We live in unusual days, turbulent,
tumultuous days, with much uncertainty in the world around us, much
confusion, much fear, many changes. And with all the uncertainty
around us, with all the fears and the concerns and the worries,
with all the worries about this coronavirus, which is having
such an impact in the world, with all the worries about the
economy as a consequence, with all the instability in many nations,
with all the wars and the famines and the tragedies and the floods,
with all the doubts and the fears, in what can we trust? And in
whom can we trust? Can we trust the governments? Can we trust the advice and the
wisdom of men? Can we trust ourselves? King Solomon, in the book of
Proverbs, wrote these plain words. which we would do well to take
heed of, whoever we are and wherever we are. Proverbs chapter 3 and
verse 5. 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. Be not wise
in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from
evil. It shall be health to thy navel,
and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance,
and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy
barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine. 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 whom can we trust trust in the lord with all thine
heart time and again the psalmist in the Psalms speak of trust in God of God
being their rock and their shield and their refuge their fortress of blessing coming unto those
who trust in the Lord of safety and mercy from the Lord countless
times in the Psalms we read of trusting in the Lord. Why? Because
the Psalmist, because David, because these men of God found
by experience that God can be trusted and that he's the only
one who we can trust, who we can truly trust. because he blesses
those who trust in him. He is their rock and their salvation. David found refuge in the Lord
when the storms of life came upon him. When pestilence came
upon him, when his enemies raged against him, when all manner
of evil came to his door, David found refuge in the Lord. He
trusted in his God and his God looked after him, his God protected
him, his God led him in the right way. 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. He is a rock unto those that
trust him. Trust in the Lord, Solomon writes. in this verse, with all thine
heart. Trust in the Lord. Where do you
place your trust? For if it's not in the Lord and
in the Lord alone, you'll find that trust to be broken. You'll
find that trust to be misplaced. You'll find your hopes to be
dashed and your fears to be realized. Trust in the Lord, we read, not
in man or in man's wisdom. or in the knowledge of man or
the direction of man. No, neither in chariots or horses
or the power or the strength or the might of man. Trust not
in riches, for riches can be taken away. Trust not in the
bow or the sword, the weapons of your warfare, which depend
upon you. Trust not in self, nor your own
heart, which will fail you. Trust not even in Moses and the
law of God, which demands your own obedience, your own strength
to keep it. Though God wrote that law and
gave that law to man, trust not that salvation or that hope will
come through the law. or in your own strength. Trust
not in your own efforts in religion to save you from opposition,
to save you from trial and trouble. And trust not in thine own understanding,
for your understanding, your knowledge, your wisdom won't
save you when the storms of life come your way. Build not upon
the sand, but upon the rock. trust in the Lord whom David
proved to be a rock upon which he could not be moved when the
storms came. Many there are that are building
upon sand in this day and at this hour. How fearful men are
of that which is outside of their control. when illness, when disease,
when death comes to their door oh how they will run about doing
this and doing that and fearing the judgment that comes their
way but never recognizing from whence it truly comes or why
it truly comes why do these judgments come upon us? because of our
sin and our rebellion against the Holy God. Who in grace and
mercy declares to a fallen world that sin will be judged and the
wages of sin is death. The consequence of rebellion
and unbelief is death, whether it comes sooner or later. But the answer to death is in
the Gospel of Christ and the death of God's own Son, who came
into this world to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sinners, to
take their place, to die the death they deserve to die, to
swallow up the judgment due unto their sins, that through Him
they might be forgiven. washed of their sins, washed
in His blood, clothed with everlasting righteousness, having eternal
life in Him. You may fear what a day may bring. You may fear what disease might
come to your door tomorrow. But do you recognise that your
sin is the cause of your death? whether you live to be a hundred
or whether you die as a child. Whenever it comes, it's coming,
and it's coming because of sin, and the answer to sin is in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. But how many fear the judgment? How many fear the disease? How many live in fear of death,
but they don't fear the God that stands the other side of the
grave? and they don't own that it's their sin that brings this
upon them and they place their trust in everything and everyone
but the one who can truly save them trust in the Lord with all
thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding with
all thine heart holy in the Lord not partly in him and partly
in man, not partly in him and partly in yourself, but trust
in the Lord with all thine heart. Not in man. Not in man's wisdom. Not in chariots, not in horses,
not in the bow, not in the sword, not in riches, not in self, not
in our own hearts. Psalm 118.8 reads, It is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Man is
weak. Man's a sinner. Man has fallen
into rebellion against Almighty God. Why do you trust in men? They're as wicked as you are.
