"Trust God" by Hiram Kemp

We tend to trust people based on experiences, and that's

a good thing. If you know a person's been doing something for a while,

you tend to offer them trust. Think about a surgeon who's

performed surgeries for a long time, become an expert in the field. If you're

going in for surgery with the same surgeon, your confidence will be boosted.

Ben Carson had been performing complex brain surgeries for decades,

and in 1987, he became the first lead surgeon to separate

joined twins. If you were going in for brain surgery, and you saw Ben Carson,

you'd be comforted, and rightfully so. If you're getting

ready to get on an airplane and they tell you, we're about to experience some

heavy turbulence, but you know that the person flying the airplane's been doing

it for a long time, turbulence will be turbulence,

but there's a certain calm, a certain assurance that will be yours as a result.

Chesley Sullenberger landed a plane where the engine completely

failed, but he'd been flying for thousands of hours. 30 years

of experience, and for good reason. The people that were on the plane

in that moment, they trusted Chelsea. And as a result, he's gone

on to talk and discuss his success in flying through difficult situations and

how to keep your calm. You think about sports, and if you

have a favorite sports team and you know you're down and there's a

little bit of time left in the game, but you have a coach who has

time and time again delivered and brought victory, it just brings at

least a sort of peace even in a moment of high anxiety and stress

as you're wondering how the game's going to go. Love him or hate him,

Nick Saban for a long time has been leading teams

back from deficits with discipline and with this tenacity

that says the game isn't over until it is.

And let's just say your child had to go to a school and they were

underperforming and you needed somebody to help them get over the hump,

somebody to bring them up to the proper level, and you heard that they were

enrolled in a class with a teacher who's been doing that very thing. You'd have

confidence that though at the moment their scores aren't reflecting what they should, in time

they rise to the surface and they succeed. And Jamie Escalante for

20 years developed this reputation for taking underperforming kids in

mathematics and getting them up to speed. I'm telling you, we trust people

often based on experience and it's right, it's a good thing.

We see their discipline, see what they've accomplished and we say this person

in this field especially is worthy of my trust.

We do it throughout our lives and you can clearly see yourself doing it in

various areas that we haven't even mentioned. But what about God?

Isn't it true that every one of us in various ways in our lives fails

to trust God who's been faithful to us and never given us

a reason to doubt him? We trust people with 20 years of experience

in their field, and then we'll doubt the eternal expert. The Bible

reveals God as a God who's never forsaken or failed anybody, Deuteronomy 31:8.

Deuteronomy 31:8

He's a God who always does what's right, 2 Samuel 22:31.

2 Samuel 22:31

He keeps all of his promises, Joshua 21 and verse

45. And as far as experience goes, his experience goes all the way

back to eternity, Psalm 93 and verse 2. And yet, if we're honest,

sometimes for us we'll trust Carson, we'll trust Sullenberger, but as it relates

to God, that's just not good enough for us. As we start engaging with God,

we want a bigger sample size. Okay, maybe God delivered last time,

but how can I be sure that that wasn't a fluke or

Or maybe just luck. Maybe God's running out of blessings and maybe he's not going

to come through for me like he has in the past. And we struggle to

trust him even though we know we should. In the

end, all of our lives, our Christian lives, is going to boil down to what

we're going to talk about this morning. And this is simply it: whether or not

we trust God. Whether we trust God to be who he said he's going to

be and do the things that he says he's going to do. Because belief

in God will make you a theist if you believe in God But believing

God can make you triumphant if you believe that God is capable

of doing exactly what the Bible says that he will. The Bible talks

about things God has done in the past, great feats that he's accomplished. The Bible

also talks about things that God is claiming to be doing in the present.

And at the very same time, the Bible looks toward the future and says

that God's going to do amazing things in every one of our lives. But all

of your life, not just the Christian portion of it, all of your life and

my life really comes down to this one point. Do we believe him?

Because if you don't believe and trust in the God of the Bible,

that's just the same as trusting and believing in no God at all.

