Trust in the LORD

Readings

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Introduction

The potions of Scripture chose by the Uniting Church Lectionary team are very complementary.

We have heard from two very different authors of the Bible today; two from the Old Testament and one from the New, but all had the same problem –they were dealing with people who wanted to be the sole captain of their life.

Earnst Henley, an English poet is credited in writing; I am the master of my own fate/ I am the captain of my soul; [1]

Jeremiah was dealing with a wicked and way-ward tribe of Israel – Judah who were being the master of their own fate, diametrically opposed to Jehovah (YEWAH).

Israel had been saved them from slavery in Egypt and saved them from the Egyptian armies, and YHWH had made Israel a great and prosperous nation. But they had gone after their own way, and had entrusted their souls to wooden figures – idols.

Paul had a similar problem – the Corinthian church was incredibly wicked – indeed Paul points out that their sexual deviance exceeded that of the heathen nations – the gentiles to put it more broadly (1 Corinthians 5:1).

But a more sinister notion was creeping in – that Jesus Christ, was perhaps not the Son of God, and perhaps did not die and rise again;

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Cor 15:12)

So like the Jews, the early Christians in this Church were taking a firm grasp of the destiny of their own soul.

It was apparent a shipwreck awaited both Judah and the Corinthian church. Judah did crash – and the city of Jerusalem sacked, and the inhabitants sent to Babylon as slaves.

We will learn today this is also even possible for believers to shipwreck their lives – Paul points out to Timothy, who was a young paster in a big church, that if members of the congregation did not actively fight the good fight; to wage the good warfare against wickedness, their faith and conscience would end up shipwrecking their lives and that of the church (1 Tim 1:18-20).

Both the Psalm and Jeremiah’s passage compares and contrasts the person who trusts the Lord and walks in His paths with the one who does his own thing - the one who lives and thrives in the world.

We will find Jeremiah provides the root cause of the issue.

Shipwrecking actions

Another way to look at this, is to compare a ship’s captain to the pilot who helms the boat into harbour.

For day-to-day activities the ship’s captain is at liberty to what he likes, within the realm of the sea and laws that apply. But dare he enter a harbour unaided, he is highly likely to shipwreck the boat. The pilot is a very skilled mariner who has very specific skills in a particular dangerous congested waterway, where the tides may be contrary or sunken snags a real headache. The captain either can be master of his own boat, or hand it over to a much more skilled person who takes control of the vessel. [2]

The picture before us is not around salvation because without believing in the Lord Jesus Christ one is already shipwrecked. I don’t mean Christians would lose their salvation; but the gospel message of the Corinthians would be empty, impotent; and false. If Christ is not risen, there is no gospel. Deviating from trusting Jesus Christ and disobeying him would end with the individual being ineffective; and more importantly they could go on and corrupt the church, which Paul warns against. Indeed, like an ill-dropped anchor, these folk with such a false gospel would drag the entire church into the abys of utter uselessness for the work of Jesus Christ.

In the case of Judah and in the case of the Corinthian church, neither party had put their trust in God, the author of our salvation.

We will look both the Psalm and the Jeremiah passage to encourage each other to trust in the Lord at all times; that the navigation of our lives is best left to Jesus Christ not ourselves.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a prophet from Israel – his words are melancholic and full of sorrow as he lived in some of the darkest days during the end of the life of National Israel as a whole. [3] He was persecuted, held responsible for the outcomes of his prophecies when they pertained to Israel refusing to turn from idols and false gods to Yahweh.

Yet in mists of misery, he held dear to the grace and promises of Jehovah; and Jeremiah could write;

Though the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

For year after year, the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah had moved to worship idols, had deliberately forgotten the law of Moses and to despise God.[4] So God raised up prophets in an attempt to persuade them of their foolishness and return to Him.

Jeremiah was born during the reign of the very wicked King Manasseh (who sacrificed children to idols but later repented), and when he was very young God called him to prophesy against Judah – the tribe from which Jesus came[5]. Jeremiah was called by God during the reign of King Josiah, who was a relatively righteous king.[6]

But after King Josiah came kings that were more and more wicked; indeed Jeremiah lived right to the sacking of Jerusalem with all its inhabitants taken captive – a fate Jeremiah had being warning about for years. The captivity of Judah was a result of their sin of idolatry.

Our attention is called to the 17^th chapter of Jeremiah and Psalm 1 – both have similar themes. [7]

Blessed

Trusting God

Psalm 1 starts with the one who trusts God, but uses a negative contrast – the stanza sets out where a person trusting God one will not be found; v1 -

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 

When we speak of the world – we mean any aspect that keeps us from communion with God – anything that keeps us from obeying God, deceives us into doing God-contrary things.

