Proverbs 3:1-12

Well, good morning, everyone.

Here we are again.

Happy New Year to you.

Thank you for tuning in.

And welcome to 2021.

Welcome to Lockdown Part Three.

Turning out to be the uh just the worst trilogy uh ever.

And uh it is good though to to be with you and to open up God's Word uh this morning.

Uh this morning is kind of a standalone sermon, a kind of a top of the year uh message, uh maybe later on outlining some of our uh priorities and some of the direction that we're moving in uh as a church uh into into 2021.

And uh do keep Proverbs uh three uh open in front of you.

Let's pray together.

Our Father, we do uh praise you uh that you are Lord of the Years and that uh you bring about times and seasons, and that you have brought us uh safely through uh 2020 and uh to this uh new year.

We thank you for your enduring faithfulness and pray that by your spirit you would cultivate in us uh greater uh trust and dependence, greater Christ-likeness and uh and uh faith.

We ask these things in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Might just shut down my mail uh as we as we begin.

And and maybe do my WhatsApp too, so that you're not all tempted to WhatsApp me.

There we go.

Um let's uh let's begin.

Uh so in uh in September uh 1939, uh you may or may not be aware, but that was the month that World War II began.

Uh Europe uh for the second time in the living memory of most of the people uh was uh plunged into war.

And in ways that we can scarcely imagine, a veil of uncertainty, fear, uh, and anxiety uh gripped millions of people.

Perhaps we can understand just something of that given the last year that we've been in.

Maybe it is that you are increasingly fearful as you see the case numbers rise in Ireland or abroad.

Maybe the anxiety is never really left.

That Christmas, uh, the king of England at the time was George the Sixth, and he was handed a poem by his 13-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

And that poem was called The Gate of the Year.

And the king was so moved by the words of the poem, uh, especially in the uncertainty and anxiety of wartime, uh, that he included it in his Christmas address.

And I want to read it for you now.

It's a poem entitled The Gate of the Year.

It's only a short poem.

It goes like this.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, give me a light that I might tread safely into the unknown.

And he replied, Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.

So I set forth, and finding the hand of God, trod gladly into the night, and he led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east.

The message of the poem is simple, isn't it?

The future is unknown, it is veiled in darkness, it's the night, and rather than relying on our own strength, our own wisdom, our own insight, that's those are the lights.

Give me a light.

The man who is standing at the gateway to the year says, no, no, put your hand in the hand of God, for that is better than a light, that is better than knowing what's going to happen.

That's better than a known way.

We stand this morning at the gate of the year, and it's good to take a moment to pause and to think, okay, who am I going to trust this year?

As it stretches out before us, uh, veiled in that fog of war, in that in that darkness of uncertainty.

Who are we going to trust?

The entirety of 2020.

God has been asking questions of us.

He's been asking questions like, can you trust me with this?

Questions like, do you still believe that I am good?

As we stand at the gate of the year, perhaps it is time to give an answer.

Next week we will start a new sermon series, as I've mentioned, but this morning I want us to pause and to reflect on this notion and to do so uh from the book of Proverbs, the uh the reading uh that uh Arena read for us.

Proverbs is a book that is designed to help us uh to live wisely.

It's helpful, isn't it, from the Bible?

That God wants us to be wise in how we live, because it's not altogether a given.

I mean, you look at the world around you and you see people living foolishly, and so uh one of the things that God wants you to do is once you know the true nature of reality and the true nature of how to move through the world in a way that is wise.

That's not in a it's not to say in a way that is that makes you more intelligent, but a way that is full of proper perspective and insight and wisdom.

That's what the book of Proverbs is about.

The words of the book of promise, uh sorry, the book of Proverbs aren't necessarily promises, but they are truisms, things that by and large, if you heed them, this is what will happen to you.

And so they are often words to live by.

The central thought of this section of the book of Proverbs is actually there in verses five and six.

Uh, you've seen it on calendars, uh, you've seen it uh on paintings of waterfalls uh or pastoral scenes with little lambs.

It's the words 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.

We're going to explore what they mean rather than just being calendar verses.

Trusting and leaning are connected.

See, they're paralleled uh here in verse five.

Trust in the Lord and do not lean.

They're actually semantically uh connected, they are words of dependence, of putting your your weight on something in the same way that you might depend on a chair to hold you up.

You're trusting on it, in a sense, you're leaning on it, but uh you're trusting in it, you're depending on it.

And so, what the verse is saying is don't depend on your own understanding, don't lean on it, but lean rather, depend, trust in the Lord as the one who will hold you upright and keep you from falling.

Remember, the writer wants you to be wise.

So, how counterintuitive then must it uh must it be or must it seem?

But this verse is saying, Don't rely on your own intellect, don't rely solely on your own strength, don't rely on the words of others, don't rely simply on your own successes or efforts or musings about the future.

