Sermon
Trust the LORD, Distrust Yourself
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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In Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 1 to 12.
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My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.
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For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
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Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you.
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Bind them around your neck.
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Write them on the tablet of your heart,
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so you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
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and do not lean on your own understanding.
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In all your ways acknowledge Him,
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and He will make straight your paths.
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Be not wise in your own eyes.
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Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
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It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
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Honor the Lord with your wealth,
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and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
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Then your barns will be filled with plenty,
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and your vats will be bursting with wine.
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My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline,
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or be weary of His reproof.
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For the Lord reproves Him whom He loves,
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as a father, the son in whom He delights.
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This is God's holy and authoritative word.
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Most of you, like I do, probably know a health guru or two.
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The person who keeps up with all the health fads,
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experimented with the alkaline diet,
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the gluten-free diet, the vegan diet,
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paleo diet, the Whole30 diet,
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the Mediterranean diet, Atkins diet,
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keto diet, I don't even know what half of these are.
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The person who keeps up with all the exercise fads,
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I think this is probably before most of us,
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but Taibo, right?
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P90X, Insanity, Barefoot Running.
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Remember those Vibrams?
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Zumba, Yoga, Spinning, or CrossFit.
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Most of you also probably know a productivity guru or two.
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The person that reads all the self-help books
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and eagerly applies all the productivity tips
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to ensure success and happiness in their life.
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Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking.
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David Allen's Getting Things Done.
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Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
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Or Marie Kondo's Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
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Certainly not underselling it, right?
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Life-changing magic.
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I mention all these to show you
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that people are generally very interested
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in health and well-being,
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in happiness and success.
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Now what if I told you
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that I have discovered something
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that will increase your length of days and years of life
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and fill your life with peace?
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Something that will give you favor and good success
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with both God and man.
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And if you believed me
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when I told you that,
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you would do everything in your power
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to acquire that very thing.
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And that's precisely what
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this passage of Scripture offers,
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although
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I will qualify and explain that as we go.
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It teaches us that
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we should trust the Lord fully
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and distrust ourselves.
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That's the main point of this passage.
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We should trust the Lord
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and distrust ourselves.
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First, in the first half,
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there's an exhortation to trust in the Lord.
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In the second half,
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it gives us specific examples
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of trust in the Lord,
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what that looks like.
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It begins in verses 1 and 2 this way.
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These first two verses
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set the pattern
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that the rest of this passage will follow.
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The odd number of verses
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contain the commands
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that we have to follow,
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the commands of God.
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The even number of verses
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contain the consequences,
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the rewards that will follow
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if we obey God's commands.
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And as I said two weeks ago,
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the son that is in view here,
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that's being addressed here,
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is not a specific individual,
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but a generic category
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that includes all of God's people.
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In fact, in Exodus 4, verse 22,
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God explicitly calls
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the nation of Israel,
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his chosen people,
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my firstborn son.
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So God reveals himself
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to his people as father
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and calls his people his children.
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And so this is,
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and this is partly why
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God takes paternal relationships
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so seriously
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because our earthly fathers
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are meant to be representatives
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of our heavenly father
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to their children.
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And so scripture repeatedly
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places a premium
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on the responsibility
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of parents
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to rear their children
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in the instruction
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and discipline of the Lord.
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And that's why Proverbs
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assumes this parental voice
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and perspective
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when it says,
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for example,
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in chapter 1, verse 8,
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hear my son,
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your father's instruction
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and forsake not
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your mother's teaching.
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And if we do not forget
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our father's teaching
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but let our heart
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keep his commandments,
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that's the command,
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then our keeping
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of these commandments
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will lead to this.
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It will add to us
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length of days
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and years of life
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and peace.
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That's the consequence.
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That's very similar
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to the fifth
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of the Ten Commandments
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which Paul quotes
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in Ephesians chapter 6,
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verses 1 to 4.
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Children,
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obey your parents
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and the Lord
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for this is right.
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Honor your father
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and mother.
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This is the first commandment
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with a promise
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that it may go well
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with you
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and that you may live
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long in the land.
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Fathers,
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do not provoke
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your children to anger
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but bring them up
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in the discipline
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and instruction
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of the Lord.
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Because God intended
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our parents
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to function
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as his representatives
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and messengers,
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he expected us
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to honor our parents
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and to heed
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their teaching,
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their words.
