Who Wants a Happy New Year? #1

You know I wore my soft shoes today not the steel toed boots, but I'm gonna step on your toes today and you need your toes stepped on. In light of what's about to come once a happy new year. Seems like kind of a no-brainer, right, everyone does. But not everyone knows the way to ensure one of the Bible shows us the way and it has absolutely nothing to do with events or circumstances.

Good or bad and today on the truth. Pulpit pastor Don Greene will take us through Proverbs 3 verses five through six. As he continues our series as the calendar turns you'll see that obedience to God's word and trust in the Lord are absolutely essential to have your Bible handy as we join our teacher now in the truthful want to do is lay out for principles that would give you the ability to cultivate a trusting heart and a heart that is truly resting in Christ. First of all what I want to do is to consider the context of the passage. If you're taking notes that's the first point the context of this passage is a very basic premise in the basic premise in which all of life flows from your perspective on life should be centered upon is this is that God honors obedience to him. God honors obedience to him at your first point. That's the context God honors obedience. Psalm one verse six the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish never going to get tired of calling that verse to your attention as long as the Lord gives me breath because in that simple principle, you find that your faith in Christ, that your faith and in God to your trust in his word that all the efforts that you make to live a godly life and to trust him through sorrow and difficulty are not in vain. That is so essential to framing the entire way that you look at life. God honors obedience. God knows the way of the righteous. God does not forget those who call out to him and trust. Proverbs 3 unfolds the blessings that come from trusting God. The first four verses were going to look at four verses before and four verses after the two verses that I read just so that you see the context in which God placed these familiar verses in Proverbs chapter 3 verse one, the writer Scripture says my son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace. They will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor in good repute in the sight of God and man. There is a command and a promise built-in to those four verses as a command in there that says set your heart on God's word be a kind and truthful man and in a most basic way calls you to to a premise of life that set your heart on the word of God as that which would be your authority in life that which would be the sweetest thing in life to you that which you would submit to that which you would honor that which you would believe in that all of your heart would be given over to the holy words of Scripture.

There's a promise embedded in to the one who would do that. The promise is stated for you.

There in verse four, you will find favor in good repute in the side of God and man.

You see the most.

You know, sometimes it's easy when you're studying Scripture when you're preaching on both sides of pulpit it's easy to get so immersed in details that you miss a big picture point that would give you principles upon which you can shape all of your life. Beloved. What were about to see what I'm about to say is a principal upon which you can build your entire life knowing that it will never fail you. You can trust the word of God you can trust the 66 books of the Bible to such an extent say this to my own heart.

By way of reminder of my own my own spiritual life, to such an extent that that you can trust the word of God.

No matter what comes, that the word of God is worthy of your complete devotion of given yourself over to believe it completely and entirely to obey it to the best and fullest of your ability to believe fully in the Christ which the word points you to and reveals to you to give all of your life. All of your help all of your aspirations. All of your affections to the word of God with a certain assurance in advance that will not be wasted. That will not be in vain that you do so. This passage is promising to everyone who would come to God's word in that way. A productive and peaceful life that brings honor from God and from man that you do not believe you do not respond to you. Do not give yourself over to the word of God and find yourself a debtor find yourself on what I mean by that is, is that God has somehow let you down. No poet does not work that way versus evidence seven through 10. The context here's a God honors obedience. God honors devotion to his word.

God honors those who fear him, look verses seven through 10 do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce. So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Verses 11 to 12, my son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord, or loathe his reproof, for whom the Lord loves he reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights summarized you could say this about those verses that they call you to live a humble life that is set on holiness that holiness would be that the defining aspiration of what you want out of life that you would know Christ and grow in him and manifest the righteousness that he has called you to. As a grateful response to the saving work of Christ in your heart set your heart on that live a humble life set on holiness and the promise from God. Is this he will refresh you. He will give you prosperity. Life will go well for you if you respond to him in this way so I is a step back and say happy new year. Once the means to a happy new year. Who wouldn't want a happy new year.

Who wouldn't want a life under the blessing of God, who wouldn't desire to have the tranquility of heart, the tranquility of mine in the blessing that attends a life like this. Who wouldn't want that. Why wouldn't you want that is the deepest thing the greatest blessing, the God could give you on earth now let me say one thing here before we go any further. The book of Proverbs is not a book that is designed to to guarantee cause and effect in every each and every circumstance and each and every life. Proverbs simply give you truth from a long-range perspective. Over the course of time over the course of cultures over the course of many lives. The general pattern is that God blesses those who serve him and that they have a better life, a more peaceful life than those who sin against him and give themselves over to a life of sin that those who know Christ to follow him to love his word who devote themselves to it, to give their minds and hearts and aspirations over to the revealed truth in Scripture as a general pattern.

