JEREMIAH 17 WHERE IS YOUR TRUST2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 17 Where Is Your Trust

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. We are here in Jeremiah chapter 17 this morning. I've titled the message, Where is Your Trust? And the Lord wants to refresh us and renew us in considering our trust in the Lord this morning.

Where is your trust? Where are you placing your hope and your confidence and your faith?

Now this message from the prophet Jeremiah going out to the nation of Judah was an appropriate and very timely message for these people, the people of God, because they were in a place where they were trusting in Egypt as Babylon has risen up and is coming to conquer Jerusalem. Jerusalem is pretty much all that's left of the nation of Judah at this time in Jeremiah's prophecy. And as this threat is coming,

God has been calling his people to repentance. He's been calling them to come and get right with him and to walk with him and to amend their ways, to change their ways, to walk with God once again. He's called them to trust in him and given them the promise. If you turn back to me, well, I will deliver you from this threat of Babylon. That it's not too late, that you have the opportunity still to be delivered from what is to come, but

The nation of Judah, they had the nation of Egypt there next to them. And they thought, well, Egypt can save us from this battle that is going to come. Together we can, you know, link arms and be strong and defeat Babylon. And so instead of responding to the Lord and obeying the Lord, they leaned upon Egypt and trusted in them. And God here is warning them against that in advance.

And he's calling them to consider who they're trusting in. And he, in doing so, paints a couple pictures. The picture of the one side that has their trust in Egypt and those who have their trust in men, that it's desolate. It's like a barren wilderness with a lone shrub there just all by itself in the desert. And then on the other side, you have those who trust in God. And there's lush, abundant life as a result.

And as God gives us these pictures to consider this morning, I would encourage you to stop and reflect which side better pictures your condition, your life, your soul, your

Which side better depicts where you're at and what you're experiencing because God used these illustrations to speak to us about our faith and our trust in God. And it helps us to consider, to evaluate where we're at in our trust in the Lord. We're going to work through four points this morning as we look at this passage. The first one is found in verses five and six. Here's point number one. Cursed is the one who trusts in man.

Cursed is the one who trusts in man. The Lord begins this message in verse 5 saying, Thus says the Lord. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. First of all, we see this is a message from the Lord. Thus says the Lord. And this should cause us to kind of perk up our ears and pay attention. The Lord is speaking.

This is not Jeremiah's ideas. This is not Jeremiah's philosophies. This is not, you know, the ideas of the elders of the day or, you know, people around them. This isn't, you know, some educated scholar. This isn't some fool down in the corner. This is the Lord himself speaking. And here's what the Lord says.

He says, cursed is the man who trusts in man. Now, as we talk about man, cursed is the man and the one who trusts in man. We're not just talking about a gender, right? We're talking about mankind, both sides, that there is this trust in people that can be present. And well, what it does, the Lord says, is it brings a curse upon us.

Now, I think it's appropriate to consider as we start off talking about this, that God is not saying that we should be the kind of people that never rely upon anybody else. He's not saying that, you know, you should never have anybody that you depend on or never anybody that you trust in, in your life. Uh,

that you should be the kind of person who is suspicious of everyone. You know, like, I just, I already know you're going to fail me. I can't trust you. I'm never going to trust you, right? I have to do everything myself because everybody knows if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, right? Like, that is not what God is talking about here. He's not calling us to be that kind of people. If that was the case, well, I would suggest that God would not have established marriage, right?

Where they're God's idea, God ordained, God established that relationship that is interdependent and we do rely upon one another. That is part of God's design for us to rely upon each other, to receive from each other, to give towards each other in marriage, in the body of Christ. That is part of what God desires.

But the trust that God is talking about here is even deeper than those relationships can be and those alliances or relying upon people can be. And that is that what is our soul? What is our heart? What is our life anchored to? And when we trust in man, God says, well, it will bring a curse. This morning you came in and you found yourself a seat.

