Trust Blessing

I know all of you, so I won't introduce myself, but it's good to be with you again.

As I mentioned earlier, God's law is what shows us the way to walk in this world, that we can

experience blessing, and so that's why we turn at this time in our service. So we do every Sunday

to hear from God because we believe that he has something to say to us, that he speaks with power,

that he hasn't left us to wander, stumble alone in the dark, but instead he's given us his word

to show us the way to go. We're continuing our series in the book of Proverbs, and you'll remember

that the book of Proverbs is a book about wisdom, and wisdom is skill and the art of living, and as

we've seen, it begins with the fear of the Lord, that's the foundation of wisdom, and it continues

with humility and teachability. Last week, we looked at how we grow in wisdom. We saw that it was an

issue of love, that we have to love wisdom to get wisdom. We can't be protected by wisdom unless we

embrace it. This week, we're going to look at the idea of blessing. Wisdom offers to bless us. As we

read chapter three, you're going to see the word blessing show up over and over again, but this also

raises some questions and some confusion. If everything that God gives us is by grace, in what

sense can we say he blesses those who are obedient? If we know that the prosperity gospel is wrong, the

idea that God's main purpose in this life is to bring us material blessing, then what do we do with the

Proverbs promises of blessing? What is the relationship between our obedience and what God

gives to us? That's what we're going to look at in Proverbs chapter three. This is a chapter with many

things in it, so we're not going to look at everything equally. As we look at the whole chapter, I'm going

to give a special focus to verses five and six, which are two of the most famous verses in the Bible,

which tell us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.

But we'll simply ask this, what are the blessings that we should expect from wisdom?

What are the blessings that we expect from wisdom? It's with that that we turn to read Proverbs

chapter three. I invite you to turn with me in your worship guide or in your Bible or on your phone.

And no matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word. And Proverbs chapter 30, verse five,

Proverbs 30 · chapter mention

tells us that every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

And so that's why we read now together, starting at verse one.

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.

For length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. Find them around your neck. Write them on the tablet

of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Verse five,

trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways,

acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord

and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves him whom

he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. Verse 13, blessed is the one who finds wisdom

and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her

profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness

and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.

Those who hold her fast are called blessed. Verse 19, the Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By

understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds

dropped down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these. Keep sound wisdom and discretion and they

will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely and your

foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will be

your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is

due when it is in your power to do it. Verse 28, do not say to your neighbor, go and come again.

Tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells

trustingly beside you. Do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm.

Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious person is an abomination

to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble

he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. I invite you to pray with me

as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the ordinary, normal, week-by-week worship of you,

and you're the words that come from you. We thank you that we have the privilege to hear from you

over and over again. We ask that we wouldn't take it for granted. We wouldn't take for granted the

freedom to worship you together, in person, in public, and we wouldn't take for granted the

privilege of hearing from you in your word. We ask that you would do that now, that you'd send your

Holy Spirit in a powerful way, that we would be challenged and encouraged by the grace that you

offer us in your word. We ask these things not because we deserve them or have earned them,

but we ask them in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you have an iPhone or a smartphone,

you know that there are limits on what you can put on that phone. For example, if you have an iPhone,

if you want to put an app on it, it has to be in the App Store.

And if it's not in the App Store, you're not going to get to put it on. Of course, there's protocols and

requirements for something to be put into the App Store. Not everyone just gets to publish what

they want. It has to be approved. It has to be vetted. And there's reasons for this, but there's

also people who don't like those limits. They think it's artificial. It's their phone. They own it,

right? They should be able to put on it what they want. And so there's this term, jailbreaking,

when you take your phone and you remove all the limits from it. It allows you to put apps on it

that maybe wouldn't be allowed by the App Store. It allows you to access parts of the phone you

wouldn't normally be able to access. It allows you to change and modify things.

And yet, companies warn against it. Your warranty's void often if you do it.

There's a potential your updates won't work anymore. And in fact, Apple has an article out

warning of all the things that could happen to you if you jailbreak your phone. You would be more

vulnerable to hackers coming and taking it. Your battery life will not function as well.

It's possible that you won't be able to install new things on your phone. And if it has problems,

you may not be able to recover it. So you'll find people who are in favor of jailbreaking. You'll

also find people who cry many tears wishing they could go back and undo it. And there's a fundamental

principle there that's also given to us here in Proverbs chapter 3. The builder, the creator,

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

actually knows what they're doing.

