Is It Safe to Trust the LORD?

Q: What does the Bible say about trusting the Lord?

The Bible calls us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and to not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Proverbs 3:5-6 exhorts believers to trust the Lord with all their heart, emphasizing a total dependence on Him rather than on our own understanding. This complete trust involves acknowledging God's sovereignty in every aspect of our lives, recognizing that His plans and wisdom far surpass our own insights and feelings. In every circumstance, whether in joy or trial, trusting the Lord leads to a direct path in accordance with His will.

Q: How do we know that trusting God is safe?

Trusting God is safe because He promises to direct our paths and allows us to cast our cares upon Him (Isaiah 3:10, 1 Peter 5:7). Trusting God is deemed safe based on His unwavering promises throughout scripture. Isaiah 3:10 assures the righteous that it will be well with them, reinforcing the idea that reliance on God's plans, regardless of earthly appearances, leads to true safety. Additionally, the New Testament encourages believers to cast all their anxieties on God, as He cares deeply for them (1 Peter 5:7). The essence of safety lies not in our feelings but in the assurance of His word and the power of His grace.

Q: Why is surrendering everything to Christ important for Christians?

Surrendering everything to Christ is vital as it denotes complete trust and reliance on Him for salvation and righteousness (Luke 14:33). Surrendering all to Christ is essential for true discipleship, as articulated in Luke 14:33 where Jesus states that one must forsake all they have to follow Him. This total surrender is a reflection of genuine faith, wherein believers acknowledge their own inability to achieve righteousness and rest in His sufficiency alone. Abandoning earthly attachments demonstrates our understanding that true life, hope, and salvation are found solely in Christ. It shows that we perceive all earthly possessions as valueless compared to the treasure of knowing Him.

Q: How does trusting in Christ relate to recognizing our own nothingness?

Trusting in Christ involves recognizing our nothingness and abandoning self-righteousness, trusting solely in His righteousness (Philippians 3:7-9). Trusting in Christ requires a profound recognition of our own inadequacy and nothingness. As expressed in Philippians 3:7-9, Paul regarded all his past accomplishments and religious status as loss for the sake of gaining Christ. This reflects a heart that understands the futility of self-righteousness and the glory of being covered by Christ's righteousness. True trust involves turning away from any notion of contributing to one’s salvation and fully embracing what Christ has done. It is in this understanding of our own weakness that we find strength in Him.

Q: What assurance do we have in Christ according to scripture?

We are assured in Christ that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Scripture provides profound assurance for believers that all things work together for the good of those who love God, specifically to those called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). This promise encompasses every situation, trial, and joy, affirming that God’s sovereign hand guides His people. The ultimate good for believers is not merely temporary comfort but the assurance of being conformed to the image of His Son. This assurance reinforces the importance of trusting in God’s plan, ultimately leading us to deeper reliance on His wisdom and grace.

Good morning. We'll get the message, we'll go to the Lord in prayer. I had told you Sunday that I had a message and had two messages on Sunday, or Wednesday, and had to choose. And I chose the one, and it would be a prelude to the second one. I thought, what a joy. I have it done. It's finished. The messages are complete. I can kind of sit back a minute.

And I read that thing on Friday. And then I read it again on Saturday. Lord refuses to let me store up manna. And so I've struggled, and I still believe the Lord's given me the same text, and I pray the Lord will bless it. It's wonderful how we have the promises of God to take His word and apply it, regardless of the weakness of the man preaching. Regardless. I have no ability to make this effectual to anyone. And I pray that I'm not, that you don't see me as trying to make this effectual. I'm just telling you what he said. I'm just gonna tell you what he said. It's my hope the spirit of God would make this effectual on you and me. He would take this and cause us to see more of His love, more of His grace, more of His mercy.

Pray for us, pray for this church. We were talking about the many times the Lord has blessed this congregation over the years yesterday. All it takes is His one hand to remove from us and we would be gone. We did not endure all of those afflictions by our strength. It was by His grace He kept us. We're here today because of His mercy and if we're here tomorrow it will be because of His mercy, because of His kindness to us. And it is that love and kindness that will bring us to an absolute, complete surrender to Him. A forfeiture of all what we think is our right and privilege.