What you didn't know is I've compromised the structural integrity of one of those seats. Anytime during the service, one of you is going to fall. It's just a matter of time. No, I didn't do that. That would be cruel, right? But you came in, you assumed this chair can hold my weight. And for some of you, that's a bigger stretch than for others, right? That's why I'm standing and not sitting, okay? You sat down and you trusted the chair. You placed yourself entirely there and you probably didn't think much about it.

But you gave yourself completely and that chair is now holding you. And what God is saying here is, look, if you place your trust in man, what you're placing your trust in is something that the structural integrity is faulty. And so it's not so much that God has to like go out of his way to bring a curse. No, no. You're trusting in something that is broken. And so it is going to fail.

It is going to bring desolation and destruction because what you've placed your weight upon and you're trusting in will never be able to hold the weight that you've placed upon it. Even in the best of conditions, man is faulty and frail and broken and sinful. And so when we place our trust in man, it will bring a curse.

Because man will always let us down. Man will always fail at some point. That chair will break. Here is Judah is seeking to make an alliance with Egypt. It's in direct opposition to what God has said. And this is part of the issue that God is addressing here.

Trusting in man is not, again, just like I don't rely upon anybody, but it's trusting in man and man's ways and man's resources instead of trusting in what God has provided and what God has declared. And God has told the people, turn back to me, get right with me, don't go to Egypt, and I will deliver you from Babylon. But the people of Judah said, you know, we think our plans are better. We don't want to go get right with God. We don't want to change our ways. We don't want to change our path.

Our ways are better. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to stand with Egypt. We don't have to change anything. And that way we'll be able to have victory. And so they determined, my plans are better. The elders sought counsel together. And the people of Judah said, the plan of the elders, the wisdom of the elders, their idea is they're better than God's ideas. To trust in man is to listen to man's ideas, to man's thoughts, to man's ways, and

more than we listen to God. When we believe the promises of people, more than we believe the promises of God, we are putting our trust in man. And God here is saying, do not trust in man. Even the one that you see in the mirror.

Don't trust that man either or that woman that you see. Don't trust that person, that reflection that's looking. I know, boy, that's a good looking image, right? That is like, whew, some awesome characteristics. That person has a good heart, like great things going on. Yeah, you know, like, yeah, good stuff. Yeah, don't trust that person. That person cannot be trusted. That person will fail. Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 28, 26, he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

He who trusts in his own heart. God says, that person is a fool. If you just believe what you believe, you believe what your heart tells you, you believe yourself, that's a foolish thing to do. And we'll see that in a few more verses as we head on into the passage where God will tell us that our heart is deceitful. And so trusting in man, including ourselves, is a foolish thing to do. It will bring a curse because...

Well, as mankind, as men and women, we are sinful and we fail. And even when we have the best intentions, we cannot fulfill on the promises and measure up to and meet the needs of the people around us. He goes on in verse five to say, whose heart departs from the Lord. And here's the reality. When we trust in man, we trust in man's ways. We trust in man's promises. We trust in man's ideas. When we trust in man, we trust in man's promises.

We may not see it that way, but it is a departure from the Lord. And again, this was the condition of the nation of Judah at this time. They had departed from the Lord, but they were still very religious. They still went to the temple. They still offered their sacrifices. They still called out to God. They still sought out messages from God. They were very religious outwardly, but their hearts had departed from the Lord. They chose to listen to God.

The ideas of man, the promises of man, rather than the word of God. But outwardly, they put on the show. They were still very religious. And so it can be hard to tell from the outside where a person's trust is. Everything could be looking good on the outside. And maybe if you were there in the nation of Judah, you might think everything's solid. Everybody, people are worshiping the Lord and calling out to the Lord. And yeah, there's the threat, but we're trusting in God and God is saying, no.