The person who designed something is the one who knows how to keep it safe. There are boundaries

and limits that are good. They're protecting you, right? Apple's not trying to take away your fun.

They're actually trying to enable it. They're trying to make your experience good and pleasant.

They're trying to protect you from those who would take advantage of you. As we talk about blessing in

the Proverbs, that's the first type of blessing that we experience from wisdom. It's the blessing

that comes with honoring the creator. We see this in verses 19 and 20.

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge,

the deeps broke open and the clouds broke down the dew. In other words, wisdom was how God created

the world. And so, of course, if we follow the ways of wisdom, things are going to go well. We are doing

things the way the creator wanted us to do them. God's law, as I mentioned earlier, is not arbitrary.

When he tells us certain things about how we handle our money, when he tells us how we handle our bodies

and our sexuality, when he tells us how we handle our relationships, he's telling us, this is how I

made the world. Wisdom is not random. It works because wisdom is how I created the universe.

And so, of course, there is going to be a certain kind of blessing that comes from living within the,

living along with the grain of the world rather than against the grain of the world.

And this is the kind of blessing we see throughout chapter 2. If you keep wisdom,

verse 2, you'll have long life, more likely.

Proverbs is going to tell us certain things about what we do with our bodies, right?

If we follow that, the chances of us having long life is greater.

Verses 13 through 18 tell us about all these things that are going to be good.

Again, verse 16, long life, riches, and honor.

Verse 17, peace.

If you follow the instructions of Proverbs, you're more likely to have peace in relationships with others,

less conflict.

And this isn't some special blessing from God, right?

It's the same kind of blessing that comes from not jailbreaking your phone.

You're just living with the instructions that the Creator gave you.

Last week, we talked about the love of wisdom and how it protects us.

And I told you that wisdom was like a compass.

It directs us in the right way.

It's like something that holds a kite down.

This week, it's not that it's a compass and a kite, but that wisdom is the architect.

Wisdom is the designer.

Wisdom built this world, and so there's just a natural blessing

that comes from doing what wisdom tells us.

Just like if we had a problem with this building and we weren't sure what was going on,

it would be wise for us to go and speak to the person who designed it.

They might know more than any of us know, even though we live in the building.

So God is the architect of this world.

Wisdom was there with him at the beginning.

And so there's a natural blessing that comes from walking God's ways.

That's a lot of the blessing that's promised here in chapter 3.

That's where this long life, verse 16, riches and honor come from.

And so we trust God even when the things that he says don't make sense to us.

If God tells us to do something that seems counterintuitive to what our culture is telling us,

what our friends are telling us, maybe what we're telling ourselves,

we do it anyway.

Because we trust that he's the architect.

We trust that God actually knows what he's talking about.

Wisdom was there at the beginning.

We believe that God actually knows best.

And when we do that, God promises blessing.

It's blessing in a natural way.

It's blessing with going along with how God designed the world.

Problem, of course, everyone agrees, right, that Apple makes the iPhone.

I do not know of any Apple deniers who claim that the phone was made by some other organization.

We all agree about that.

What everyone does not agree about is whether God made the world or not.

And so that's where so much of the conflict comes from in our culture.

It's not that we are people who hate the world.

It's not that we're bigots.

It's not that we're backwards.

It's just we believe in a different maker.

We believe that God, rather than anything else, is the architect.

God tells us things then that are true.

We expect if we follow those things, there will be blessing.

The makers of the iPhone are not vindictive.

They're not out to get us.

They don't put limits on the phone so that they can pull on over on us.

No, they're actually trying to make things good and pleasant.

They want us and our phones who have long life and riches and blessing.

And so they put boundaries and limits in place.

When and if we follow those boundaries and limits, we expect good things to happen.

We talked when we went through 1 Peter about there being different types of suffering.

And I told you there's a type of suffering that comes from sin, right?

There's consequences that come.

There's also a type of blessing that comes from righteousness.

There's natural consequences, good consequences, from living in the way God has told us to live.

Of course, we need to be reminded of this.

The son here needs to be reminded to keep these commandments in his heart, verse 1,

because the world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly lying to us.

The enemy of our soul, Satan, has no new strategies.

We're aware of what his strategies are.

And one of his strategies is that he's the father of lies.

And so he constantly is telling us the same thing he told Adam and Eve in the garden.

Did God really say, and does God really have your best interests at heart?

Proverbs 3 is reminding us, yes, God did really say, and he really has your best interests at heart.

Trust God, even when he's telling you the opposite of what everyone else is telling you.

Trust him, because he is the expert.