And I'll tell you, there's no better place to be than at the feet of Christ. Having nothing but Christ. Isn't that heaven? Isn't that heaven? May God set our hearts upon Him this morning. And I long for that not just here, I long everywhere. I think of my brothers preaching this morning and I pray for them, I pray for their congregations the same. God would sustain us, keep us, use us. Man, to be used of God is a privilege, it is a blessing. use us as he pleases, not as we want, but as he pleases. Let's go to him in prayer. Our gracious Father in heaven, we lay ourselves at your feet, seeking only the mercy and grace to worship this morning. We seek the power and wisdom of thy spirit to testify of the things of Christ to us.

Oh, that you would move our hearts with such love and grace to confess our nothingness and confess that Christ is all. Thank you for keeping us. Thank you for sustaining us. Thank you for giving us your word, and not only in word but in power, making it effectual to our hearts so that we should believe on Christ and continue in faith in him, looking to him. Thank you for this.

Pray for grace upon the message, power, wisdom, strength of thy spirit. Bless your people wherever they worship this morning with the same things we ask. Heal those that are sick, those who are struggling. Father, please, cause them to come and bow themselves before Christ and find mercy and grace. Those in our families who are lost, those who are undone without God or His Son, we pray for them. We beg you, Father, to be gracious and send the word, and not word only, but power. that they should believe.

And I ask you to do these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray these in His name. Amen. Take your Bibles and turn, you can hold your place there in Luke 14. But I want you to turn to Proverbs, first of all, Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. I've entitled this message, Is it safe to trust the Lord? Is it safe? Is it wise? Is it reasonable to trust the Lord in everything?

Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5. Trust in the Lord. Notice the quantity of our trust. With all thine heart. This has to do with all of our being, not just the innermost part. But trust the Lord with all your being, with all your heart. your mind, your body, your soul, everything you possess, trust the Lord.

Notice the opposite of trusting the Lord. Here it is, lean not on your own understanding. That is opposite. It's putting two opposing things together. Trusting the Lord with all you are and all you have is diametrically opposed to trusting how you think, how you feel, and what your experience is. Do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways, in every providence, in every circumstance, in every difficulty, in every joy, in every trial. Every instance of your life, acknowledge Him. Acknowledge His sovereign hand in everything that is taking place. Acknowledge His grace, you that trust the Lord. Acknowledge His love, His mercy. Acknowledge that Christ is all your righteousness, all your sanctification, all your wisdom, all your redemption. In every instance, Acknowledge Him, believe Him, trust Him in everything. And this is His promise. He shall direct your paths. He shall direct your paths.

In Wednesday's message, what brought this on was I was preaching from Isaiah 50. And it says those who were God's children, yet at times they walk in darkness. They walk in providential darkness and difficulties and afflictions and coldness in their own heart. They walk in sometimes falling into great difficulties and sins.

And what the remedy was simply this, trust the name of the Lord. Trust the Lord. And so my purpose in this message by the grace and power of the Spirit is simply to answer this. Is that safe? Is it reasonable for you to trust God in every instance? Not just with your soul, but with this body, with everything around you. Is it not reasonable to trust the Lord? Is it safe? Is it safe not to trust how you feel and what you think? Is it?

This is why we don't, isn't it? Because we don't believe it's safe. We believe that doesn't make any sense. That's just not right. How can that be? I don't trust that. That doesn't have anything to do with it. Not to trust men. Those we love the most. Not lean on them for our joy or our peace. Why? Because they'll fail. They always fail us.

Is it safe for me to acknowledge the sovereign will in even my darkest hours? Is it not reasonable for me to understand that our God is sovereign and does whatsoever He pleases? Even the worst calamities that I face are in the hand of God? Is that unreasonable? And so why do we do that? Because we don't think it's reasonable. The flesh doesn't think it's reasonable. And I want this to be the premise.

You that trust in the Lord, I want you to understand it is safe. Matter of fact, that is the only place of safety. There is no safety outside of him, none whatsoever. And so my promise this morning about the safety is only to those who are born of the spirit of God. You're the only ones that are safe. I know at times you don't feel safe, but what does that have to do with it? It doesn't have anything to do with it. How many times have you felt safe and yet you were in danger? Feelings about these things really don't matter. Trusting the Lord is the only thing that matters. Listen to what he says.

He says in Isaiah chapter, I think it's chapter three, it says, say you unto the righteous, it shall be well with him. That's God's promise to one group of people, the righteous. Those who are made righteous by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, God says, regardless of what takes place, you trust me, it's well.