And so we need to. This morning though, I want to get specific. I want

to talk about specific areas in our lives where we need to make sure that

above all things we put our trust in God. Because maybe you sing triumphantly

about God's power and you sing it as well, but deep down inside there's

some trepidation. Because you don't believe God will come through like he says that

he would. Maybe you think you trust God, but deep down inside you really

trust yourself. And when things start getting out of your control, you get a little

panicky because you really like to have your handle on things, and you feel

like if you can't control it and ensure success, you just don't

know that things are going to work out. Maybe deep down inside we think God

was great back then, but right now I'm really not sure of him. But the

totality of our Christian life will be summed up in whether or not we have

ultimate faith and trust in God, but especially the God of the Bible who's never

disappointed and never let down anybody. This morning, here are a few of

the areas in our lives, a few of the places and circumstances specifically where every

one of us needs to have our faith stretched and be sure that we trust

God no matter what. Number 1, trust God to repay the wicked.

In Deuteronomy 32, Moses is offering up this song to ancient Israel,

and in Deuteronomy 32:35, He has God saying on

Deuteronomy 32:35

this occasion, vengeance is mine and recompense. The Septuagint stretches

this, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. And when you get to

the New Testament in Romans 12, Paul picks up this language.

Romans 12:19, dearly beloved, Paul says,

Romans 12:19

do not take vengeance for yourselves as it is written. And then

Paul quotes in Romans 12:19 this verse, vengeance is mine,

Romans 12:19

says the Lord, I will repay. And because that's true,

Romans 12:20, Paul says we can be kind to our enemies.

Romans 12:20

When they're thirsty, we can give them something to drink. When they're hungry, we can

feed them. In Romans 12:21, Paul says, don't be conquered

Romans 12:21

by evil, but instead you conquer evil with good.

Trust God to do what he says, especially in relation to

repaying the wicked. And if this is true about you and me, if we trust

God to repay the wicked, that means it's not your business or my business in

our own personal lives with people who have wronged us. And maybe on a global

scale with people in the world that do evil. It's not our responsibility to monitor

those situations and make sure they get their just due. Instead, it's our

responsibility to commit it to God and trust that he's going

to do exactly what he said that he will. Galatians 6:7-8,

Galatians 6:7–8

Paul says, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows,

that also will he reap. Those that sow to the flesh will from the

flesh reap corruption. Solomon warns us in Proverbs

Proverbs 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 and verse 22. He says, don't say in your heart, I'll repay the

wicked. Wait on the Lord and he will deliver.

The Bible says the reason why Jesus was able to endure hardship,

persecution, being slapped and spit upon was because of this principle.

He committed himself or entrusted himself to God who judges

righteously. 1 Peter 2 and verse 23. We need to trust God

to repay the wicked. Because that's exactly what God says that He will do.

Scripture holds Him up as a God that's a God of vengeance and

who will by no means clear the guilty, Nahum chapter 1, verses 2

Nahum 1:2

and 3. He's a God that will strike the adversaries for the wrong that they've

done, Isaiah 59 and verse 18. Even if it doesn't

happen in this life, Ecclesiastes holds out that God will bring everything unto

the judgment with every secret thing, Ecclesiastes 12 and

verse 14. He repays the proud according to what they deserve. Psalm 94:1-2.

Psalms 94:1–2

But all of those passages mean nothing if we don't really trust

him. And so the question is, do you trust God especially to

repay the wicked? And one of the ways you know this isn't true for you,

that you don't trust God to repay the wicked, just think about some small areas

of your life when you're mistreated or misrepresented. If you're the kind

of person who always has to defend yourself, always tell your side

of the story, always get your lick back, make sure people see it from your

vantage point, you don't trust God to repay the wicked. If you

must always defend yourself and say, well, wait a minute, I would hate for somebody

to get the wrong idea about me, you don't really trust that God's going

to make things right. What about the world? How do you engage with politics?

If you trust God, it'll make a difference. Are you

the kind of person that watches the news to be informed, or do you watch

it instead to be indoctrinated? Do you think that certain people

and parties and countries and personalities actually have

the power to ruin the world, and as a result You constantly engage in hand-wringing

and worry and fretting because you behave like an atheist,

that maybe God won't do what he says he's going to do and people are

going to get away with something. See, if you— the people that always have to

get revenge, the people that always have to make sure nobody one-ups them, they're doing

that because they don't believe that there's a God that's going to make it right.

