Jeremiah 17:5-13, Where Is Your Trust?
1. Cursed Is The One Who Trusts In Man (v5-6)
2. Blessed Is The One Who Trusts In God (v7-8)
3. You Cannot Trust Your Own Heart (v9-10)
4. Trust Only In Things That Last For Eternity (v11-13)
Jeremiah 17:5-13, Where Is Your Trust?
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We are here in Jeremiah Chapter 17 this morning I've titled The Message where.
Is your trust?
Lord wants to refresh us and renew us in considering our trust in the Lord this morning.
Where is your trust?
Where are you placing your hope and your confidence in your faith now?
This message from the prophet Jeremiah.
Going out to the nation of Judah was an appropriate and very timely message for these people.
The people of God, because they were in a place where they were trusting.
In Egypt, as Babylon has risen up and is coming to conquer Jerusalem, Jerusalem is pretty much all that's left of the nation of Judah at this time.
In Jeremiah's prophecy and, and as this threat is coming, God has been calling his people to repentance.
He's been calling them to come in and get right with him and to walk with him and to amend their ways to change their ways to walk with God once again.
He's called them to trust in him and given them the promise.
If you turn back to me, well, I will deliver you from this threat of Babylon that it's not too late that you have the opportunity still to be delivered from what is to come, but.
The nation of Judah.
They had the nation of Egypt there next to them.
And they thought, well, Egypt can save us from this battle that is going to come together.
We can, you know, link arms and be strong and defeat Babylon.
And so instead of responding to the Lord and obeying the Lord, they leaned upon Egypt and trusted in them.
And God here is warning them.
Against that in advance, and he's calling them to consider who they're trusting.
In and he in.
Doing so paints a couple pictures.
The picture of the one side that has their trust in Egypt and those who have their trust in men, that that it's desolate.
It's like a barren wilderness with a lone shrub there, just all by itself in the the desert and then on the other side.
You have those who trust in God and there is lush, abundant.
Life as a result.
And as God gives us these pictures to consider this morning, I would encourage you to.
Stop and reflect which side better pictures your condition, your life, your soul, which side better depicts where you're at and what you're experiencing.
Because God used these illustrations to speak to us about our faith and our trust in God, and it helps us.
To consider to evaluate where we're at in our trust in the Lord, we're going to work through four points this morning as we look at this passage.
The first one is found in verses five and six.
Here's point number one.
Kursed is the one who trusts in May.
Curse it is the one who trusts in man.
The Lord begins this message in verse five saying thus says the Lord curse.
It is the man who trusts in men and makes flesh.
His strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.
First of all, we see this is a message from the Lord, thus says.
The Lord and this should cause us to kind of perk up our ears and pay attention.
The Lord is speaking.
This is not Jeremiah ideas.
This is not Jeremiah philosophies.
This is not, you know, the ideas of the elders of the day.
Or you know people around them.
This isn't, you know, some educated scholar.
This isn't some fool.
Down in the corner.
This is the Lord himself speaking.
And here's what.
The Lord says he says curse, it is the man who trusts in men.
Now as we talk about man Curse, it is the man and the one who trusted men.
We're not just talking about a gender, right?
We're talking about mankind.
Both sides that that there is this trust in people.
That can be present.
And well, what it does, the Lord says, is it brings a curse upon us.
Now I think it's appropriate to consider as we start off talking about this, that God is not saying that we should be the kind of people that never rely upon anybody else.
He he's not saying that you know you should never have anybody that you depend on or never anybody.
That you trust in in.
Your life that you should be the kind of person who is suspicious of everyone you know.
Like I just I already know you're going to fail me I I can't trust you I'm never going to trust you, right?
I have to do everything myself because everybody knows if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, right?
Like that is not what God is talking about here.
He's not calling us to be that kind of people.
If that was the case.
Well, I would suggest that God would not have established marriage.
Where their God idea God ordained got established that relationship, that is interdependent and we do rely upon one another that that is part of God.
Design for us to rely upon each other to receive from each other to give towards each other in marriage and the body of Christ that is part.
Of what God desires, but the trust that God is talking about here is is even deeper than those relationships can be, and those alliances are relying upon people can be and that is that that what is our soul.
What is our heart?
What is our life anchor?
Good too, and when we trust in man, God says.
Well, it will bring.
A curse.
This morning you came in.
And you found yourself a seat.
What you didn't know is I've compromised the structural integrity of.