Trust wisdom, because wisdom, verse 19, founded the earth.

How then do we experience blessing?

What's the relationship between blessing and obedience?

Well, one of the ways is just natural blessing.

We live in line with the way God created the world,

and we expect things to work out because of it.

We also see here, though, a different type of blessing,

not just a natural blessing, something that comes from natural consequences,

but there is a special blessing as well.

We're told in verse 4, we will find favor in the sight of God.

So God shows his favor, a special blessing, on people who honor him and obey him.

We see that also in verse 6.

There's an active element to what God's doing here.

If we acknowledge him in all our ways, he will make straight your paths.

Verses 9 and 10 seem to imply some sort of divine intervention.

You're honoring God with your wealth.

Your barns will be filled with plenty.

That seems a little counterintuitive, right?

You'd think the more you give away, the less you'd have.

So there must be some element here of God being at work,

blessing those who honor him.

And then verse 26, we see it again.

The Lord will be your confidence.

He will keep your foot from being caught.

There is this active intervention by God to provide blessing for those who obey him.

Now, this is where we begin to run into some trouble, right?

Sometimes it can be hard to figure out and understand exactly how these blessings work,

but the Bible gives us examples of them.

And in fact, the best examples are the ones that come from the Bible,

because it's hard for you and me to discern exactly how God makes our paths straight.

But we see him doing it various places in Scripture.

One, for example, is the beginning of the book of Exodus.

If you're familiar with the book of Exodus,

you know it tells the story of God's people leaving slavery.

The very beginning of the book, we meet these Israelite women who are midwives.

And Pharaoh tells them,

your job as Israelite midwives is to make sure you kill any male children who are born in Israel.

What do these midwives do?

They, verse 5, trust in the Lord with all their hearts,

and they lean not on their own understanding.

They don't do what they're told, even though it's dangerous.

They do not kill any of the children that come from the Israelite women,

even though they could be punished for it.

And what happens?

Verse 6, God makes straight their paths.

We're told at the beginning of Exodus that God gives them a special blessing

because of their obedience.

He gives families to these midwives.

That doesn't tell us exactly how that happens.

Maybe he provides spouses providentially that they didn't have.

Maybe he provides pregnancy that they didn't have,

but God blesses them specifically for their obedience.

They honor him.

They trust him.

When it's hard, he makes their path straight.

We've also seen an example of this in the book of Proverbs.

I told you when we started Proverbs,

their very first sermon on it,

the story of Solomon.

God came to Solomon and asked him what he wanted.

And Solomon said,

more than anything else, he wanted wisdom.

We know wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord.

So Solomon is saying,

I want what you have to offer God more than anything else.

I'm trusting you with all my heart.

What does God do?

He makes his path straight.

He says, because you've asked for wisdom,

I won't just give you wisdom.

I'm going to give you everything else you could have asked for.

I'm going to give you riches and wealth and honor.

And so God gives Solomon a special blessing

for his trust and his obedience.

Same is true for us.

Now we don't know exactly how or when.

I'm not going to tell you authoritatively

how God is going to bless you,

how he might provide for you in certain ways.

What I can tell you is this.

The book of Proverbs tells us,

if we trust him,

God will care for us.

If we trust him,

God will care for us.

We have another example from Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

Israelites are in the wilderness.

God tells them,

when you were in the wilderness,

I kept your clothes from wearing out

and I kept your feet from swelling.

I intervened.

I gave you a special blessing.

I protected you.

Remember verse 26.

The Lord will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being caught.

Now this is exactly the point

where we start to run into trouble

because of course we know

in our own lives

and in the lives of other Christians,

there's times when we've trusted God

and it's led not to material blessing,

it's actually led to suffering of various sorts.

Bible has those kinds of stories too.

Remember Stephen, the first deacon

in Acts chapter 6 and 7,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

is faithful in proclaiming the gospel

and he gets a faith blessing, right?

He becomes extremely wealthy.

No, he's stoned to death.

He doesn't experience material blessing here and now.

In fact, he loses his life.

We just spent a whole series in 1 Peter

talking about the suffering

that comes from being a Christian.

And so what do we do

with these promises of blessing

when we don't have the experience of the midwives?

What do we do with promises of blessing

when we feel more like Stephen?

Well, there's a couple things we have to remember.

First of all,

there is sometimes or often blessings now,

always blessing in the future.

In other words,

there's an eternal perspective that we have

as we think about God's blessings.

We may suffer now.

We look forward to the time

when Jesus returns

and he makes all things right.

