Tony Campolo recalls a deeply moving incident that happened in a Christian junior high camp where he served. One of the campers, a boy with cerebral palsey, was the object of heartless ridicule. When Campolo asked a question, the boys would deliberately answer in a halting, mimicking way. One night his cabin group chose the handicapped boy to lead the devotions before the entire camp. It was one more effort to have some "fun" at his expense. Unashamedly the boy stood up, and in his strained, slurred manner -- each word coming with enormous effort -- he said simple, "Jesus loves me -- and I love Jesus!" That was all. Conviction fell upon those junior-highers. Many began to cry. Revival gripped the camp. Years afterward, Campolo still meets men in the ministry who came to Christ because of that testimony.
(c) Jesus is the poor man's friend.
For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. v12 to 14.
Jesus identified with the poor:
(a) In his incarnation. Paul wrote: Christ Jesus ..... who, being in very nature God .... made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man. Phil2v5to8.
(b) At his birth. He was born to poor parents in a stable and laid in a manger. God did not consider it either necessary or desirable for his son to be born into luxury. What was important was that Mary and Joseph were righteous.
(c) During his earthly ministry. He said: "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Lk9v58. All Jesus had when he died were the clothes on his back. What was he? One of life's losers?
SO HE WILL HELP:
(1) The needy.
The vast majority of people never dream of helping the needy. In my experience most folk pass the hawker of the Big Issue by and totally ignore the busker's hat.
Jesus was the friend of publicans and sinners. He told a short parable to show that God would help the needy tax collector who prayed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner."
My friend are you needy? If so the words of Joseph Hart's great hymn should reassure you:
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power:
He is able,
He is willing; doubt no more.
(2) The helpless
Americans admire a 'can do' attitude. It has stood them in good stead throughout the years. I suppose most of us think highly of countries that have pulled themselves up by their boot straps - countries like China, Malaysia and India. Man has helped himself in many remarkable ways. One only has to think of the huge increase in food production, improvements in communication, expansion of educational opportunities and advances in medicine to appreciate the extent of mankind's achievements.
On the whole society does not put a high value on helplessness. Yet the fact remains that when it comes to sin, our broken relationship with God, the grim reaper, death, that stalks us all and life beyond the grave we are totally helpless. That is why I love the verse in, 'Come let us sing of a wonderful love':
Jesus, the Saviour, this gospel to tell,
Joyfully came;
Came with the helpless
And hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame;
Seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.
(3) The disadvantaged and oppressed.
No one could be more disadvantaged than poor Smike in Charles Dicken's, 'Nicholas Nickleby'. He was bullied mercilessly by the sadistic school master Squeers. In desperation Smike ran away from the truly awful Dotheboy's Hall. (An apt name!) Smike was soon found. The big bully Squeers decided to teach poor Smike a lesson. The whole school of trembling small boys was assembled. Squeers made his appearance with a countenance of portentous import, and a fearful instrument of flagellation, strong, supple, wax-ended, and new – in short, purchased that morning expressly for the occasion.
Smike cried out, "Spare me" and "I was driven to it." But to no avail.
Squeers caught the boy firmly in his grip; one desperate cut had fallen on his body – he was wincing from the lash and uttering a scream of pain - it was raised again, and again about to fall – when Nicholas Nickleby suddenly starting up, cried, “Stop!” in a voice that made the rafters ring.
“Who cried stop?” said Squeers, turning savagely round.
“I,” said Nicholas, stepping forward. “This must not go on.”
“Must not go on!” cried Squeers, almost in a shriek.
“No!” thundered Nicholas
Eventually: Nicholas sprang upon him, wrested the weapon from his hand, and pinning him by the throat, beat the ruffian till he roared for mercy.
I think most of us rejoice at the deliverance of Smike and the punishment meted out to his tormenter.
We all have our Squeers - a great oppressor who lashes us with a many thonged whip. How the thongs of guilt, fear, doubt and low self-esteem crack around us. But Jesus will deliver us. He will stop Satan beating us up - he will even stop us beating ourselves up. Jesus will rescue from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
(D) Jesus has brought many blessings.
And men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. A.V.
I am indebted to Charles H. Spurgeon, the great nineteenth century Baptist preacher, for the following thoughts.
All men shall be blessed in him suggests:
(1) A BREADTH of number.
Jesus has proved a blessing - not to the few but to the many. He is not like a Rolls Royce, a country estate or a holiday home in Florida. They are a blessing to the privileged few. Jesus is more like the transister radio or mobile phone that have proved a godsend to millions upon millions.
