Rick Warren - The Word of Trust - Part Three

Hi, this is Rick Warren, Bible teacher of the Daily

Hope Broadcast. Did you know that because of Easter, your

past can be forgiven, you get a purpose for living,

and you can have a home in heaven. That's good news.

Where else can you get that kind of news? Nowhere else?

And did you know that at Easter, studies have shown

people are more open to an invitation to go to

church than at any other time of the year. Don't

go to church by yourself, but bring somebody who doesn't

know Jesus Christ, a family member, a friend, a coworker,

a neighbor, a relative. And if you bring them to

that church service and they come to know Christ, You're

going to be making a friend for eternity. It'll be

the most important investment you can ever make in their lives.

And by the way, if they come to Christ, would

you let me know about it. I'd love to hear

that story that you brought somebody to Easter and they

found Jesus. You can write to me Rick at Pastorrick

dot com. That's rickat Pastorrick dot com. I would love

to hear from you. God bless you and Happy Easter.

Thanks for joining us here today. On Pastor Rick's Daily Hope,

the audio broadcast Ministry of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we

bring rick series called the Seven Greatest Words of Love.

To a close.

There are seven words in particular that Jesus spoke during

his final hours on the Cross that hold the keys

for finding fulfillment in your life, relationships, and even your career.

Right now, here's Pastor Rick with the final part of

a message called the Word of trust.

If you have a child in your family, and your

child loves you and grows up and learns to love you,

one day they get mad at you, they walk out

of the house by their own volition, they walk out

of the house.

They're still your child. They can't.

Once you're born, you can't be unborn. Once you're born again,

you can't be unborn again. You are safe. Does that

make sense? You are safe. You might lose the fellowship,

and well, there might be strained fellowship between this and

we're not talking to each other, but you're still my daughter,

You're still my son. And the Bible says that look

at this verse tewod John chapter one, verse seven.

Eight, many deceivers.

There are people out there trying to mess everybody up

all the time. Many deceivers who don't acknowledge Jesus as

coming in the flesh have gone out into the world.

So he said, you know, not everything you hear out

there's true. Watch out so that you don't lose what

you have worked for. Circle the phrase worked for watch

out that you don't lose what you have worked for, okay,

but that you will be fully rewarded. Now question, do

you work for your salvation? Huh no, So if you didn't,

this is not what he's talking about here. He's not

talking about salvation because you don't work for your salvation,

you don't earn it. We talked last week it was

all done for you. It's all that. That's the difference

between Christianity and every other religion. Every other religion is

due and they all have their list of dos and don'ts.

Christianity says, done has already been done for you on

the Cross by Jesus Christ. He did what we can't do.

So he's not talking about that. He's saying the rewards

that you're going to have in heaven. He could lose

some of those. Let me ask you, this one's very

personal to me. What about believers who commit suicide, okay,

and in a moment take their own life. And the

answer is, if they were a true believer, they're going

to heaven. They're going to heaven. We'll say, isn't suicide

and unpardonable sin? The answer is no, it is not.

It is not.

In fact, the Bible says there's only one sin that

is unforgivable, only one in the.

Entire and it isn't suicide. By the way.

In fact, some of the greatest saints in history in

the Bible were suicidal. Some of them were very depressed

and despair. Some wished at low points if they'd never

been born. David in the Bible, Jeremiah in the Bible,

job and the Bible also that I wish that I

had never been born. That's pretty depressed. And they were

great believers. And there were three people in the Bible

actually asked God to kill them, to take their lives.

Moses asked God to take his life. Elijah asked God

to take his life. Jonah asked God to take his life.

That's pretty depressed. And he said, God, just kill me,

Just kill me. If you feel that much in despair,

you feel that depressed, do not carry it by yourself.

It's not a sin to be sick, it's not a

sin to feel depressed. The Bible says there's only one

unforgivable sin, only one. It's called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

What does that mean? What is blasphemy against Holy Spirit?

It means rejecting God's grace and rejecting Christ all the

way up to death. It means to die rejecting Christ.

So let me put your mind at ease, because some

of you think, have I ever committed the unpardonable sin,

the unforgivable sin?

You wonder about that? Okay?

Number One, if you've ever worried that you committed the sin,

you haven't because if you had, you wouldn't worry about it.