Jesus says you can pray for your enemies, Matthew 5 and verse 44,

because I will make it right. Even the Archangel Michael didn't perform

an accusation against the devil. In Jude 9, he says, the Lord rebuke

you, because he trusted. And we need to be people that do the same

thing. There's a story told about these 2 farmers. They were

good friends. One was a Christian and one was a nonbeliever. And they sometimes

would joke about their success. And the nonbeliever said to the Christian, if I had

a field like yours, nothing could ever keep me out of my field. I'd be

in it 7 days a week. I don't know why you pause every Sunday and

go down there to worship. It's really a waste of time. And the Christian said,

no, it's not. Nobody's getting ahead of me. I'm doing God's work and I'm working

in my field. It'll all be fine. The non-Christian challenged him. He said, okay,

this year let's work our fields and let's see whose field will do the

best when it comes harvest time. And so they did. Every Sunday like clockwork,

the Christian went to worship, left his field untended, and the non-Christian

worked in his field and slaved and labored. And when October came,

just as you might expect, the non-Christian's field was better.

And he couldn't help but bring it up to his friend. He said, see,

I told you, you lost ground by going to church all those Sundays. Here it

is October and my field is harvested more than yours. My yield my profit,

my increase has been better. The Christian made no excuse,

no defense. He said, you're right, your harvest is better and so is your field,

but God doesn't always settle all his accounts in October. And the

thing that every Christian needs to realize is God doesn't always settle

all of his accounts in October. Trusting God won't make you indifferent or

uncaring about things that are wicked in the world. It'll make you invincible toward those

things because you know there is a God who's going to make everything right

in the world. Psalm 9:8. The kingdoms of this world are becoming the kingdoms

Psalms 9:8

of our Lord and of his Christ, Revelation 11:15.

Revelation 11:15

Trust God to repay the wicked. Make sure we're not among that number,

but leave vengeance in his hands. Here's number 2: trust God

to provide your daily bread. In Matthew 6,

Jesus is giving the model prayer. He says, when you pray, say these things,

and one of the things he mentions in Matthew 6:11 is you should pray to

Matthew 6:11

God and say, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. This is a prayer

we have God's permission to pray. Jesus commands us to pray it, and we should

expect him to answer it and to honor it. The people Jesus was

speaking to on this occasion, they knew all about the fragility of life.

They knew all about the way things fluctuated in their economy, in their world,

and how sensitive and fragile life was. When Jesus says pray

for your daily bread, they get this. But maybe Westerners in 2026

with retirement accounts and weeks and months and sometimes

years of saving, maybe we need to be reminded that we still need to

be trusting God to provide for us on a daily basis every 24

hours. Paul says in Colossians 1:17,

Colossians 1:17

in him all things hold together and in him all things consist.

Trust God to provide your daily bread.

This is a principle that God taught ancient Israel in the wilderness. In Exodus 16,

God could have loaded them down with months or years of bread. Just think

about that. But in Exodus 16:4-5, he says, this is how it's going to work.

Exodus 16:4–5

Every day I'm going to rain down the manna from heaven, twice as much on

Friday. You're going to gather it up. Why take them through this slow process on

a daily basis, every 24 hours? Because God was trying to teach them a lesson.

It's not up to you. It's not about your industry. It's not about your hard

work. Israel, I need you to trust me.

Paul says, my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and

glory in Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:19.

Philippians 4:19

David says, I've been young and now I'm an old man. He looked back over

his whole life. He says, I've never seen righteous people abandoned or God's descendants

begging for bread. Psalm 37:25. Psalm 145:16,

Psalms 37:25 Psalms 145:16

the psalmist says, God stretches out his hand and satisfies

the desire of every living thing. Trust God to

provide your daily bread. Think about Israel in the Old Testament.

