Would you turn back to Jeremiah
chapter 17. If you knew that you were going
to die tonight. I wonder how you would listen
to this message. If I knew that I was going to
die tonight. I wonder how I would preach this
message. Would to God that we may listen
as if this may be our last, and that I might preach as if this
may be the last message I ever preach, and then we're going
to stand before our Maker. The passage of Scripture I read
in Jeremiah chapter 17, we read of two types of men. Look in verse five, thus saith
the Lord. Now, this is the Lord's word.
This is not my word. This is not man's word. This
is not the opinion of the Todrick of Grace Church. This is the
Lord's word. Cursed be the man. that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the Lord." And then we read
in verse 7, Now, you and I are in one of
these two groups right now. I am either under God's curse
or I am under his blessing. There are only two groups, those
who are cursed, those who are blessed. Every son of Adam is
in one of these two groups, the blessed or the cursed, the saved
or the The children of God are the children of the devil. There's
not a third group. I'm in one of these two groups, those who
are under God's curse or those who are under God's blessing. Now, Romans 8.31, hold your finger
there in Jeremiah 17 and Romans 8.31 tells us what it means to
be blessed by God. And I want to be one of these
people, don't you? I want to be somebody that God blesses,
not somebody that's under God's curse, but somebody that's under
God's blessing. Now, in Romans chapter 8, verse
31, the apostle says, what should we then say to these things if
God before us? Who can be against us? If God, the living God, the all
powerful God, The all-wise God, the God who's everywhere at once,
the God who controls all things, whose will must be done. That's the God of the Bible.
If He's for me, who can be against me? To be under God's blessing
is to have the living God for you. Look up in verse 28, and
we know That all things work together
for good to them that love God. This is how they're described,
these people under God's blessing. They love God. Not everybody says, I love God, but
I'm talking about the God of the Bible. That means they love
the sovereign God. They love the holy God. They love the just
God. They love the all-powerful God.
They love God as He's revealed in this book. They love the God
of the Bible. They wouldn't change Him if it
were in their power. They love the way He is, the
living God. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the cause according
to His purpose. Now, if you're under God's blessing,
that means He's purposed you to be blessed. for whom he did
foreknow. He foreknew you. He knew you
beforehand. He loved you beforehand. He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. He's
for you in predetermining that you're going to be exactly like
Christ. Now, that's for you, isn't it?
I mean, if God predestinates something, it is. Not it will
be. It is. It already is because
of the supremacy of his will. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called for you in this irresistible, invincible
call. And whom he called, then he also
justified. He made you not guilty without
guilt before God. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. In Christ, I'm already glorified.
Now, what can we say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? Now that's blessed, isn't it? I want God to be for me. Now
I want you to be for me. I do. I want you to be for me. I want
you to love me. I want you to have my best interest at heart.
I want you to pray. I want you to be for me. But
you know what? If you're not for me, and God
is, that's all right, isn't it? That's all right. If God's for
me, who can be against me? Now, those that are blessed of
God cannot be cursed. And this is what I'm interested
in. I want to be one of these people that God is blessed to
be under his curse is to have him against you. If God be against
you. Who can be for you now, isn't
God for everybody? No, he's not. He's for those
who believe he's for those in his son, he's not for everybody
now, just as Romans 8, 28 says all things work together for
good to them that love God. It's equally through all things
to work together for curse to them that have no love for God.
And that's why they're cursed. They have no love for God. They
don't love Him as He is. They'd change Him if they could.
As a matter of fact, if it were in their power, they'd put Him
out of business. That's what the natural man thinks of God. And all things are working together
for their curse. He didn't call them. He didn't
foreknow them. He'll say, depart from me. I
never knew you. He didn't redestinate them. They're
not called justified or glorified. And God is certainly not for
them. Now, I don't want to be one of
these people under God's curse. And remember, if I'm under God's
curse, it's my fault. It's because I haven't loved
him. That's why I'm under God's curse. Because I haven't loved
him. I don't want to be one of these
people. I want to be one of these people who are under His blessing,
having God for me. Now, with that in mind, turn
back to Jeremiah chapters 17. Verse 5, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man. And here is
the evidence that a man is under God's curse. Cursed be the man
that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the Lord. Now, when he says, Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, he's talking about salvation
here. Trusting in man for salvation. He's not talking about trusting
men in the sense that they're men I trust. I'm thankful for
them. They're men I can count on. They're
men I can rely on. I can expect them to do what
they say they're going to do. Aren't you thankful for people
like that? People you can count on? I can count on my wife. I
know she's going to love me. I know she's going to be faithful
to me. By the grace of God, I can count on her. And I'm thankful
for people we can trust. But this is not talking about
human trust in that sense. This is talking about salvation,
trusting a man for salvation, to trust yourself, to trust the
preacher, to trust the priest. It doesn't matter. It's making
flesh your arm instead of the arm of the Lord. Now, who is
the arm of the Lord? I love that passage of scripture
in Isaiah, chapter 53, where Isaiah says, who has believed
our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Now there he is talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ in a substitutionary death. Look at Isaiah 53. Look at this. Verse 1, who has believed our
report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The arm
of the Lord is the power of the Lord. It's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Savior. For He, He's the arm of the Lord. He shall grow up before Him as
a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no
form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there's no
beauty that we should desire Him. He's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs. It's talking about the cross.