It's well. So in the darkest of hours, you can say with certainty, it is well. We sing that often. Is it well? It is well with my soul. Oh, Satan should buffet. Oh, trial should come. Let this blessed assurance control. that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed his own blood for my soul. Listen to this. Say you to the wicked, it shall be ill.

I don't care how well he is in his life. I don't care how prosperous he is in his life. It doesn't matter if he has all the wealth in the world and all the success and all the joys and all the family and all the friends. It doesn't matter. It is ill with him. regardless of what we see. It's ill with him because he's outside of Christ.

They say, the wicked say, well, don't the scriptures say all work together for good? All things work together for good. Well, they don't know the rest of the verse, do they? All things work together for good to them that love God. Specifically, to them that are called according to His purpose. The good is only reserved for the elect. The good is only reserved for those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. The good of God is only reserved for those who now love God and are called by the Holy Spirit. This is the promise of God to everyone in Christ. All is well. I'm sick. All is well. I've lost those I've loved. All is well.

What does this require? Does it not require trust? Absolute trust without any tangible, visible, what we call evidences. This is what we call faith. trusting the Word of God rather than what we think and feel. This is what we're called to do. And so I ask you, do you believe wholly on Christ?

Do you rest solely, the weight of all your soul, on the sufficiency of His blood and righteousness without any contribution then I want you to understand, you, my friend, are safe. Safe. Now, without faith in Jesus Christ, you're not safe. Doesn't matter who you are, doesn't matter what you...

Religionists believe that, you know, if God provides riches and wealth and joy and happiness and my family's all here and I'm getting along good with everybody, that that's a measure of, they trust, that's a measure of God's favor and love toward them. But I'll tell you this, if their faith is not real, if it is not genuine faith, It doesn't matter what they feel or what they think. Their faith is empty and they have no security.

So I want to address this. What is it to trust Christ? If only those who trust Christ are safe, then what is it to trust Christ? There are so many that profess to trust Christ. Isn't it easy? The word just come out. You can say, I trust Christ. Anybody can say that. But what is it really to trust Christ? Go Luke chapter 14. Our Lord is going to answer this question for us. What is it? How does one decipher whether his trust is genuine?

Luke chapter 14, verse 33. I'm gonna start at the conclusion and I'm gonna work backwards in this text. Our Lord says, so likewise, whosoever be of he that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Our Lord's describing who his disciples are by describing who the ones aren't. And so the Lord before this gives two illustrations, two pictures, which is a representation of everybody who professes to believe.

He says there's one man, he desired to build a house. But he didn't check his bank account. He didn't know how much money he had. He didn't know how much money it would cost to build a house. He just wanted a house. He determined within himself. Our positive thinking. He trusted. He trusted without looking, he had sufficient to make it.

And you know what the Lord said? He said when he had started to build, he laid the foundation, but realized he ran out of money. And so now everybody that walks by that foundation laughs at him, mocks him, because he's a fool. Anybody that tries to build a house and doesn't figure out how much money it takes to build a house and see if he's got enough money to build a house, the guy's not going to finish it. This is a picture of all the self-righteous, of every man by nature who supposes to build himself a refuge, who supposes that his righteousness is sufficient to please God. In the end, he finds out this.

He doesn't have enough righteousness to please God. As a matter of fact, scripture tells us he doesn't have any righteousness. The scripture says there is none righteous. No, not one. And the result of that is there's none that understand. He don't even understand he don't have enough righteousness. So what does he do? He goes about to build his own righteousness. And in the end, he's found to be a fool.

Is there anyone who says they trust Christ, but yet goes about to establish their own righteousness? What do you find? You find that their trust in Christ is at best partial And in truth, really not at all. They're trusting themselves. If anyone is trusting in themselves, you will not have sufficient to build.

You are not my disciple. You see, to be the disciple of Christ, you must forsake what you don't have. Your own righteousness. You don't have any righteousness, but to trust Christ, you must abandon all hopes of building your own righteousness. So those who trust in their righteousness, these will not have sufficient. They are not his disciples. They do not trust in him. So anybody that trusts him plus their religion, plus their righteousness, plus their abilities, they don't trust him. That's what he's telling you. He said, you have to abandon that. If you don't forsake all that you have, you can't be my disciple.

Then he gives an illustration of one who did. There were two kings. One king only had 10,000 and the other king had 20,000. And so the king with 10,000, he sees this. And he realizes he doesn't have sufficient. He doesn't have the ability to overcome the other king.