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And when our parents
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bring us up
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in the instruction
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and discipline
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of the Lord
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and we honor them
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and heed their words,
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then it would go well
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with us
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because we'll be following
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God's words
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and we would live
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long in the land.
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Verses 3 to 4
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continue this exhortation.
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Let not steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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forsake you.
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Bind them around your neck.
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Write them on the tablet
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of your heart
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so you will find favor
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and good success
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in the sight of God
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and man.
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Steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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in verse 3.
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It's parallel to
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the Father's teaching
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and commandments
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in verse 1.
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So these two attributes,
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steadfast love
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and faithfulness,
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sum up the Father's
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ethical teaching.
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This is what your life
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should look like.
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This is how you should live.
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And it's not a coincidence
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that steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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are frequently paired
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throughout Scripture
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to sum up
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the attributes of God.
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When God reveals himself
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to Moses
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in Exodus chapter 34,
Exodus 34 chapter mention
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he describes himself
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as abounding
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in steadfast love
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and faithfulness.
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His steadfast love
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means he is not fickle.
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His love for us
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doesn't fluctuate.
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He loves us
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with an unchanging,
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covenantal love.
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He's loyal to us.
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God's also faithful.
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The word behind faithfulness,
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the Hebrew word
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behind faithfulness
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is sometimes translated
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as truth.
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It's a reference
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to God's faithfulness
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to his character.
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He's true to himself.
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He does not deviate
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from who he is.
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He's not contingent
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on changing circumstances
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or moods.
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He's the same yesterday,
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today, and forever.
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He's always faithful
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and true.
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That's what faithfulness means.
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As 2 Timothy 2.13 says,
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If we are faithless,
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he remains faithful
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for he cannot deny himself.
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That's who he is.
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It was God's steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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that assured God's people
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of his enduring
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commitment to them.
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And so then,
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when Proverbs 3.3 tells us,
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Let not steadfast love
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and faithfulness forsake you,
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it's telling us
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that as objects
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of God's steadfast love
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and faithfulness,
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we should be characterized
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by steadfast love
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and faithfulness.
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We should reciprocate
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what God has done for us,
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given to us.
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It's referring to
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keeping our end
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of our covenant relationship
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with God,
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our obligations,
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our responsibilities.
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Psalm 26 describes it this way,
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To live with steadfast love
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and faithfulness,
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then it's to live
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trusting the Lord
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without wavering.
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It's a life of faith.
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That's what it means
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to put on steadfast love
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and faithfulness.
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Like a wedding ring
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that you never take off,
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as God's people,
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we are to keep
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steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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near our hearts always.
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Wear it always.
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Engrave it
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on the tablet of our hearts.
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And so then,
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steadfast love
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and faithfulness,
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they're not some generic,
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a-religious,
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moral qualities
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that anyone can follow.
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These are profoundly
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religious attributes.
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One cannot live
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with steadfast love
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and faithfulness
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without faith in God.
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This is confirmed
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by verses 5 to 6.
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It says,
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Trust in the Lord
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with all your heart
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and do not lean
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on your own understanding.
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In all your ways,
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acknowledge Him
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and He will make straight
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your paths.
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Notice the repetition
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of the word all.
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The command to trust
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in the Lord
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with all your heart
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requires exclusivity.
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We are not to be divided
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in our allegiance to Him.
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We are not to serve
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other lords
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or to be devoted
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to other masters.
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Rather,
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we are to trust in God
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with all of our heart.
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And likewise,
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we are to acknowledge God
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in all our ways.
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That implies
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not just that
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our commitment to God
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is exclusive,
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but that it's also
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exhaustive.
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It's comprehensive.
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There's nothing
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that it doesn't touch.
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Everything in life
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is supposed to be filtered
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through our devotion
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to God,
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our allegiance to Him.
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So do you trust
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in the Lord
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with all your heart
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or do you trust Him
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with half your heart?
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Or do you not
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trust Him at all?
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Is there something
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or someone else
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that you trust?
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Do you lean
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on your own understanding?
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There's so many
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self-help tips out there
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along the lines of
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trust yourself,
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believe in yourself,
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bet on yourself.
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But this is prideful
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and self-serving advice
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that's unbecoming
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of the Christian.
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We are commanded here
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to trust in the Lord
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and distrust ourselves.
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There are too many
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people in the world
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that think they know
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exactly what they are doing
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and what everyone else
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should be doing.