He hath carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes were healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Now that's the arm of the Lord.
And to reject the arm of the Lord and to make flesh your arm?
What do you mean by flesh? That's talking about our human
nature. what we are as looking to human
nature in some way, something in you to be your savior. Let
me tell you what the Lord said about the flesh. He said in John
chapter three, verse six, that which is born of the flesh is
flesh. That which is born of sinful
human nature can never rise above its source. It's always going
to be sinful and it can never be anything but sinful. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. John 6, 63. It is the
spirit that quickens. It's God, the Holy Spirit, that
gives life. The flesh profits nothing. How much does your flesh profit
or benefit or help in this thing of life before God? Nothing. Romans 8, 7 and 8 says the carnal
mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God. If I am in the flesh, what I
am by nature, I cannot, I lack the ability to please God in
any level. You see your calling, brethren,
Paul said, how that not many mighty, not many noble are called
after the flesh. And he did all these things that
no flesh should glory in his presence. We read in 1 Peter
1.23 that all flesh is grass. All flesh. And the goodliness
thereof as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and
the flower fades away. Philippians 3.3 says we are the
circumcision which worship God in the spirit. Rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have. Anybody know the rest of the
verse? No confidence. No confidence in the flesh. I don't have any confidence in
my flesh. I don't trust myself, I don't trust my heart, I don't
trust my inclinations, I don't trust the things that... I trust
what he says in his word, that's it. I have no confidence in this
flesh. Now, in Jeremiah chapter 17,
back to our text, it does say of the Lord, Cursed be the man
that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. And here's what
happens when he does this, whose heart departs. from the Lord. There seems to be a conscious
decision to do this. He wants to go the flesh route
instead of the way of the Lord. His heart departs from the Lord. And here's how this man is described
in verse six. For he should be like the heath
in the desert. And that's talking about a little
small bush that doesn't provide any fruit and it doesn't provide
any shade. It doesn't do anything. It is
no good. He shall be like a heath in the
desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit
the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabit
it. Now, one thing is very clear.
Somebody under God's curse has earned it. Somebody that's under God's curse
is not under God's curse because God determined to curse them. He did determine to curse them,
but it's because they have no love for God. That's why. And they are under God's curse,
and they've earned it. Somebody that doesn't love God
ought to be under God's curse. Paul said, if any man loved not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Maranatha, let him
be cursed upon the return of the Lord. Let's consider this
blessed man. You know, I don't want to be
one of these men that... I don't trust myself. I really don't. If I don't, that means I'm under God's blessing.
God's given me the grace not to trust myself. But to trust
him. Now let's talk about this blessed
man. I enjoy talking about this more than the cursed man. Verse
7. Blessed is the man. Here's the
man under God's blessing. And the world would think blessed
is the man who's rich. Or blessed is the man who's powerful
and influential. Or blessed is the man who has
health. and wealth, or blessed is the
man who has an easy life and doesn't have any trials and tribulations.
Oh, they're blessed of God, but that's not what this passage
of Scripture says. It said, blessed is that man who trusteth the
Lord, whose hope the Lord is. Now, here's the evidence of God's
blessing. If I'm somebody that God has
blessed, if I'm somebody that God is for, If I'm somebody that
God is going to save, I'm somebody who trusts the Lord. Now, turn with me to 2 Timothy,
chapter 1. This is the evidence of being
blessed by God. Verse 12, for the witch cause,
Because I preach the gospel. Because of who I preach and what
I preach, I also suffer these things. Paul was writing from
a prison cell. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. For I know whom
I have believed. Can you say that? Let's say you're going to die
tonight. Can you say that? I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day, that day of judgment. I have confidence
that the Lord is able to save me without my help. Do you have
that confidence? It's said of Abraham after the
Lord told him You're going to have ascendance like the stars,
the sand of the sea. You're going to have a bunch
of babies. And his wife had already gone through menopause, and she
was 90 years old. And God said, you're going to
have children through that woman. You know what Scripture says
about Abraham? He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded, same language Paul uses here,
I'm persuaded, he's able, being fully persuaded that what he
had promised, he was able also to perform. Now, I am fully persuaded
that Jesus Christ is able to save me without my works. Do you believe that? I am fully
persuaded that if he shed his precious blood for me, I must
be saved. I am fully persuaded That if
I have His righteousness, if my sin became His and His righteousness
becomes mine, I am fully persuaded that I stand before God without
sin and without guilt. I am fully persuaded that when
I stand before God on judgment day, that He's going to look
me over and see nothing but that which is holy and perfect and
beautiful. He'll see no sin. I'm persuaded
of it. He's able. That's what it is
to trust the Lord. You trust that He is able to
save you. I'm fully persuaded of this. And listen to me real carefully.