The psalm commences with the observation that a believer does not associate with the ungodly. A believer does not take advice from and is not influenced by those who do not know God. The Psalmist provides two aspects of this counsel – a believer:

1. He walks not in the counsel of the wicked
2. He does not stand in the way of sinners
3. He does not sit with the scornful, or those that scorn God

Influenced by the world

Initially a believer might be influenced by the ungodly – he or she might be careless about being a witness for God. They incorporate worldly philosophy into their practices – churches can do this – these sound good, on close inspection they oppose God.

The sin is practical rather than habitual. The sin can be subtle – the doctrines or philosophy of the world can appear right or appealing, but are not aligned with Scripture. We seek counsel from influencers, or social media or worldly friends – which may be right; but can absolutely wrong.[8]

But eventually such a person or church becomes very comfortable with the wicked; they have sought counsel from them, and they comfortably sit with them, and indeed join with them as they scorn God.

For example, we are led to under-recording of a sale to give us a tax advantage, or a slight lie to ensure a bargain or a sale – or passing on some gossip which makes us feel validated and important: when these become habituated – the sin will ensnare us.

The Bible can appear old fashion, restrictive and … churches can start to bring in worldly views into their individual lives and in the end the Bible becomes displaced. There is no washing of the Word – a requirement to be sanctified.[9]

We have before us a salient reminder. We are in the world but not of it[10]. The ways of the world is always opposing God. Of course we don’t lock ourselves behind walls in a monastery. We all have to deal with the world; we might trade with them, make decisions with them, implement policies and procedures – but in every case, our context is God first.

The theme of keeping from the world is not new – the world hates Christ and is ruled by the evil one (whose hold on life and death has been defeated by Jesus). Jesus spoke of it in John 17.

AW Tozer wrote: “The world we inhabit is a lost world. It is a sick, fallen planet upon which we ride.”  The Apostle James writes:

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Jeremiah starts on the negative side, if you could call hell, negative.

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. (Jeremiah 17:5)

When reading the Old Testament it is important to learn the Hebrew meanings behind the English translation of any word relating to God as it gives the true meaning of the words written. Usually, YHWH is written in capitals LORD. Jehovah is Love, or God is Love, He also judges – He is the one loves righteousness and hates wickedness (Psalm 33:5a). It emphasis His justness and righteousness.

[T]there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.
(Isaiah 45:21)

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
(Psalm 89:15-16)

Indeed, the stanza in the just quoted Psalm finishes with: the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. We should see this in the church; both love and unity. Jesus prays in John 17 (v21) for the most important witness he leaves behind – the unity of the people making up his Church. Jesus praying for all believers, says

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)

Paracombe church – it is by your unity that you will be a witness to the district. The unity is accomplishable only if the Holy Spirit is allowed to lead each person. Peter urges Christians to:

[H]ave unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (1 Peter 3:8)

It is unity or being one in Christ, Jesus says will demonstrate that God sent His son to die for the world. It is this unity that demonstrates love – the great love of God indwelling believers. It is the gospel message in practice.

Some might find the Old Testament perhaps barbaric. It is certainly not politically correct in the Western sense – its authors tell it just as it is. Jeremiah does not mince his words – there is no wokness here – the truth is revealed. Not the relative truth, but the truth derived from the fundament nature of God.

Cursed

The unbeliever

Anyone who does not believe in God – that is Jesus Christ is cursed – his or her soul only has one terminus – its life in hell – a word shunned by church and non-church alike. Death brings everlasting separation from God and the resting place of the wicked is hell. Indeed: The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) to put it succinctly.

The Palmist also contrasts the believer –the one who trusts in Jehovah - with the wicked and says they are like chaff; that the wind simply picks them up and blows them away. They have no place in God’s Kingdom.

4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows [knowing] the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

A Christian’s works will be judged – not their soul because a believer has been acquitted by the blood of Christ. Only our works will be tested; yes everything we do and think will be brought to the Lord as our ‘treasure’. One’s life’s works will be tested and each will need to give account; but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient to turn God’s wrath from us.

On the other hand the wicked will be cast into hell and will not stand with the righteous. Verses 5 & 6 may appear a bit confusing:

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows [knowing] the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

God is knowing, indeed all-knowing of both the ways of the righteous and the wicked.

Note carefully that the wicked will not stand in the judgement; they will be judged, but will not stand their ground, they will not stand in their own defence – they have no defence. Why? Because the unbeliever has already been judged because they do not believe in God.

The one who trusts contrasted with the wicked

Jeremiah then contrasts the wicked person with the opposite – the one who trusts the LORD.

v7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD.

Here the word “blessed” will be contrasted with the word “cursed”: a stark contrast if ever there was one.

Jeremiah using a fruit tree metaphor, perfectly apt for this fruit and wine growing district says:

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Water is the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26; Hebrews 10:22) – it has endless nutritional value and sustains each believer.