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Leaning on our own
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understanding
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is like leaning
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on a broken crutch.
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We should instead
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trust in the Lord
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with all of our heart.
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So let me ask you,
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what drives your decisions
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and actions?
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Is it the Word of God
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or is it your own will?
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Are you shaped
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by the teachings
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of God's Word
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or are you shaped
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more by your own desires,
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your impulses,
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your experiences,
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your past,
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and your feelings?
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What is the key
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or the legend
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that you use
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in your life
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to determine
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what is true or false,
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what is right or wrong,
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what is good or bad,
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what is beautiful or ugly?
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What is the key
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that you use
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to determine those things?
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We can't assume
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that human reason
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or intuition
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or conscience
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can bring people together
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and be consistent
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and reliable.
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They are not.
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All of those things
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are shaped by our personal
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and cultural context.
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People's reasoning
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is often very
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and demonstrably unreasonable.
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People's intuitions
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and consciences
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frequently misfire.
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That means our reasoning
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needs to be sanctified
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by God's Word
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and our intuitions
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and consciences too
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must be calibrated
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according to
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the Word of God.
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As Paul writes
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in 2 Corinthians 10, 5,
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we destroy arguments
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and every lofty opinion
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raised against
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the knowledge of God
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and take every thought
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captive
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to obey Christ.
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So do you filter
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every thought,
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every idea
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through the Word of God?
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Do you dare
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to risk yourself,
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your life,
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to believe
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and obey
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everything
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that God's Word
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teaches
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in every area
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of your life?
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I'd love
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for our church
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to get in the habit
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of asking ourselves,
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is this thought
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or is this idea
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corroborated
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or contradicted
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by a passage
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in Scripture?
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And God's Word
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is bound
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to challenge us
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from time to time,
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perhaps
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more frequently
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for some of us
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than others.
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Why?
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Because God is God
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and we are not.
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If God
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always agrees
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with us,
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as one preacher
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said,
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we probably
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created God
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in our own image.
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He's just
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an idealization
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of our own desires,
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not God.
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And we should
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get in the habit
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of testing
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our decisions
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and actions
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by the Word of God
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as well.
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We should cultivate
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a functional
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dependence on God
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in our day-to-day life.
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And we can't
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assume that just
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because we've been
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a Christian
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for some time
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that this is
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something we're
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already doing.
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There are people
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who have been
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Christians for decades
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who trust in the Lord
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theoretically
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but do not
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trust Him
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functionally.
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They rely
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on their own
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understanding
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in the way
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they actually live.
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To illustrate,
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many of us,
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many of you
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are diligent
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in your life
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and perhaps
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not consciously
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but subconsciously
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you live
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with the mantra,
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God helps
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those who
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help themselves.
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But that's
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the indifferent
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and really
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distant God
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of deism
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that's not
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speaking of
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the loving
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and personally
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present God
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of Christianity.
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By this,
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I don't mean
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that God
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doesn't use means.
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I don't mean
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that we should
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passively resign
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ourselves
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to whatever
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happens.
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The book
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of Proverbs
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leaves no room
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for passivity
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or laziness
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on our part.
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But too many
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of us
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use our
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diligence
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and busyness
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to mask
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our lack
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of faith
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in God.
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We use
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the fact
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that God
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holds us
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humans
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responsible
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for our
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decisions
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and actions
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as an excuse
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for distrusting
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divine sovereignty.
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I think
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that's why
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we love
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this often
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told parable.
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I'm sure
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you've heard
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it.
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I don't
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know if
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it's a joke
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or a parable.
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A fellow
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was apparently
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stuck on a
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stranded
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on a rooftop
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because there
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was a flood
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and he
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prayed to God
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for help.
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God,
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please come
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and rescue
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me.
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I have
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faith.
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I'm relying
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on you.
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And so
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God sent
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or
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I already
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blew the
-
joke.
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So a
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rowboat
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comes around
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and offers
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to give him
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a ride.
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He says,
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hey,
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come,
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jump in.
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I'll help
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you.
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And then
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the guy
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goes,
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no,
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no,
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no,
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no.
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I've
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been
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praying
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to God.
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I have
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faith.
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I'll
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wait.
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And then
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later a
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motorboat
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comes by
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and says,
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hey,
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jump in.
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Let me
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get you
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out of
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the flood.
