Turn with me, if you would, to
Proverbs 3. Proverbs 3, and let's read the
first six verses. Forget not my law, but let thine
heart keep my commandments. For length of days and long life
and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake
thee. Bind them about thy neck. Write
them upon the table of thine heart. so shalt thou find favor
and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in
the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. Ending out one year and entering
into another year, this portion of scripture seems very appropriate
to me. I want us to look this morning
at the subject of trusting in the Lord. I pray that we might
head into a new year. Let's start a brand new year
trusting in the Lord. Oh, for grace to trust him more
in 2019. Wouldn't you love to trust him
more in 2019 than you did in 2018? What is it really to trust in
the Lord? How does a sinner, how does a
sinner trust in the Lord, especially in regard to salvation? That's
the trust we're going to look at. And I pray the Lord will really
teach us something in this. I pray He will really show us
something in this. The reason is because some men
and women, some men and women think they
are trusting the Lord, when in reality they are trusting themselves. They honestly do believe in their
mind that they are trusting the Lord. They live out their days
convinced that they're trusting the Lord. They believe in their
heart they are trusters of the Lord. But in reality, they are
trusting themselves. That's not a rare occurrence.
I say some men and women, but it's not a rare occurrence. That's
a very common occurrence. And the danger in it is this.
Trusting in ourselves, which is what most people will tell
you to do. Just trust yourself. Isn't that the common way? Isn't that the common answer?
You just need to dig down into your faith and have faith in
yourself. Believe in yourself. Trusting
in ourselves only leads to destruction. It always leads to destruction. Always. There's a way that seems
right to a man, but the end of it is destruction. Trusting in
Christ and trusting in ourselves are two totally different trusts,
two completely different trusts. One leads to life, and the other
leads to absolute damnation. So here's what I want to know.
Which trust do I have? Which trust do I have? I'm speaking
in absolute honesty right now, candidly. I don't want to be
deceived. I don't want to deceive myself.
I don't want to go meet God and find out I was deceived. I know that my trust must be
in the Lord. Verse 5 says, trust in the Lord
with all your heart, not most of it, not half of it, all your
heart. And lean not unto thine own understanding. Don't trust yourself. Don't trust yourself. I got this, I have this thing
down, this thing of following God and believing God, and don't
trust yourself. Verse six says, in all thy ways
acknowledge Him. Him, Him, Him. And He shall direct
thy paths. I know that my trust has to be
in the Lord, it has to be. But is that where it really is?
How can I know? How can I recognize the difference
in trusting myself and trusting Christ? Well, we're told to trust
in the Lord right after we're told it's in connection with
keeping God's commandments. Right after he said, don't forget
my law, forget not my law, that's the first thing he said in verse
one, forget not my law, keep my commandments. So let's see
first what our God has to say about his commandments, all right?
Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter eight. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 1 says, All the commandments which I
command thee this day shall you observe to do, that you may live,
and multiply. and go in and possess the land
which the Lord swear unto your fathers. He said, these are my
commandments. All of these chapters and all
of these verses, the books of Moses. He said, these are my
commandments. And he said, if you do them,
all of them, he said, if you do them, you'll live. If you do what is written right
here, you'll live. You will live. But he said in
verse 19, if you look at Deuteronomy 8 verse 19, It shall be, if thou
do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods,
and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day
that you shall surely perish. If you do my commandments, you'll
live. But if you don't do them, you'll
perish. Eternal life hinges on what God has commanded of us.
All right, I'm gonna say that one more time. Eternal life hinges
on what God has commanded of us. If we do it, we'll live. But if we don't do it, we will
die in our sin against it. All right, now turn with me to
Luke chapter 10. Luke 10 verse 25 says, And behold,
a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What
is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering
said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And the Lord said unto him, thou
hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live. That's very straightforward,
isn't it? That is just crystal clear. It's crystal clear. So easy to
understand. Just do God's good commandments
and everything will be fine. Don't do it and trouble is coming. Now with that being spelled out
so clearly to people, every conscience on this earth understands that.