Okay.

So if you worry I've done the one unforgivable sin,

you ain't done it.

For ends. Sorry.

The fact that you're worried about it, you're concerned about it,

means you still have a conscience. So if you've ever

worried about it, you haven't done it. Second thing is,

if you're alive, you haven't committed the sin because you

can only commit it by dying rejecting Christ. So if

you're alive, you cannot commit the sin. You can only

commit it by dying, saying forget you God, and I

croak and I die.

Does that ease up anybody's mind a little bit? Here? Okay,

you can't you can't do it without dying.

Now.

Number three, let's go to the third great news.

When I'm going through dark days, I have a father

in heaven who loves me. And when I'm going through

dark days, or remind myself that I have a father

in heaven who can be trusted. He doesn't just love me.

I can trust him with every air of my life.

And I shouldn't worry. I should commit it and trust

everything I'm worrying about to him. Number three, my father

is taking care of things I can't see. This is

the third thing we learned from this passage is that

my father in heaven is taking care of the things

that I can't see. We only see the physical things

in life. We only see the material things in life,

but we know that there's a lot of things going

on in life we can't see. Just because you can't

see it doesn't mean it's not real.

It's as real. It's what you see.

You're what you see is limited by your eyeball and

your brain. We know, for instance, right now there are

radio waves and television waves running through this building and

actually going through your body.

You can't see them.

But if you turn on a radio, turn on a

TV and tune in, you can get the picture. They're there.

They're in this air right now. There are all kinds

of radio and television waves going through the air right now.

You cannot see them. Just because you cannot see them

does not make them false. There's far more to life

than just the material. There's far more to life than

just the physical. In fact, the things that are gonna

last are not material. All the material stuff. This chair

is not gonna last one day. It'll fall apart because

all material things, according to the second law of thermodynamics, deteriorate.

This building will.

One day deteriate, the trees will deteriorate, and your body

is deteriorating.

Hate to tell you that, but the physical is not

getting better.

Anybody want to give a testimony of that right now?

The physical the spiritual is actually more real, and God

is taking care of the things that you can't see.

So when you're in your dark days, you can't see

the solution. When you're in the dark, you can't see

the antidote. You can't see the solution, the problem that's solved.

And while you're waiting, God is working. And what you

need to do is trust. While you're waiting for that job,

while you're waiting for that answer to prayer, while you're

waiting for that change. While you're waiting, God is working.

And that's why you need to trust. I entrust my

spirit circle that word my spirit, that it flies. That

you're far more than a body, and of course you are.

Life is far more than a material or physical. You're

made in the image of God, which means you have

a spirit, you have a soul. One of my friends

is a brilliant businessman. His name is Peter Teal. He's

a good friend, and some of you know who Peter

Teal is. He's an entrepreneur's up in the Silicon Valley.

He started PayPal, became a billionaire starting PayPal. And one

day I was that one of his intellectual confabs.

Called the Dialogue.

It's upheld at Sundance in Utah, and as all these

brainy axes, you know, nuclear physicists and stuff like that,

and we were in a discussion one day, and Peter

Teal asked me. He said, Rick, with the advent of it,

artificial intelligence, which we know is getting smarter and smarter

and smarter, He said, Rick, are is artificial intelligence ever

going to need faith and religion? That's a legitimate question.

And the answer to that, of course is no. Now,

if all you were was simply an intellect, we know

that we can create machines right now that are smarter

than you, or meat. In certain things, human beings can

create meat machines that are smarter than us. But you're

far more than intelligence. Human being, yes, has an intellect,

but you have far more than just intelligence. You have spirit.

You have a soul. And while we can create greater intelligence,

we can't create a soul.

And so it's a question that's not needed now.

The Bible says that here on earth there's an unseen

battle going on for your soul between good and evil.

Let me give you a couple examples where you have

to trust. Job says it like this, when he talking

about God, when he is at work in the north,

I don't see him. And when he eat God turns

to the south, I catch no glimpse of in other words,

I don't see God with my physical eyes. But he

says he God knows the way that I take, and

when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

That dark spot you're in right now, this is a test.

And although you cannot see God, he can see you,

and God can see what you cannot see, and you

can trust God.