One of those seats.
Anytime during the service, one of you is going to fall.
It's just a matter of time.
No, I didn't do that.
That would be cruel, right?
But you came in, you assumed this chair can.
Hold my weight.
And for some of you, that's a bigger stretch than for others, right?
That's why I'm standing and not sitting OK.
You sat down and you, you trusted the chair.
You placed yourself entirely there, and you probably didn't think much about it.
But you gave yourself completely and, and that chair is now holding you.
And what God is saying here is look, if you place your trust in man, what you're placing your trust in is something that the structural integrity is faulty.
And so it's not so much that God has to like go out of his way to bring a curse.
No, no, you're trusting in something that is broken and so it is going to fail.
It is going to bring desolation and destruction, because what you've placed your weight upon, and you're trusting in will never be.
Able to hold.
The weight that you've placed upon it, even in the best of conditions.
Man is faulty and frail and broken and sinful.
And so when we place our trust in man.
It will bring a curse.
Because men will always let us down, men will always fail at some point that chair will break.
Here is Judah is seeking to make an alliance with Egypt.
It's in direct opposition to what God has said and this is part of the issue that God is addressing here.
Trusting in men is not, again, just like I don't rely upon anybody, but it's trusting in men and men ways and men resources instead of trusting in what God has provided and what God has done.
3rd and God has told the people turn back to me, get right with me.
Don't go to Egypt and I will deliver you from Babylon.
But the people of Judah said, you know?
We think our plans.
Are better.
We don't want to go get right with God.
We don't want to change our ways we don't want.
To change our.
Path our ways are better.
Here's what we're going to do.
We're going to stand with Egypt.
We don't have to change anything and and that way we'll be able to have victory.
And so they determined my plans are better. The elders sought counsel together, and the people of Judah said that plan of the elders, the wisdom of the elders, their their ideas. They're better than God's ideas.
The trust in man is to listen.
Demand ideas.
Demand thoughts demands ways more than we listen to God.
When we believe the promises of people more than we believe the promises of God, we are putting our trust in man.
God here is saying, do not trust in man.
The one that you see in the mirror.
Don't trust that man either, or that woman that.
You see, don't trust.
That person, that reflection that's looking, I know, but that's a good looking image, right?
That is like whoo some awesome characteristics.
That person has a good heart like great things going on.
Yeah, you know like yeah, good stuff.
Yeah don't trust that person.
That person cannot be trusted.
That person will fail.
Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 2826 he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
He who trusts in his own heart.
God says that person is a fool.
If you just believe what you believe you believe, what your heart tells you you, believe yourself.
That's a foolish thing to do, and we'll see that in a few more verses as we head on into the passage where God will tell us that our heart is deceitful.
And so trusting in men, including ourselves, is a foolish thing to do.
It will bring a curse because.
Well, as mankind as men and women we are sinful.
And we fail.
And even when we have the best intentions.
We cannot fulfill.
On the promises and measure up to and meet the needs of the people around us.
He goes on in verse 5 to say whose heart departs from the Lord.
And here's the reality when we trust in man.
We trust in many ways we trust in man's promises. We trust in man's ideas when.
We trust in man.
We may not see it that way, but it is a departure from the Lord.
And again, this was the condition of the nation of Judah at this time.
They had departed from the Lord, but they.
Were still very religious.
They still went to the temple.
They still offered their sacrifices.
They still called out to God.
They still sought out messages from God.
They were very religious outwardly.
But their hearts had departed from the Lord.
They chose to listen to.
The ideas of men, the promises of men rather rather than the word of God, but outwardly they they put on the show.
They were still very religious.
And so it can be hard to tell from the outside where a person's trust is. Everything could be looking good on the outside and maybe if you were there in the nation of Judah, you might think everything is solid.
Everybody people are worshipping.
The Lord and calling out to the Lord.
And yeah, there's the threat.
But we're trusting.
In God and God is saying no.
You're you're listening to men instead of me and.
Here's the results in verse 6.
He shall be like a shrub in the desert.
And he shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, and assault land which is not inhabited.
Here God paints this picture for us to consider.
It says like when you trust in people man resources when you trust in man ideas and man philosophies and man promises you end up like a shrub in the desert.
Just this lone shrub.
Out there in the parched land, it's thirsty, it's lonely, it's desolate.
What's interesting about this is that God says.
You shall not see when good comes.
It's not just the loneliness and the dryness that God is illustrating here.