So what he does in wisdom was he surrenders. He surrenders. This is a picture of all the disciples of Jesus Christ. We see that we, by nature, are at war with God. And we have not sufficient to fight. What's the only reasonable thing to do? Surrender.

And this is what every true believer does. We trust the Word of God, who says He will have mercy. He will have grace. And so we come with nothing. What is my 10,000? Here, take it. Surrender. And so it is with every true believer in Jesus Christ. Christ does not ask for partial. He demands total surrender. Total, absolute surrender. So Jesus said this, if you're going to come after me, you must surrender everything to me. To believe on Jesus Christ is nothing less than wholly, completely, an absolute forsaking of everything and a complete, total dependence upon Him.

That, my friend, is faith. That is what it is to trust Christ. Now, before this, the Lord sets forth the gospel and we're going to see in this parable why it is that you and I have surrendered and others have not. The message of the gospel is a message of grace. It's a message of grace. It's not a message of work.

In other words, my surrender contributes nothing to it. You got that? My faith and my surrender to Him does not contribute to the righteousness He's provided and the redemption He's provided. It adds nothing. It's necessary, but even my surrender is of God, isn't it? The reason we have surrendered, the reason we have seen our inability is because of the grace and power of God.

And so now he preaches the gospel to them. He preaches the gospel of God's message of grace, that it's not of works. And so in this parable, in this one guy, they're at a feast, and this guy stands up and says, Man, blessed is everyone that feasts in the kingdom of God.

And that phrase, the Lord took that, and he stated a parable. Now this parable is in parallel passage, I believe, in Matthew 22. in regards to a wedding feast. Here it doesn't state it's a wedding feast, but in Matthew's gospel it does. And so, as it states here, a great man, he said in verse 16, he said in him, a certain man made a great supper. This was a master, not just any man, it was a man who had servants, it was a man of dignity, it was a king. In Matthew, he tells us it was a king who had made a wedding feast for his son.

What a picture of the gospel. Our God has chosen a bride for His Son. The glory of the Father in love chose a people for His Son and gave them to Him. This is the glory of the gospel. And that Jesus Christ as the loving husband, He came into this world. All before He came, God prophesied of Him coming for Israel, coming for His bride, saving His people.

And now then, He comes. He comes in humanity, deity in humanity, and He provides for His bride what she needs. She needs righteousness, so what does He do? He comes and He provides her righteousness, and not just any righteousness. Paul says it's the righteousness of God.

When Jesus Christ walked on this earth and you watch Him believe, how much did He believe in God? How much did He trust? I thought of him in that wilderness for 40 days without food, trusting only God to give him food when God would require it. He trusted God. Any of us ever trust like that? He's only ones ever trusted God that way.

He honored the law of God. Listen, what? The psalmist writes, this is the righteousness he provides. Listen, he said in Psalm 45, 13, he said, the king's daughter is all glorious. You got that? All of the elect in the eyes of God are glorious within. Is that what you see? You that believe, you don't see that, do you? You see it by faith only. But why are we glorious? Look what he says. Her clothing is of wrought gold. Our robe of righteousness was stitched together by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself alone. What did you contribute to that? Did you provide one thread in that robe?

No, He provided everything in that robe of righteousness. And not only this, He by His one offering, by His death, by His willing sacrifice of Himself, to the wrath of God as He bore our sins in His own body. He has redeemed all of His bride. He paid for every sin of His bride.

Galatians 3.13, He hath redeemed us. And He's already done. He hath redeemed us. From the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Hebrews 9, 12, He hath obtained eternal redemption for us. You see the gospel? The gospel is all about His work. It's all about His love. It's all about His glory. And so look at your text again. Look at this.

What's the message of the gospel? Verse 17. And He sent His servant at the suppertime to say to them that were bidden, Come. for all things are now ready. You see the message of the gospel? What's missing? He said all's ready. What do you need to bring? Nothing. All is ready. All is provided. That's the message of the gospel we preach, that Christ has made total, absolute provision And nothing else required.

But now we're going to see who these elect are. I told you that God had purpose to save and elect people and Christ perfectly saved them. Now, who are they? Who are they? As I told you before, they are they that trust him wholly. And because of their trust, abandon everything else.