That he loves you, that he cares for you, that he.

Can be trusted, and that he's taking care of the

things that you cannot see. Paul says the same thing

Tewod Corinthians four. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving

for us in eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So he says, we fix what is by the way,

What does that part mean. He's saying that the problems

you're going through right now, God's purpose is greater than

the problem you're going through, and what you need to

do is get your eye on God's purpose rather than

your problem. That's what it means, Father, I entrust myself

to your care. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving

for us in eternal glory, a greater purpose that far

out weighs.

Also, he says, here's the solution. We fix our eyes.

Not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen

is eternal. One last thing you need to remember when

you're going through dark days. These are all four important,

and the fourth one is this. My father can handle

anything I put in his hands. My father can handle

anything I put in his hands. He loves me, he's trustworthy.

He's taken care of things I can't see, and he

can handle anything I put in his hands. That's the

last part of the phrase father. He's a loving father.

I entrust he's trustworthy. My spirit. He handles the stuff

that we the spiritual stuff we can't even see in

the spiritual world. I entrust it into your hands. This phrase,

into your hands is a beautiful expression of care and security.

He's a well known TV commercial. You're in good hands

with all State? Yeah right, okay, good for you. What

in the world does that mean? What they are implying

is our insurance company will take care of you. You're

in good hands with all States. You know, my I

have big hands because my dad had big hands, and

my dad was a carpenter, and when my dad swung

a hammer and he built all of his life. The

hammer seemed small in his hand. He has such a

giant hand, and I got big hands as a results.

But my heavenly Father has even bigger hands, even bigger hands.

He's got the whole world in his hands. Somebody should

write a song about that. Really, okay, I mean, that's

how big his hands are.

When can I got married.

One of the first Bible studies she did was called

the Hand of the Lord. And she told me that

she discovered over two hundred times in the Bible the

phrase the hand of the Lord is used. So I

just end with this, and you can write this down

real quickly. How big is God's hands? How big are they?

How big are his hands? We'll write these down. Number one,

God's hands are big enough to bless me. God's hands

are big enough to bless me. Jesus often put his

hands on people to bless them. In Isaiah sixty two,

it says, the Lord will hold you in his hands

for all to see, a splendid crown in the hands

of God, they're big enough to bless me. Number two,

God's hands are big enough. They're strong enough to keep

me eternally secure. God's hands are strong enough to keep

me internally secure. If I put my life in that

lock box, in that safety deposit box, it ain't going anywhere.

Jesus said it like this very important verse. Follow me

on it, John ten. Jesus says, I give them that's you,

each eternal life, and they will never circle the word never,

never perish. My Father has given them to me, and

He's greater than all, and no one can snatch them

out of my Father's hands. You cannot lose your salvation

once I've been given to you. Nobody can snatch you

out of God's hand. Even Satan can't snatch you out

of God's hands. You say, well, you can't be snatched

out of God's hands. Maybe you could jump out.

On your own.

How big do you think God's hand is? You think

you can get to the edge of it and then

fall off. No, God's hands so big, and you're in

God's hands, there's no way you can fall out of it.

When my kids were little, I'd get in the pool

and Amy and Josh and Matthew line up on the

side and I'd say, jump to me, jump into my hands,

trust me, I'll catch you. And they were always scared

to death to do it time, they just go, I

don't want to do it, old daddy. Daddy jumped me.

I'll catch you. I'll catch you in my hands. Look

I can handle it all right. And they were just

afraid to jump into my hands. But then finally they

do it. And when they jump into my hands, of

course I catch them. And then they want to do

it one hundred more times, because once you've jumped into

your father's hands, that's flat out fun, and you want

to do it again and again and again. Once you've

learned how to trust God with your life, you get

addicted to it and you want to do it over

and over and over, and you want to trust God

for bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger thing.

And that is the story of my life because as

a little boy, I jumped into my heaveny other's hands

and he caught me. And at that point, ain't you

I can trust God? And so I start jumping further

and further back, further and further back, and then jumping

off cliffs, and every time he has caught me, and

I'm addicted to it. It's flat out fun. Trusting God,

trusting the loving hands. His hands are big enough to

bless me and strong enough to keep me eternally secure.