And the author of Proverbs

has that same sort of eternal perspective.

Remember we saw that last week.

The upright will inhabit the land.

The wicked will be cut off from the land.

And so that's part of how

we have to think about these things.

We have to remember in this life,

Jesus knows this by the way,

the Bible's aware of this.

He tells us in John chapter 6, verse 33,

John 6:33

in this life you'll have tribulation,

but I've overcome the world.

So there's an ultimate blessing

that we look forward to

when Jesus returns.

The other thing we have to remember

is the way that Proverbs works.

I hinted at this

when we started the series.

If you have your Bible with you,

you can go back all the way

to Proverbs chapter 1.

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

Remember, part of wisdom

is knowing how to interpret wisdom.

Chapter 1, verse 6,

there's wisdom to understanding

a proverb and a saying.

Verse 2,

to understand the words of insight.

So we have to understand

how the words of insight

of chapter 3 work.

And they work like this.

Proverbs, as many people have put it,

are not rules but principles.

They're not rules but principles.

That's the way the genre

of a proverb works.

They have to be applied

in the right time,

in the right place.

They are not guarantees.

Proverbs is not a legal document

where God guarantees

rigid blessings

for obedience

in a certain way

in a certain time

in a certain place.

Instead, Proverbs tells us

the way the world

generally works,

the way it is supposed to work.

It doesn't mean

there aren't exceptions.

That's part of the reason

God's given us

the book of Job

and the book of Ecclesiastes.

So Job is a righteous man.

He trusts in the Lord

with all his heart.

And all his wealth

and family

are taken away from him

with the exception

of his wife.

And Job's friends,

as many people have pointed out,

come to him

and quote Proverbs 3

logic to him.

You're suffering.

Obviously,

you haven't trusted the Lord.

So there's a wisdom

to reading Proverbs 3.

Just because

righteous needs

leads to blessing

does not mean

that everyone

who suffers

has sinned.

It means that

this world is broken.

While it's meant

to work this way,

it doesn't always

work this way

in the here and now.

It's also helpful

to remember

in the Old Testament,

there's a greater focus

on physical,

material blessing

and less of a focus

on spiritual blessing.

In the New Testament,

there's a greater emphasis

on spiritual blessing,

less of an emphasis

on material blessing.

But both

are in both.

So there's both

spiritual and material

blessing in the Old Testament,

both spiritual and material

blessing in the New Testament.

When we trust

in the Lord

with all our heart,

and it seems like

he's not making

our path straight,

we continue to trust

in his goodness

knowing that he will

fully and finally

one day.

When we trust

in the Lord

with all our heart,

but it looks like

he's not making

our path straight,

we trust him

knowing that he will

fully and finally

make them straight

one day.

We sometimes

and often

see blessing now,

we will always

and ultimately

see it in the future.

And in fact,

that's how much

of the Bible

works and talks.

So there's blessing.

There's blessing

that comes from wisdom.

There's natural blessing

that comes just as a consequence

of living in the world

the way God intended.

And there's a special blessing

that God gives to his people,

showing them

what it tells us in verse 4,

his favor.

I focus so far mainly here

on verse 6,

God making straight

our paths,

the blessing that comes,

but this blessing comes

specifically from trusting God.

There's a dance here.

There's a trust

blessing dance.

And we're given

sort of general commands

here to trust God,

right?

Verse 5,

trust in the Lord

with all your heart.

Do not lean on

your own understanding.

Verse 6,

in all your ways

acknowledge him.

Whatever you do,

live according to

what God has told you,

his instructions.

He's the architect.

He's written the manual.

Pay heed to it.

Now,

it would be wonderful

if chapter 3 of Proverbs

ended there.

It would be a great,

pithy saying.

We could have someone

write it in calligraphy

and put it on a wall

in our house

and there'd be no specifics.

We'd just get to say,

we trust in the Lord

in this house.

Problem is,

verse 3 actually tells us

what trust,

or chapter 3 actually tells us

what trust in the Lord

looks like.

Gives us a specific list

of what trusting people do.

In other words,

trust is not just

an action of the heart.

It's something that leads

to real behaviors

in time and space.

It's not just a feeling.

Trust is a behavior

and it's behaviors

that are outlined

in this chapter.

We're told,

verse 7,

be not wise

in your own eyes.

Fear the Lord.

So there's an action

of humility

which we've talked about

multiple times now

in Proverbs.

If we trust the Lord,

we're going to be humble

and fear him,

which means we're going

to be looking to his word

for advice and instruction.