You're listening to man instead of me. And here's the result in verse six. He shall be like a shrub in the desert and he shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness and a salt land which is not inhabited. Here God paints this picture for us to consider. He says, look, when you trust in people, man's resources, when you trust in man's ideas and man's philosophies and man's promises, you're listening to man.

you end up like a shrub in the desert. Just this lone shrub out there in the parched land. It's thirsty. It's lonely. It's desolate. What's interesting about this is that God says, you shall not see when good comes. It's not just the loneliness and the dryness that God is illustrating here. It's not just that aspect of the curse of trusting in man. But when we trust in man,

it also puts us in a position where we are unable to experience when God does fulfill his promises. As they're, you know, experiencing this threat and Babylon is coming, God has made promises. God has plans at work and he is going to still do good things even in the midst of the destruction and judgment that is coming as a result of their sin. But for the ones who have trusted in man,

They will not get to experience. They won't get to see when good comes. I like how Alexander McLaren, the commentator, puts it. He says, he whose trust is set upon creatures is thereby disabled from recognizing what is his highest good. His judgment is perverted.

He's talking about the mysteriousness of us, humanity. Like, why when there is something far better do we grasp hold of the lesser? And here he's explaining, look, when we're trusting in man...

it's not just the end result of the desolation, but there's a blindness that is applied to us as well. That we don't see, even when good comes, even when it's there and God fulfills on his promises and there's opportunity to receive good from God, we miss out. And we don't even recognize that that opportunity is available because we've been trusting in ourselves and we've been working in our ways differently.

following our thoughts, chasing after our ideas and our pursuits instead of trusting in God. And so we limit ourselves from what we receive from God because we trust in ourselves. Cursed is the one who trusts in man.

I want to walk through a couple signs to just help us think through whether or not we might be trusting in man in some aspect of our life. And it's worth considering. Again, this was the people of God that God is speaking to through Jeremiah. That there is the potential in all of us. Even although, you know, our spiritual journey began by trusting in the Lord at the beginning and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and being born again. It began by trusting in the Lord, but

Along the path, there is many opportunities for us to shift our trust and to begin to place our trust in man instead of God. And so we need to consider and evaluate and allow the Lord to reveal if there are areas of our lives that we are trusting in ourselves or others instead of God. And so here's a few signs to consider. Number one, when you don't ask God for help, direction, or instruction.

If you're not in the habit, if it's not part of your decision-making process, if it's not part of your kind of day-to-day situation that you're asking God for help, direction, and instruction, that's a good indication that you are not trusting in God, but that you've instead placed your trust. You're asking for help somewhere. You're looking for direction from somewhere. You're getting instruction from somewhere. But if you're not asking God for those things,

then you're going to another source and you will find yourself a desolate shrub in a barren wilderness when you don't ask God for help, direction, or instruction. And you can take this as your life as a whole, or you can think about different aspects of your life, your career, your home. Are you trusting in man or are you asking God?

for help, direction, and instruction. Secondly, another sign to consider for your life is that you know what God says, but you do something else instead. If you know what God says about a situation, about an activity, about a, you know, whatever you might be facing, but although you know what God says, you do something else instead, you can be sure, it's definite, you're not trusting in God, you're trusting in man.

God says the wages of sin is death and you're trusting yourself and saying, that's not really true in my circumstances. You see, here's my situation. I've got this scenario and all these things and all these reasons why my situation is different and that's not going to be applied. And I believe this is going to be the result, not that result that God says. We're trusting in our own ideas, our own thoughts, our own ways and not God's ways. When you know what God says, but you do something else, you're trusting in man.

Thirdly, when you believe something someone says more than what God says. And in particular, I'm thinking of the future things, the promise things, the things that we set our hope upon. The things that we do right now, that's knowing what God says and doing something else. That's the present. But there's also those promises, those expectations. There's hopes and the fulfillment of things that are to come. And God tells us what is to come.