They break promises like you do. They tell lies like you do. They're no stronger than you
are. Trust in the Lord. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. Oh, you say,
well I know that, I know that I can't solve these problems,
and I know that my neighbour may not be able to solve these
problems, but, but the government, the leaders, they know how to
solve it, they have the power, they have the resources, they
have the scientists that advise them, they can deal with it.
for not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom
there is no help. We see laid bare in the world
around us that even the greatest of nations and the greatest of
leaders cannot stop that which is outside of their control.
When God sends a disease, He's in control. And he sent far greater
diseases than what we see today. This is a gentle reminder of
what could be. How many died under the great
plague in a former day? How many have died through many
of these diseases? These terrible things that have
come. These terrible plagues that have come throughout the
generations. Man cannot stop them. Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departeth from the Lord. Oh, what a warning. Not only is there no help in
man, not only is it better to put your trust in the Lord than
your confidence in man, but God says in this place, Jeremiah
17, 5, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh
his own. If you trust in man, another
man or yourself, another man's strength or your own strength,
if you trust in man, you're under a curse. You'll be cursed, you'll
fail, you'll die. Man has no answer for his own
sin. He's dead. He's dying. Every man you put your trust
in, in a few years time will be gone. We're all dying and
we're dying because of the sin that rages in our hearts. Our
lives in this world are brief. We are walking towards the grave
because of the curse of sin that reigns within us. By one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the Lord. If your heart goes another way
if you trust yourself or your own strength or the strength
of man and the wisdom of man and your heart is not set upon
God if your trust is not in God then you are under a curse you
shall surely die in the day that thou eatest the fruit of this
true, thou shalt surely die. I swear in the Psalms we read
that some trust in chariots and some in horses. Some trust in
the power and the might of man, in the things man builds, in
his control of horses, and those things in nature that he can
harness to his own ends. Some trust in chariots, some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Oh, how the foolish laugh and
sneer at those that follow Christ and his gospel. Oh how the world
mocks and scoffs at those that honour God. Those that trust
in His name. But oh how many of them perish
in their sins. How they laughed at Noah when
he built that ark. And yet they all perished in
the storm. And Noah and his family, but eight people chosen out of
this world, were delivered. You can laugh at the gospel all
you like. You can mock those that follow
God. But your destruction is set if
you have departed from the Lord. He that trusteth in his riches
shall fall. But the righteous shall flourish
as a branch. There's no salvation in riches.
Oh, you might be able to buy the best place to live. You might
be able to buy the best medical care. You might be able to buy
the advice of men. You might be able to buy so many
things, but it merely delays the inevitable. Even the richest
man cannot buy eternal life. Even the richest man cannot buy
forgiveness of his sins. Even the richest cannot buy salvation. For I will not trust in my bow,
neither shall my sword save me, the psalmist says. Trust in the
Lord. Christ himself in John's Gospel
says unto the religious, unto the Jews, who would not trust
him, but trusted their religion, trusted their tradition, trusted
their law keeping, trusted in themselves and their own self-righteousness. He says, do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust. You turn to the law. You turn
to Moses because you think if you live a certain way God will
be pleased to honour you and deliver you from all your trial
and your trouble. You think that salvation comes
through your religion and your obedience and the way you live
and how separated you are from the world and how honouring of
God you are by your own zeal and your own efforts. But Moses
and the law condemn you. Because your outward obedience
isn't good enough. In your hearts you break that
law every day. In your hearts you are far off
from God. Whatever appearance of righteousness
you might put on before others, you can go to every meeting.