(2) A WIDTH of variety.
All sorts of men and women from all the nations of the world have been blessed through Jesus the Royal Son including: Chinese factory workers, Chilean miners, New England professionals, the Naga tribal people of N.E. India, Pacific Islanders, nomadic Lapps, Amazonian Indians, Welsh sheep farmers and Scottish fishermen.
Charles Spurgeon put it like this: "Men - not merely kings or noblemen, but men shall be blessed in him. Men - not working men, or thinking men, or fighting men, or this sort of man, or the other sort of man, but men of all sorts - 'MEN shall be blessed in him.'
(3) A LENGTH of period.
Jesus, the Royal Son, has been a blessing from the time of his resurrection to the present day. So many have benefitted from his saving work: the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, the growing number of Gentile converts in the Roman provinces including eventually Briton, the barbarian hordes - the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Goths who although they neglected Roman baths and Roman roads embraced Christ, the medieval church and monasteries that kept the flame burning, the Protestants of the reformation, the Puritans who settled America, the peoples of Africa, Asia and the South Pacific converted through the zeal of 19th century missionaries and, today, the participants in spectacular church growth in Brazil, Nigeria, Korea and China.
In the words of Timothy Dudley-Smith:
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of His name!
Make known His might, the deeds His arm has done:
His mercy sure, from age to age the same:
His holy name - the Lord, the mighty One.
(4) A DEPTH of meaning.
What do you count when you count your blessings. I nearly always start with my health and strength and food and clothing. I owe a great deal to Science and Technology for these. I would be in a very bad way without my asthma inhalers! I am very grateful for my excellent education - something this country could never have afforded without trade and commerce. Then there are music, literature and the other arts which owe so much to human imagination and creativity.
But I know that a time is coming when Science and Technology will be powerless to do more for me. Wealth will not be able to buy what I yearn for most - better health and longer life. Music and literature will eventually cease to entertain and comfort. Who can aid us as death approaches - as we hear his fell step upon the stairs? Who alone has conquered death and can help us over the threshold to a new and better life. ONLY JESUS CAN HELP. There is no other name given among men whereby we might be saved.
So does Jesus appear on your list? Are you blessed through him? He does not deny those who desire him; he does not fail those who trust him; he does not abandon those that serve him.
All nations will be blessed through him. Has he blessed you with salvation, freedom, peace and hope?
(E) Jesus' enduring name.
May his name endure for ever; may it continue as long as the sun. v17.
Jesus name, his precious name of Saviour, will endure for ever because:
(1) Men will always need saving from their sin.
Winston Churchill is a famous name and will probably never be quite forgotten. But it is a name that will be thought about less and less as the Second World War recedes into the mists of time.
Men and women everywhere will forever be engaged in civil war. There is an ongoing battle between conscience and our selfish desires. As Paul wrote in a memorable passage: we know what we should do, we even want to do what we should do but we consistently fail to be what we would be. So as we regularly fall into sin we need someone to save us from its consequences of disappointing God and being lost forever.
At the close of a service at which D.M. Stearns preached in Philadelphia a stranger came up to him and said, "I don't like the way you spoke about the cross. I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example." Stearns replied, "If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?" "I certainly would," said the stranger without hesitation. "All right then," said the preacher, "let's take the first step. He did no sin. Can you claim that for yourself?" The man looked confused and somewhat surprised. "Why, no," he said. "I acknowledge that I do sin." Stearns replied, "Then your greatest need is to have a Saviour, not an example!"
(2) There is only one Saviour from sin.
There are many names that may never be forgotten so long as the sun shines: Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, J.S. Bach, Van Goth .... . Some men are undoubtedly great. But as time passes other great play writes, novelists, composers and painters come along to rival these famous names.
The name of Jesus is unrivalled. He is uniquely mankind's one and only Saviour. That is why millions upon millions thank God for Jesus EVERY day. Is anyone else thought of with gratitude every day? No - only Jesus! As Peter asserted before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts4v12.
(3) Jesus saving work will never lose its potency.
Alexander Fleming is a famous name. He discovered antibiotics and as such saved countless millions from misery and an early death. Nevertheless, gradually as the years pass antibiotics are becoming less and less effective.
Jesus will never pass his sell by date. Even though the sun in the end will lose its potency Jesus will never, never lose his power to save. Until the end of time the words of the old Sankey hymn will be forever true:
(4) Jesus is the living head of an undying family.
God guarantees the eternal well-being of all those redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. God promises eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. Jesus will far outlast the sun.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 1Thes5v9and10.
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