Generally in life and in the word, he gives us great details about what is to come, but he also gives us promises that we can hold on to. But you know, there's promises that other people make to us as well. There's promises that politicians make to us. There's promises that people around us make to us. There's promises that we kind of make for ourselves or to ourselves or expectations that we have and hopes that we have. And when we trust those things, when we believe those things,

More than what God actually says, we've shifted our trust. And so I would encourage you to consider who are you trusting in? Where is your trust? Is it in man? That ends tragically. Moving on to verse seven and eight, we get point number two this morning, and that is blessed is the one who trusts in God. And so here we get the contrast. Watch out. Don't trust in man, God is saying, but do trust in

That results in good things. Verse 7 says, Here the Lord gives the contrast, the other side. Trusting in man, disastrous.

but trusting in God, well, that results in beauty, in life, in refreshment. Trusting in God is beneficial towards us. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. And so how do we do that? Well, just kind of the alternate, the opposite side of those signs that we were just looking at. Here's some signs that you are trusting in God and some helpful ways to consider our trust in the Lord. Number one,

You ask God for help, direction, and instruction. Not a real surprise, right? But here's a way to trust God. If you need help, trust it. How do I trust God? Well, make it your habit, make it your practice to ask God daily, consistently, throughout the day. Ask God for help and direction and instruction. Go to him. Recognize that he has the best plans. Recognize that he wants what's best for you and that he desires to enable you

To live the life that he has set before you. Ask God for help. Look to him. Don't trust your own wisdom. Don't trust what one person says to you alone. Just like we examine the scriptures whenever we're taught, right? And we search the scriptures to find out whether it's true. In the same way, we need to search the scriptures and find out, I have this idea. I want to go this path. I think this, or this is the direction to go. But Lord, is this really what you want? Is this what you desire?

And coming back to God and giving God opportunity to empower us and direct us and instruct us. It's how we trust the Lord. Secondly, a sign that you're trusting in God is when you do what God says, even when you disagree or do not understand. We considered a couple weeks back in Isaiah chapter 55 how God said that His ways are higher than our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth. God's ways are really different than ours.

And what that means is that, well, a lot of times when we get instruction from God, when we have God's word clearly in front of us, we're going to disagree with it. God says, this is the way to go. And you're going to say, I don't think so. That looks like a terrible path. That doesn't look smart. God's going to say, this is the way to go. And you're going to say, I don't understand. That doesn't make sense to me. How does that work out? It's kind of like what Jesus said, right? If you want to find your life, you have to lose it.

That's weird to us. That's backwards to us. It doesn't make sense. It requires faith. It requires us to actually trust God, to do what he says, even when I disagree. We have this, you know, situation perhaps, and God says, forgive, but I disagree. And I say, repay. And I think if I repay, then it will be resolved. That person needs to feel what I felt, and then it'll be resolved. I'm pretty convinced. I'm pretty sure. I think that's the way that it needs to go, right? And God says, listen,

You want this situation to be resolved? You want to be healed from the hurt that has been given? Here's what I'm going to instruct you to do. Forgive. No, but that doesn't make sense, God. Well, so what? When you do what God says, even when you disagree or do not understand, that is when you are trusting God. And when we disagree with God and then do what we think instead, that's when we're trusting in man.

We need to trust God, to take God at his word, to do what he says. And God promises a blessing with that. Well, thirdly, the sign that you're trusting in God is you believe what God says more than what anyone else says. All the promises that can be given, all the hopes and expectations that can be placed upon you or, you know, stirred up within you, your own promises, your own beliefs, your own expectations and hopes. When you look to what God says and you take his word above your own,

When you take his word above what everybody else says, his promises above all the other promises that exist, that is when you trust the Lord. And God says, if you will do this, there's going to be a great blessing for you. He describes it in verse 8. He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river.

So it's the opposite picture, not a lonely, desolate, thirsty bush, you know, in the middle of nowhere, but here's this tree that has all the resources it needs, that has the fresh water, that has death and has fruit. It's a familiar picture to us because, well, it's a picture that God also paints for us in Psalm chapter 1. And there's some parallels there that are important.

In Psalm chapter 1, verse 1 and 2, it says,

And in his law, he meditates day and night. But then it goes on in verse 3 to say, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. This familiar tree, Psalm chapter 1, Jeremiah chapter 17, this tree planted by the water that is fruitful, that has abundant life. Here in Jeremiah, it's

used to paint the picture of one who trusts in the Lord. In Psalm chapter 1, it's used to paint the picture of one who delights in the word of God. And that's not some crazy coincidence that the same illustration is used in both places. No, it's actually, well, something that God would direct our attention to and say, look, there's a correlation. The proportion to which you trust God is related to, well, how much are you delighting in the law of the Lord?