We're going to be talking

to other people

and asking for their input.

That's part of our behavior

of trusting God.

It gets even scarier

in verse 9.

If we are people

who trust God,

we will honor him

with our wealth.

Our checkbooks reveal

whether we trust God

or not.

It is one thing

to memorize

and quote

Proverbs 3,

Proverbs 3:5

verses 5 and 6.

It is another thing

to write a check

when it hurts.

And yet the Bible

tells us

that that is what shows

our trust in God.

As I mentioned last week,

wisdom is not a strategy,

it's a relationship.

So this person

in verse 9

is honoring the Lord

with their wealth,

not so they can get

a return or a blessing,

but because of their

relationship with God,

their trust in him

because they want

to honor him.

By the way,

Deuteronomy chapter 8,

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

again,

I mentioned it earlier,

God tells the people

that when they were

in Egypt,

he protected them.

He kept their clothes

from wearing out.

We trust

that when we give

first to God,

demonstrating our trust

in him,

he's going to care for us.

Maybe it will be

in a Deuteronomy chapter 8,

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

8 sort of way,

maybe he'll keep

our clothes

from wearing out,

maybe it will be

in a different way,

we don't need to know.

What we need to know

is that we belong

to God

and he cares for us.

The list continues,

verses 11 and 12,

trust in God

means we remain

faithful to him

when things are difficult.

If we're not seeing

our paths made straight,

if our barns

are not filled

with plenty,

even though we've

given God

the first fruits,

it's not coincidental,

by the way,

that verses 11 and 12

follow verses 9 and 10,

we continue to trust God.

We don't despise

his discipline.

So we remain faithful,

seeking God,

even when things

aren't turning out

the way we want them to.

That's how we demonstrate

our trust.

Then we're told

in verses 27 and 28,

trust looks like

loving our neighbor,

which sounds a lot

like verses 9 and 10.

Loving our neighbor

is going to cost us

something, right?

We trust God

that when we give up

for others' good,

he's going to continue

to protect

and provide for us.

And we demonstrate

that trust

by actually providing

for others

rather than hoarding

as much as we can,

trusting our storehouse

rather than God's provision.

These are the actions

that show

whether we trust God.

Verses 28 through 32

present us

with some shortcuts,

some alternate ways

we might try

to get blessing.

We might try

to get blessing

not by trusting

the Lord,

verse 28,

but withholding good

from our neighbor.

We might try

to get blessing

by planning evil,

verse 29.

We might envy

someone

who has more blessing

than us,

verse 31,

but has gotten it

for the wrong reasons.

We might envy

a violent man.

Why would we envy

a violent man?

Well,

he probably has barns

that are full, right?

He's plundered

other people.

He's doing well

in life.

He has success.

He has the blessing

maybe we want to have.

And so we remember

that God's blessings

are sometimes,

often now,

always in the future.

That's the warning,

too,

for this violent man.

Verse 33,

the Lord's curse

is on the house

of the wicked.

It doesn't matter

how much

that violent man

has now.

He will not have it

in the future.

But,

verse 33 again,

he blesses the dwelling

of the righteous.

Of course,

this shouldn't surprise us

because Jesus tells us

in Matthew chapter 22

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

that the sum of the law

is that we love God

and we love our neighbor.

And that's what we see here

in Proverbs chapter 3.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

Trust in God

is demonstrated

through love of God,

treasuring His commandments,

giving our first fruits to Him,

and love of neighbor,

doing what we can

to serve our neighbor,

knowing that God

will provide for us.

And so our trust

has real actions,

real behaviors,

that can help us know

whether we actually believe

God is going to protect

and provide for us.

Our Lord Jesus

teaches us the same thing.

I'm a broken record

at this point,

but Jesus is the great

teacher of wisdom.

He's greater than Solomon.

We saw last week

that He tells us

in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

if you love me,

you'll keep my commandments.

Jesus also motivates

obedience and faith

and trust

through promises of blessing.

Jesus calls us

to trust Him

with all our hearts

and in all our ways.

He does this

in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

He says,

if anyone would come

after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me.

For whoever would save

his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life

for my sake

and the gospels

will save it.

For what does it profit

a man to gain

the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

God calls us

to take up our cross

and follow Him.

He calls us

to obedience and trust.

God also promises

blessing.

He tells us

in Matthew chapter 6,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

seek first

the kingdom of God

and His righteousness

and all these things

will be added to you.

Trust in the Lord

with all your heart.

Lean not

on your own understanding.

He will make

your paths straight.