Now, in verses 18 to 20, we read of people who refused this in 18, he said, and they all with one consent begin to make excuse. The first said to him, I bought a piece of ground, I need to go see who buys a piece of ground they hadn't seen before. This guy. He said, have me excused. The other guy said, I bought five yoke of oxen. I need to have them proved. Now, who in the world buys oxen? That's what they use to plow their fields. If the ox wasn't broke, or he was weak, what good would he be? And yet this guy said, well, I bought some oxen.

I ain't never seen them before, but I'm going to go get them instead. The other guy said, well, I got a wife, and she rules the house. I can't come. Have me excused. But you notice who does. The Lord of the house, he said this. He said when he came back, the servants came and showed him these things. His master was angry and said to his servant, Go quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring to me the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind. The servant said, Lord, it is done. And as thou has commanded, yet there is room. And he said, The Lord said unto his servants, go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come. In other words, he says, I want you to bring everyone who has nothing to pay. And then I want you to bring every criminal you can find. And tell them all is ready. Now, what's the response of these people? Well, they come. Now, why did they come and the others didn't?

They had nothing to lose. The others would have to give up something that they loved to come. But what would the blind and the poor have to give up? What would the criminal have to give up? They had everything to gain by this and nothing to lose. So is everyone that called of God. You that are called of God, what have you got to lose? When you give up your righteousness, what have you got to lose? When you give up this world and the things in it, what have you really got to lose? You realize you've got nothing to lose. You see, Jesus said this, they that are whole, Are you not a physician?

Have you tried to witness to anybody that's hoping? Man, they don't want this. They don't need this. They would rather go to the dentist than to come here. They would pull all my teeth. Just don't bring me there. They don't have any need of it. Jesus said, but they that are sick do. I came not to call the righteous, but what group? Sinners, to repentance. He came to call sinners. There are many who come to Christ in pretense. There are many who are vainly, in their vain sincerity, see Christ as a fire escape from hell. That's all He is to them. That's all He is. Most of them do it just in case. They say, well, I'll believe just in case.

That's not trust, is it? That's not what the trust our Lord is saying is here. A man that has that kind of trust will not forsake the things of this world. He won't do it. He will with his lips. But his life, just look at it. He won't leave. He won't leave his money. He won't leave his family. He won't leave his friends. He won't leave the prosperity and lusts of this world for the things of Christ. He just won't do it. Now let him jump up and down and tell me he trusts Christ all he wants to. Jesus said, accept a man, forsake all that he hath. Well, I'm just going to keep on. OK, we'll just keep it there. It's not trust. It's not faith.

Many confess to believe Christ with their lips, They make a grand show in the flesh. They do all these sorts of fastings and prayers and outward things. Cheryl was telling me when she was growing up that, man, every week you felt like you had to rededicate your life to Jesus.

Now why would you need to do that in front of anybody except you want to make a show? Somebody wants to fast. Why can't you do that in private? Why you got to make a show of it? Because you want people to see. You give money. Why can't you give it privately? Why? Because you want people to see. You want some vain show. Yet, I'll tell you this, with all their vain show, they will not forsake this world for it. They just won't do it. They won't give it up. Why? They really don't trust it.

They say, well, I trust him with my soul. But my business, my family, surely this is my responsibility. You're going to trust him with the greater and not the lesser? Isn't salvation greater than all this? then why would you trust him with the greater, say you trust him with the greater, but will not trust him with the lesser? I don't make any, it's not right, it's not trust. They will not forsake the things of the world, their possessions, their relations, that keep them from the worship of God and the good of the saints, even because they don't think it's safe to trust him with these things. In other words, if I trust him, I know this, he's gonna make me give up all this stuff.

So what are you saying? You're saying that that stuff has value. Let men boast in their trust, but if they will cling to the things of this life, Jesus said, they're not my disciples. That's not my words, that's his. So if you want to wrestle with that, go wrestle. I don't know what to say. That's what he said. He's describing his own disciples. And his disciples who trust him, they gladly forsake everything. You know, John said this. in 1 John chapter 2. He said this is a manifestation of those who do not trust Christ.

He said this, they went out from us. Now listen, they did gather with us at one time. They did love the gospel that we preach for a time. But now they're gone. They went out from us. Now why did they do that? Because they were not of us. Why'd they leave? They're not of us. For if they were of us, they would have no doubt continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they're not of us. So see the difference in those who trust the Lord and those who forsake all and those who don't is very simple. We leave all because it has no value. We trust Christ and abandon everything because it has really no value. No value.