No, the correct and sure object of our trust is the Lord Himself, as He has revealed Himself to be.

2021 is just as new and uncertain as 2020 was a year ago.

We see glimmers, perhaps, of hope in a vaccine, and see people getting vaccinated if you're friends with medical workers or related to medical workers.

Uh you might see their Facebook post of uh snapping the picture of their first vaccine.

And yet there's still fear, isn't there?

How should we respond?

2021 will be a more fulfilling and more joy-filled year if it is a year of greater trust for us, of reminding ourselves of who God is, that he is both sovereign, that is, in control, and good, of reminding ourselves that by faith in the Lord Jesus no one can snatch us out of his hand, that our life is safe with Christ in God, as the hymn before the throne of God says.

Why should we trust the Lord in 2021?

Let me give you uh three reasons.

Why should we trust the Lord first?

Well, because this verse is a command, it's an exhortation to trust.

It's not a uh perhaps you would think about and give some consideration to uh trusting in the Lord.

No, no, no.

Uh the father who is writing this, King Solomon writing to his uh his son, the father is writing to his son and saying, uh, verse five, no, trust in the Lord.

It's an admonition, it's an encouragement, it's a command.

We trust the Lord because, as Christians, that's part of our obedience, it's part of our discipleship.

It's when the Lord asks something of us, we listen, we follow.

Trust is a central component of our faith.

It shows that we are connected by faith to Christ rather than to Adam.

Because what did Adam do?

Adam doubted God's word, he questioned God's word, he was given a command, he was given a word to obey, and yet he thought that God was a liar.

He doubted his goodness, his truthfulness, and his faithfulness.

To be a follower of Jesus is to be somebody who fights against that part of us by the power of God's Holy Spirit, to fight against that and to fight for faith, to fight for trust.

That when we are tempted to be uh to be overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty of the future, to remind ourselves of who God is and what he has done, to trust him, to lean on him.

The second reason, and this builds really on the first, because uh God doesn't just blindly command us to do this.

We trust God because of his perfection.

What do I mean by that?

Well, 2020 has reminded us, uh at least I hope it has, it certainly reminded me, it has reminded us of our limitations.

You might think that the uh that the power of uh uh 2020 has taught you that the power of Amazon is limitless, uh that whatever you want it will just arrive.

But it has surely reminded you of the limitations, of the finiteness of your own strength, of your own intellectual resources to figure out what's going on and to work out the best path.

Shown you the limitations of your own abilities, but the God of the Bible is not limited in those sorts of ways.

He is perfect in his strength, he is perfect in his intelligence, his knowledge.

It is a perfect, holistic knowledge of the future.

He is the eternal uncreated one, he knows the end from the beginning, he is the one who is ever present.

He does not experience any of the limitations that we have.

He is the infinite, an infinitely good one.

We trust God not just because we are commanded to, but because that command is built upon his perfections.

Our God is the superlative of everything we hope to be.

The wisest, the best, the strongest.

The third reason why we trust God in 2021 is because he has shown us his character.

He has shown us his character by his past faithfulness.

You can look at his actions in history and know how he's going to act going forward.

You know that he hears the cry of his people, you know that he acts to save.

You know by looking back at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus his son, that God has already defeated our greatest enemies, and so we can trust him with the enemies that we now face.

We can trust him even when he leads us into dark paths, into seasons of hardship or suffering, which we will come on to in just a little while.

We can trust him because he owns our eternity, and so whatever happens to our present, nothing can shake or change our future.

All of this is a reminder that you and I need the voice of scripture in our life.

We need it in 2021.

How do we know of God's proven character?

How do we know of the exhortations to trust him?

How do we know of his perfections?

They are revealed to us that God has spoken to us in his word.

Do you know that when the Bible is read, God's voice is heard?

Do you believe that?

Do you trust that when we read the scriptures, we are hearing the voice of God, his self-disclosure, his revelation.

We need that in order to firm up our trust in order to live wisely.

The wise person is a person who is under authority.

The wise person is a person who is under the authority of the scriptures, who's under the authority of God, because this is how God rules his people, this is how God governs us.

The wise person joyfully, willingly submits himself or herself to that good authority.

Do you consider yourself as someone who is voluntarily submitting themselves to God's authority as revealed in his word?

Are you under the authority of the scriptures?

Or do you find yourself standing in judgment over it?

I don't like that part.

I don't agree with that part.

I kind of ignore that bit.

Because you see, the antidote to leaning on our own understanding, as is there in uh in verse six, is to acknowledge him.

Now we use the word acknowledge in terms of ah, I don't it's acknowledging the existence of.

That's not what uh the writer of Proverbs means.

To acknowledge God is simply to know him, to truly know him.