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And he
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says,
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no,
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I've
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been
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praying
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to God.
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I'm
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just
-
going
-
to
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wait.
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I
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have
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faith.
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And
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then
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finally a
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helicopter
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comes.
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He's
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literally
-
about to
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sink.
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And the
-
helicopter
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comes and
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says,
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come on,
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climb onto
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this ladder
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and I'll
-
rescue you.
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And then
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he says,
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I have
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faith.
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I'm not
-
going to go.
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And of
-
course,
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he dies.
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He drowns.
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And then
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he goes
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to heaven
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because he
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did have
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faith.
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And he
-
asks God,
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he brings
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God to
-
task.
-
God,
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I
-
prayed
-
with
-
faith.
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Why did
-
you not
-
come to
-
rescue me
-
and leave
-
me to
-
die
-
stranded
-
in the
-
flood?
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And
-
then
-
God
-
replied,
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I
-
sent
-
you
-
a
-
rowboat
-
and a
-
motorboat
-
and a
-
helicopter.
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What
-
more did
-
you expect?
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God
-
does
-
use
-
means.
-
I'm
-
not
-
denying
-
that.
-
God
-
often
-
uses
-
people.
-
He
-
often
-
uses
-
you.
-
But
-
this
-
does
-
not
-
mean
-
then
-
that
-
the
-
man
-
stranded
-
in
-
the
-
flood
-
should
-
have
-
swum
-
frantically
-
trying to
-
save
-
himself
-
without
-
any
-
recourse
-
to God
-
without
-
any
-
reliance
-
on God.
-
That's
-
not what
-
it looks
-
like to
-
live a
-
life of
-
faith.
-
There
-
is an
-
important
-
difference
-
between
-
trusting God
-
to provide
-
through people
-
and trusting
-
people in
-
the place
-
of God.
-
God
-
to
-
trust
-
to
-
use
-
you
-
and
-
trusting
-
yourself.
-
A
-
big
-
difference.
-
A
-
telltale
-
sign
-
of whether
-
or not
-
you're
-
trusting
-
God
-
is the
-
vibrancy
-
of your
-
prayer
-
life.
-
Is
-
prayer
-
an
-
optional
-
thing
-
that you
-
tag
-
on to
-
the
-
indispensable
-
work
-
that you
-
do
-
with
-
your
-
own
-
hands?
-
Or
-
is
-
prayer
-
an
-
indispensable
-
work
-
that
-
calls
-
upon
-
God's
-
indispensable
-
work
-
to bear
-
on your
-
life?
-
Do you
-
have a
-
habit of
-
taking things
-
into your
-
own hands?
-
Verse
-
6 is
-
in all
-
your ways
-
acknowledge
-
him
-
and he
-
will make
-
straight
-
your paths.
-
It doesn't
-
say pave
-
your own
-
way.
-
It doesn't
-
say forge
-
your own
-
path.
-
It says
-
depend
-
on God,
-
acknowledge
-
God,
-
submit
-
to his
-
authority,
-
align
-
yourselves
-
to his
-
purposes
-
and
-
priorities
-
and
-
then
-
he
-
will
-
smooth
-
out,
-
straighten
-
your
-
path.
-
George
-
Mueller
-
was a
-
19th
-
century
-
Christian
-
minister
-
famous
-
for his
-
life of
-
radical
-
dependence
-
on
-
God.
-
When
-
God
-
first put
-
it in
-
his
-
heart
-
to
-
build
-
orphanages,
-
he
-
had only
-
two
-
shillings,
-
equivalent
-
to have
-
50
-
cents
-
in his
-
pocket.
-
And he
-
fundraised
-
400,000
-
pounds,
-
7 million
-
dollar
-
equivalent,
-
without
-
making his
-
financial needs
-
known to a
-
single human
-
being.
-
Only by
-
praying to
-
God.
-
In
-
response to
-
his prayers
-
of faith,
-
people sent
-
him money,
-
left and
-
right,
-
God
-
even though
-
he never
-
asked anyone,
-
never told anyone of the need.
-
So he founded and directed the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol,
-
England and cared for over 10,000 orphans during his lifetime.
-
He established 117 schools that offered Christian education to more than 120,000 people.
-
And in his autobiography, Mueller writes about how he learned to trust God so completely.
-
Quote,
-
when a trial of faith comes, we are naturally inclined to distrust God and to trust in ourselves, in our friends, or in circumstances.