You can spend many hours in prayer and Bible reading. You can do
all the right things and say all the right things. But God
sees inwardly. And Moses' law sees inwardly. and finds you out it finds out
every failing because that law will condemn you unless you keep
it in every jot and tittle in every point constantly continuously
every day of your life from the day you're born to the day you
die you cannot keep it Oh there are many that care not
for the things of God who trust in man who'll find to their ruin
and despair that God's judgment comes upon them in the end but
there are many yet who think they serve God who think that
they have accepted Jesus into their heart, who think that God
will be pleased with them, who are trusting in their own religion,
trusting in their own works, trusting in their own decision,
trusting in Moses, who will find themselves condemned. By the
very law they strive to keep. By the very religion they seek
to uphold. Because they've never truly come
to God. It's all outward. It's all a
show before man. It's all in their own pride and
wisdom. Religion won't save you. The
Gospel will. Christ will. And only Christ
can. Only His blood can wash away
your sins. and only God-given faith can
cause you to lay hold of that blood and be cleansed of that
blood. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. He that trusteth
in his own heart is a fool. Solomon writes elsewhere in Proverbs. But whoso walketh wisely, he
shall be delivered. Do you trust in your own heart,
in your own understanding, in your own wisdom? Are you so confident
in your own beliefs and your own wisdom about things and your
own knowledge of things? If you do, you're a fool. The
child of God knows he's nothing. The child of God knows he's a
sinner. The child of God knows he can
get nothing right. The child of God knows he's hopeless
and lost. And his only hope is in God. His only hope is in God's Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and in his blood. He clings on by faith. And that faith is a gift. of God. He knows his own heart
blows hot and cold. He knows his own heart is full
of wickedness. He knows his only hope is entirely
outside of himself, entirely in Christ and his gospel. Because he knows what he is.
As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, but we had the sentence of death
in ourselves. that we should not trust in ourselves
but in God which raiseth the dead. We had the sentence of
death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in
God which raiseth the dead. What a place to come to, what
a knowledge. You must come this way. You must
come away in which God experimentally teaches you that the sentence
of death is in yourself. That your sin has slain you. That your sin condemns you. That
your unbelief has set you apart from God. There's nothing good
within. There's nothing good in your
own heart. There's nothing good in yourself. The sentence of
death is there. And when you come to see that,
when you come to know that, you will cease to trust in yourself. But you will lay hold upon God
and only upon God. You will seek His mercy. You
will cry out for mercy. Oh God have mercy upon me a sinner. Help me. For I am lost, I'm undone,
I'm corrupt from head to toe. The sentence of death is in me. I have sinned, as David said,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. Yes, I've wronged man. Yes, I've done this, but it's
all against God. And his judgment rains down upon
my sin. The sentence of death is in me. And yet who writes this? Who
writes this to the Corinthians? Who writes these words? Born
from experience. Paul does. And Paul elsewhere tells us that
of all people, if there was any confidence he could have had
in the flesh, if there was any confidence he could have had
in self, he was the one that could have had it. He was He
was a Pharisee. He was raised up in religion.
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, he writes, if any
other man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more. Circumcise the eighth day of
the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin. and Hebrew of the
Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. If you're going to turn to religion,
if you're going to turn to the law, if you're going to turn
to some confidence in yourself or in your flesh, or in your
own obedience to God, your own obedience to the law, then you'll
never do better than Paul did. You'll never do better than Saul
of Tarsus did. He might have had confidence
in the flesh. He had something he could look
to and say, well, yes, I was obedient. Yes, outwardly I did
this and I did that. I was born of the right stock.
I was circumcised by my parents on the eighth day. I was born
of the stock of Israel. I have the right upbringing,
the right lineage. I was born in the tribe of Benjamin. I was a hero of the Hebrews.