Lots of people, lots of Christians know much about God, and yet fail to know him, to know him personally, to have a relationship, to have fellowship with him.

This central invitation of verse five and six is built on being rooted in sound teaching, being rooted in in a knowledge of God.

That's why uh the the father, the teacher, the writer of Proverbs begins the way he does in verse one.

It says, My son, do not forget my teaching.

Uh do not let your heart sorry, 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, bind them round your neck, write them uh on a tablet of your heart.

Well, the teacher is saying don't turn away from those things, don't turn away from the things that you have been taught, that you are being taught.

Be be people.

Of the book, as our Islamic friends call us, don't forget what God has taught you.

Remind yourself continually of the unconditional love and grace of God in the gospel.

Don't put your hope in the idols that entice you, or in your performance, in your moral uprightness.

Rather bring everything.

Bring everything to him who loves you.

And be with people.

I know that's hard to be with physically, but in 2021, be with people, even on another Zoom call, who can help you cultivate deeper trust.

Who can help you when you are when the fingertips of your faith are failing.

Cultivate relationships with people who will point you towards the character of God, who will remind you of who he is and what he has done, who will shoulder your burden and encourage you towards deeper trust and faithfulness, of obedience even when it's hard.

Cultivate relationships with those people.

Listen less to people who sell you worldly advice or vain platitudes.

Listen to them less in 2021.

In 2021, read means less.

Those things before which everything else comes into perspective.

I mean, what does he mean by that?

If I acknowledge God, then I'll get everything that I want.

Well, unfortunately, no.

That is not what he means.

And it is good that he doesn't mean that.

Rather, he means that by cultivating trust and dependence, by acknowledging and growing deeper rooted in the Lord Jesus, that your life would be unswervingly and increasingly one, which reflects the character of the Lord Jesus.

Making straight your path does have this idea of uh aiming singularly at a goal.

But what is the goal of God for you?

The goal of God for you is that by faith and by the power of his glorious Holy Spirit, that you would become more like Jesus.

That is the goal.

That's so much better than happiness.

That we would be Christ-like, and with that comes joy.

So, as your leaders, we will continue to hold open the scriptures, we will continue ourselves to submit to them, and to be leaders who are under the authority of the Good Shepherd, and who are increasingly shaped by his word.

We do not feign perfection, spend any time with us, and you know that we're not perfect, but we want to be leaders who are under authority and trusting in the Lord.

The one thing that we don't want to be doing is verse 7.

We don't want to be wise in our own eyes, and that's the next exhortation.

Don't be wise in your own eyes.

And the promise there is for the person who isn't wise in their own eyes, you will be invigorated.

Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your flesh, verse eight, and refreshment to your bones.

This idea of not being wise in your own eyes is well to be teachable, to be humble enough to realize that there are some things that we need to learn, that we do not know everything, and to be willing to hear the words of others when they come from a place of faith and love.

Being wise in your own eyes is thinking that you have nothing to learn, that you never need to apologize.

There is no surer way to harden your heart and sour relationships around you than that.

It will do you good to admit that you're not always right, it will do you good to ask for help, it will do you good to seek wise counsel and to listen to it, perhaps especially if it grates against you.

I mean, how do you know that somebody is poking around an idol in your heart?

Well, because it hurts and you get defensive about it.

Cultivating greater trust, the trust of verse 5, the the leaning on the Lord rather than our own understanding, the trust that is rooted in a knowledge of God that is rooted in an ever-deepening faith in the Lord Jesus and what he has done.

All of that leads to uh to two final things in this passage.

All of that leads to radical obedience.

And I want you to be radical disciples in 2021.

I want you to deepen in your discipleship, and that depth of discipleship will express itself from this passage in two radically different ways.

The first, how you view your stuff, second, how you view your suffering, and with this we will conclude.

But it it all of this trusting in the Lord being rooted in uh in his commandments up to verse eight leads then into verse nine honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of your of your produce, then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats bursting with wine.

When we are shaped by the scriptures, growing in the wisdom of the Lord, one of the ways that that expresses itself is what we do with our stuff, how we view our material wealth, or even the talents that God has given us, the time that God has given us.

It means that we no longer find our security or our identity in in those things.

That's why he's saying to give of your first fruits in the Bible's mind is to is to give the very first of the crop, not fully knowing that there will be any more.

It is an act of trust in itself.

The temptation is to take that first portion and hoard it away in your barn just in case you don't get any more.

And then if the if the harvest is good, you think, great, I'll give that.

God says, No, no, no.

You give of that first stuff and trust me that there's more to come.

Trust me with the rest, trust me with your material possessions, trust me with your talents, trust me with your time.

This makes generous people.

Generous people don't have to be rich people.

It also doesn't necessarily just mean material wealth.

You could be a time generous person, you could be a talent-generous person.