They are going to have a better life on earth and those who rejected now. Sometimes the wicked prosper.

Psalm 73 is devoted to that. Sometimes the righteous suffer, we see that in the life of Job. But here's the point for us today beloved as we recognize those things on the on the margins on the extremities. The general pattern is in general, God's people have a better life than his enemies, do those who love Christ and follow him have a better life than those who do not throw our lives to glean that what God's word promises.

In general, to be the pattern is that those who give themselves over to God's word are going to find themselves on the end the receiving end of his blessing, even if there are dips in the valleys along the way.

And so the question for you. The question that applies what you want out of life as a young person what you're going to give your life to do it now or maybe in middle age.

Toward the end of life and looking at it with a sense of regret what is going to devote this year to what you going to devote the rest of your life to. As you look at things with regret, will you at least take this opportunity to say friend in the remaining days that I have all give myself over to this with the freshness of heart, the God has not seen for me before now blessing awaits second point, I want you to see the contrast with all the contacts just in general God honors obedience and therefore it's worthwhile to give your life over to his word. Give your life over to Christ, but took the contrast and ask it in the form of question: this gets the schizo personal. The contrast is this who will you trust who will you trust. You see a faithful life the life the God honors a faithful life starts with always trusting God no matter what happens in your life that there is a there is something settled in the deepest part of your heart.

You who have been redeemed by Christ. Those of you that have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who claim to know him. Those who have your sins forgiven and are on a road that lead to heaven, you must understand that if you are in that blessed position and you have received the benefit of the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross applied to your heart that that means something that there are consequences to that to the way that you think the way that you feel to the way that you respond to life. And if Christ is been so good to you to redeem you out of sin and to bring you to himself, to fulfill his promise to give eternal life to everyone who believes in him. Christ has done that for you and your eternal soul is secure in your sins are forgiven and you've been declared righteous before a holy God and their consequences to that beloved to the way that you think and respond to life.

The only thing that you can do the right is to trust God no matter what. Look at verse five with me Proverbs chapter 3 verse five Scripture says and look at each word carefully. I'll read it slowly. Trust in the Lord Yahweh. The covenant keeping promise keeping God, the self existent God who is the great I am who I am the God who is the God of his people. The God who keeps the promises to those who come to him in faith, trust him with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

Trust him. What does trust mean, you know, we throw these words around so so flippantly and they become such a them then embedded part of our lingo that we don't. Sometimes we forget to stop and think about what they mean what they say what this is saying what does trust mean for life here on earth. Well, notice that this is a command.

This is not an optional add on to spiritual life. This is command from God that this is the way you are to be trust. Trust relates to the basic way that you look to the future.

Let's just make it real simple is put they as they like to say. Sometimes let's put the cookies on the bottom shelf trust refers to the basic way that you look at the future.

In other words, beloved. What is your fundamental disposition on life. How do you look to the future. What do you think what you think about your day. What do you think about the trials and the struggles that you're going through.

What is your fundamental disposition.

Your basic perspective on them.

You look forward with confidence they will come out well in the end because God is sovereign over your life and promises to bless his children or are you fundamentally fearful, worried, anxious, buried under a sense of what if this and what if that in your mind is just controlled by fear and anxiety what's going to happen.

Beloved, I want you to see that those are two diametrically opposed mutually exclusive approaches to life in Scripture makes this plane. This verse teaches us fundamental dispositions about life through a contrast in the first part of it. It tells you trust God trust God to look, look, I understand the life this is sorrowful for many of you it's difficult and it is a grind. I get that I don't diminish that the beloved. I don't have listen to me. I don't have the liberty to diminish the call of God in the call of Scripture on your life. Because of that the call of God pierces through all of the fog of that and in the midst of it says this is how you must think and this is how you must live and somehow always as we prepared to go into what this passage says, beloved, don't excuse yourself in advance from what God's word would call you to don't say, well, my life is really hard and therefore all just mush my way through it. No set all of that aside and listen with clarity to what the word of God says with clarity. So this proverb tells you on the first part of the contrast trust God. Look to the future with confidence because you're looking to the future from the perspective of God is the one who holds it in his hand, that you belong to him through faith in Christ and the God never forgets his children trust his confidence in God will bless you as one of his children, beloved, you trust God to bless you as you walk with him.

Remember the context of what we just saw the context of this passage is God honors obedience. God blesses those who follow him. God blesses those who put their trust in Christ.

