A Heart That Trust

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Last week:

We looked at an often misquoted & missused passage of scripture in

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

We noted that these plans are bigger than any one person, that the context of the “you” is speaking of a nation in exile.

We learned the context of the plans of redemption after a 70 year exile

We learned of the present realities for Israel (God restored their Kingdom for a time after 70 years) and the coming realities.

And we learned of the danger of using this verse as it is not intended. As a matter of fact, as you read Jeremiah you find that there were false prophets in his time doing what many ministers are doing with this passage today. They would tell Israel that a sword will not come against them, they would paint their own plans for Israel based upon what was tickling to the ear rather than the plans of God. Of such false prophets God deals with them severely which displays the seriousness of which God takes how His Word and Plans are conveyed or falsely conveyed to His people.

Ask me why I preach the way that I do, why do I stand behind a Bible and put more weight in what is said than the show that is put on, why do I not spend more time in sarcasm or light shows to entertain the pews and I will tell you with one word which I learn is more neglected in our worship to the peril of ourselves the older I get, that word is: reverence. Note: I did not say boardom or stiffness but reverence. The understanding that this message is not about me and it is not about you. It is about the almighty God. It is only about us in as much as it is about what God is doing amongst His people. Reverance puts us in the position of serventude. A lack of reverence says I pick a church by my preference, I listen to sermons for my blessing, for my encouragment, I sing in worship because of....whatever it is.

Friends if you didn’t get it last week I pray you might this week, God is bigger than our ideas, bigger than our view of prosperity or welfare. The plans of God move us beyond the now to a future hope, a hope of a Holy God and His Kingdom Come.

However we do struggle to get this and in our struggle we march ourselves into stress, and the slavery of anxiety. We try to know God while seeking to put down roots in our exile. Just like Israel, such roots are short sighted and put down only to meet the next storm of calamity and be uprooted again.

Listen to the LORD:

Jeremiah 6:16 ESV

16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Jeremiah 6:26 ESV

26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

In chapter six the prophet Jeremiah describes the coming Babolonian attack of Jersusalem. The chapter launches in panic languege. “Flee for safte”, “blow the trumpet...”

However in verse 16 of chapter 6 Jeremiah says something that will later be quoted by Jesus in , when he says, “find rest for your souls.” Similar to 29:11 where God speaks of the goodness of His plans in the midst of exile, here we hear of peace with an impending attack. Maybe you can begin to say it with me…GOD IS BIG.

You see either God has completley lost it (which we know is not the case) or His plans are bigger than us.

What is really going on?

Israel is plagued with sin. There sin must be dealt with or it will mean their complete disstruction. Their inability to deal with it will lead to Babilonian exile where God will deal with their rebellious heart.

But what is happening in this passage gives us insight to the current mis-interpretation errors of 29:11.

Look at

Jeremiah 6:14 ESV

14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

The false prophets are going around telling rebellious Israel to have peace. The issue here is that the people of God are rebelling against God. The worst thing that one can have in the midst of rebellion is peace. It is as though these false prophets are sheperhding the people of God directly into exile. This is what God addresses in verse 16 when He says if you want peace then walk according to “MY WAYS”.

Friends we here have a false promise, a false hope of peace which can give a temporary hope but ends in exile and despair, and we have in contrast to that the ways of God which has proven in past generations of Israel to bring them peace in the land of their fathers.

We have that very same option today as the people of God, which is why Jesus said:

Matthew 11:29 ESV

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

This is our rest, this is the cure for anxiety, this is the cure for depression.

Then why do not more Christians know the cure?

Because we to easily tell each other peace, peace when we should be saying, “friend, follow Jesus and then know peace.” Jesus didn’t say “where my t-shirt” or “get my bumper sticker”…well today it’s (church bumper stickers)…no Jesus said learn from me or as it is put in Jeremiah -learn the ancient path, the good way and walk in it.

Why is this so difficult for us? Because we like to make our own path and because we are “Christian” we include God in that path in form of name, but our strength is found in our own flesh and abilities:

Hear this then church:

Jeremiah 17:5 ESV

5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

The key to the blessing that we seek is not found in our own effort but rather in our trust. The secret is not in our “christian strategies” but in our trust. Would you trust God over all that your eyes see, over all of your circumstances, over all that your heart craves?

I do trust God you say, yet if we opporate by how scripture is defining trust I fear that few of our so call trust would hold up.

TRUST

Looks for the ancient righteous paths laid out by God over the modern paths of promise

Trust places ones self under the yoke of God in Christ Jesus to learn how to walk - rather than under the counsel of the world.

Trust finds rest in such a walk

Trust finds strength in the God whom he follows rather than in the flesh of man.

You see it is easy to say I trust without looking at how we opporate, but it is in our opporation that our trust is revealed. The truth is we would all like to think of ourselve as trusting in God, but listen as we expand out and hear how God contrast the trusting with the untrusting, the abiding with the non-abiding

Jeremiah 17:6–10 ESV

6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 17:5–10 ESV

5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah 17:8–10 ESV

8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 17:

God takes Israel, knowing their heart and leads them beyond their deception, beyond their deeds, beyond their understanding, beyond their circumstances, beyond their strength. Why? To win their heart. To save them. To restore His people.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Jeremiah 29:10–14 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29:

How often do we hear a message and say all is well with me. The heart is deceptive in that it leads us to various places without leading us to our singular need.

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

For some it says “you are good” you are more righteous than these, you know more than these...

For others it says “you are no good” you should try to be better, you can’t be good enough.

It is interesting how this comes down - will you trust God and be true or will you be deceived by your own self and be proven false. We usually think of trusting self and being deceived by another - but not so with God.

It is God who takes that old deceptive heart and turns it from being in love with self and makes it say, “I need God”. And when God does that, then he says, “Here I am, come follow me.” And when such a new heart places us under the yoke of Christ, it is then and their we begin to know a knew peace and we are restored out of exile.

But let me take this a step further as you hear the word of God. Remember the context. God is speaking to a nation and God works with us (the church) just as He did with Israel. He moved in patience and wisdom that all of His children would be ready to return.

God moves in moving His children together, to operate, to seek Him with one heart and mind. The deceptive heart is often the heart which cries “all that I need is God and I can do it on my own” while the true heart cries out “obey God and walk in love with my brother.” The obey God, the love God is first and protects us from falsely prophesying peace to our brother, but the love of brother enables our enduring and persevering together throughout various seasons.

Lastly I would say this, just encase it has not been yet made clear. Get your eyes out of the land of exile, get your eyes off of the things of this earth and set them upon Christ and the coming Kingdom. Let your heart rejoice that God has promised full redemption, and that He will call us to the fullness of His presence. Let the things of God be the driving force in all that you do while in exile, less you put down roots in exile and forget your true home. If God is not our God in exile, then He is not our God. Church, remember your God, remember your first love, remember your strength, your life and He who you are yoked with and the path that you have been called to walk.

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