Isn't that what Paul said about his religion? Paul said that in Philippians chapter three. He had built up his religion. I mean, this man worked hard at this. He said, there was nobody like me. I mean, he's bold statement. He said, I was the top of my religion. He was the Pope of the Pharisees. He was the highest that you could imagine of that religion. And you know what he said about that?

He said, I count all things loss. that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness, which is of Christ, which is of the faith of Christ. That's what that's what's valuable to me. All this other stuff is loss. In the parable, the beggar, the poor man, what does he have when he when the when the king servants come, he says, hey, all is ready. He has nothing to bring with him. Isn't it easy for him just to leave that hobble? Okay. Okay. Why? Because he values the word of the king over what he has. You see, true faith always is accompanied by this surrender.

Abraham. Abraham is an example of this, right? When God told Abraham, he said, I will make of thee a great nation. Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven. You know what he's talking about? He's talking about he was going to be the eminent type of every believer. He was going to be the father of us all.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. How do you know Abraham believed God? Because when God said go. He went. You see, Abraham's faith was proven by what? His abandonment of everything he held dear. See, it wasn't just pretense. What if Abraham said, okay, I believe you, and he didn't go?

Is that faith? No. This is what many do. I believe you! And yet, when they're called to forsake their time, their money, their family, to worship God, what do they do? Well, make an excuse for me. Surely grace, grace, grace. That's what we call licentiousness. That's a, it's a, it's using grace as a reason why you should keep the things of this world. That's not trust. That's not faith.

But a poor man has nothing to leave. So when he leaves, what does he leave? Leaves nothing. Now what you left, what'd you have? Come to Christ. He is all your righteousness. What'd you have to leave? You left your righteousness. You didn't have any, but you left it. Christ is all your offering to God. What offering did you have? Nothing. You freely left what you didn't have.

And what are the things to this world to you but nothing but borrowed trinkets? Isn't that what our children are? They're borrowed. You won't keep them. What about your life, your health? You gonna keep that? To one who is convicted of the Holy Spirit of God, we come because we have nothing and Christ is everything. What about those thieves?

It says the highways and the hedges. People, that's what they used to do to ambush. They'd hide in the bushes and then ambush somebody and rob them. He said, go get those guys. Isn't that what we were? Thieves and robbers of the glory of God. And yet God came to us and he said, all is ready. Forgiveness, ready. Pardon, ready. Peace with the king is ready come. Was it anything for them to leave their dens of iniquity?

No. These are the ones who trust Him. And we say who trust Christ, we say it is not safe to trust the flesh. Isn't that true? It's not safe to cling to the things of the world. My only safety is found in Christ. Jesus said this, what does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Isn't that wisdom? Tell me, you who will not believe because you want to keep the things of this life, if you had it all and lost your soul, what would it do you? What good would it do you?

I thought of an illustration a long time ago. Two men fell into the Niagara Falls. They see this big, sturdy log, and they both grab ahold of it. They're floating to their death, yet they feel safe. That's us. Grab ahold of the things of the world, the things of the flesh, and we feel safe, all the while running to hell.

There's a man on the shore, and he throws a rope out. And one man looks at the log and he says, well, the rope is thin. It's flimsy. He uses his logic. He uses his reasoning. And he said, this is sturdy. Why would I leave this for that? And the other man looks at the log, and then he looks at the man holding the rope. And he says, wait. This is not tied to the shore. And he grabs the rope, trusting the man holding it.

This is what we do. We leave the world and we trust Christ. We lay hold of the rope because He is the object of our faith. The rope is not our object of faith. He is! And so when He said all is ready, what do we do? You can have that. I want Him. on Him. So we, by faith, cling to Him. That's what it is to trust Christ. To believe on Christ is to leave these temporary things of life.

I'll tell you this, we're thankful for the things that God gives us in this life. Anything you have is a gift, isn't it? You have children, you have joys, you have any of these things, they're gifts of God. Nothing wrong with these things. except when they interfere with the worship of God. Look back at your text. Look at verse... Look at verse 26. He says, if any man come to me, if any man believe me, if any man trust in me, And hate not his father, and his mother, and his wife, and his children, and his brothers, and his sisters, and yes, his own life also.