That is an unalterable principle that governs the moral universe. This is who God is and this is what he does for his people and you say I believe that I believe his word. I believe in Christ that has implications for the outcome of my life and shapes the disposition with which I will view it so you trust God to bless you as you walk with him. Even if you were walking through an earthly earthquake and tornadoes are blowing all around your life say no. I will be unmoved. I will trust him. I will not surrender my confidence in the God who is revealed himself in the Christ to save me. Whatever else happens, I will not let go of that that is the disposition of heart and mind belongs to a true believer whatever one of us is called to be to do to live the way that we are to think Scripture says that this God knows what you need before you ask him.

Scripture tells us that he knows the number of hairs on your head that he knows you intimately knows when you get up and when you sit down. Scripture says that nothing is too difficult for him. Scripture says that this loving father sent his son into the world to be the propitiation for your sin within your rebellion in your sin in your spiritual death and depravity, God sent a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who gladly offered his life on the cross and shed his blood that your sins could be forgiven.

God could give you new life declare you righteous and receive you into heaven forever. That's who God is what God is done. Scripture says, for those of us to know him is reserved a place in heaven for us never to be taken away, undefiled, unfading heaven caused us to be born again through living hope in the resurrection of Christ is who God is, 20s done for you. The same God has given us the Scriptures is given us the indwelling Holy Spirit is promised to keep us until the day of Christ Jesus Christian. Don't you see see this as this is where we kinda have to put our hand on her mouth and instead of immediately saying but you don't know my life. But what about this. What about that beloved stop talking that way. Just stop it and put your hand over your mouth instead of speaking.

Listen to what Scripture has said about this God beloved. This is all true.

Everything I just said was true. Have you given your life to Christ. As Christ saved you are the have you personally appropriated these promises from Christ personally appropriated and received him by faith than all those things belong to you, your name is graven on his hands written on his heart. Your name your name is secure in the books of heaven follow the logic of Scripture than in Romans eight if all of that's true, and God has done all of that for you and your eternity really is secure all of your sins really are forgiven and you really have been born again. Then, don't you think beloved, don't you think the God who's done the greater things for you will do the lesser things as they pertain to your daily life. When we give you Christ and withhold that which is necessary for your daily existence. When he loved her sinful soul and refuse that which is necessary for life. See you see beloved.

There just comes a point where you have to realize that there is that there is a there is a moral imperative on your heart to trust him. In response to the great things that you say that you believe to realize that these great things about Christ manifest and reveal a purpose of God in the goodness of God to your life and character and soul. You should never question him. You should never question the intentions of God in the details when he is done so much for you and the great macro perspective of the eternal well-being of your soul. Think about it this way.

Maybe those of you who are parents think about it this way you you give your life over to your children and day by day and faithfulness you care for them. You meet their needs. You comfort them in their sorrow you you you you bless them, even when they're disobedient you correct them and give you just give yourself over and you devote yourself to them. Some of you know the the sorrow of what I'm about to describe, but you will understand how wrong it is, isn't it.

Isn't it abominable when a child is been given that kind of care by loving, faithful parents for child to turn around rebel and betray them in that terrible. How could you do that.

How can a child distrust a parent who's never been anything but faithful in their care for. We understand that on a human level, that there is there is an element of shame attached to betraying that kind of love. We understand that there is shame and rebelling against it. We get that on a human level that's with imperfect, sinful parents, we get that beloved BC. We understand that, but it is right for a child to honor their parents and to obey them in light of the fact that God gave life to them through those parents get that we realize that it's a shame upon that child to distrust the ones who faithfully love them on human level, talk about parents and children here in my talking about the way you think about God. It's really quite simple. If you trust God and his promises. How can you help but have happiness in your life, what temporal circumstance can negate your certain glorious future in heaven.

It's an important reminder from Pastor Don Greene today on the truth pulpit part two of his message. Who wants a happy new year comes your way. On our next program so don't miss a moment right now though Don's back here in studio with more exciting ministry news. We know, my friend.

One of the exciting things about ministry is to see the doors that the Lord opens to you that you never could a plan for yourself about to describe that here. What's happened in truth Community Church is this is that somehow the Lord has opened a door for us to send sermon transcripts to prisoners throughout our region who are reading these matters coming to Christ growing in Christ and sharing the material with others we like you to be a part of that. Maybe you have a friend or loved one who is in prison. Do this for us if you would go to our website give us the contact information for your loved one and will be glad to add them to the list in case they want to have access to God's word is you've enjoyed it here on the truth pulpit.

Visit us at the truth. Pulpit.com for further information. That's the truth. Pulpit.com Bill Wright will see you next time on the truthful