And as a man, touching the law, I was a Pharisee. I was full
of zeal for the things of God. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, I was blameless. If you think that you, by your
own efforts in religion, can make yourself right with God,
if you think you can have some confidence in the flesh, some
confidence in what you've done, it's not as much as me. And yet
he tells us, But what things were gained to me, those I counted
lost for Christ. What things were gained to me,
those I counted lost for Christ. Far from getting me closer to
God. Far from delivering me from my
fears. Far from delivering me from condemnation. They condemned me more. I was
full of pride. These things puffed me up. they
didn't deal with the real problem though outwardly I might have
appeared one way inwardly I was still full of sin this sentence
of death was in me that I should not trust in myself
but in God which raiseth the dead trust in the Lord and lean
not unto thine own understanding What leads to such trust? What takes a dead sinner and
brings them to trust in the Lord? By nature, none of us do. By nature, we follow man. We trust man. We trust the might
of man. We trust ourselves. We trust
our own strength. We trust our own wisdom. By nature,
we go one way. None of us seeks God. None of
us trusts God. None of us believes God. We haven't
got time for Him. We don't care for Him. We think
we know better. then what leads to such a change
in our understanding? What takes a man that's going
one way and turns him 180 degrees and sends him back another way?
What takes us when we're fleeing from God to turn around and walk
before God and seek God? What leads us under Christ? What
leads us under salvation? What makes us trust The Gospel
does. The hearing of faith does. The intervention of God does. There comes a day when He comes
unto us wherever we are and preaches His Gospel to us and reveals
His truth unto us. He makes us to see that which
we could not see. He comes and touches our blind
eyes. and we open them and we see. He comes and touches the lame
and the lame do walk. He touches the ears of the deaf
and the deaf do hear. He comes unto the graveside and
says, come forth. And we live and we come forth. Nothing but the gospel can make
you or I turn from our sin, turn from the deception and the corruption
of sin and trust in the Lord. Paul writes in another epistle
to the Ephesians of the trust he and they have in God. He writes God trusted in Christ. He writes in chapter 1 and verse
12 that we should be to the praise of his glory, God's glory, the
Father's glory, that we should be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. in whom also after that ye believed
ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. God's work
in us, God's work in sinners whom he's chosen under salvation,
under whom he comes with the preaching of his gospel. whom
He delivers from their sin, whom He quickens to life by His Spirit,
whom He causes to be born again by the Spirit through the preaching
of the Gospel. God's work in us is such that
we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in
Christ, in whom we also trust. After we hear the word of truth. the gospel of our salvation,
in whom also we believe. And having believed, we are sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise. What causes us to trust in God? The hearing of the word of truth,
the gospel of our salvation. We will never trust in God until
we're brought to hear this word and this gospel. It's this truth
of God and his sovereign saving grace, his free grace and mercy
in Christ. the substitutionary death of
Christ in the place of his people. It's this gospel of salvation
which will bring us to trust in the God who trusted in his
Son, who brought in salvation for his people. Have you heard
this gospel? Have you heard this truth? There
is nothing more vital to your soul than to hear this Gospel
and be brought by God to trust and believe this Gospel. To trust and believe in Jesus
Christ and to follow Him, trusting and resting in Him alone. Every word of God is pure. Solomon writes elsewhere in Proverbs.
