Trust God; Don't Try to Fake It

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Luke 12:1-12

Introduction:     Our text is Luke 12:1-12.  Generally the chapter is about trusting God instead of the things of this life.  That includes getting your priorities straight.  This kind of trust must be real, you can’t fake it, and must be based on respect.

         In May 1995, Randy Reid, a thirty-four-year-old construction worker, was welding on top of a nearly completed water tower outside Chicago. He unhooked his safety gear to reach for some pipes when a metal cage slipped and bumped the scaffolding on which he stood. The scaffolding tipped, and Reid lost his balance. He fell 110 feet, landing face down on a pile of dirt, just missing rocks and construction debris.

         A fellow worker called 911. When paramedics arrived, they found Reid conscious, moving, and complaining of a sore back.

         Apparently the fall didn't cost Reid his sense of humor. As paramedics carried him on a backboard to the ambulance, Reid had one request: "Don't drop me." (Doctors later said Reid came away from the accident with just a bruised lung.)

         Sometimes we resemble that construction worker. God protects us from harm in a 110-foot fall, but we're still nervous about three-foot heights. The God who saved us from hell and death can protect us from the smaller dangers we face this week.

—Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois

I. Some who don’t really trust God try to fake it  vs. 1-3

         A. Hypocrisy

                 1. Playacting.  Hypocrisy does not mean sinning, making a mistake, or                                   even being inconsistent; it refers to acting like you are something that                   you are not.

                 2. “Somebody who tries to appear more spiritual than he or she really                                        is.”  Wiersbe

                 3. The basis of hypocrisy is insincerity.  God would rather have a blunt,

                          honest sinner, than someone who puts on an act of goodness.                                                     Barclay

                 4. Yeast / leaven - indicates evil everywhere in NT except parable of                                         leaven - Matthew 13 & Luke 13

         B. Hypocrites will be found out   vs. 2-3

                 1. The art of being a hypocrite depends on the ability to keep some                                           things concealed.  Leon Morris

                 2. Liars have to have perfect memories; they forget what they said and                              are found out.

                 3. I don’t believe this is talking about Judgment, but it certainly could                            apply to that

                 4. This section is not talking about secrets that are nobody’s business                                       but your own; it is talking about being found out when you are faking                       your spirituality / faith.

II. Trust God means to fear Him   vs. 4-7

         A. What does fear mean?

            {1. fobew 

                          a. Put to flight, terrify, frighten

                          b. Fill with awe, respect, reverence, worship

                 2. yir-ah

                          a. Fear

                          b. Reverence

                 3. It is not a trembling dread that paralyzes action, but neither is it a                                       polite reverence.   Expositor’s Bible Commentary

                 4. Should we be scared of God?    Luke 12:4-5

                 5. God can strike you dead; burn your house; kill your spouse; get you                                   fired from your job; send you to hell.

                 6. We don’t usually emphasize these qualities of God, but they are just                                  as real as His love, mercy, & grace   Romans 11:22

                 7. If you don’t smell the smoke and feel the heat of Hell, maybe      that is                                 why you are not motivated to do God’s will. }  From old Proverbs                             sermon:  The Fear of the Lord

                 8. It is an attitude compounded of a recognition of the greatness and the                                 righteousness of God on the one hand and our readiness to sin on the                              other.  Fear of this kind guards against presumption           Morris

         B. “Fear” used 5 times

                 1. Don’t fear people   vs. 4

                          a. It can lead you to act like a hypocrite

                          b. They can’t do your real damage

                 2. Fear God - three times

                 3. But don’t fear because God considers you valuable  vs. 7

                          a. You are more valuable than a sparrow

                          b. Even though God knows everything about you (physical things                                                   about your body that even you don’t know - # of hairs), He still                                              considers you valuable

         C. Fear and trust are usually opposites, but here they mean the same

III. We learn how to trust God by trusting the Son and the Spirit   vs. 8-12

         A. Acknowledge / confess Jesus   vs. 8-9

                 1. To recognize and act on the reality of something

                 2. Confess Jesus’ identity with its implications for one’s life    Ash

                 3. Requires trust to make that kind of confession

                          a. To rely or depend on; have confidence in

                          b. If we can depend on Jesus to forgive our sins, we can depend on                                        God to keep His promises

                          c. Jesus is not only Savior, he is also Lord

         B. Holy Spirit must be trusted

                 1. Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit

                          a. One could reject Jesus during his personal ministry and still accept                                       him by accepting Spirit inspired preaching.  But reject the latter                                       and there would be no further overture from God regarding the                                               manner of revelation.  Ash

                          b. We must understand this, not of the uttering of any form of words,                                      but of the set of the life.  This blasphemy is so serious because it                                         concerns the whole man, not a few words spoken on any one                                                             occasion.     Morris

                          c. To understand this we must remember that Jesus was talking about

                                  the Holy Spirit as the Jews understood that conception, not in the                                           full Christian sense, about which his audience at that time                                                                   obviously knew nothing.

                                  To a Jew, God's Spirit had two great functions.  Through the Spirit                              he told his truth to men, and it was by the action of the Spirit in a                                       man's mind and heart that he could recognize and grasp God's                                                    truth. 

                                  Now, if a man for long enough refuses to use a faculty he will lose                                            it.  If we refuse to use any part of the body long enough it                                                                  atrophies. 

                                  Just so we can lose the faculty of recognizing God.  By repeatedly                                     refusing God's word, by repeatedly taking our own way, by                                                         repeatedly shutting our eyes to God and closing our ears to him,                                    we can come to a stage when we do not recognize him when we                                        see him, when to us evil becomes good and good becomes evil.                                       That is what happened to the scribes and Pharisees.  They had so                                       blinded and deafened themselves to God that when he came they                                         called him the devil.

                                  Why is that the unforgivable sin?  Because in such a state                                                                   repentance is impossible.  If a man does not even realize that he is                                     sinning, if goodness no longer makes any appeal to him, he cannot                           repent.  God has not shut him out; by his repeated refusals he has                                          shut himself out.    Barclay

                 2. Rejection is the opposite of trust

                 3. Holy Spirit will help you know what to say when you are defending                              the faith   vs. 11-12

        

Conclusion:   If you are going to be a Christian, it must be something that is real.  It involves developing the kind of association, connection, or relationship with the Father, Son, & Spirit where you properly fear them, yet you trust them to keep the promises they have made concerning you.

Wichita, KS.  Central.  June 6, 1999.  PM.

Stewartville Church.  WCD.  Guyana.  October 21, 2001.  Revised

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