God shows up through Moses. He does these signs. He performs the 10

plagues. He leads them out of the the bondage

of Egypt through the Red Sea. He provides food for them, gives them everything

they need. Does God love Israel? Exodus 7 through Exodus

12, God's performing these plagues, blessing their lives. Does God love ancient

Israel? The answer is obviously yes. When they're delivered from Egyptian

bondage and they're on the other side of the Red Sea, what's the first thing

they worry about? What's the first thing they fret about? Food, Exodus 16:2-3.

Exodus 16:2–3

Water, Exodus 15:24. Even if you don't know

Exodus 15:24

the rest of the story, even if you've never read the book of Exodus,

does God look like the kind of God that would deliver these people

from bondage and leave them to die in the wilderness?

The God that provides divine salvation is the same God who will

provide daily sustenance, Isaiah 41:10. But Israel

Isaiah 41:10

might have been thinking, we saw those signs, we saw those wonders, but this setting

is different. Our circumstances are foreign. We've never been in the wilderness before.

And that's both comical and it's insulting to God. If God could

deliver you from all of those things, do you think he would abandon you now?

And before we're too hard on Israel, we need to think about our own lives.

The Bible describes Jesus as becoming a human being, living in our place,

dying for our sins, and rising again for our justification,

Romans chapter 4 and verse 25. Does God love us? Does God care about

Romans 4 · chapter mention

us? The answer is obvious. But what are the kinds of things that keep us

up at night? What are the kinds of things we worry about? Oh, we're some

10,000 years removed from the events of ancient Israel, but we're not any better,

are we? What do we worry about? We worry about food and shelter and sustenance.

All of this history, all of God's track record and what he's done

for people, and what do we worry about? We worry about the job market.

We worry about our business and profits fluctuating and falling.

We worry about home repairs and raising our kids and medical bills, and God's

saying through these events and others, Trust me, do I look

like— even if you don't know the rest of the story, does God look like

the kind of God that would deliver you from all of those things and leave

you out here to die in the wilderness? No, the God

who provides divine salvation is the very same God who will provide

daily sustenance. Romans 8:31-32,

Romans 8:31–32

Paul says, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us,

who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him

up freely for us all, how will he not with him also freely give

us everything we need? The question is, do we trust him? Or do

we really think it's all up to us and our hard work and our industry?

Ancient Israel needed to learn this lesson, and modern Israel needs to learn the same.

And if you know this lesson, it'll change the way you engage with your material

possessions. You'll give freely, as Chuck read from 2 Corinthians 9:6-8,

2 Corinthians 9:6–8

because deep down inside you believe it all belongs to God.

This is my Father's world, Psalm 24:1,

Psalms 24:1

and God's got me. Listen, if you trust God

in this resolve, in this point, to provide your daily bread, it will never

matter how little you have. And if you don't trust God to provide your daily

bread, it'll never matter how much you have. You'll never have enough.

Proverbs 37 through 9, the wise man said, give me

food convenient for me because God, I trust you.

God says, I want you to trust me to repay the wicked. I want you

to trust me to provide your daily bread. Here's number 3: Trust me to work

all things together for good. If you have your Bible, turn it to Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8. Third area in our life we need to trust God is trust

God to work all things together for good. Romans 8 is a Bible chapter

about assurance. In Romans 8 and verse 1, Paul says there's no

condemnation to people that are in Christ Jesus. And Romans 8:9-11, he says

Romans 8:9–11

the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the

dead one day will raise you. But then in Romans 8:28, he gives this promise

Romans 8:28

about God's providence. He says And we know that all things work together

for good to those that love the Lord and to those who are called according

to his purpose. This is a providence promise. This is about God working

all things together in our lives for good, and we've got to trust that God's

going to do that no matter what it looks like in our lives. Trust God

to work all things together for good. And the only way to do this is

to change the way we view the world. We've got to change our theology from

a windshield theology to a rearview theology. A windshield

is in your car so you can see where you're going, and rightly so.

You can see what turns are coming up. You can see the stop signs and

the stoplights. Windshields tell you, look out, here's what's ahead.

