Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you once again. We gather together here in your house, Lord, we come for your word. We thank you for your son and the way that you've made for us, your word and what it means to us in our lives and how it affects us even today. We thank you for even for this weather, Lord, that you replenish the earth. We've been praying for rain and pray you replenish the crops and Our daily provision that we need, Lord, is from you. We are dependent and we're thankful and grateful. Now we pray your hand upon us and upon this service. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Turn to Genesis chapter 41. Genesis 41. should be familiar to most of us. I'm not going to be able to read the entire passage. This is the account of when Joseph is called in to meet Pharaoh. Joseph's in prison. Pharaoh has this dream. He calls for all the magicians to interpret it, and then he calls for Joseph. Let's look at verse 8. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof, and Pharaoh told them his dream. But there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. And then just quickly, then one tells him about Joseph in the prison. He calls for Joseph. Joseph comes in, interprets the dream that he's going to be seven years of plenteous, seven years of severe famine. You need to prepare for it. And then in verse 38, the words of Joseph to Pharaoh. No, verse 33, verse 33. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this and let him appoint officers over the land and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And then in verse 38, And Pharaoh said unto his servants, can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, for as much as God has showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. And that strikes me every time I read this. This is in Egypt. Think of all the false gods they had in Egypt. And Pharaoh's, we believe, is the title simply means king. Here's the king of this heathen people with these false gods. How did Pharaoh know that Joseph had the true God? And, where am I at? And that, okay, here we are. How did, yeah, it's in verse 16. And Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, it is not in me. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. Joseph humbly gave God the glory. Again, it is interesting that a heathen king could recognize the work of the true God and that Joseph was his servant. Look at today. Where are we today? Do our unsaved neighbors see God's work in us, or do they just see our own work? Well, good to have everyone in church today. How many of you would say, Preacher, I believe I am coming out of the sickness? How many of you would say, Preacher, I believe I'm going into the sickness? Because if you're going into the sickness, we're ready to remove you from the service this morning, right? Oh, boy, it's been a ride, ride for a lot of people, and good to have some back that have been sick. And we want to thank you for your prayers as we went up to be with Pastor Dunbar yesterday and was able to be Beside that family, of course, Jared Dunbar is our church planning missionary up in Peabody, Massachusetts. It was his mother that passed away. But Dave Dunbar, his father, has been here preached. And we've been up there. My dad's been up there. I've been up there and been good friends to us over the years. And it was good to be there. Very, very godly woman. Her children spoke of that at the funeral. and we're thankful to be able to support those that go through those things and remember them. We decided that we would take the Prius up, you know, savings, right? Gas savings. 40, 45 miles a gallon, like this is a wise move. Could've taken the Yukon up with four-wheel drive. We didn't do that. So we finished with the graveside service about three o'clock. We're at the graveside service and it's snowing cats and dogs. And so we get in the little Prius and for the next four hours, we drive from Auburn, New York down to Scranton. That's normally about a two-hour drive, a four-hour drive. Roads, snow, slushy, icy. And I'm sitting there thinking, this is stupid. Why did we bring this Prius up here? And my wife's like, it'll be fine, honey. It'll be fine, just like she always is. And we got through that. By the time we got to Scranton, it was raining, turned to rain. And we were able to go more than 37 miles an hour. So that was nice. I thought I, you know, you think about taking the Prius and then you think about, well, I could have a buggy. So I'm thankful for the Prius, you know. It's perspective, right? It's perspective. Everything's perspective, right, Tony? Everything's perspective. So, anyways, thank you for your prayers. It's good to be home. We had a wonderful Sweetheart Banquet on Friday night and Brother Baloo really shared a really good message on humility and being clothed with humility. We thank the Lord for that. You never have a bad night when you eat Mission Barbecue. It's never a bad night when you eat Mission Barbecue. So we all had Mission Barbecue on Friday night. In your Bibles, turn to Genesis chapter 3. It will take me a little time to get there this morning. by way of introduction and review. We are still in this series of by faith, which I have don't feel like I've taught on it in forever. So I'm going to take some time to review this morning just so