Trust No One
Please be seated.
In Acts chapter 12, we find reference to a King by the name of Herod. Agrippa the first. And you may remember, he takes credit over God and God, strikes him with the Fatal illness, he died. Just a few days later. This guy was the grandson of Herod, the Great and his grandfather and his father, sent him to Rome for most of his life. He was raised with the royal family, he and the future Emperor Claudius were extremely good friends from Boyhood. Caligula mean, he plays a great role in history because when Caligula was assassinated, and now it's time for the next king of the Romans didn't want us because they felt like he was a damaged God. Fill out a group up Marshall the praetorian guard. He met with the Senate and he said, the praetorian guard has chosen. Funniest and they stand outside the door to make sure that happens. So there's a lot of history there between these two guys, Claudius and Herod Agrippa, when a group of gets ready to go back to Jerusalem, just before what happens at 12, he has a conversation with Claudius and he says, trust no one little marmoset. I don't know if you know Tamara said there's a little little monkey very small that look like he's ready to go to powerful. The truth of it was even as best friends. Philip was a grandpa was manipulating to be an adversary of his great-great friend Claudius. now, that story is interesting from a historical perspective, for me, at least, and How many times have you had somebody that was close to you? Turn on you.
And you may not have said it out loud, but we often think is trust. No one. And we start to be self-protective we get withdrawn. We get isolated. I'm not going to open myself up to anybody. I'm not going to be transparent. I'm not going to have connections. I'm not going to be as social in me. We pull back with those injuries. Injuries that we suffer over and over again. Yeah, they're in that trusting relationship are plenty of ways where that can go astray and we've experienced the emotional betrayal and disappointment with someone. We thought that we could trust and then critical moments, we find out that we can't. Sometimes we even be exploited and manipulated by this person. And we learned the hard way about not being able to trust. Avoid those people that are in a circle can have a lot to do with our decision making. And sometimes we find that wasn't a good idea. I wish I had listened to to that particular boys. They violate our privacy and there's just a kinds of red flags that keep popping up and it's easier to see that it's easy to spot that we're going to keep that from happening again. Usually we come to the place where I'm just going to be less vulnerable. People aren't going to get us close to me. I'm not going to open myself nearly as much because I don't want that to happen. Trust is a huge Paradox. Some of your from you with the book by Gavin de Becker, the gift of fear. And I know you are, because I've been sick before and he will come and talk to me about the book. This guy, it's just been out there. Probably 30 years or more still, people are interested in it. And what the baker does is he tries to get you to listen to your instincts? You know, if you're in a dark shopping mall and you hear something? That is strange, do you get out of there quickly if you're in any kind of situation and he believes that we have a sense of fear That's basically not even fully conscious and then it will listen to that fear. We can protect ourselves. Now, that's very, very, very good advice. And I've used it followed his advice, many times. But the problem is, if you live totally by the Becker's pieces, you're going to wind up loneliness, plated. That's the way that you protect yourself.
And God comes along and he says, I don't want you out here isolated, I don't want you living in fear. I have passed for you to perform and the only way you can perform those tasks is by interacting and having relationships with other people and having relationships with me, a lot of people who will tell you that they can't trust God. Because they in some fashion have tried to do so, it felt like they were disappointed or let down. God, invites Us in Malachi. Test me and see what I'll do in terms of contribution and giving pimping, God is a whole different thing but we can look at the wisdom. God gives us and we can put it to the test in our lives and see if it works. We know the answer there.
What the baker is teaching us. Is that we have a god-given instinct to fear? We have a god-given instinct to be wary.
He put inside of us God even when he made us in his own image, you put inside of us survival skills. Things like fear and greed, anger. Even hate on some levels. And so as we as a purely carnal, individual drop back into living fully those instincts will behaviors, then we stay what God would call spiritual. We need. They have more than that, God gave us his ability to you all and kind. And then he wants to call the call about people his church that he wants to call you out. Do something to stop just you get something you use practically but something that causes you to thrive and grow. And develop. In multitude of ways so that you meet his purpose.
Romans 5:5.
Those who live according to the flash, have their minds set on what the flesh desires. But those who live in cartons with the spirit, have their minds set on what the spirit desires, the Mind governed by the Flash's death or somebody governed by the spirit is life in peace, the Mind governed by the, but the flesh is hot supposed to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those were the realm of Flesh. Cannot please. God, we talk about, Cardinal you made it, look at it, but we all have to make the move from being, just a carnal individual to too big of an individual who follows the Holy Spirit. We usually turn that in. Mechanisms of good and bad, the bad people are cardinal and the good people are spiritual. And while that may be true, that doesn't cover the whole Gambit button, cover all of it. because we have to express and utilize and get into some
difficult situations.
It's hard to love when hate is natural. And it's hard to forgive when holding on is safer. It's hard to share when greed is more practical. It's hard to submit when power is more satisfying. And we can justify those days. I'm protecting myself. Thank you, my interest. I'm staring at my building bigger Barn, I take care of my family. We could tell us has all these different things and got put in you some basic helpful insects but I know that if you're going to go and live with me and Heaven, you've got to transform through my spirit To a person who can trust and Canfield, and can have relationships. There is a life. Beyond fear.