But rearview mirrors work differently. They tell you how much ground you've covered and

what's behind you. And the only way to really embrace Romans 8:28,

Romans 8:28

you've got to exchange your windshield theology for rearview theology.

Ask Joseph. Joseph's looking out of his windshield, and maybe if

Joseph does that, all he sees is a pit. He sees Potiphar's house. He sees

the prison. But in Joseph's rearview, that's what allowed him to say,

God sent me before you to preserve life, Genesis 45:5.

Genesis 45:5

You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, Genesis 50:20.

Genesis 50:20

Joseph, when did you learn that? Well, that was in my rearview. And David's

windshield, what's out in front of David is a Philistine giant, but what's

in his rearview? Slain lions and bears, 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 17:34–37

17:34-37. If the church we're studying

about on Sunday mornings in Bible class looked out their windshield to determine God's goodness

and what he was going to do, they saw death, persecution,

opposition. But in their rearview, they saw the gospel spreading

throughout the world, and they saw churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire,

to say nothing of Jesus. In his windshield,

Jesus saw persecution, betrayal, death, and the cross,

but in his rearview he saw exaltation, resurrection. And if you

look really closely, in his rearview he saw you and he saw me.

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, he despised the

shame, and he sat down at the right hand of God. Trust God to work

all things together for your good. And in order to do that, you've got

to be able to see through your rearview. I mean, how many times has this

happened to you in your life? You say, you know what, I couldn't see it

at the time, but what After the fact, I learned, hey, you know what?

I didn't get this job, but at the time I couldn't see it, but afterwards.

At the time I thought, I've got to have this relationship with this person,

but afterwards. Over and over again this happens in our life. I couldn't see it

at the time. What does that mean? It means we should stop trying to see

it at the time all the time. It never works out that way. You see

things and you think, I can't see how God's going to deliver, and then He

does. Romans 8:28 is a promise. God says, I work

Romans 8:28

all things together for good. I think there are 2 roadblocks to us receiving this

promise and trusting God. Look at Romans 8:28. The first challenge

Romans 8:28

is we actually have to read this verse and not read into the verse.

Look at Romans 8:28 again. Paul does say all things

Romans 8:28

work together for good to those that love the Lord, to those who

are the called according to his purpose. That's what the verse says. Don't read into

this verse, all things are going to work out just the way I want,

because that's not what Paul says. The second challenge is— first,

read the passage, don't read into it. But the second challenge is let

God define what's good. All things work together for good, but who gets

to determine that? See, sometimes we think we know better than God, and God,

if it's really going to be good, it has to go this way. But we

should be like Jesus. Mark 14:36,

Mark 14:36

Jesus is in Gethsemane and he says, all things are possible for

you, but not my will. But God, instead, your will be

done. Trust God to work all things

together for your good. That kind of confidence will set you free

from wondering about all the details and all the intricacies of your life. Commit your

ways to the Lord, trust in him, and he'll act. Psalm 37 and verse 5.

Peace in your life and my life— I know we think we really want omniscience

and we want to know how it's all going to work. Peace in your life

and my life will not come from knowing everything that God's doing.

Instead, peace is going to come from knowing that God is the one that's

doing it, whatever it is. If it's the God I'm reading about in the Bible,

it matters not the trajectory, trajectory of my life and how it's going.

I fully trust him, and it's either good right now or it's

working toward that end. Isaiah 61 and verse 3, the prophet says God's going to

exchange your hardship for blessing, your beauty for ashes. And how many

times has he done that in your life? Keep trusting him to do that.

And then after the fact we'll look through our rearview and see he knew what

he was doing the whole time. Here's number 4: Trust God to

forgive your sins. Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 12 is a quotation

Hebrews 8 · chapter mention

from Jeremiah 31:31-34. This is an Old Testament

Jeremiah 31:31–34

prophecy about the way that God was going to forgive sins in the New Covenant.

In Hebrews 8 and verse 12, the Hebrew writer says— this is God speaking— I'll

be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities I'll

remember no more. That's a promise, and we've got to trust God to do this.

This is one of the distinctions between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant,

and we shouldn't take this for granted. The Old Covenant had a yearly sacrifice,

the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. And what the Day of Atonement was,

it was a reminder every year of their failings and of their sin.