I'm fully persuaded that when He said, it is finished, my salvation
was finished. Completed. And that I lack nothing. Now that's what it is to trust
the Lord. You're not looking to yourself.
You're not looking to your experience. You're not looking to your works.
You're not looking to your doctrinal knowledge. You trust Him. Look at this language. I love this language. Back in
our text in Jeremiah 17, verse 7. blesses the man that trusteth
in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." I love that language. Whose hope the Lord is. Now, hope, what is hope? Hope
is a confident expectation with regard to the future. Now, I
hope it doesn't rain tonight, but I Don't know, it may, may
not. That's a hope so. That's not
the hope the scripture is speaking of. The hope I'm talking about
is a confident expectation. It's, I know so. Not just a hope
it ends up being this way, but it's a confident expectation
with regard to the future. Now, here's my hope on Judgment
Day, that when I stand before God, there will be nothing to
condemn me for. I'm not going to stand before
God merely as someone who is forgiven. I want to be forgiven. Don't anybody take away from
the importance that I want my sins to be forgiven, don't you?
Oh, blesses he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. I want that. But when I stand
before God, I'm not merely going to stand as one who is forgiven. But I'm going to stand before
God as one who has no sin, who's never done anything wrong and
has always done everything that is right. That's the way I'm
going to stand before God. That's what the gospel does.
And here's my hope of this. My hope is the Lord. If He stands
perfect before God, I will too. That's my hope. I love the simplicity
of that. I love the singularity of that.
whose hope is the Lord. And that's better. I don't know
how to say this, but that's even better. Whose hope is in the
Lord? Whose hope is the Lord? His hope is the Lord. It's the
Lord himself. Peter said. Always be ready to
give an answer to every man that asks you a reason for the hope
that's in you. Well, I'm going to give you a
reason for the hope that's in me. In 1 Timothy 1.1, Paul said,
The Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. He himself. The Son of God is
my hope. In 1 Corinthians 1.30, turn with
me there, 1 Corinthians 1.30. But of him, are you in Christ
Jesus? 1 Corinthians 1.30, who of God
is made unto us. Now remember, let's think about
standing before God in judgment. Here's what Jesus Christ is to
every believer. He's my wisdom. God looks at
me and He doesn't see a fool. He sees a very wise man. However wise Christ is, that's
how wise I am, because He Himself is my wisdom before God. Not only is he made unto us wisdom,
he's made unto us righteousness. When God looks at me, when I
stand before God on Judgment Day, he's going to see someone
who is altogether righteous. Because he is my righteousness
before God. At perfect obedience that he
worked out on this earth, his law keeping his perfect righteousness.
He is my righteousness before God doesn't look at me. He's
going to say, I'm pleased. He is my sanctification. He is
my holiness before God. I am a holy man. And it's because
Christ is my holiness. This is the heritage of every
believer. It's my hope that he is my holiness. Here's my hope
that he is my redemption. He is my full deliverance. Let
me give you some other scriptures. You don't need to turn to these.
Let me quote them. He himself is my light. He said
in John 8, 12, I am the light. He didn't say I'll give you light
or show you the light. He said I'm it. I'm the light as to why God
can love you. I'm the light as to why God can
accept you. I'm the light as to why you're
not condemned. Colossians 3, 4 says he's our life. His life
He is my life before God. He said, I am the way. He didn't
say, I'll show you the way or I'll lead you along the way.
He said, I'm it. He said, I'm the truth. Not I'll teach you
the truth, but I'm it. He said, I'm the life. Not I'll give you the life or
teach you how to live. I myself am the life. He is my life before God. Ephesians 2.14 says, He is our
peace. I have peace, it's because he
is my peace. My peace doesn't come from me
looking to myself. My peace doesn't come from my
preaching. My peace doesn't come from my studying. My peace doesn't
come from my witnessing or my praying or anything I do or don't
do. My peace comes from this. He
himself is my peace before God. He's the object of my faith.
He's my assurance. If He's accepted, I am too. That's
where we said, blessed assurance Jesus is mine. You know that
one where it goes, perfect submission, all is at rest. Do you feel perfectly
submitted in and of yourself? Come on now. Are you perfectly
submitted? All is at rest? Here's my perfect submission.