Every conscience born into this world understands that. With
the deciding factor of life or death being whether or not we
obey God's good commandments, why is it so necessary that our
trust be in the Lord? If that's the case, if that's
what He said and that's what it hinges on, why is it so necessary
that our trust be in the Lord. Why is that the only trust that
leads to life? Why can't we trust ourselves?
Why can't I just stand up here and say, trust yourselves. Get
a resolve in you and do it. Do this and don't do that. Why
is that? Here's the reason why. Go with
me to Psalm 14. Psalm 14 verse 2 says, the Lord
looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if
there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone
aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. God said, do this and you'll
live. And none did. None did. You tell men and women that and
that's a shocking thing. That's a shocking thing. What
do you mean none? None? You're talking about out
of all the human race? None? Not one out of any location? Not one out of any generation? Not one? The Lord said, nope. Not one. Not one. I have never done His commandments. I wish I did. But just like the
Apostle Paul, he never did God's commandments. He said, the things
I wish I did, I do not do. And the things I wish I didn't
do, that's what I constantly find myself doing. There's not
a soul on this earth, this is what God said, if you do my commandments,
you'll live. There's not a soul on this earth
that did. Not a soul on this earth that has. There are men
and women all over this world right now who honestly believe
in their hearts that they're keeping God's law, and I am burdened
for them. I am burdened for them. I have
a heart to tell people the truth of their condition before God,
and they may hate me for it, and I'm okay with that, because
we're all still going to meet God. And there are people standing
on this earth right now who believe in their hearts. I mean, they
believe. in their mind, they're meaning
well, they believe, they're keeping God's law. Deceiving themselves into thinking
they're okay with God. Having no idea that they are
included in the no not one category. The depth of everything that
our God has commanded of us is something that sinful flesh can't
accomplish. We've mentioned so many times
that whatever God commands is not just deed only, it's mind
and heart. And people know that they have
not kept God's commandments in mind and heart. They know that,
they just think for some reason that doesn't count. Well, that
doesn't count. That's not what God says. They believe only what's done
openly counts or only what's done willfully. Well, yeah, but
that was not willful. That's irregardless. David said, you see my secret
sin. You see the sins that I don't
even know about, the sins I commit that I'm not even aware of. I
was riding one time with a man. He was driving and he was doing
a good job driving. He was driving very responsibly.
I didn't feel like at all he was breaking the speed limit,
but he got pulled over. And the police officer said,
did you realize that you're driving through a school zone? He said,
no, I didn't. He was doing about 45 miles an
hour, but at certain times of the day, it drops to 15. So he's
doing 30 miles an hour over the speed limit. And he said, I had no idea. And the police officer said,
well, there's a sign posted. And he said, I didn't see it,
and I didn't see it either. Both of us had no idea. That
officer gave him a ticket for careless and reckless driving.
And do you know that that officer was just in doing so? And right
in doing so. He had no idea he was breaking
the commandment. But he was. And he was charged. And it was
just and right, whether he realized it or not. Now, many people are
going to hear an illustration like that and say, that's ridiculous.
God would not eternally judge somebody for breaking the speed
limit. Who doesn't do that? Exactly. I know. God would not eternally condemn
a man for one little transgression. Ask Adam and Eve what God will
condemn for. All they did is eat a piece of
fruit. But in eating that, they broke His commandment. We must learn something about
the thrice holy God. We are dealing with a holy God,
Father, Son, and Spirit. We must learn something about
the justice and the judgment and the righteousness of the
true and living God. Not only will God condemn for
an open transgression, He said He would condemn us for not loving
our neighbor as ourself. Just something that takes place
right there inside our own heart involving nobody else. Has anyone here, don't do a show
of hands, but has anybody here ever taken your own money, your
money, and bought yourself something with it, something that you wanted,
as opposed to buying that very item and taking it over to your
neighbor's house and giving it to your neighbor? Has anybody
ever done that? Has anybody taken your own money
and put it in your own checking account? as opposed to emptying
your checking account and depositing all of it into your neighbor's
account and saying, here, you enjoy the fruit of the labor.
Has anybody ever done that? Kept it in your own account?
You know where we want our money? In our account. You know why?