It's not just that that aspect of.
The curse of trusting in men, but.
When we trust in men.
It also puts us in a position.
Where we are.
Unable to experience when God does fulfill his promises.
As they're you know, experiencing this threat and Babylon is coming.
God has made promises God has.
Plans at work and he is going to still do good things even in the midst of the destruction and judgment that is coming as a result of their sin, but.
But for the ones who have trusted in man.
They they will not get to experience, they won't get to see.
When good comes, I like how Alexander, McLaren, the commentator, puts it, he says.
He whose trust is set upon creatures is thereby disabled from recognizing what is his highest good, his judgment is perverted.
There is the explanation of the fact that men are contented with the partial and evanescent, that is temporary blessedness, that it may be drawn from human loves and companionship and material things.
He's talking about the mysteriousness of us humanity, like why when there is something far better, do we grasp hold of the lesser?
And here he's explaining, like when we're trusting in man.
It's not just the end result of the the desolation, but but there's a blindness that is applied to us as well.
That we we don't see.
Even when good comes, even when it's there and God fulfills on his promises and and there's opportunity to receive good from God, we miss out and we don't even recognize that that opportunity is available because we've been trusting in ourselves, and we've been working in our ways.
Following our thoughts, chasing after our ideas and our pursuits instead of trusting in God.
And so we limit ourselves.
From what we receive from God because we trust in ourselves, kursed is the one who trusts in man.
I want to walk through a couple signs so just help us think through whether or not we might be trusting in man in some aspect of our life.
And it's worth considering.
Again, this was the people of God that God is speaking to.
Through Jeremiah that that there is the potential in.
All of us.
Even although you know our spiritual journey began by trusting in the Lord at the beginning.
And receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, and being born again, it began by trusting.
In the Lord.
But along the path there is many opportunities for us to shift our trust and to begin to place our trust in man instead of God.
And so we need to consider and evaluate and allow the Lord to reveal if there are areas of our lives that we are trusting in ourselves or others instead of God.
And so here's a few signs to consider.
Number one.
When you don't ask God for help, direction, or instruction.
If you're not in the habit, if it's not part of your decision making process, if it's not part of your kind of day-to-day situation that that you are asking God for help.
Direction and instruction.
That's a good indication that you are not trusting in God.
But that you've instead placed your trust.
You're asking for help somewhere.
You're looking for direction from somewhere.
You're getting instruction from somewhere.
But if you're not asking God for those things.
Then you're going to another source.
And you will find yourself.
A desolate shrub in a barren wilderness.
When you don't ask God for help, direction or instruction.
And you can take this as your life as a whole.
Or you can think about different aspects of your life, your career.
Your home.
Are you trusting in man or are you asking God for help, direction and instruction?
Secondly, another sign to consider for your life is that you know what God says, but you do something else instead.
If you know what God says about a situation about an activity about a, you know whatever you might be facing.
But although you know what God says, you do something else instead.
You can be sure it's definite.
You're not trusting in God, you're trusting in man.
God says the wages of sin is death, and you're trusting yourself and saying, ah, that's not really true in my circumstances.
You see, here's my situation.
I've got this scenario and all these things and all these reasons why my situation is different and that's not going to be applied.
And I believe this is going to be the result, not that result that God says we're trusting in our own ideas.
For our own thoughts, our own ways, and.
Not God's ways.
When you know what God says, but you do something else.
You're trusting in man, thirdly.
When you believe something, someone says more than what God says.
And in particular, I'm thinking of the future things, the promised things, the things that we set our hope upon.
The things that we do right now that's knowing what God says and doing something else.
That's the present.
But there's also those promises, those expectations, there's hopes and and the fulfillment of things that are to come and.
God tells us what is to come.
Generally in life and in the world he gives us great details about what is.
The company also gives us promises that we can hold onto.
But you know, there's promises that other people make to us as well.
Those promises that politicians make to us those promises that people around us make to us.
There's promises that we kind of make for ourselves or to ourselves, or expectations that we have in hopes that we have.
And when we trust those things.
When we believe those things.
More than what?
God actually says we've shifted our trust.
And so I would encourage you to consider.
Who are you trusting and where is your trust?
Is it in man that ends tragically moving on to verse seven and eight? We get point #2 this morning and that is bless. It is the one who trusts in God, and so here we get the contrast.
Watch out don't trust in man.
God is saying but do trust in God that results in good things.