that we can catch up our minds to where we're at. If you do not have the handout for that, there's a handout. And just raise your hand if you need one. Try to get you one. Some of you may have it in your Bible from past weeks. Your first blank, there's the pattern of misplaced trust. the pattern of misplaced trust. And so we'll get into all of that this morning. I do want to remind you of gospel tracks and to equip yourself. We are trying to bring focus to that in our lives to have more opportunities to put the gospel in people's hands and miss less opportunities. And so there are gospel tracks in the back. We're restocking them. Track rack is full. Tammy Hendricks does a good job of getting us different tracks and keeping things stocked. And remember, and as ye go, as you go, guess what? We have another week ahead. And another week ahead means we're going to be going and going and seeing, meeting different people, different people God's going to bring into our path. And remember that little phrase out of Matthew 10-7, and as you go, preach. And as you go, preach. And so we all want to be on point on that this week. Don't forget to get your gospel tracks. Awareness, urgency, boldness, the three things that we're praying about. And I hope that you're praying about that in relationship to souls. as we hit this month. In our Bibles, you're in Genesis chapter 3, I started this series on by faith, and we looked at the explanation of faith. We took a lot of time to look at examples of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, and now we're dealing with the folly of misplaced trust. When you look at the word folly in scripture you will find that it means silliness or you will find that it describes a fool and his folly. So the actions and the attitudes of a fool are described as folly or silly. And in the scriptures, I'm wanting to bring out in this lesson that when we make someone or something else the object of our faith, that's silly. It's foolish. And in the scriptures, as we've learned, there are a number of objects that people made that were objects of their faith. We learned that misplaced trust is really a matter of the heart. It's coming from our heart. And so the pattern of misplaced trust in the scripture is that it can lead to disappointment. It can lead to broken relationships, a lot of things that it can lead to. What are the temptations? for us as to where we misplace our trust. Number one, possessions. Possessions. They that trust in their wealth, the Bible says, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. When I put trust and I bank my security of life on wealth, riches, belongings, that is a misplaced trust. My daily provision is not going to come from my retirement. Neither is yours. It's going to ultimately come from the hand of God. and not saying you shouldn't put back for retirement, not saying we shouldn't fly blind and not be people that foresee what's ahead and he that looketh well to his going is a prudent man. But the trust can't be there, do you understand? The dependence can't be there. If the market fell apart tomorrow and you got money in the market, guess what? God's still on the throne and God still has a promise. My God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus with or without a stock market. My God shall supply all your need. If you got a pink slip tomorrow from your job, God's still on the throne and God's still a provider, isn't He? And so it's important for us to understand we need to be aware of where misplaced trust can go. One, in possessions. Two, in people. in people. It's better to put your trust in God or your confidence in God than it is in people. Proverbs 29, verse 25. Then, in the Scriptures, we should not trust ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 1, verse 9. I'm reviewing here just to get our minds back in the orbit of misplaced trust. We should not trust ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead. What's the principle there about trust? I don't have power to supply everything that I need. I don't have resources. But God raised from the dead. He does. And so my perspective needs to constantly come back to trusting in God. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Sometimes we are self-reliant, sometimes we trust our own reasoning and the Bible warns against that. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Some trust in false idols. We don't have so much in America Idols are images that people worship, maybe an image of Mary, but foreign fields, there's a lot of images. And by the way, you don't have to have an image to worship a false god. Just make something an idol in your life, and you can trust in that idol. And I'm not going into depth like we talked through these things. Military strength! I like when America is strong militarily, but guess what? Don't trust it. You know, I think of that great passage in Daniel chapter 5 with Belshazzar and powerful king, right? Lots of armies at his disposal. One night, one night, the kingdom was gone. Why? He didn't trust in God. And the blessings of God, if we're not careful, the physical blessings of God can turn our heart away from trusting in God. That's why when life is reduced in your life by health, or finances, or trouble, it's not bad. What do you mean preacher? It is God making sure that you're