The Psalmist uses similar metaphors; but the meaning is the same; we are useless if we do not trust God.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

If a man trusts in man – his spiritual growth will be stunted; that person cannot grow to full potential. The metaphor given in Jeremiah verse 6 says such a person is like a shrub – it’s not a tree because trust in the world provides no nurturing value; no nutrients, no water; each man and women is self-seeking, self-entitled and gives only to the extent they will receive back. It is as if they live in the desert – here the deep, dry baron salt land of the Dead Sea.

Psalm 1 is harsher – what such a believer produces is just like chaff. It is simply useless for God.

Paul also takes up this metaphor. He speaks to the Corinthian church comparing a life built with gold, silver and precious stones with one built from wood, hay and straw.[11]

Here we are speaking about a believer; but one who has lost sight of Christ; is not daily in Christ; now sits with the wicked enjoying their company.

Wood, hay and straw will be tested by God – assayed as an analytical chemist would say – test its purity. This requires heating to the extent gold would melt, but wood, hay and straw would burn away. It’s the same image we see the psalmist use – chaff that simply blows away.[12]^, [13]

Fruitlessness

From Jeremiah we learn what the root cause of lack of fruit, and where impediment arises that prevents a person, a Church to bear fruit for Christ. Jeremiah ends his couplet with a profound statement;

9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked; who can understand it?

10 “I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.

Jeremiah v9, 10 contrasts the previous verses and drives home that the source of all evil is the heart.

A good translation would be a “crooked” heart; one that is self-seeking, entitled, greedy, idolatrous. The profoundness is that it sets out the condition of all humans before being reborn.

We all are born with a wounded heart – one with chronic sickness – one that wants to oppose God at every turn.

The wound is incurable by man. Being born again renews the heart, but we still live in the flesh. The “I” still wants to oppose God.

If the heart is the source, the mind is the instrument by which the heart acts. In the Hebrew, the word used for ‘mind’ is kidney; in some translations e.g. KJV this word is rendered ‘rein’ as in the device for directing a horse, which is probably a good illustration of the mind – it is the reins of a person, directing him or her.

The figurative use of ‘kidney’ for mind is to indicate the hidden inner depths of a person. In some sense it parallels the heart.

Paul urges all believers to control the mind

• If our mind is set on the world, or centered on ourselves, we are heading for disaster;

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

• We are to be spiritually minded – controlled by the Holy Spirit. Not self-centeredness here.

Be of the same mind in the Lord (Col 1:21)

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Col 3:2)

The one who trusts God puts his or her entire hope in the LORD. Their identity is in Christ. Their aspirations are those of Christ. That one has confidence in Jehovah.

This trust extends from the heart – it comes about by our rebirth. Our old self cannot trust God – indeed it is impossible to know God without believing in Him.

It is the heart that believes – Romans, paralleling the Old Testament says –

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Security in trusting God

Just as the captain of a ship is secure in the knowledge his ship will be safe in the arms of the pilot, so we also can be secure in the knowledge of the trust we put in Jesus Christ

• You can be secure in God’s love, which is a demonstrated and real love, a sacrificial love, and a caring love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10, 19).[14]

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

• We are assured of God’s intentions—that He has your best interests at heart (Jeremiah 29:11–13; Hebrews 12:10).

He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. (Hebrews 12:10b)

• We can be confident in God’s ability to handle our problems (Job 38–41).
  • I know that You can do all things. (Job 42:2a)
  • Note – He may not resolve or solve them; it may be a way to teach us wisdom
• We can be comforted by God’s promises (Psalm 46:1; Luke 15:11–32).

God is … a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

• We can count on God’s promise of salvation (Joshua 1:5; Deuteronomy 31:6; 1 Chronicles 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

I will not fail you or forsake you. (Joshua 1:5)

Conclusion

We have a choice – attempt to be the master of our destiny and like a boat who shuns the pilot, ends up shipwrecked. Our service for God will be dead, empty and barren. There will be no fruit.

Or we can hand our life over to Christ – where the Holy Spirit becomes the pilot who guides us through the intricacies of life. Storms will still occur – temptation is everywhere, as are the snags in the shallows of the water as one approaches port. But we will be guided through.[15]

Some advice from the Apostle Paul

1. Put self aside – our life is about the other person, not yourself; a concept diametrically opposed to modern psychology. The most important person in the world is not self, but our neighbour. Paul says he dies daily meaning he literally and actively puts self aside; Christ is his centre – his context for any action.
2. We must actively offer ourselves to the God – our heart, our mind: which is as the NKJV puts it – our reasonable service. Given we have been saved by Jesus who died for us, a little effort on our part is not unreasonable. It’s our living sacrifice. This means we must trust God implicitly – with our heart and mind.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

Doxology

Hymn – Trust and Obey

John H Sammis (1846-1919)

Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,

but our toil he doth richly repay;

not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,

but is blest if we trust and obey.

Refrain: Trust and obey, for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Full hymn can be found here - click

Verse of instruction

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
(1 Timothy 6:18-19)