He's perfectly submitted. And that's my peace. That's my
rest. That's my assurance before God. He's my joy. He's my encouragement. He's my surety. Look in verse
13 of Jeremiah, chapter 17, turn back to our text. Oh, Lord. The hope of Israel. I love his name, the hope of
Israel. All that forsake thee shall be
ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the
earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living
waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall
be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved,
for thou art my praise. He's my healer. He's my Savior. And he himself is my praise. I turn over to Luke chapter one
for a moment. First, twenty five. I'm sorry, Luke chapter two,
verse twenty five. And behold, There was a man in
Jerusalem, chapter 2, verse 25, whose name was Simeon, and the
same was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed to 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 up in his
arms, he took the child, the infant, eight days old, and blessed
God, and said, Lord, now let us, thou thy servant, depart
in peace. According to thy word, I am ready
to die, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Saved from what? Salvation is
salvation from sin. That's what I need. I need to
be saved from my sin. I need to be saved from my sins. I need to be saved from myself.
Same thing, isn't it? To be saved from your sin, to
be saved from yourself is the same thing. That's what I need.
What is it that would make someone not have peace at the thought
of dying? And there's only one thing that
makes somebody not have peace at the thought of dying. Sin. Sin. If I have no sin, I'm not
a bit afraid to die. If I have no sin. Now, if I have
any sin on me, I'm scared to death. I don't even want to face
what will happen to me. I'm just afraid. But if I have
no sin, I'm not afraid to die. If I'm saved, I'm not afraid
to die. Now, I love what Simeon says. He holds that one in his hands,
and he says, Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Now, here's complete
salvation in this person. It's not in me. It's in him.
And if salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ utterly and completely,
the way Simeon says it is, he calls it thy salvation. If he
himself is salvation, I'm ready to go in peace. I can look at
death without fear and say, Come on. There's nothing to fear. Because
in him is no sin. 1 John 3, 5 says he was manifested
to take away our sin and in him is no sin. Now let's go back
to our text in Jeremiah 17. And this is what This salvation does. This is what somebody who trusted
in the Lord, this is the result of it. Verse eight, for he, that man
who's blessed, that trusts in the Lord, whose hope the Lord
is, he shall be as a tree planted by the waters. Who planted him? The Lord did. Remember when our
Lord said, every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up? Well, here's one who's been planted
by the Lord. And he's planted by the waters
that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see
when he cometh, but her leaves shall be green even when the
drought is there. And she shall not be careful
in the year of drought. She shall not be anxious. She
shall not be troubled. Beloved, you don't have anything to worry
about. Nothing. In Christ, there's nothing
to worry about. Now, I know your flesh will start
worrying. You might not be worrying now. Soon as you get out the
door, you will. I realize that. But you shouldn't. You shouldn't. Nothing to worry about. It says
neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Now, when God saves somebody
without their works, does that mean that they stay the same? If they were a bank robber before
he saved, they stay a bank robber? If they were a whoremonger before
he saved, they stay a whoremonger? Is that what that means? Well,
you said salvation is not by works. That's true. That's true. It's not by works. But if God
has given you life, you have the Holy Spirit, you have a new
nature, and there's something called the fruit of God, the
Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5.22 is love,
love to God, joy. You're happy about the way he
saves by Christ. Peace. You derive peace from being saved
by him. You derive peace from his righteousness. Long-suffering. You really believe
He's on the throne and He controls everything. Gentleness. That means kindness. Graciousness. Goodness. A merciful attitude. Faith. You believe and you can be believed.
Meekness. You're meek before God. He's
God. Whatever He does is right. Temperance. Control from within
because Christ is in you. Now, when God saves somebody,
you'll bear fruit. Let me tell you something about
fruit bearing. If you hear me and say, boy,
I've got a lot of that, I doubt the Lord's ever done anything
for you. But I know this, you want to bear fruit more than
life itself to his glory. And you can see the fruit in
others. You can see the fruit in other believers. Now, if you're
an unbeliever, you probably can't. You just criticize and look down
on them and so on. But if you're a believer, you
see the fruit in others. And you desire this fruit in
yourself. And you ask the Lord to cause
me to abide in the vine that I might bear this fruit. This
person who the Lord saves, this person who trusts in the Lord,
whose hope is wholly vested in the Lord, he bears fruit all
the way to the end. Two people. Now, let's say before
midnight, every one of us is going to die. Could happen. The Lord may come. Maybe He's
closing or something. You know, let's say that's the
case. There's two kinds of people.
The blessed and the cursed. Who are the cursed? Those who make the flesh, there
are. Those who are depending in some
way upon their works, in any measure to any degree, they are
under the curse of God. Who are the blessed? Those people
who trust the Lord only. the Lord is. Let's pray.