dependent totally upon Him. And that's vital to our lives. There are temporary solutions that people trust in. Substance abuse and pleasure and all kinds of temporary fixes. In Isaiah 59 verse 4 it says, they trust or they make their refuge in vanity, things that are empty, the Bible says. There are some that trust the teaching of false prophets, aren't there? These are all patterns that you can find in the scriptures of misplaced trust. Some trust in the tradition of men. And I'm telling you, there are going to be millions in hell over that. Millions in hell over trusting the traditions of men rather than what the scripture says about salvation. That's a serious misplaced trust. And so there are the patterns of misplaced trust. Number two, if you have your notes there and you want to write this down, there's the proposal, the proposal of a misplaced trust. We're in Genesis chapter 3. Look at verse number one. The Bible says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said? ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden." Interesting that his first statement to the woman was in the form of a question. And it was in the form of a question about what God said. Have God said. By the way, there's way too much questioning today over the book. God's book is not to be questioned. That's creating doubt. That's creating all kinds of problems. And by the way, it created doubt in Eve's mind. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And so Eve speaks about the law that God gave them in the garden and that they would surely die. Ye shall not eat of it. She answered the serpents questions. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? She said that God said ye shall not eat of it. But notice what verse number four says. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Now, at that point, you have two conflicting statements. You have God's statement that says, you eat of the tree, you're going to die. And you have Satan's statement that says, he shall not surely die. So here's the dichotomy. Where is Eve going to put her trust? She has heard from God, but she has also heard from Satan. and they're opposites as to what they're saying. And so, at the core of the beginning of mankind, Satan proposed a misplaced trust. In other words, if you'll believe me, you'll be fine. Verse 5, For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof. Question, where did she place her trust? She placed her trust in the devil's words. That's what she did. How do we know? Because of her action. Because of her decision. Brethren, trust is not something that is elusive or abstract. It is very evident when we have placed our trust in the Lord or we have a misplaced trust. because we make decisions based upon our trust. So help me with this hymn. I'll give you the first two words, you give me the third. Trust and? Obey. Obey. So how do I know that I'm trusting in the Lord? You know you're trusting the Lord if you're obeying the Lord. That's how you know you're trusting the Lord. Here, Eve was not trusting in the Lord. How do we know that? She didn't obey God. She took of the tree that God said, don't take of. She placed her trust in the lie that was sold in her mind. You've heard me say this many times, before you sin, you have to believe a lie. You have to believe a lie. And she believed a lie. Satan's subtlety, his craftiness, was to get Eve to transfer her trust from God's Word to his Word. This is Satan's greatest temptation in your life. In your life. So the Bible says discipline your kids. But the world says differently. The world's going to preach to you, you know, if you do that, you're going to lose their heart. You know, if you discipline your kids, they're not going to like you. You know, if you discipline your kids, you're going to drive your kids from you. Who are you going to trust when it comes to that? Because there's two different voices on it. Is God's voice always right? It's always right. Now is there a proper way to discipline? Is there a proper spirit to discipline in? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean shy away from discipline. Well preacher, I'm just going to love my kids and I think that's going to... that alone is going to do it. If you're going to love your kid, you're going to spank your kid. Because the Bible says, he that withholds the rod, I'm paraphrasing, hateth his child. Now brethren, we can go across the board on God's Word on matters. The Bible says, forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. That means I'm not to skip church. We're sick sometimes. Stay at home. If you're sick, stay at home. But we're not to skip church. Well, preacher, you know, I understand that, but... Now wait, where's the but coming from? Because it's not coming from the Scriptures. It's not coming from God. So, again, whose voice are you going to listen to? Right? Well, you know, I used to have that commitment, but you know, times have changed. It's hard to get out to church four times a week. Wait a second. Are you going to trust God? Trusting God says, I'm to be in church. Every time my church has church, I'm to be in church. And so, do you understand this morning that it is silly to listen to another voice when God has spoken. God had spoken to Eve and she heard another voice and she let the other voice dictate her direction and her