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January 27, 2022 7:00 am
In general, the way that God works is that God's people have a better life than his enemies, do there is a blessing that God has for his people.
When they follow him and when they obey him.
What does real trust in God look like will show you on this edition of the truth. Pulpit hello, I'm Bill Wright and Pastor Don Greene will be taking us to the well-known versus Proverbs 35 through six for a message titled, therefore, I will trust you and Don saying you trust God is one thing, proving it is another what you've got that right, Bill. You know my friend.
It is a clear biblical principle that we are to trust the Lord in everything that we do.
The question is what is that look like Scripture says to trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Well, it has the sense of knowing who God is through what is revealed in his word and then drawing implications going forward in your life is what we are going to consider in the message just ahead here on the truthful.
Thanks Don and Fred have your Bible handy. We join our teacher now in the truthful will give you four points will go through them all too quickly, that's a joke. I never go through anything quickly, but it's nice to dream.
Point number one here. I just want to take a look at the context in the context is this God blesses obedience.
This is a very important way to frame this text to look at the greater setting in which it sets in Proverbs 3 unfolds the blessing of God that comes from trusting God. God blesses obedience and at the core of what he calls us to is to have a trusting disposition toward him and so obedience cannot be separated from trust and trust cannot be separated from obedience. Look at the first four verses with me Proverbs chapter 3 verses one through four, 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. Now, simply stated, far too oversimplified the core command and those four verses, you could say is God commanding you to set your heart on his word to let his word to let the Scriptures now in our day. The 66 books of the Bible to be a preeminent affection in your heart and in the context Solomon tells his son be a kind and truthful man and it comes with a promise, the promises is that you will have a productive and a peaceful life that brings you honor from God and for man, and so there's just this.
There's just this setting that says God blesses obedience and so be obedient to him. Why would you not do that. Why would you not want the blessing that God promises for a heart that is oriented toward his word and toward his character look on will jump over verses five and six for moment go to verse seven.
Here again, just setting the context for you and the context is God blesses obedience.
Look at verse seven says 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 that your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine command.
The context lived a humble life that is set on holiness.
The promises God will refresh you and give you prosperity true Christianity is a humble life that is devoted to the word of God that seeks to subordinate our life and our priorities in our affections to the God who has revealed himself in his word written and incarnate. This is this is just Christianity that were talking about here in Proverbs what you have here is this important to remember this about the book of Proverbs Proverbs are not guarantees about absolute cause and effect in every situation without exception. Proverbs simply give us a sense of truth from a long-term perspective. Over the course of life. Over the course of cultures over the course of many, many people over the course of time.
This principle is marked out as true God blesses his people. God is faithful to those who devote themselves to him. God is no debtor to those who seek him.
We realize in Scripture teaches us that there are sometimes exceptions. There in the midst of that Job suffered, though he was a righteous man in Psalm 73 we see the psalmist greatly troubled because the wicked are prospering in front of his eyes. So Proverbs is not a denial of those kinds of things in general. The way that God works is that God's people have a better life than his enemies, do you know it's not Christians that they find dead in the gutter, having fallen over from excessive intoxication or heroin overdoses or anything like that is not is not people are living obedient lives to Christ and find allies cut off by sin find themselves in the misery of another failed marriage, again and again and again is it that's what this passage is teaching us that there is a blessing that God has for his people. When they follow him and when they obey him. That's the basic context of this passage, God blesses obedience to his people and so that's the context in which we find verses five and six just a simple contrast simple simple context I should say in all of that is necessary to get to the meat of what we want to talk about here. We talked about the context God blesses obedience. I want to show you the contrast now that is in the text, verses five through six and this is where were going to spend most of our time will blow through the rest of it pretty quickly. At the end point number two is where this passage comes and addresses your heart, with power and addresses it with authority and addresses you with a sense of of both and a sense of of convicting power where you realize I have really strayed off the mark here and also with a beckoning with a promise to come in and do what this text tells you to do so that you would experience the blessing that God gives to his people right at the core of the obedience to God blesses is trusting him as to what were going to see in this second point here is the contrast will state the contrast by way of a question that you need to answer for your own life. The question is this who will you trust who will you trust that is the question that this text imposes upon our hearts and minds and souls. Look at verse five with me now as we finally get into the text that we really want to consider here today says trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Look at that beloved teaching by way of a contrast teaching and and setting trust in our Lord versus trust in yourself. Get it again with me. There's no reason to hurry. Here, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Here's the thing, beloved. This is where you really need to wire.
Rhiannon focus on were not here today to talk about complexities of Hebrew grammar or to talk about different aspects of Old Testament theology.
What were here to do today is to talk about the kind of life that you are living in the presence of God. What kind of heart response. Are you offering back to him in light of the salvation that is brought you to in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I speak today as to Christians I speak today is addressing brothers and sisters in Christ. That's the perspective from which I am speaking here today so I'm talking to you like a brother or sister in Christ, and so the question is, as we come to this as we come to this text is is what kind of person are you on the inside, not just what you think. But how do you think how do you frame your perspective, what is your view of life. In view of the way that God has saved you and the fact that God is who he is, what does that do to you.