Verse seven says bless.
It is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the.
River and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green and will not be anxious.
In the year of drought, normal cease from yielding fruit.
Here the Lord gives the contrast, the other side, trusting in man.
Disastrous, but trusting in God.
Well, that results in beauty in life.
In refreshment trusting in God.
Is beneficial towards us.
Bless it is the man who trusts in the Lord, and so how do we do that?
Well, just kind of the alternate, the opposite side of those signs that we were just looking at here.
Some signs that you are trusting in God and some helpful ways to consider our trust in the Lord.
Number one, you ask God.
For help, direction and instruction.
Not a real surprise, right?
But but here's a way to trust God.
If you need help, trust.
How do I trust God well?
Make it your habit.
Make it your practice.
To ask God.
Daily consistently throughout the day, ask God for help and direction and instruction.
Go to him, recognize that he has the best plans.
Recognize that he wants what's best for you and that he desires to enable you.
To live the life that he has set before you ask God for help.
Word to him.
Don't trust your own wisdom.
Don't trust what one person says to you alone.
Just like we examine the scriptures whenever we're taught right and we search the scriptures to find out whether it's true in the same way we we need to search the scriptures and and.
Find out I.
Have this idea I want to go this path.
I think this or this.
Is the direction to go, but but Lord, is this really what you want?
Is this what you desire and coming back to God and and giving God opportunity?
To empower us and direct US and instruct us.
How we trust the Lord secondly.
Sign that you're trusting in God is when you do what God says even when you disagree or do not understand.
We considered a couple weeks back in Isaiah Chapter 55 how God said that his ways are higher than our ways as high as the heavens are above the earth.
God's ways are really different than ours.
And what that means is that, well, a lot of times when we get instruction from God when we have God's word clearly in front of us.
We're going to disagree with it.
That says this is the way to go and.
You're going to say I don't think so.
That looks like a terrible path.
That doesn't look smart.
God's going to say this is the way.
To go, and you're going to say I don't understand.
That doesn't make sense to me.
How does that work out?
It's kind of like what Jesus said, right?
If you want to find your life, you have to lose it.
That's weird to us.
That's backwards as it doesn't make sense.
It requires faith.
It requires us to.
Actually trust God.
To do what he says.
Even when I disagree.
We have this, you know situation perhaps and God says forgive.
But I disagree, and I say repay.
And I think if I repay then it will be a result that person needs to feel what I felt and then it'll be resolved.
I'm pretty convinced that I'm pretty.
Sure, I think that's the way that it needs to go, right?
And God says, listen.
You want this situation to be resolved.
You want to.
Be healed from the hurt that has been given.
Here's what I'm going to instruct you to do.
Forgive now, but that doesn't make sense.
Well, So what?
When you do what?
God says even when you disagree.
But do you not understand that is when you are trusting God?
And when we disagree with God and then do what we think instead, that's when we're.
Trusting in man.
We need to trust God to take God at his word, to do.
What he says.
And God promises a blessing with that.
Well, thirdly, the sign that you're trusting in God is you believe what God says more than what?
Anyone else says?
All the promises that can be given all the hopes and expectations that can be placed upon you, or you know, stirred up within you your own promises, your own beliefs or own expectations and hopes.
When you look to what God says and you take his word above your own.
When you take his word above, what everybody else says, his promises above all the other promises that exist.
That is when you trust the Lord.
And God says, if you will do this.
There's going to be a great blessing for you.
He describes it in verse eight.
He shall be like.
A tree planted.
By the waters which spreads out its roots.
By the river.
So it's the opposite picture, not a lonely, desolate, thirsty Bush.
You know, in the middle of nowhere, but.
But here's this tree that has all the resources it needs that has the fresh water that has death and has fruit.
It's a familiar picture to us because, well, it's a picture that God also paints for us.
In Psalm chapter one.
And there's some parallels there that are important in Psalm chapter one verse one and two.
It says bless it is the man who walks, not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day.
And night, but then it goes on in verse 3 to.
Say he shall.
Be like a tree planted.
By the rivers of water.
That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper this familiar tree.
Psalm chapter One, Jeremiah chapter 17.
This tree planted by the water that is fruitful.
That has abundant life.
Here in Jeremiah it's.
Used to paint the picture of one who trusts.
In the Lord.
And Psalm chapter one.
It's used to paint the picture of one who delights in.
The word of God.
And that's not some crazy coincidence that the same illustration is used in both places.