Every year, Leviticus 16, on Yom Kippur, they confess

all of their sins, and it's a reminder you failed and you fell short.

But in exchange for that, every week, like we just did a few moments

ago, there's a weekly meal that Christians partake of. Acts 20:7,

Acts 20:7

every first day of the week. It doesn't remind us of our failings and

of our sins, though Jesus died for those. It reminds us of our forgiveness and

of our salvation. Jesus says, this is my blood which

is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins, Matthew 26:39.

Matthew 26:39

That's what the Bible promises that God does. But we've got to trust him to

forgive us of our sins. It's ironic. The gospel says Jesus

died for your sins, and if you turn and repent, God will forgive you.

And there are people in the world who won't obey the gospel because they say,

well, I've got sin and I'm too bad. They trust their sin more

than they trust God. But according to the Bible, grace is stronger than

guilt. Romans 5:20, Paul says, where sin abounds,

Romans 5:20

grace did all the more abound. And even after you become a Christian,

Chuck read this, 1 John 1:7, walk in the light as he is in the

1 John 1:7

light, and we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse

us from all of our sins. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just

to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We walk around feeling guilty. We walk around feeling burdened because we don't trust

God to do what he said. I think everybody has somebody either in their

friend circle or in their family that's a person that's always trying to remind everybody

else about stuff that they don't know. Like they're trying to convince you. You remember

Anthony? Nope, I don't remember Anthony. Oh yes you do, he's Sheila's son.

I don't know Sheila. Yes you do. Or there's something from— we watched this movie,

you remember this line from this movie? Surely you watched it. I didn't watch this

movie with you, that wasn't me. Yes it was you. And this person with the

ready recollection in your friend circle or in your family is always

frustrated because nobody else remembers the stuff that they remember. And try as

they might, they quote lines and scenes and they're telling you, You were there,

this happened, it was me and you, and you remember this person. And they're trying

all the connections and no connection. And that's you

with God. Try as we might, jog His memory about your failings, His memory can't

be jogged. You can remind Him of events and scenes He can't recall. You can

cite lines and characters involved and try to get Him to remember. Surely, God,

You remember when I stumbled and when I fell here. And He won't remember.

He can't. He chooses not to. I, even I, am he who blot out

your transgressions for my own name's sake, Isaiah 43:25.

Isaiah 43:25

Because when God tells you it's forgiven, he's serious.

He says, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far I've

removed your transgressions from you, Psalm 103:12. I've cast

Psalms 103:12

your sins into the depths of the sea, Micah 7:19.

Micah 7:19

He says, I won't hold your sins or count them against you, Psalm 130:3-6.

Psalms 130:3–6

All of your iniquities and shortcomings and blemishes forever forgiven.

Isaiah— Jeremiah 38:18. Trust God

Jeremiah 38:18

to forgive your sins exactly like he said that he would.

And here's number 5: trust God to direct your path.

This is the passage that was read a moment ago for the scripture reading.

Trust God to do all the things he promises, including to direct your

steps and your path. Proverbs is the book of wisdom in the Old Testament that

really situates what it means to live a skillful life before God, to be

God's person and to ultimately live a life pleasing to Him and in harmony

with His will. And in Proverbs 3:5-6, Solomon says,

Proverbs 3:5–6

trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight,

or He'll direct your paths. Notice the totality of Solomon's

promise. Underline the all in verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And then in verse 6, he doubles down. In all your ways acknowledge Him.

Trust God to direct your paths in life. And sometimes

we think, does this mean God's going to audibly talk to me and communicate?

Doesn't mean that, but it does mean you trust, you follow,

and God will make plain the path that you're supposed to take. And throughout

the book of Proverbs, God doubles down on this idea that true wisdom,

what it means to really live a skillful life, is stop trying to

figure out everything yourself and fully trust God.

There's a way that seems right to a person, but that way leads to death.