That's the question.
Who will you trust see an obedient life, the life, the God blesses an obedient life a faithful life starts with always trusting God no matter what, always having a sense of confidence in Christ.
No matter what this word trust.
I know we tossed around these words. Trust and faith like you know we say those things pretty easily and every one of you knows enough to say you know you're supposed to say I trust God. I have faith in God and you look at this text and you say was just affirming what I already know and so what's the point of looking at this well beloved, I think there's more to it than that but look at it this way and look this just comes to us in life. This comes to us where we live and I have no doubt that I'm preaching an irrelevant sermon to you today have no doubt that this tax is not going to matter to the way that life goes for you. There's no question about that. That's the least of my concerns here today. What is trust.
Beloved thing about this way no one give you technical lexical definition. Today I wanted to be accurate and yet where we live.
Trust when you think about it. Trust relates to the basic way that you look to the future trust relates to the basic way that you look to the future when you contemplate what lies ahead in your life either as an older man, a young seminary student just looking out on the front steps of ministry. Whatever the case may be, how do you look to the future.
What is your disposition. What is your attitude toward what lies ahead in your life do you live life with a general basic sense of serenity or do you live life with a basic disposition of anxiety. Are you marked by hope and confidence in expectation of the blessing of God or fear and doubt and wondering if God's going to pull the rug out from you at some point in time, as if God were actually like that that's what we need to consider. This is what reframing you say that's over talk about because look at the text with me again here verse five. In the unlikely event that you think I'm overstating the case of what this verse is saying look at verse five. Again it says trust in the Lord with all your heart with an undivided disposition of confidence in the future, because you know who the Lord is and you trust him and you believe them to be faithful to his promises to bless obedience to bless faith in him is what we want to talk about here serenity to by way of contrast, the contrast is. This is so simple, so basic rose went to seminary all those years and this is how complex you can make it to say, the contrast is this you trust God and you do not trust yourself, you trust God, and you did not trust yourself. Ruben impacts this now truism alert here. Life is difficult. I get that life is often sad and disappointing. I get that. I realize that for many of you the present day, is one of great difficulty in challenge I get that an honest lead.
I I feel for you that matters to me as part of the reason why were talking about this text is because I know that this text can help you in that but having acknowledged that beloved.
Here's what you and I cannot do. We cannot do this.
We cannot marginalize this text with the fact that life is difficult when the text says trust in the Lord with all your heart, you have no prerogative to say but had but you don't understand how hard life is for me right now, beloved, that has nothing to do with it and we just need to be real honest and real candid with each other as we talk this way. See trust means that you have confidence that God will bless you because you are one of his children. That's a simple way to define trust and that means that you trust God as you walk with him and you trust him that he is going to bless you that he is going to do good to you and that that is your expectation as you look forward in life. Not because of any merit in yourself, not because of any wise or clever way that you can structure your life. Remember I said I'm speaking as the brothers and sisters in Christ here to make a really big presumption as I speak. You say that you belong to Christ. I believe you. There are consequences to that.
Do you know your God. Do you know who he is.
You know who he has revealed himself to be you trust God to bless you as you walk with him and that's the positive side, negative side, you refuse doubt when adversity comes your way you refuse to give yourself over to those nagging fears and those those expectations and something else is going to go wrong here and what's going to happen to me. You reject that there's a positive dimension in a negative dimension that were going to address here but how is it beloved, how is it that you can live that way, how is it that a believer should be marked by this absolute certainty as they look forward to absolute uncertainty because we don't know what our lives are going to be like tomorrow. James four says doesn't it what my life is going be like tomorrow. So how can I know what to expect.
How do I know how to deal with that with here is why you look to the future with confidence so basic, so basic. This is so fundamental. What were about to look at it is essential to let this sink deeply into your heart. Let's just run through a string of things that you know to be truth. Why can you look to the future with confidence. Isn't God loving and righteous. Doesn't God know what you need before you ask him. Matthew six.
Doesn't God know the number of hairs on your head. Doesn't Scripture say that that nothing is too difficult for him. It Scripture says that right. You believe that right when I tell you that God is loving and righteous you believe that right. See that's just the way it is. Let's go further didn't your heavenly father's in the Lord Jesus Christ into this world with the specific purpose that he would give his life as a propitiation for your sins in order to save you from the just wrath of God on you for your rebellion against him. Didn't God and love sin.
Christ in order to save you. He did that did me. Christ willingly laid his life down in order to fulfill that didn't take in at some point in your life. The Holy Spirit worked in your heart and opened your open your heart to believe the things about the gospel and you believed in Christ any Savior for gave you all of your sins and washed away all of your sins and put you on a path delete certainly to heaven he did that did me. My brother and sister in Christ, he did that didn't take now, hasn't he reserved a place in heaven for you, but can never be taken away. Isn't there.