No, it's actually, well, something that God would direct our attention to and say look, there's a correlation.
The proportion to which you trust God is related to, well, how much are you delighting?
In the law of the Lord.
And when you delight in the law.
Of the Lord.
And you meditate day and night.
You immerse yourself, and you receive the word of God.
Well, that enables you to be the kind of person who trusts the Lord and and the result.
Is that you will.
Be like a tree planted by the water.
Having all the resources, the nourishment that you need.
You'll have strength.
Even in the difficult times, and this is important to understand, God is not promising.
If you trust in the Lord, you won't have difficult times.
It goes on in verse 8 to say and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green.
There will be days of heat.
There will be days of drought.
There will be times of difficulty.
But the one who trusts in the Lord God says, although there is difficulty, although the heat comes.
It's leaf.
Will be green.
We will have tests, trials and difficulties.
As we trust the Lord Pastor, HA Ironside says when all goes well, it is easy to deceive ourselves and to think that we're trusting in the Lord, when in reality we are resting on an arm of flesh. The time of trial proves where our confidence really is.
It's easy to trust the.
Lord, when everything is just going awesome and there's no problems and no difficulties and.
No challenges, right?
It's easier to trust the Lord then.
But it's easy to.
Deceive ourselves that we are trusting the Lord because, well, we don't have much occasion to actually trust the Lord, right?
But it's in the.
Times of difficulty.
The times of trial.
That well, the.
Covering is removed and we get to see what what are we really trusting in where is our confidence really, is it?
Really in the Lord.
Or is it in something else?
And so those times of heat will come.
And challenges will take place.
Difficulties will happen.
But there will still be green.
There will still be life even in the midst of the challenges he goes on in verse 8 to say and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
But when you trust in the Lord won't be anxious in the year of drought, not only do we have difficult situations, but sometimes they last for a long time.
And the drought is a year long drought.
Not just a normal season of summer, you know.
Not just that.
But oh, sometimes there's that prolonged season of difficulty.
But the one who trusts in the Lord will not be anxious now.
I think it's really important for us to consider.
When it tells us here that the one who trusts in the Lord will not be anxious.
God is not saying that you will never feel anxious.
He's not saying that we will never feel fear.
He's not saying that, never for a moment, you know will you.
Will you ever have that kind of feeling ever again?
I I would suggest.
Look at things in the bigger picture.
We go through the year of drought.
And there is difficulty.
There is challenges.
There is heat, but but think about it from a 20 years later perspective, looking back.
You held fast, you trusted in the Lord.
That was green.
In your leaves because you trusted in God.
It's not that you never had the emotion.
It's not that you would never experience the feeling, but but that you didn't let the feeling change who you trust in.
You didn't let the feeling change your direction.
I would suggest it's not saying that we don't have anxious feelings or the feelings of fear, but that we have a place to take our anxieties and fears.
It caused me to think about the example of the apostle Paul in acts Chapter 18, where he's ministering to the region of Corinth and there in Corinth.
He had great opportunity but he was.
But listen to.
What God says in acts chapter 18 verse.
Nine, it says, the Lord.
Spoke to Paul in the night by a vision.
Do not be afraid, but speak.
And do not keep silent, for I am with you and no one will attack you, to hurt you for.
I have many people in this city.
God tells the apostle Paul the Great and mighty and Bold and Spirit filled apostle Paul.
Do not be afraid now, why would God tell someone to not be afraid?
I think it's pretty clear Paul was afraid.
He's experienced times of heat.
Administering the gospel he's been persecuted greatly.
He's had great affliction.
He's had great difficulty.
And here in Corinth.
There's some fear.
God says, do not be afraid.
But again, he's not so much saying do not have the feelings of fear.
'cause notice the contrast.
He says, do not be afraid, but speak.
The contrast isn't.
Do not be afraid.
But trust in the Lord.
That's not the the.
Way for Paul to move forward.
Do not be afraid, but speak.
Here's how you trust the Lord, even in the midst of fearful thoughts, you do what God has instructed.
You to do.
Paul, if you don't speak.
That's the shifting of your trust.
And you're not trusting me if you don't do what?
I've instructed you to do.
But Paul, you're afraid you're fearful.
And as you have this fear.
You can't let that dictate what you do.
Speak and do not be silent, and it came with some promises.
He said, for I am with you and no one will attack you, to hurt you now.