It's because I love me. If I loved my neighbor as I love
myself, I'd take everything I have and give it to him. There has only been one who has
ever loved that way. Only one man has ever loved that
way. Sinful flesh cannot do what God
has commanded in His law. So in order for there to be any
salvation, in order for there to be any life, it was necessary
that Christ come. and do everything that needed
to be done for us. It was the only way. It was necessary
that He fulfill God's commandments for us. That's what Christ accomplished
for His people while He was here. Number one, He paid our debt. for sinning against the commandments
of God. The wages of sin was death. And He paid a debt for us. And
He also kept every commandment that we couldn't keep. Every
commandment we broke, He paid our debt for breaking it and
kept it for us. Turn with me to Luke 2. Luke chapter 2. Our Lord being born into this
world, not from the sinful seed of a man, but from the incorruptible
seed of the Holy Ghost. From the moment He entered this
world, He perfectly obeyed and fulfilled, meaning He did, every
single thing that God commanded in His law. This has had a new
meaning to me. The scripture says, if everything
He did was recorded, the world could not contain the books.
And here's the reason why. He did every single thing God
commanded. He did not leave one commandment
undone. Amazing. every single thing. Luke 2 verse 21, it says, When
eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child,
his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before
he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification,
according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought
him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written
in the law of the Lord. Every male that openeth the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord." Every single thing he did fulfilled
the commandments of God. Verse 24, "...and to offer a
sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord."
Everything. Everything. A pair of turtle
doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And the same thing can be said
about every child of God. Men and women are born into this
world in the way of religion. And here's the way of religion.
Do this and live. Don't do this and die. The way
of religion is the way of the law. And this is what man thinks. If I want to go to heaven, I
have to do good. And if I don't, I'm going to hell. And it can be said of every child
of God, he will not leave this world. until God reveals the
Christ to him. The Christ who came to do for
him what he could not do. Verse 26, it was revealed unto
him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he
had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now. That word now is a great word.
Lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the
glory of thy people Israel. This right here is the difference
in trusting yourself and trusting Christ. Here's the difference
in trusting in yourself and trusting in the Lord. We just read that
Simeon was a just man. He was devout. The Holy Ghost
was upon him. He was a believer. He was constantly
in the temple. Ask him, Simeon, what's your
hope of eternal life? Is it in the fact that you try
to be as devout as you can possibly be and you're constantly in the
temple and you're a fine church-going man? Oh, no, sir. My hope of
life is in this one that I have just seen. My hope of life is
in Him. I've been doing everything I've
been doing for as long as I've been doing it and I never saw
my salvation in it. But now I see him. And he said,
I can die in peace. And every soul who sees Christ
and sees what Christ paid for him and accomplished for him
can die in peace. If we try to obey the commandments
of the law to satisfy God, it'll never be over. We'll always be
working and working and working. And there's no peace. He said, I trust Him, my salvation's
in Him. Verse 33, Joseph and his mother
marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon
blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, behold, this child
is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for
a sign which shall be spoken against. Every soul that fell
from the commandment Through this One who came, they
are going to be raised again. Raised through the sacrifice
of His self. Our Savior, our Lord said to
Joseph and Mary at the end of verse 49, Luke 2, 49, He said,
Know ye not that I must be about my Father's business? He said, don't you realize it's
necessary that I came? It's necessary that I do what
needs to be done. I must be about my father's business. I must do what he has commanded. Verse 50, and they understood
not the saying which he spake unto them. And sadly, many people
don't. Many do not understand why it
was necessary that he came. And many people do not understand
what He accomplished for His people while He was here, what
He truly, fully accomplished. He accomplished death. It's appointed
every soul that has sinned, it's appointed to every soul to die.
He accomplished it for His people. And He redeemed them through
His blood back to the Father. Redeemed them back to the good
standing. Redeemed them back to the agreement
of His law. Redeemed them from all punishment,
all damnation. And He did for them what they
couldn't do. Verse 51, He went down with Mary
and Joseph and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. You
think about that. He obeyed them. Whatever they
told Him to do, He obeyed it. But His mother kept all these
sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God and man. And as He continued to grow and
live, everything He did fulfilled the commandment and led Him to
the cross. And this right here is the greatest
act of obedience that He performed for us. Go with me over to 2
Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, it says,
He hath made Him, God made Christ, to be sin for us, who knew no
sin, the one who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." Everything that God did was just and right. Everything. Christ took the place
of His people. He washed them clean in His own
blood. and He made them acceptable and
well beloved through His obedience. He did for us what we could not
do for ourselves and what we still can't do for ourselves.