I'm speaking metaphorically here. Isn't there a graven nameplate just waiting at the banquet table of Christ for you to take your seat at he did that for you soon enough will sit down at that banquet with him at that place reserved for us will leave all of this life behind and will be with our Lord forever and we will not get into his blessed face. We will see the blessed face of the one who loved us enough to lay down his life for us will have the blessed privilege of bowing at his feet and somehow saying, Lord, thank you and that little moment to be greater than anything multiplied lifetime scooter brought to you in this life.
Didn't God give you the holy Scriptures where he could be known, the place where you can find your help and comfort as you go through life as a Christian in this world just becomes more and more precious and you kiss it because you love it so much and God send the indwelling Holy Spirit as a as a seal is a is a down payment, but there was lots more to common your salvation did God do that to you were talking fundamental basic Bible truth hardly these are the fundamentals of salvation were talking about here.
All those things are true, beloved, haven't you entrusted your soul to Christ. Based on those realities, the most precious thing that you have the most valuable asset. The most important thing is what happens to your soul eternally.
What is going to happen to you when you die. That's the only thing that ultimately matters because you're a Christian you're telling me I've given all that over to Christ, and I'm secure in Christ and I trust him and I know that he will keep me and he no one will pluck me from his hand in and he will deliver what is promised and will be with him in heaven forever believe that don't you well in the language of the argument of Romans chapter 8, those of the great things beloved those of the crucial things that's what really matters in the midst of that then. Don't you know that if God was good enough and loving enough and gracious enough to do that, that he will do the lesser things that he will care for the lesser things that are associated with your earthly life, having done the greater thing at the cost of the blood of his own son wanting most certainly do the lesser things that are associated with the details of this temporary and passing life won't he do that. Those of you that her parents were those of you that have had parents think about that. You'll think later that while I covered everybody those of you that her parents you'll understand this, even if it hasn't been your happy personal experience like it has been for me and Nancy. You give your life to caring for your kids, you love your faithful to him, you feed him day after day you correct you. You give whatever they need to try to provide him with some measure of wisdom in your own failing frail way and you give yourself over to them will is and it isn't right.
Isn't that why Scripture says the children should honor their fathers and mothers, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right see when when a parent demonstrates consistent daily faithfulness and always is taking care of the needs of the child. There is something that is that is perverse where if a child would say I don't trust you or for a child to reject parents like that and say I want nothing to do with you. You understand, on a human level that faithful parents should get faithful trust in response, don't you, you understand that.
Do you understand I'm not talking about earthly parents here. I'm not talking about earthly families at all talking about you in relationship to your heavenly father if your heavenly father has done all of the things we've talked about here, and 10,000 more beside the time for bids us to plumb the wonderful depths of, isn't it the only right and proper thing for you to do to look up with grateful eyes to to look up to lift up a grateful heart to this God and say, God, thank you and God.
I trust you for whatever else may come. How could you, how could you withhold that kind of trust from him.
Why would you even want to love. Here's the thing. Here's where I think that a lot of us have misunderstood this passage maybe treated it superficially might be the better way to go see we we think about trust in the sense of them just ate a blind blind trust and I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just going to trust that everything works out okay. That's not biblical. Trust there.
There is nothing glorifying to God, thinking that way, nothing at all. Note what trust is, biblically speaking, as you can see from what we have said is that trust is the righteous confidence that we render toward God in response to revealed certainties is a revealed certainty that God's loving grace is wholly true infinite self existent, and that he is good and faithful to his people. The name form used here Lord and IN your English text Yahweh.
The covenant keeping promise keeping God to his people.
That's who God is. He keeps his promises to his people say believe that Christian well that should affect the way that you think about the future of life, even in the most severe circumstances and some of my know really I get that were not talking about our circumstances here that shift and change the waves of the ocean were talking about who God is and who God is revealed himself to be and this is certain. This is this is more certain than your next breath. LaHood God blesses obedience so will you trust him or your circumstances as you understand them. Pastor Don Greene will show you what an intimate walk with God should look like next time. As we bring you the conclusion of the message. Therefore, I will trust you plan now to be with us here on the truth pulpit but right now here's done with some exciting ministry news will my friend today. I have an opportunity to offer you something for free that goes beyond what we've done on a radio broadcast, it's a 10 message CD album titled, the Bible and Roman Catholicism to series. I recently completed it truth community church taking Scripture and evaluating what Catholics teach and believe about the Pope about Mary about the mass and about the whole nature of salvation. It's a resource that you really need to have in your hands, either for yourself or for your friends and loved ones to know how to interact with them and it's available for free at the Placerville's going to point you to right now.
Just visit us at the truth. Pulpit.com and click on radio offers to learn more until right. See you next truthful