He cannot be my disciple. Now, the Lord is not advocating hate for your parents or your children. There's no way He's advocating that. It's against the law. The law requires that we love our families. What is He saying? If you're going to trust Me, you must set Me above all of these. Well, you cannot be my disciple. How many have professed faith in Christ and yet because of love of things, love of family, love of job or whatever, they will not worship God? What does that mean? That's just a deeper sign of this. They don't really trust it. They don't believe him. But we who do, listen, to us, it's just reasonable. Look what Paul says in Romans 12. What does Paul say about the trusting Christ? Romans chapter 12, look at verse 1.

He said, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. Everything he talked about before was that same message I preached, all is ready. The mercies of God, salvation by grace. He had preached it for 11 chapters. Salvation is all of God, all of grace. And he said because of that, listen to what he said, I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, whole and acceptable to God, which is what?

Reasonable, sir. Why would we give up the things of this world? Because it's reasonable. to us who believe it's safe. Paul says this earlier in Romans, he says, how he that hath given us his own son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? So I'm going to give you a few things, a few reasons why you should let the things of the world go and trust him.

First of all, because he's sovereign. Everything God determines to do, he does. Now it was His determination to save you. It was His will that you should be made holy. Now then, His determination was that you be made holy not by anything you've done, but by Jesus Christ. And now that Christ has done that, what will stop Him from saving you?

You see, love is the motivating factor for surrender. It's not law. When he says forsake all, it's not law. It's love. We abandon this stuff because of love for him. Because of his love for us. You know, Cheryl left her home and her family because of love. Make her leave? When Christ called me, He didn't make me. He didn't drag me by the hairs of my head.

He gave me a new heart, a new mind, a new will by which I love to come. And by which I gladly forfeit all of these things. Love is the motive of surrender. And because God is sovereign, you can trust Him. You can trust Him because it's finished. Man, your salvation's done. Your salvation's accomplished. There's nothing you need to bring.

In Matthew's Gospel, there was a man that brought something. You know, in that parable, he adds this at the end of this parable. He said there was a man who came to the wedding feast not having a wedding garment. In other words, he rejected the garment provided, and he brought his own. Now if you bring your own, you'll be rejected. But we who come don't have one.

So what do we gladly do? We gladly take the rope. We freely take it. Why? Because Christ is our righteousness. He's all of our righteousness. We don't contribute anything to it. He's my sacrifice. He's my offering. He makes me acceptable to God. We should trust Him because He has sent His Spirit into our hearts, causing us to believe. You believe. Now why do you believe? Man, why do you believe? Why do you trust? I know this.

We do not believe or surrender as we all desire. We still have this flesh that seems to pull us in the opposite direction and many times we fail in this matter of surrender. One thing I'm so grateful God never leaves me there. He always prides this world from my hand by showing me His grace. And I believe because He gave me faith to believe. I surrender because He gave me a heart to surrender. And I know this. I have confidence that He who gave us such a heart won't keep us until... That's what Peter said. He said, we are kept by the power of God. For what?

Uninherited. You know, your inheritance is not this world. Do you realize your country is not this country? Your family is not your family? All this stuff is going to be left behind soon. What's left? The only thing that matters, Christ. The only object of love and affection and trust in this life must be Christ. And if it's not, you just don't trust Him.

You don't think it's safe. But you would trust Him, listen to me, it's safe. How safe was Noah and the ark? How safe? How safe was the firstborn in the house of blood? How safe? How safe was the manslayer in the city of refuge? How safe? How much more safe are you in Christ? You're safe. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and don't lean to your understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. Acknowledge this, all's ready. And He will direct your path. He will bring you to Himself. You can trust that. May God help us to trust.

Stand and be dismissed. Prayer. Gracious Father in heaven, be merciful, be gracious to set our minds and hearts upon Christ and Him crucified, Christ and Him risen again. Keep ever before our minds that all is ready. Salvation's accomplished and move us with love to abandon everything that would interfere with our worship and praise and trust in Christ alone. Forgive us where we fail you. Draw us to yourself. We ask you this in name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Is It Safe to Trust the LORD?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about trusting the Lord?

How do we know that trusting God is safe?

Why is surrendering everything to Christ important for Christians?

How does trusting in Christ relate to recognizing our own nothingness?

What assurance do we have in Christ according to scripture?

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Is It Safe to Trust the LORD?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about trusting the Lord?

How do we know that trusting God is safe?

Why is surrendering everything to Christ important for Christians?

How does trusting in Christ relate to recognizing our own nothingness?

What assurance do we have in Christ according to scripture?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

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