and beasts. He did not send His Son for the birds and beasts. He sent His own Son for the propitiation of the sins of man. We find this message in 1JO 4:8-12, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. [If we do not love our brother, we are not reflecting the image of God.] In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." If we do not reflect love, we are not reflecting the image of God. Look at the love that the Father has for us. If God so loved us that He sent His own Son, ought we not to reflect that love? Ought we not to love one another? Take notice of our text where He says, "yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." Here is where Jesus appeals to our reason; He is directing our attention, pointing, to that tender, Fatherly love, sending His own Son to redeem us. He uses the lesser to illustrate the greater; if "Your Father," takes such care of the birds, then "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?" Amen. |
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