Jesus tells us

about giving and blessing.

He tells us

in Matthew chapter 6 again

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

that when we give

to the needy,

don't let your left hand

see what your right hand

is doing.

Do it in secret.

And your heavenly Father

who sees in secret

will what?

He'll reward you.

Jesus promises

rewards for obedience.

He tells Peter

in Luke chapter 18

Luke 18 · chapter mention

when Peter says,

see, we've left our homes

and followed you.

Jesus says,

truly I say to you,

there is no one

who has left house

or wife

or brothers

or parents

or children

for the sake

of the kingdom of God

who will not receive

many times more

in this time

eternal life.

Jesus calls us

to obedience.

Jesus also promises

blessing.

Jesus knows,

like the book of Job

and Ecclesiastes,

that things don't always

work out in this life.

Jesus is the one

who said that

foxes have holes

and birds of the air

have nests

but the Son of Man

has nowhere to lay his head.

Jesus is the one

who tells his disciples,

blessed are you

when people hate you

and exclude you

and revile you

and spurn your name

as evil

on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day

and leap for joy

for behold,

your reward is great

in heaven.

Sometimes,

often now,

always in the future

in heaven.

Jesus knows

that it doesn't work out

like a math problem

here in this life.

Blessing doesn't work

like that.

But he also promises

us rewards

for obedience.

And he secures

those blessings

for us

by his death

and his resurrection.

These aren't things

that we earn.

They're things

that Jesus has earned

for us.

This might sound

very similar

to the beginning

of 1 Peter,

which we looked at

in September

of last year.

Remember,

it says this

in chapter 1,

God has caused us

to be born again

to a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead

to an inheritance

that is a reward,

a blessing,

that is imperishable,

undefiled,

and unfading,

kept in heaven

for you.

In other words,

nothing can touch

the blessing

that God has for us.

That is the ultimate

blessing

that we look forward

to in our obedience.

So what's the relationship

between obedience

and blessing?

God blesses

in natural ways

through those

who follow

the rules

that he's given

in this world,

and God blesses

in a special way

those who trust him

in obedience.

in the movie

Grand Torino

with Clint Eastwood,

he plays the character

of Walt Kowalski

who's a Korean war vet,

and he's been

mostly abandoned

by his family.

His wife has died.

He's a widower,

and they visit him

infrequently,

mainly because they're

interested in his inheritance

and his money.

And he has

this Grand Torino

that his granddaughter

is very excited

about inheriting

when he dies.

So there's this interest

not in him,

not in a relationship

with him,

but in his death.

On the other hand,

there's a young teenager

that lives

in Walt's neighborhood

named Tao.

Now Tao's not set up

to inherit anything.

He's not interested

in Walt's money,

but Walt develops

a relationship with him

and he begins

to mentor him.

He helps Tao

get a job.

He teaches him

the ways of wisdom.

He teaches him

how to talk

to other men

when he wants

to get a job.

He teaches him

how to talk to women.

He coaches Tao

through his dating life.

And Walt ends up

actually defending Tao.

Tao and his family

are being tormented

by a gang

that's in the neighborhood

and Walt stands up

to them.

Now I won't spoil

the entire movie for you,

but at the very end,

Walt dies.

and his will

is opened up.

His family,

who has ignored him,

only interested

in what they can get

from him,

find out there's nothing

in the will for them.

Tao,

who has not been

interested

in anything

that Walt

has to offer him

outside of his advice

and his wisdom

and his counsel,

is the one

at the end

who receives

the Gran Torino,

the Ford car

that the granddaughter

desperately wanted

but doesn't receive.

And Walt

has one instruction

for him.

You can have

this car,

just please don't

make any modifications

to it.

And so,

it's the one

who wants

the relationship.

It's the one

who wants

the wisdom

looking for nothing else

who receives

the blessing.

Brothers and sisters,

the same

is true for us.

Trust and obedience

lead to the blessings

of our Heavenly Father.

Not because we want

what he has

to offer,

but because we want

him.

Let's pray.

Our Father in Heaven,

we

are astounded

when we think of it

that you would

actually take

the time

and the trouble

of speaking to us

and helping us

even as we were

people who rebelled

against you

and didn't know you.

We ask

that you would

grow

our obedience

and our trust

in you

and that it would

be motivated

by our love

for you.

We thank you

for Jesus'

promise

of blessing

to us

sometimes in this

world

and always in the

world to come

and we ask

that we would

remain faithful

to you until the

end.

We ask these

things in Jesus'

name.

Amen.