And when you delight in the law of the Lord and you meditate day and night, you immerse yourself and you receive the word of God, well, that enables you to be the kind of person who trusts the Lord. And the result is that you will be like a tree planted by the water, having all the resources, the nourishment that you need. You'll have strength.

even in the difficult times. And this is important to understand. God is not promising if you trust in the Lord, you won't have difficult times. It goes on in verse 8 to say, "'And will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green.'" There will be days of heat. There will be days of drought. There will be times of difficulty. But the one who trusts in the Lord, God says, "'Although there is difficulty, although the heat comes, its leaf will be green.'"

We will have tests, trials, and difficulties as we trust the Lord. Pastor H.A. Ironside says, when all goes well, it is easy to deceive ourselves and to think that we're trusting in the Lord, when in reality, we are resting on an arm of flesh. The time of trial proves where our confidence really is.

It's easy to trust the Lord when everything is just going awesome and there's no problems and no difficulties and no challenges, right? It's easy to trust the Lord then, or it's easy to deceive ourselves that we are trusting the Lord because, well, we don't have much occasion to actually trust the Lord, right? But it's in the times of difficulty, the times of trial. Well, the covering is removed and we get to see what are we really trusting in? Where is our confidence really? Is it really in the Lord?

Or is it in something else? And so those times of heat will come and challenges will take place. Difficulties will happen, but there will still be green. There will still be life, even in the midst of the challenges. He goes on in verse eight to say, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. The one who trusts in the Lord won't be anxious in the year of drought. Not only do we have difficult situations, but sometimes they last for a long time.

And the drought is a year-long drought, not just a normal season of summer, you know, not just that. But, oh, sometimes there's that prolonged season of difficulty. But the one who trusts in the Lord will not be anxious. Now, I think it's really important for us to consider. When it tells us here that the one who trusts in the Lord will not be anxious, God is not saying that you will never feel anxious, right?

He's not saying that we will never feel fear. He's not saying that never for a moment, you know, will you ever have that kind of feeling ever again? I would suggest look at things in the bigger picture. You go through the year of drought and there is difficulty. There is challenges. There is heat. But think about it from a 20 years later perspective. Looking back, you held fast. You trusted in the Lord. There was green in your leaves because you trusted in God.

It's not that you never had the emotion. It's not that you never experienced a feeling, but that you didn't let the feeling change who you trust in. You didn't let the feeling change your direction. I would suggest it's not saying that we don't have anxious feelings or the feelings of fear, but that we have a place to take our anxieties and fears. It caused me to think about the example of the Apostle Paul in Acts 18.

where he's ministering to the region of Corinth. And there in Corinth, he had great opportunity, but he was, well, listen to what God says in Acts chapter 18, verse nine. It says, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you for I have many people in this city.

God tells the Apostle Paul, the great and mighty and bold and spirit-filled Apostle Paul, do not be afraid. Now, why would God tell someone to not be afraid? I think it's pretty clear. Paul was afraid. He's experienced times of heat. In ministering the gospel, he's been persecuted greatly. He's had great affliction. He's had great difficulty. And here in Corinth, there's some fear. God says, do not be afraid.

But again, he's not so much saying, do not have the feelings of fear, because notice the contrast. He says, do not be afraid, but speak. The contrast isn't, do not be afraid, but trust in the Lord. That's not the way for Paul to move forward. Do not be afraid, but speak. Here's how you trust the Lord, even in the midst of fearful thoughts, you do what God has instructed you to do.