He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. His word brings them unto faith. It gives them that trust. And having given them that trust,
They continue to hear him and they continue to hear every pure
word from his lips which shields them from all opposition, from
all trial, from all trouble. He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in him. Now no man puts their trust in
God until he by grace preaches his gospel unto their souls. brings this pure Word of God
in truth unto their understanding, opens their ears to hear it and
their eyes to see their Saviour crucified for them. When He comes
in the Gospel in power and puts faith in the heart to believe,
then we trust. Then we trust. Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Until that day, all our leaning
is upon our own understanding. Until the day comes that God
opens our eyes to the truth and puts faith and trust in the heart
in Him, all our leaning is towards our own understanding. And if
you know not Christ, If you reject his gospel this day, it's because
you're leading upon your own understanding, which will damn
you, eternally. Because there's a way that seemeth
right unto a man, but it leadeth unto destruction. It will damn
you. Trust not in man. Trust not in
chariots and horses. Trust not in the bow and the
sword. Trust not in princes. Trust not
even in Moses. Trust in the Lord. Christ trusted
in the Lord. And it is through his trust,
his faith in God, that we are saved. It is his trust, his faith
in God when he hung upon the cross in the darkness at the
hour of greatest need that brought about the salvation of his people. His opponents, his enemies, when
they saw him upon the cross jeered and mocked him, and cried out,
he trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him,
for he said, I am the son of God. They mocked him. They knew that he trusted in
God. They'd seen his life. They'd seen his witness. They'd
heard his words. They knew whom he trusted. They
knew whom he followed. And here they have, they've got
him. They've taken him. They've nailed him to a cross
and they laugh and they mock and they say, well, you trusted
in God before. Let God deliver you now. And
they watched. as he suffered and as he died
and then the darkness came upon him when God laid upon him the
sins and the sin of the world the sins of his people and the
sin of the world as it was laid upon him and the darkness came
down upon him because the light was taken away because he became
sin in the sinner's place and the judgment and the wrath of
God's fires came down upon him the fires of God's wrath came
down upon him and he suffered in the darkness even in that hour even at that
point of time Even though God was bruising him and beating
him, even though the Father's wrath against the sin that was
laid upon him came down upon him in full ferocity, Christ
still trusted. He still believed. He knew that
this would bring about the salvation of all his people. Eli, Eli,
lama sabakthana he cries, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? But despite the cry, despite
the fact that God's face was turned from his own son Christ
knew why he was forsaken because of the sin that he bore and he
knew that when it was taken away when the price was paid when
every drop of God's wrath had been poured out upon every last
sin of God's people Christ knew that then the light would return
Then his father's faith would return unto him in love and mercy. He knew that his trust would
be rewarded. He knew his faith would be rewarded. He knew he would see the satisfaction
of his soul. He knew that everyone whose names
were written upon his heart, everyone for whom he suffered
would be brought through the storm, would be brought through
the storms of death, would as it were in the ark, in the storms
that Noah went through, would be brought through the storms
and come out the other side on dry land. He trusted in God. His faith was rewarded. And God
the Father trusted in Him that we should be to the praise of
His glory who first trusted in Christ. God looked upon His Son
as He beat Him upon the cross and He trusted that He'd endure
to the end. They covenanted, they promised
to bring about salvation. And the Son trusted His Father
in the darkness and the Father trusted His Son. and that faith
was rewarded. 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. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
fear the Lord and depart from evil. Trust in the Lord with
all thine heart. This trust that Christ had was
single-hearted. He trusted God with all his heart. And God's people, David, Job,
Paul, trusted God with all their hearts. no matter what the circumstance
they were in. It's easy to trust or give an
appearance of trusting in a sunny day, in fine circumstances. But faith is seen, faith is proved
in the darkness, in the storm, in the pestilence, in the fire,
It's when Christ hung upon the cross that his faith was magnified. Job trusted in God in a fine
day before the storms came upon his house and family and himself. But he also trusted when everything
was taken away. And he cried out, though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him. but I will maintain mine own
ways before Him. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust in Him. Even if He should send me to
hell that I deserve because of my sins, I will still trust in
Him. He is God. He's done all things
right. There's no one else to trust. I will still trust Him. I will
still praise Him. If He sends me to hell, I will
say He's done the right thing. This is the cry of faith. This
is the trust of one who's been brought to know God. This is
the trust of one who's had the sentence of death pronounced
in themselves, that they should not trust in themselves, but
in God which raiseth the dead. This is the cry of one that believes
in a God that raises the dead. Why was Christ's faith true to
the end? Because he knew that though he
was dying, and though he would die, God raises the dead. How could Job say, though he
slay me yet will I trust in him? Because he believed in a God
that could raise him from the dead. How did Saul of Tarsus
Paul believe? in his God when all men raged
against him because he believed in a God that raises from the
dead. Be not wise in thine own eyes.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Man can do anything to
you and you may fear men but men can't save you. Fear the Lord who can either
send you to hell forevermore because of your sin or who can
deliver your soul from the grave and raise you from the dead because
of the death of his son in your place. To where do you look for
help? From whence do you look for salvation? In whom do you trust? Where is
your faith? In what do you believe? Believe
in the gospel. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. Trust in him and in his word. Trust in the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Trust in the
Lord.