-
We would rather work a deliverance of our own than simply look to God and wait for his help.
-
But if we do not patiently wait for God's help, or if we work a deliverance of our own, then at the next trial of our faith, we will have the same problem.
-
We will again be inclined to try and deliver ourselves.
-
With every fresh trial, our faith will decrease.
-
On the contrary, if we stand firm in order to see the salvation of God, trusting in him alone, our faith will be increased.
-
I know this example makes some of you uncomfortable.
-
It should.
-
It should.
-
I don't think all of us should live as George Mueller did.
-
I wish all of us could.
-
But I don't think all of us should, because not all of us have George Mueller's faith.
-
To do such things without faith is presumption.
-
A testing of God, not faith in God.
-
But I do think all of us should push the envelope bit by bit every day to become more and more radically dependent on God.
-
Is there a way you can be more dependent on God and less dependent on yourself today?
-
I can assure you that God can get more things done without our help than you and I can imagine.
-
After the general exhortation to trust in the Lord, we are given specific examples of trust in the Lord in the rest of this passage.
-
It says in verses 7 to 8,
-
Later in Proverbs 26, 12, it says that a person who is wise in his own eyes is worse than a fool.
-
There's more hope for a fool than for a person who is wise in his own eyes.
-
Why? Because a fool is ignorant, but the man who is wise in his own eyes is ignorant and prideful.
-
Confident in his ignorance.
-
He's impervious to instruction and correction.
-
And the antidote for that, being wise in one's own eyes, is fear of the Lord.
-
Because fear of the Lord combines the knowledge of God with humility before God.
-
It deals with both our ignorance and our pride.
-
To fear the Lord, as I've been saying over this series,
-
is to live every waking moment before the presence of, under the authority of, and for the glory of God.
-
That's what it means to live in the fear of God.
-
It means to live with faith in God and with humility before Him.
-
And the fear of God is evidenced in our turning away from evil, it says.
-
To turn away is the word that's often rendered, repent.
-
Is there a sin in your life that you have not turned away from?
-
Sin that you condone, that you hide, that you rationalize?
-
Is there a vice that God is calling you to renounce in your life right now,
-
that you think God doesn't see or care enough about?
-
If you fear the Lord, you would turn from it.
-
And that would be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
-
Whenever we see promises like this, we ask ourselves,
-
is this promise true?
-
Or is this just naivete?
-
Okay.
-
Aren't there plenty of people who fear the Lord,
-
that don't have health and healing?
-
Proverbs is not unaware that, in some cases, wicked flourish and prosper.
-
That's why Proverbs 23, 17 says,
-
Let not your heart envy sinners,
-
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
-
The fear of the Lord brings many temporal blessings,
-
generally speaking.
-
But because we live in a sinful, upside-down world,
-
sometimes fearing the Lord and living with the fear of God
-
brings injustice and persecution.
-
In such cases, we are not to envy sinners,
-
but continue in the fear of the Lord,
-
trusting that God's justice will ultimately prevail.
-
And that there will be eternal blessings.
-
Verses 9 to 10 teach us about another way
-
in which to trust God practically.
-
It says,
-
Honor the Lord with your wealth
-
and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
-
Then your barns will be filled with plenty
-
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
-
The Hebrew word behind the word honor
-
literally means to count as heavy,
-
to give weight to someone.
-
So then to honor the Lord with your wealth,
-
then it's to give weight to God
-
in the way you use your money.
-
It's very helpful to think about it this way
-
because that gets us away from this
-
kind of minimum requirement mentality.
-
God, how much must I give
-
so that I can spend the rest of it for myself?
-
What is the requirement?
-
I'll do it.
-
Just tell me where the line is
-
so that I can have this under control
-
and live the way I want.
-
This command doesn't allow for that.
-
Honor the Lord with your wealth.
-
God's concerned about the balance of it all,
-
the weight of it all.
-
Is your budget weighted toward God
-
or toward yourself?
-
Will someone who looks at your budget say,
-
God is counted heavily in this budget?
-
Or will the person not even know
-
that you believe in God?
-
We are to honor the Lord
-
with the first fruits of all of our produce,
-
he says.
-
First fruits refer to the first produce
-
of the season
-
and the first offspring of one's livestock
-
that God's people were expected to bring
-
as an offering.