You know, people think, well, after God saves me, everything's
going to be different. He did for us what we still can't
do for ourselves. Many people struggle with this. All right, this is the culmination
of the message. Many people struggle with this. They come to see some of these
things and they wonder, what do I do with all these commandments?
What do I do with everything that God has said to me? I see
something of who He is. He has revealed something of
His sovereignty to me. And I see what He has said to
me in His Word. And I love His Word. And I want to obey His Word.
I don't want to dismiss one word. I don't want to reject or throw
out one of His words. But I see something of myself.
And I see the reality of my condition. And I fear that I cannot do what
He commands. So what do I do with this? I
honestly hope this brings some peace. I hope this brings some
rest. If we're struggling over this thing of what do I do, what
do I do? Concerning the commandments which
must be kept, the child of wrath, the child who is heading to destruction,
will trust in himself to keep the commandments. He will read
what is said and He will apply it to Himself and say, I better
straighten up and fly right. That's what the child of destruction
will say. But the child of God will trust
in the Lord to keep the commandments. The children of disobedience
will look to themselves, but the children of God will look
to Christ. They will look to Christ. They
will totally look to Christ when they see these commandments.
And they'll cry out to be found in Christ. They'll cry, Lord,
put me in Christ. Put me in Christ. Because if
we're found in Christ, as He is, so are we. As He does, so
do we. We have an expecting mother in
the room with us this morning. Life is in her. Everything she does, that baby
does. Everything. Everywhere she goes,
that baby goes. Everything she eats, that baby
eats. That baby can't do anything on
its own. That baby can't go anywhere on
its own. That baby can't eat anything
on its own. But in that mother, that baby
does everything the mother does. And in Christ, As He is, so are
we. So are we. If Christ is our only
hope, if our trust is in the Lord, then when we hear and read
the commandments of this Word, we will hear the Father give
the commandments to Christ His Son. Every commandment. And that will bring such rest,
that'll bring such peace to our hearts because we'll know and
we'll trust that Christ is able to keep the commandments. And
we can trust right now that He has already kept the commandments.
He's already obeyed every word of every commandment. From this
moment forward, this is how we head into 2019, let's trust the
Lord. Whatever it is, let's trust in
the Lord. When this scripture says, be
ye holy, for I am holy. Let's listen to the Father, say
that to His Son. And let's trust that the Son
is, and in Him, so are we. When the scripture says, observe
all these things and do them. Let's see, our only hope to be
in the fact that God the Father said that directly to God the
Son, and God the Son observed and did all these things for
us. In Him, they're all done. They're
all done. Now, let's close out. Let's go
back to Proverbs and listen to God the Father as He speaks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 3. Verse one, my son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments. For length of days and long life
and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake
thee. Bind them about thy neck. Write
them upon the table of thine heart. So shalt thou find favor
and good understanding in the sight of God and man." Didn't
we just read in Luke 2 that our Lord Jesus Christ increased in
wisdom and stature and favor with God and man? How did He
do that? By obeying the commandments.
By forsaking not the law. Mercy and truth were bound to
His neck. And with every step He took in
perfect obedience, God was pleased. He has the favor of God because
He only does His commandments. He has the favor of every man
and woman that the Father has given to Him and put inside Him
because He only does the commandments. I thank God for Christ. He is
my obedience. So may God only put our trust
in the Lord with all of our heart. May He let us lean not to our
own understanding. I pray every soul in Him, every
soul in this room, will lean not to your own understanding.
Yeah, but this is the way I thought. Lord, don't let us look to ourselves
at all. I mean not at all. In all our
ways, let us acknowledge You. Whatever this says, first thing,
look to Christ. First thing. knowing that you
shall direct our paths. You will lead us in your paths
of righteousness as we are in you. And we trust that to be
so. I pray this new year, I pray
that we'll enter into it firmly trusting in the Lord. Let's trust
in the Lord with all our heart. All right, let's all stand together.