A little side note here, even if God promises about the results of the situation were different, the instruction wouldn't have changed, right?
Even if the Lord said I'm with you and people are going to attack you and hurt you.
Still, trusting the Lord would need to move forward to speak and to not be silent.
But here in this case God says, look, I'm with you.
It's going to go well.
You're not going to be attacked.
You've been attacked in other places, not here.
I'm with you.
Don't be afraid, but speak.
And so we have a place to take our anxieties, and the idea is that we don't feel.
It's not that we never feel fear or anxiety or those kinds of things, but.
In the midst of them.
Even though we feel those things.
We trust God more.
And we follow what God says.
We do what God has instructed us to do.
Moving on to verses 9 and 10 we get point #3 and that is you cannot trust your own heart.
Verse 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it.
I, the Lord, searched the heart.
I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit.
Of his doings.
Here's the reason why we cannot trust in man.
Even in our own selves.
Because the heart is deceitful above all things.
You could think a lot of good.
Things about your heart.
You know you look at some person or that person is such a kind heart right?
So that person has such a compassionate heart you could look at yourself in the mirror and think wow, that person.
Has such a.
Good heart, right, you know.
Your heart is best at.
Your heart is best.
That's why it says deceitful above all things.
Above all, the other characteristics and noteworthy things about your heart.
The one that stands out above them all.
Is deceitfulness?
Your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.
That word desperate it.
It speaks about an incurable disease.
Your heart has a situation, has a condition of sin that is incurable by your own means.
It's desperate.
In verse one here of Jeremiah Chapter 17, God speaks about sin being engraved upon the heart with the Iron Pen, and the diamond tip that it's it's engraved there, it's permanent it it cannot be removed, at least not by man's efforts in man's means.
But it's permanently etched.
In our hearts desperately wicked.
But who can know it?
Well, we're so good at hiding from ourselves.
The reality.
Of the wickedness that is there because our heart is deceitful, the biggest liar that you will ever have to deal with.
Is your own heart?
That's the biggest liar that you're going to.
Face for the rest of your life.
Yeah, there's a lot.
Of liars around you.
But that one.
In the mirror.
That's the one that you have to deal with every single day.
Sometimes we're aware of this, right?
Because occasionally we get a little peek and we get that that realization, the horror of realizing a little snippet of what's in our heart and we're like.
I can't believe that's in me.
Our heart is deceitful.
It hides from us the reality.
Of how wicked and sinful we are.
There's things that happen in our life that.
There's things that we do.
And we don't know why we do them.
Why do I do that?
I don't even know.
'cause my heart is deceitful.
There's other things that I do that I'm pretty sure I know why, but I'm totally wrong about it.
But my heart deceives me and I I'm convinced I do this because of this, and then later on, the Lord reveals uncovers no, actually you have a whole different motivation that's deeper, darker, more wicked than you realized.
Then we also have things that we do that we don't even know that we do.
We're not even aware that we're involved in that activity, that attitude, that mindset, and so there's not even an opportunity to begin to consider why our heart hides from us.
The desperately wicked condition that it has, and that's why again, the proverb, say he who trusts in his own heart is a fool.
But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
How do we walk wisely?
God goes on to say I the Lord searched the heart I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways according to the.
Fruit of his doings.
The way to walk wisely is to come and let God reveal our hearts.
To let God reveal his ways to trust God.
Above our own thoughts above our own ideas.
God says your heart is a mystery to you you.
You don't know half.
Of the things that are going on within your heart but I know everything you don't know the depths of the wicked is you have little peaks of it and it.
Horrifies you, but I know it all.
And and I.
Still love you.
And I'm still willing to die upon.
The cross for you.
But I'm going to bring judgment.
I'm going to give to each one according to his doings according to the realities of his heart and.
It's going to be completely accurate and righteous in jest.
I'm not deceived by your heart.
I'm not deceived by your lies and excuses and manipulations.
I know your heart for real.
And that's why God gives us the instruction that he gives us, because we cannot trust our own heart.
Well, finally verses 11 through 13 we get point #4.
Trust only in things that last for eternity, he says in verse 11, as a Partridge that broods but does not hatch.
So is he who gets riches but not by right.
It will leave him in the midst of his days and at his end he will be a fool.
A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
Here God gives another illustration, a Partridge, a bird that broods but does not hatch.
Now there's some debate and discussion between Bible scholars about the situation, exactly that God is describing here.
But bottom line is, it seems to be.