And I want to just tell you today, this God,

your heaven, a father is waiting for you to jump.

He's standing in the pool, going, come on, I love you,

You can trust me. I'm accountable, you can count on

my faithfulness, and I'm big enough to handle you. Jump

into my hands. You need to do that, and you

need to start doing it all the time. There's a

third thing you need to know about the hands of God.

It's this.

His hands are scarred. Yes, the hands of Jesus are

scarred with the nail prints, so that he cannot forget me.

Do you know that in heaven you're gonna have a

perfect body. There will be no scars in heaven. Aren't

you grateful for that? No flaws on your body in heaven.

No warts, no pimples, no scars none. The only scars

that will be on anybody in heaven will be on Jesus,

from his hands and his head and his side and

his feet. And they're going to be their for eternity,

to always be reminders of us of what he cost,

what it cost him to pay for our salvation. The

Bible says this Isaiah forty nine. Can a mother forget

the baby at her breast and have no compassion on

the child she is born? The obviously answers, of course,

not nursing mother could not forget her baby. Though she

may forget He says, I'm not. God says, I'm not

going to forget you. I have engraved you on the

palms of my hands. When you look at the nail

prints of the cross, Jesus says, this is how much

I love you. This is how much I love you.

I love you this much. I have engraved you on

the palms of my hands. God has a tattoo of you.

You get a tattoo of people you love. God has

a tattoo of you. I have engraved you on the

palms of my hands when they were nailed to the cross.

I don't know what you're going through, but I advise

you to do this. Last verse, Paul says this, I

think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard

times that we went through in Asia. We were really

crushed and we were overwhelmed, and we feared that we

would never live through it. Some of you feel that way,

right now, and we felt we were doomed to die,

and we saw how powerless we were. But here's the

big change. But that was good. You know, the problems

are going through, those are good. Why for then we

put everything into the hands of God, who alone could

save us, for he can even raise the dead. Give

it to God, commit it, deposit it in the safety

deposit box. And I mentioned earlier that Jesus was coding

Psalm thirty one, the greatest psalm, and I mentioned that

probably Mary probably taught that Jesus cycle.

Now I lay me down to sleep.

You know, when I was a little, a little little boy,

when i'd get scared at nighttime, I'd go in and

I'd fall asleep on my parents' bed. I'd actually try

to get between them, and I'd try to fall asleep

between my parents and because I was felt safe there,

and after i'd fall asleep, my Daddy would pick me

up in his strong arms and his big hands, and

he would carry me back to my bed. After I'd

fallen asleep, and in the more I would wake up

and something amazing would happen.

I would be awake in my own bed.

Why because while I was sleeping, my father would carry

me with loving.

Arms to where I belonged.

And I've thought about that a lot, as that is

a perfect picture of what it means to die as

a believer in Jesus Christ.

One day you will go to sleep.

And your heavenly Father will pick you up in his

loving arms and he will take you to where you

belong for eternity. And that's what heaven is all about. Friends.

I know this has been a long message, but this

is a theme that you need the rest of your life.

It's not something just to say when you're dying, Father,

into your hands, I commit my spirit. It's something to

say every single day of your life. When you are fearful, Father,

I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're angry, Father,

I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're worried, Father,

I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're depressed, Father,

I trust my spirit into your hands. When you're confused, Father,

I trust my spirit in your hands. When you're in

despair and you don't know which way to go, Father,

I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you have

a big decision, Father, I trust my spirit into your hands.

You need to use this theme every day the rest

of your life.

Let's pray.

If you've never said it the first time, you need

to say it right now. Just like me saying to

the little kids in my family, jump.

Daddy will catch you.

You need to jump into the arms of a father

who loves you, who is trustworthy, who is handling the

stuff that you can't see, and can handle anything you

put into his hands. So I invite you to pray

a one sentence prayer this weekend.

Say Jesus Christ.

I don't understand it all, but with all that I am,

in simple humility, I say to.

You, I entrust my life into your hands. Everything in

your name. I pray. Amen.

Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept

Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you.

Just email Rick at pass dot com. And now here's

Rick to tell you about a resource that he created

to help you in your walk with Jesus.

You know, as we close today, I just want to

say thank you for joining me in today's broadcast. I

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