2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. Says, the spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His spirit is a source of power and love and self-control. And there you see the contrast really obviously you get to check box a or box B. Do you want to be a person who lives a fearful life or do you want to live with power love? And so that's a no-brainer choice, but in order to get that opportunity, we have to take some risk I've got to trust people. I got to trust God's word. I got to trust the example Jesus. I got to trust the full teachings of God. And by using that information, I Rise to a better level than just an instinctual, he would be, that's what God wants for us and has in mind for us. Is a life of trust Psalm 56. Verse 3 says, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. And I think what they would say there is no sometimes even fear leads us to trust. About 10 years ago. We had a little Fawn that just buddied up with the grandkids and all cozy. Headed to go out and call it and then it would come out in the kids with play. I named it dearly beloved and the kids didn't like dearly. So they just said their beloved. And so, beloved me come and do all kinds of things about for very small and the deer will go closest to Cozy. And so, little more standoffish, when the adults were outside 25 ft, what is the radius of bearded, want to be close to you at all. So, one day I was working in the yard and the beers, over here, right at the edge of the, of the forested, our neighbors dog gets out and tells charting across their backyard into our backyard, and the deer runs right up behind me. He shouldn't need to hit the name of the dog.
And that was that moment though and he doesn't really trust me, but I was better than dealing with the dog. So he was willing to camp out there until the difficulty danger passed. We need the same thing, we getting our real cozy situations, are we getting our comforter Pleasant situations? And it doesn't contact with her house but it's something really threatens us. We're going to run to a place of safety. Do you want to go to a place where we feel like someone will help us? And that response is based on what we built in advance of that. If I have the kind of relationship with people, if I have that kind of relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ, if I have the kind of relationship, we want me to fear. I run to hide behind him. And he provides. but we need Face may start in the mind, it looks lots of a debate about the how you define phase. Most of them are unnecessary because the Bible does a real good job of the face of lots of different places. I think the place I go to start is in James chapter 2, referring to Abraham. It says you see that his face and his actions were working together and his faith with a complete. By what he did. It's not a mental thing, fully starts as a mental thing because we have to be convinced, we have to take in the evidence. We have to make decisions and then once we do that, we have to put ourselves in situations where we allow our faith, our trust fully and completely develop. Abraham could have said, I have ultimate faith in God. But you didn't know for sure till he packed up and moved. Moses get a plane. I have open face. I'll do anything that got to ask me to do build a boat to Desert. Go take you a hundred years to do it. It doesn't sound like much fun, but that's how you show your face and then got to come to Jonah's. Let's go to Nineveh. Was Jonah, did he goes down? It sounds like to me, that it took all the money he had, and bought the ticket as far away from her. As he can, possibly get the other side of the Mediterranean Ocean. And we know how he wound up. And the reason that I pulled out Jonah, Is it sometimes it doesn't stick on the first try. I think if you're gone to John and said, would you do anything. Ask you to do, you bet I'm a prophet goddess who I serve. OK, Google, Let It Die in that fish. But instead he's at home, I want to teach him a lesson. so, even in the danger, even though the term wolf even in the difficulty is praying inside of that fish, God answers prayer and he gets another chance. And then goes, then never has to do, is he perfect? No, cuz he pounced, when God does, what he's been preaching to these people is, is possible to do.
Without face fill in the blank. I give told you before, about a family that I know in Guthrie, I've done two funerals for their family to separate funerals and both of those funerals for for preschool children. They lost two children and I'm assuming Walmart with children in their 30s. The thing is unique about them, is they do not believe in anything you turn on. That just doesn't make sense of them and they did not need that. Every time I see that I don't do any kind of regular basis but I we run into each other. They are more and more worn down, and more and more beating up and more and more fearful. Because they're so afraid that there's more pain waiting around the corner. And because they can't reach past what they can see. Is affected them in such a dramatic way.
Hebrews 16-6 says, and without faith, it is impossible.
To please God, that's where it starts. That's where it begins. God didn't hold up. To my expectations. And this morning, I'm asked you to rethink that. Because the place of trust is a precious place. The place where, you know, That they are, there are good Christian people who can and will help and Aid you. Is a tremendous blessing to know that you have a god. He's going to answer your need, no matter what that need might be. I like the end with some passages from The 46th Psalm going to go read the first two passages of the last two.
God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the Earth give away and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. The song that says God is our strength, God is our refuge and even though he's incredibly difficult things happen. I can still stay there and he goes on to talk about that all through this song and I like to share with you, the to concluding verses, He says God says be still and know that I am. God, I will be exalted among the Nations. I will be exalted in the Earth. The Lord God Almighty is with us. The god of Jacob is our Fortress. I don't know about you but I need a refuge and I need a fortress. And I'm so thankful that God is able to do that and willing to do that and powerful enough to provide that. But I also am so grateful for the people who also believe that. And try to live it and acted and demonstrated in their lives because that is such a powerful force. Would you go out with me?
They're going to help us to trust you more. Help us to yield our lives and submit and look to you for our our leadership. Look for you for our strength and protection. Father, we know we're not always perfect and we know that we let you down and sometimes we understand. We asked, if you would forgive us and build us back up. So that we can be the stronger people that we want to be. Mother. We are blessed with our church families, with our physical homes, in our relationship to you and we thank you for that. We pray for the strength to use those situations and all walks of life. Before this all through your precious son. Amy. This morning as is our custom, we will extend an invitation. If you need to respond to that would be glad to assist you if you come down to the front, while we sing this song,