Proverbs 16:25. A man may choose his steps, but God

Proverbs 16:25

directs his way. Proverbs 16:3. Men make choices,

Proverbs 16:3

but the decisions belong to the Lord. Proverbs 16:9,

Proverbs 16:9

Proverbs 16:33. What does all of this mean?

Proverbs 16:33

It means you're in good hands if you just simply get in God's way,

follow him, and fully trust him. But your whole life,

not just the Christian aspect of it, the totality of your life is

going to boil down to whether or not you'll let him direct or whether

you think you can. Spurgeon says, you may think to yourself

you're forgotten by God, but nothing could be further from the truth.

He that numbers the stars and knows them by name, it is impossible

for him to forget his own children. He says, your circumstances

are as cared for as if you were the only creature he's ever created and

the only saint he's ever loved. God is that deeply interested

in your life and in what's going on with you. You've got to commit your

ways to him. The very hairs on your head are all numbered, Matthew 10:31.

Matthew 10:31

You're more valuable than many sparrows, Matthew 10:30. Trust God

Matthew 10:30

to fully direct your paths. If you've ever

moved before, you know how difficult that can be. And if you've ever moved yourself

before and then had the blessing and the privilege of hiring movers, you know the

great difference it can be. I mean, sometimes you pack your own stuff, but when

the movers come in, what do they do? They move everything. They start lifting all

the boxes, they organize it, even take it to your new dwelling,

and they set up the stuff for you. Imagine paying for movers though. You've never

paid for movers before and you say, you know what, I'm gonna box it up,

I'm gonna pay this company, they're gonna come in and move it. And when the

movers get there, they start lifting boxes and moving stuff and all of a sudden

here you come and you're picking up boxes and you're moving stuff almost like you're

racing the movers. At one point the movers might just stop

and they'd have to say, hey, if you plan to move it all yourself,

what'd you call us for? I mean, why did you pay us if you're gonna

do it on your own? And surely it's happened with me and I know it's

happened in your life. That God looks down from heaven and he says, if you're

going to do all the moving, I mean, if you're going to do everything on

your own, why are you believing in me? If you're going to move it and

direct all the steps, if you know all the plays, if you know the way

all the prayers should be answered and the way everything should go, I mean,

if it's really all up to you, why'd you call on me?

Solomon says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him.

And let him direct your paths. God is saying, that's my responsibility. It's my

job to come in and work in your life and help you and direct your

steps, but you've got to let me. Here's number 6: trust

God to preserve the church. There is a prophecy in Daniel 2:44

Daniel 2:44

that one day a kingdom would be established, and Daniel says that kingdom, it's going

to stand forever. Nothing's going to stop this kingdom. And Jesus in Matthew

16, he says On this rock, Peter, the fact that I'm the Christ, I'll build

my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I'll give you

the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth would have been bound in

heaven, and whatever you loose on earth would have been loosed in heaven. Jesus is

saying nothing is going to stop or destroy the church of Jesus Christ.

Daniel prophesied it, Jesus promised it, and you sitting today worshiping

God in spirit and in truth are living proof that this is a reality.

Different religions have popped up, religious cults have come and gone. The church

of Jesus Christ is here to stay, 2 John 2:2. John says the

truth is going to be with us forever. Trust God to preserve the church.

We've got plans to make, we've got programs to perform, we've got evangelism,

and we've got work to do, but the church belongs to Jesus and

he will preserve her. He's been doing it from eternity's past. Jude 24,

he's able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before his presence

with exceeding joy. This means completely trust God

because various movements and groups have tried to disrupt what God's doing in the world

through his people and they've all failed. The Roman Empire tried in the first couple

of centuries through persecution, and the church kept growing. In the Middle Ages,

some tried through religious corruption, and the church kept growing.

The modern era has tried it through science and secularism. We'll just kill

God and get him out of the way. And yet people are flocking to him

by the thousands because try as they might, the church is

going to be here forever to glorify his name and praise him, as Paul says

in Ephesians 3:21. That means you and I have responsibility to

Ephesians 3:21

be in the church glorifying God, serving, doing our business and our work,

but trust God to do his part and to preserve the church, which is his

people, like he said that he would. And here's the last

thing, number 7: trust God to save you in the end.