I think I have a particular skill that is very, very easily monetizable, but as an act of service, I'm going to do this with it for this person or this project, whatever it is.

To honor the Lord with your wealth, verse nine, also means somebody who is not just generous, but who is committed to justice.

To honor the Lord with one's wealth in the book of Proverbs is to be someone who is committed to above-board business practices, to non-exploitative measures.

But it does perhaps impact things like if we do our own tax return.

Or the kinds of things that we support, the kinds of things that we give our money to.

Am I maximizing it for the glory of God?

And then, secondly, and and finally, being rooted in the scriptures, cultivating trust in God changes how we use our stuff.

And then finally, it changes how we view our suffering.

It changes how we view our hardship.

Verses 11 and 12.

It says, My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be wary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father, the son in whom he delights.

How often do we face a time of difficulty or time of hardship and fall into self-pity?

Why is this happening to me?

Am I being punished for something?

The gospel fundamentally changes how we face difficult circumstances.

Because the gospel assures us that the difficult circumstances that we go through as Christians are not punishment.

God is not punishing us.

That means that whatever is going on, whatever else is going on, and maybe we can't quite see what is happening, but it is worth remembering.

It's a very important thing to remember that whatever else is happening, we are not being punished because the punishment has already been laid on the Lord Jesus.

The Father here in Proverbs is teaching his son that hardship from God teaches us.

That suffering is a way that we learn more.

We learn more about ourselves, our own limitations, what the secret idols of our hearts are.

And we learn more of God.

How enduringly faithful He is, how He sustains and carries us, even when we are wretched and faithless and scarcely deserve it.

Perhaps especially then.

To forget it, or to medicate against it, or to block it out.

The Bible has a different approach.

It says, no, no, you have much to learn here.

There is much to learn in the house of mourning, as Ecclesiastes 3, another wisdom book, says it is a way that God refines you as a disciple of Jesus.

Isn't that Peter's image?

Peter Thomson, that is, uh, began uh with the opening of 1 Peter.

But it goes on in verses 6 and 7 to say that for a little while your faith is being tested, like gold being refined in the fire.

That is, you are in the fire of hardship.

But what's that doing to your faith?

It's burning off all of the dross, it's burning off all of the impurities, and it will make your faith shine all the brighter in the end.

What a wonderful promise that is.

What have you seen of him in 2020?

How have you seen him act and preserve?

How has he displayed to you his goodness and his glory, his wisdom?

Can you do like Mary did in the Christmas story and treasure those things up in your heart?

How have you seen his faithfulness?

How have you seen his faithfulness through the actions of others in our community?

How have the people of City Church been a blessing to you?

How can you in turn be a blessing and encouragement to them?

This year as a church, we must, we will seek to grow in trust and dependence.

Next week we begin a new series in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, which is a letter about how God uses people in their weakness and how God transforms those who follow Jesus into new creations with ever-increasing glory.

We're going to trust God and depend on Him as we continue unabashed and unabated with our plans to plant another church.

That has not stopped.

We are continuing forward.

Duncan and Becky have been leading us in our prayers on Thursday nights.

I invite you again to join those.

Be praying for a new gospel community in South Dublin.

Doesn't our land need communities of light?

Doesn't our land need churches?

Where people will hold out the hope of the gospel, where people will hold out the goodness and enduring faithfulness of God.

We are moving forward with those plans.

What that means practically is this year we're gathering a launch team.

People, people from City Church who will go with Duncan and Becky and be part of that new church plant.

Pray.

Pray and consider that.

Pray that God would raise up the people, the right people, the people of his design.

And let's be expectant that God will see that done.

See that embryonic church launched in 2022.

And from the 11th of January, we will begin a new evangelistic series exploring the claims of Jesus, thinking about what it means to be a human being, thinking more about suffering and meaning and freedom.

And so let's pray that God would move in the hearts of our friends, our family, to consider Jesus and to find hope.

And to find deeper trust in Him.

Happy New Year, everybody.

Let's pray.

So I set forth and finding the hand of God, tread gladly into the night.

Father, by faith, we are reaching out our hands to you, and we know that you are not far off.

Take our hands in yours and lead us individually and as a church into this new year.

Help us to trust you more fully.

Help us to love you, to enjoy.

Enjoy you and to be a community that encourages and stirs up and spurs on one another.

Help us, we pray, as we consider sending out a launch team.

Father, would you be in the midst of that?

Would your Holy Spirit brood over those plans and bring them about according to your good pleasure?

Help us, we pray.

We do not know all the ends, we do not know the future.

But what we know is this you are God, and you are good, and you love us.

The Lord Jesus has died for us, that he rules and reigns over us now, and his spirit is inside us, giving strength to our weak hands.

Help us, we pray.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen, everyone.

See you soon.