Paul, if you don't speak, that's the shifting of your trust. And you're not trusting me if you don't do what I've instructed you to do. But Paul, you're afraid. You're fearful. And as you have this fear, you can't let that dictate what you do. Speak and do not be silent. And it came with some promises. He said, for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you. Now, a little side note here. Even if God's promises about the result of the situation were different, he

The instruction wouldn't have changed, right? Even if the Lord said, I'm with you, and people are going to attack you and hurt you, Paul, still trusting the Lord, would need to move forward to speak and to not be silent. But here in this case, God says, look, I'm with you. It's going to go well. You're not going to be attacked. You've been attacked in other places, not here. I'm with you. Don't be afraid, but speak. And so we have a place to take our anxieties and

And the idea is that we don't feel, it's not that we never feel fear or anxiety or those kinds of things, but in the midst of them, even though we feel those things, we trust God more and we follow what God says. We do what God has instructed us to do. Moving on to verses nine and 10, we get point number three, and that is you cannot trust your own heart. Verse nine says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Here's the reason why we cannot trust in man, even in our own selves, because the heart is deceitful above all things. You can think a lot of good things about your heart.

You know, you look at some person, oh, that person has such a kind heart, right? So that person has such a compassionate heart. You can look at yourself in the mirror and think, wow, that person has such a good heart, right? You know what your heart is best at? Deceitfulness. Your heart is best. That's why it says deceitful above all things. Above all the other characteristics and noteworthy things about your heart, the one that stands out above them all is deceitfulness. Your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. That word desperate means

It speaks about an incurable disease. Your heart has a situation, has a condition of sin that is incurable by your own means. It's desperate. In verse 1 here of Jeremiah chapter 17, God speaks about sin being engraved upon the heart with an iron pen and a diamond tip that it's engraved there. It's permanent. It cannot be removed, at least not by man's efforts and man's means, but it's permanently etched.

in our hearts. Desperately wicked, but who can know it? Oh, we're so good at hiding from ourselves the reality of the wickedness that is there because our heart is deceitful. The biggest liar that you will ever have to deal with is your own heart. That's the biggest liar that you're going to face for the rest of your life. Yeah, there's a lot of liars around you, but that one in the mirror, that's the one that you have to deal with every single day.

Sometimes we're aware of this, right? Because occasionally we get a little peek and we get that realization, the horror of realizing a little snippet of what's in our heart. And we're like, I can't believe that's in me. Our heart is deceitful. It hides from us the reality of how wicked and sinful we are. There's things that happen in our life that there's things that we do and we don't know why we do them. Why do I do that? I don't even know.

Because my heart is deceitful. There's other things that I do that I'm pretty sure I know why, but I'm totally wrong about it. My heart deceives me, and I'm convinced, oh, I do this because of this. And then later on, the Lord reveals, uncovers, no, actually, you have a whole different motivation that's deeper, darker, more wicked than you realized.

Then we also have things that we do that we don't even know that we do. We're not even aware that we're involved in that activity, that attitude, that mindset. And so there's not even an opportunity to begin to consider why. Our heart hides from us the desperately wicked condition that it has. And that's why, again, the Proverbs say, he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

How do we walk wisely? God goes on to say, I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. The way to walk wisely is to come and let God reveal our hearts, to let God reveal his ways, to trust God above our own thoughts, above our own ideas. God says, your heart is a mystery to you. You don't know half of

Of the things that are going on within your heart. But I know everything. You don't know the depths of the wickedness. You have little peaks of it and it horrifies you. But I know it all. And I still love you. And I'm still willing to die upon the cross for you. But I'm going to bring judgment. I'm going to give to each one according to his doings. According to the realities of his heart. And it's going to be completely accurate and righteous and just. I'm not deceived by your heart. I'm not deceived by your lies and excuses and manipulations.

I know your heart for real. And that's why God gives us the instruction that he gives us because we cannot trust our own heart. Well, finally, verses 11 through 13, we get point number four, trust only in things that last for eternity. He says in verse 11, as a partridge that broods, but does not hatch. So is he who gets riches, but not by right. It will leave him in the midst of his days. And at his end, he will be a fool.

A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. Here God gives another illustration, a partridge, a bird that broods but does not hatch. Now there's some debate and discussion between Bible scholars about the situation exactly that God is describing here. The bottom line is, it seems to be describing a bird that has more eggs than it can possibly incubate.