-
It's a form of tribute,
-
an acknowledgement that we are a people
-
under God's authority
-
and that all of our blessings
-
ultimately come from God.
-
And it's the first fruits,
-
not leftovers,
-
that are required.
-
We're not to give God the worst things,
-
but the best things.
-
We don't merely give what is expendable to us,
-
we give what is expensive to us,
-
costly to us.
-
This is so countercultural
-
because in our society,
-
we live in a society that trusts in capital,
-
not in God's worth,
-
not in God.
-
The way we use our money
-
will often reveal whether or not
-
we actually trust God
-
to provide for us
-
or whether we're trusting ourselves
-
to provide for ourselves.
-
Job 31 puts it this way,
-
verses 24 to 28,
-
If I have made gold my trust
-
or called fine gold my confidence,
-
if I have rejoiced
-
because my wealth was abundant
-
or because my hand had found much
-
and my heart has been secretly enticed
-
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
-
this also would be an iniquity
-
to be punished by the judges,
-
for I would have been false to God above.
-
To trust in your wealth below
-
is to be false to your God above,
-
to distrust God.
-
Proverbs 18, 10 to 11
-
mocks trusting in wealth this way,
-
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
-
The righteous man runs into it and is safe.
-
A rich man's wealth is his strong city
-
and like a high wall in his imagination.
-
Your wealth might make you feel safe and secure,
-
but it's only an illusion
-
because true safety and security
-
is found in God alone.
-
At any given moment,
-
there are billions of possibilities,
-
things that can happen to you.
-
You think money will protect you from that?
-
Certainly, it's possible
-
to neglect responsible saving
-
in a sinful, ungodly way.
-
Spending things we shouldn't be spending,
-
indulging in ourselves,
-
not being generous.
-
But it's also possible
-
to save more than we should,
-
to compensate for our lack of faith in God
-
through saving.
-
In the parable of the rich fool
-
in Luke 12, 13 to 21,
-
Jesus rebukes the rich fool
-
who says to himself,
-
Soul, you have ample goods
-
laid up for many years.
-
Relax, eat, drink, be merry.
-
God says to him,
-
Fool, this night your soul
-
is required of you.
-
And the things you have prepared,
-
whose will they be?
-
So is the one who lays up
-
treasure for himself
-
and is not rich toward God.
-
Are you rich toward yourself
-
or are you rich toward God?
-
Where is the balance of it all?
-
Where does the weight of it fall?
-
This is not advice you'll hear
-
from people in Wall Street.
-
They're always talking about
-
the risk of living too long,
-
the unreliable investment returns,
-
the unforeseen medical expenses,
-
warning us that you can never
-
possibly save enough.
-
But if our functional trust
-
is in our own ability
-
to provide for ourselves
-
rather than in God's provision,
-
we will never be rich toward God.
-
But if we're rich toward God,
-
God promises in verse 10,
-
then your barns will be filled
-
with plenty
-
and your vats will be bursting
-
with wine.
-
That's literally new wine,
-
which refers to the first
-
drippings of,
-
I guess,
-
of juice from grapes
-
before it's pressed,
-
before they're trotted upon
-
in the wine press.
-
It's the most potent,
-
the most delicious part
-
of the wine,
-
new wine.
-
Your vats will overflow
-
with this new wine.
-
God's not saying,
-
God's saying
-
he's not going to be stingy with you.
-
He's going to give you
-
the best affair.
-
You're going to have plenty
-
to eat and drink.
-
Once again,
-
Proverbs is not unaware
-
that there are exceptions
-
to this rule.
-
But exceptions do not
-
disprove the rule.
-
They actually,
-
by their very existence,
-
prove the rule,
-
that it applies
-
in all the other circumstances.
-
But even if your situation
-
is the exception,
-
Proverbs 16.8 says,
-
Better is a little
-
with righteousness
-
than great revenues
-
with injustice.
-
Hold on.
-
Continue to fear God
-
and live faithfully
-
for Him.
-
Even when you don't have much,
-
trust in God
-
and not in your riches.
-
And you will ultimately
-
be rewarded.
-
Heavenly treasure
-
will be yours.
-
The sage gives us
-
one more example
-
of trusting God
-
in verses 11-12.
-
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.
-
If you don't trust
-
in the Lord,
-
you will despise
-
His discipline
-
and reproof.
-
Isn't this true?
-
Isn't this how
-
our parents raised us?