If you trust God for everything else we've said in this lesson— to repay the

wicked, to provide your daily bread, to be a God

that's going to be there to forgive your sins— if you trust God in all

these other avenues, it just makes sense that you would trust God to save you

in the end. 700 years before Jesus ever showed

up, the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 25:9 concerning

Isaiah 25:9

the coming Messiah, this is our God, this is our Savior, we've waited for him

and he will save us. When you get near the end of the New Testament,

John won't let you out of 1 John without drilling this principle deep

down into your heart if you let him. He says you can know that you

have eternal life, 1 John 5:13. You can have boldness and confidence

1 John 5:13

in the day of judgment, 1 John 4:17-18. Jesus is

1 John 4:17–18

the propitiation, or the paid sacrifice, for our sins,

1 John 2:2. Trust God to fully save

1 John 2:2

you in the end. Some of us approach death, or maybe we're getting into

our later years, and we start thinking about, I wonder what's going to happen to

me in the judgment. We sometimes think about just maybe a catastrophe

or something snuffing out our lives and whether or not will be approved or

accepted by God. If you've gone through the proper channels and put

your trust in Jesus by obeying the gospel, you literally have absolutely nothing to fear.

The worst thing death can do is promote you into the presence of God.

And all of your fears and all of mine, all of our insecurities about our

salvation, if you just think about every time you've ever worried about this,

every one of them is about your life and not his. And that's proof

you're looking at the wrong life. Serve, be serious,

be fruitful, but be sensible. Jesus didn't come all this way for

it ultimately to depend on how good good of a person you've been and all

the things that you've done right. We need to look at His life.

Paul says, there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

He gave Himself as a ransom to be testified of at the proper time,

1 Timothy 2:5-6. And when you start looking at His life

1 Timothy 2:5–6

and what He's done and your trust and faithfulness to Him more than your own,

your doubts begin to fall and your confidence begins to rise because

He is always faithful. And God is saying to you, trust me

to save you. At the end of Paul's life in 2 Timothy chapter 4,

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

he says, everybody's abandoned me. And in 2 Timothy 4:18,

2 Timothy 4:18

he says, God stood by me and the Lord will deliver me and preserve me

into his heavenly kingdom. You can take your Bible and go to 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 4:18

4:18, and right under that verse you can write, me too. Because what

Paul said about himself is true for every faithful Christian. The Lord will deliver me

and he will preserve me into his heavenly kingdom. That wasn't just true about

Paul. It's also true about you if you're in Christ, and it's true

about me. If you've got to have brain surgery

and you walk into the room and you see Ben Carson, you're relieved. You don't

tell him how to do his job. You know he's up for the task.

If you're on the sideline and Nick Saban's your coach and this is the start

of the 4th quarter and you're down by 3, there's a certain comfort that's

yours as a result. If your child's struggling with math and you get in

there and it's Escalante that's the teacher, you know he may not be where he

needs to be right now, but given enough time, given Escalante's track

record, in time all will be well. This sermon is

designed to say, as you step out into life with God's eternal experience,

you don't just breathe a sigh of relief, you live a life of relief.

God literally has everything under control. The wicked will get what's theirs.

I just need to make sure that I'm not My daily bread, come what may.

No matter what they do with taxes, the economy, God's going to provide.

He'll forgive my sins. He'll work all things together for my

good if I look at the rearview and not at the windshield, and ultimately,

He'll save me in the end. And you know this is true because of how

directly and delicately He dealt with us on the cross.

Jesus says, that's my cross. I'll take your place.

He died for our sins and was raised for our salvation.

And if you want to fully trust God, you start by giving him your whole

self. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and you're ready to

repent of your sins and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:38,

Acts 2:38

the Bible says that's what you have to do and God will forgive you.

You just have to trust him. Do your part, trust him to do his.

If we need to pray with you or pray for you, if the church here

can be of assistance and help you, the church will be here forever. And yes,

to glorify God, but also to benefit and strengthen each other. Kason's gonna lead

us in a song to encourage us. If you need to respond, come now as

together we stand and as we sing.