And so there's this abundance of eggs, but they're not being covered. They're not going to hatch. So it looks really good. Look at all these eggs we got. But then in the end, they don't have anything. It doesn't hatch. Now, an alternate perspective on this is that, well, there's a bird who steals another bird's egg. And so then when that egg hatches, well, those birds don't bond and that child egg flies off and leaves.

And so either way, either perspective you want to take, the end result is, well, the bird doesn't have the eggs, the result that it hoped for, that it looked like it had. And God says, this is like anyone who gets riches, but not by right. It's going to end up leaving you. When you work out your ways, you work out your plans. And the scary part is sometimes it looks like it works, right? We have the saying, don't count your chickens before they hatch, right?

For a reason, because it's like, whoa, look at all these eggs. It looks like it worked, right? And sometimes we can do that. We look at our plans and like, oh, my plan worked. I got what I wanted. I got my riches. I got my success. I got, you know, married or I got this. I attained whatever my goal was and I got it. But God says, look, if you didn't get it by doing right, by walking with God, it's going to leave you. And it may look great, but it's just a bunch of eggs that you're not going to be able to hatch. And in the end, you'll be a fool.

And so Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Don't count your chickens before they hatch, right? Don't put your trust in all the eggs that you've been able to accumulate and all the successful plans that you've had. Listen, if those are accomplished in your efforts, trusting in man, it's going to end up

with no value to you, you're going to be a fool. But if you'll trust God and lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven and invest yourself in things that have eternal value, well, you'll be blessed. Now, how do you know what has eternal value? It's easy. Just see what God says about it. He's the one who knows. Verse 12, a glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

A glorious high throne. One who is glorious. One who is trustworthy. One who is capable of all things. That's who we're trusting in. And he is from the beginning. That is that God has always existed. He has always been there. He is eternal. Everlasting. Going backwards. And going forwards.

Verse 13, O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be ashamed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. O Lord, the hope of all Israel, the hope of all God's people. He's our hope. He's the one that we can trust in. And if we forsake him, we will be ashamed because we forsake the fountain of living waters. Has there ever been a teenager that Jonathan brought the youth just in time?

Has there ever been a teenager who didn't think that they knew better than their parents? Has there ever been a person who didn't think that they knew better than God? We all do. We all have times where we think we know better and we trust in the things of the temporary. We need to learn to trust in the things that last for eternity. Where is your trust? Listen, if your trust is in man or woman, politicians, any man's philosophies or ideas, promises or goals,

it's going to wind up being a curse and destruction follows. But if you will trust in God, you will be blessed, guaranteed. Don't trust your heart. Don't trust your perspective, your take. Let God override. Let God overrule. Let his word be the authority in your life. Trust only in things that last for eternity. And as we prepare our hearts this morning for a time of communion,

We have a reminder in these communion elements of why we can trust God. Because he once and for all gave himself, demonstrated his love and said, look, this is my body, which is broken for you. He gave us the cracker for that.

He gave us the cup and he said, this is my blood, which is shed for the remission of sins. You know that sin etched into your heart that you're not even aware of most of the time, but you get a glimpse of it and you're horrified. Listen, there's much more there. It's much darker and you don't even want to know. But my sacrifice for you, you believe in me and I can cleanse you completely. I can wash you thoroughly. That sin is removed. I take out that heart of stone, God says, and I give you a heart of flesh that can hear my voice.

It's the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit upon us as we believe in him. We can trust the Lord. I look at it in this way. It's the ultimate Yelp review. It's the ultimate. You have the one who knows all things, who came from eternity, proved once and for all his everlasting love. And he says, you can trust me. We don't have to worry.

You know, sometimes you read reviews and you kind of like take off the top one, you take off the bottom one, you try to get the average. It's like, I don't know, who can I trust? You're trying to read through, can I trust this person? I don't know if I can trust this person. Here's Jesus and he says, look, God loves you. And here I am to prove it. I'll give my life. I'll sacrifice myself so that you can be forgiven of sin, so that you can know that God loves you and that you can trust him.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.