Describing a bird that has more eggs than it can possibly incubate.
And so there's this abundance of eggs, but they're not being covered there.
Not going to hatch.
So it looks really good I look at.
All these eggs we got.
But then in the end they don't have anything, it doesn't hatch.
Now an alternate perspective on this is that, well, there's a bird who steals another bird's egg. And so then when that egg hatches.
Well, those birds don't bond and that child.
Egg flies off and leaves.
And so either way, either perspective you want to take the end result is.
Well, the breed doesn't have that.
Eggs the result?
But it hoped for that it.
Looked like it had.
And God says, this is like anyone who gets rich is but not by right.
It's going to.
End up leaving.
You when you work out your ways, you work out your plans and and the scary part is sometimes it looks like it works.
Right, we have the saying don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Watch for a reason, 'cause it's like whoa look at all these eggs.
It looks like it works right?
And sometimes we can do that.
We look at our plans and like Oh my plan worked.
I got what I wanted I got my riches I got my success.
I got, you know, married or I got this.
I I attained whatever my goal was when I and I got it.
But God says like if you didn't get it by doing right?
By walking with God, it's going to leave you.
And it may look great.
But there's just a bunch of eggs that you're not going.
To be able.
To hatch and in the end.
You'll be a fool.
And so Jesus tells us in Matthew Chapter 6 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth.
Where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch, right?
Don't don't put your trust in all the eggs that you've been able to accumulate, and all the successful plans that you've had.
Listen if those are accomplished in your efforts trusting in man.
It's going to end up.
With no value to you, you're.
Going to be a fool.
But if you'll trust God and lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
And invest yourself in things that have eternal value.
Well, you'll be blessed now.
How do you know that has eternal value?
It's easy to see what God says about it.
He's the one who knows verse 12, a glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
A glorious high throne.
What one who is glorious?
One who is trustworthy, one who is capable of all things, that that's who we're trusting in, and he is from the beginning that is that God has always existed.
He has always been there.
He is eternal, everlasting, going backwards and going forwards.
1st 13 O Lord, the hope of Israel all who forsake you shall be ashamed, those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord.
The Fountain of living waters.
Allowed the hope.
Of all Israel, the hope of all.
God's people.
He's our hope.
He's the one that we can trust in, and if we forsake him, we will be ashamed.
Because we forsake the fountain.
Of living waters.
Has there ever been a teenager that Jonathan brought the youth just in time?
Has there ever been a teenager who didn't think that they knew better than their parents?
Has there ever been a person who didn't think that they knew better than God?
We all do.
We all have times where we think we know better.
And we trust in the things of the temporary.
But we need to learn to trust in the things that last for eternity.
Where is your trust?
Listen if your trust is in man or woman.
Any men, philosophies or ideas, promises or goals?
It's kind of lined up being a curse.
Destruction follows, but if you will trust in God.
You will be.
Blessed guaranteed don't trust your heart.
Don't trust your perspective your take let God override let God overrule let his word be the authority in your life.
Trust only in things that last for eternity.
And as we prepare our hearts this morning for a time of communion.
We have a reminder in these communion elements of why we can trust God because he once and for all gave himself demonstrated his love and said look, this is my body which is broken for you.
He gave us the cracker for.
That he gave us the cup and he said, this is my blood which is shed.
For the remission of sins, you know that's in, etched into your heart that.
You're not even.
Aware of most of the time, but you get a glimpse of it and you're horrified.
Listen, there's much more there.
It's much darker.
And you don't even want to know, but.
My sacrifice for you, you believe in me.
And I can cleanse you completely.
I can wash you thoroughly.
That sin is removed.
I take out that heart of stone, God says, and I give you a heart of flesh.
I can hear my voice.
It's the work.
Of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit upon us.
As we believe in him.
We can trust the Lord.
I look at it in.
This way it's the ultimate Yelp review.
The ultimate.
You have the one who knows all things.
Who came from eternity, proved once and for all his everlasting love, and he says.
You can trust me.
We don't have to worry.
You know, sometimes you read reviews and you kind of like take off the top when you take off the bottom.
When you try to get the average, it's like I don't know who can I trust you're trying to read through?
How can I trust?
This, but I don't know if I can trust this person hears Jesus and he says look God loves you.
And here I am to prove it.
I'll give my life.
I'll sacrifice myself so that you can be forgiven of sin.
So that you can know that God loves you and that you can trust him.