-
Isn't this how
-
we raised our parents?
-
Raised our parents?
-
Raised our children?
-
Sorry.
-
Please don't try
-
to raise your parents.
-
This is how
-
I treat my kids.
-
It seems like
-
nowadays,
-
parenting is increasingly
-
a kind of
-
lazy affair.
-
Just let them be.
-
Let them take
-
the course of life.
-
let them figure out
-
things for themselves.
-
Let them discover
-
their true selves.
-
I don't know
-
where that idea
-
came from.
-
My kids would be
-
dead already
-
if I let them do that.
-
Kids,
-
by definition,
-
don't know
-
what's best for them.
-
That's why
-
they have parents.
-
And parents
-
who don't
-
discipline
-
children
-
and teach them
-
right from wrong
-
that parents
-
don't correct
-
their misbehaviors
-
are not
-
being good parents.
-
They're neglectful
-
parents.
-
Likewise,
-
God says,
-
if you want me
-
to care about you,
-
if you want me
-
to invest in you
-
as my child,
-
as my son
-
and daughter,
-
beloved children
-
of God,
-
I am going to
-
be in your life.
-
And there will
-
be discipline.
-
And that's not
-
something to dread.
-
It's not a sign
-
of God's displeasure.
-
It's not a sign
-
of God's hatred.
-
It's a sign
-
of God's love.
-
God's love.
-
But if you don't
-
trust in God,
-
when your life
-
is miserable,
-
when things are not
-
going the way you want,
-
when you're suffering,
-
when you're sick,
-
when you're not making
-
as much money as you want,
-
when people are not
-
nice to you,
-
when all of these
-
things happen,
-
you're going to
-
start to get insecure.
-
You're going to
-
start to resent God,
-
be bitter toward Him,
-
because your trust
-
was not in the Lord,
-
but in your circumstances.
-
When we trust
-
in the Lord
-
and distrust ourselves,
-
verse 4 promises,
-
you will find favor
-
and good success
-
in the sight of God
-
and man.
-
If we are honest
-
with ourselves
-
in the ultimate sense,
-
yeah, sure,
-
in a relative sense,
-
maybe we are behaving
-
properly,
-
we're living righteously,
-
and we experience
-
favor with God
-
and man.
-
Relatively speaking,
-
that may be true,
-
but speaking absolutely,
-
there's not a single
-
person in this room,
-
not a single person
-
on earth
-
that lives
-
to deserve
-
this favor
-
and good success
-
in the sight of God
-
and man.
-
because we have
-
all sinned.
-
We have all
-
failed to trust God.
-
But there is
-
one man
-
that lived
-
this way.
-
Luke 2,
-
chapter 2,
-
verse 52
-
describes Jesus
-
this way.
-
It says,
-
Jesus increased
-
in wisdom
-
and in stature
-
and in favor
-
with God
-
and man.
-
Jesus trusted
-
in God
-
his Father
-
perfectly
-
and he increased
-
in favor
-
with God
-
and man.
-
He was the
-
obedient
-
Son of God
-
that conducted
-
himself always
-
with steadfast love
-
and faithfulness.
-
He was the one
-
that fulfills
-
all of these promises.
-
His life
-
should have
-
been characterized
-
by longevity,
-
health,
-
eternal,
-
endless riches.
-
But he dies
-
in poverty,
-
in suffering,
-
unjustly persecuted
-
on a cross.
-
What happened
-
to your promises,
-
God?
-
What about
-
these Proverbs?
-
And here's
-
where we find hope.
-
Jesus
-
is the obedient
-
Son
-
that's characterized
-
in this,
-
described in this
-
proverb,
-
but in order to
-
make all of us
-
the rebels,
-
the disobedient
-
children of God,
-
sons and daughters
-
who have brought
-
shame and reproach
-
to the face
-
of our Father
-
in order to bring us
-
and reconcile us
-
to God,
-
in order to give us
-
these blessings
-
that we have
-
cut ourselves up from.
-
That's why God
-
the Father
-
sends His Son
-
Jesus to die
-
on the cross
-
for us.
-
That's why
-
He hangs
-
on that cross
-
so that we
-
might experience
-
these promises.
-
Have you
-
trusted
-
in Jesus
-
who fulfills
-
this word
-
for you?
-
Have you
-
trusted
-
in Jesus
-
who fulfills
-
this word
-
for you?