decisions. And brethren, we get in trouble when that happens in our lives. Now I can go across a whole bunch of other issues this morning. God says tithe. Well, preacher, I'm giving to God what I can give right now. Wait a second. Did God speak to this issue? Yes, He spoke to the issue. So, if you're getting another idea about that, where's that idea coming from? Can I tell you? Not from God. Which means you're listening to another voice. So where are you going to place your trust? Brethren, we are Bible-believing people. If we are Bible-believing people, then that means that what God says is what we trust in. And when we say we trust in it, we mean this, that it dictates our obedience to what he says, our trust in God. So when somebody puts faith in Jesus Christ, is that not obedience? You've obeyed the gospel is a phrase in our New Testament. To come to Christ, what do they have to do? They have to banish all the other voices. And they have to take God's voice that Jesus is enough. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And if they don't do that, my friend, then they have a misplaced trust in anyone else, in anything else in their lives. It's a misplaced trust. And so, I want you to see the folly of it. I want you to see the clarity of the proposals that are made by the devil to get us to think another way. Marriage counseling. Husbands, love your wives. But she's hard to love. Okay? Well, you're not a good lover. I'm not a good lover or he wouldn't have given us the commandment to love our wives. But, well you don't understand what she did to me. Wait, wait, wait. Where's that voice coming from? Because that voice is contrary to what God's voice says. So when a voice is contrary to what God's voice says, what should I do to that other voice? Click. Turn it off. Turn it off. You got excuses for why you can't love your wife or you got excuses for why you can't submit or reverence your husband. Turn the voice off. It's opposite to what God says. And you know that was the whole catastrophic issue with the beginning of sin, that another voice came in and changed what God said and they believed it. and they responded accordingly. There's always, if you're taking notes this morning, there's always a competition for your trust. There's always a competition for your trust. In your Bible, Psalm 115, Psalm chapter 115, look with me at verses 1 through 9 here. Well, preacher, I think I can roll the dice. I don't think it's that big a deal if I don't trust God on this one. You think so? You think you're gonna roll the dice and hit the Yahtzee by putting trust in someone else or something else or a mindset or a philosophy or a reasoning that is different than God's Word. And I'm saying you're gonna fail every time you do that. In Psalm 115 the Bible says, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Interesting. But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat. They that make them," do you see this? "...are like unto them." What is the Bible saying about the heathens gods? They are powerless. They have zero power. And then the Bible says, they that make them are like unto them. What happens when we misplace our trust? We become powerless. That's what happens. They that make them. Why would they make them? Because they're trusting in them. We're talking about idols. We're talking about images here. Why would they construct the golden calf? because they're going to pray. They're going to trust that image. Powerless. Powerless. The Bible says, so is everyone that trusteth in them. Boy, the psalmist is showing a stark contrast here between trusting in the Lord and trusting in a misplaced trust. Verse number 9, O Israel, trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. What's he saying? There's a competition for trust. Turn over your Bibles to Isaiah 36. Isaiah chapter number 36. Hezekiah was a good man in many ways but it didn't mean that there wasn't a competition for his trust. There's some really I tell people this about our church. We have a great church. When I say great church, I'm talking about the body of believers here. I'm not talking about the buildings. I love this people. I watch this people go through burdens and trials. I watch you rally to one another. I watch you take steps in your Christian life. I think that there's maturity here. but I want to warn you all those things can be true but it doesn't mean that there's not something in competition for your trust today. In Isaiah chapter 36, now it came to pass in the 14th year of King Uzziah, verse number 1, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defense cities of Judah and took them. And we read about Rabshakeh, the servant of the king of Sennacherib there. He was sent from Lachish to Jerusalem, in verse number two, unto King Hezekiah with a great arm. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool and the highway of the fuller's field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shevna the scribe, and Joah Asaph's son, the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, sayest thou, but they are but vain words, I have counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou trust that thou rebellest against me? Perhaps Sheik is speaking. He's ready to take over Judah. He's got a great army with him and he's talking to Hezekiah's men and he's saying, hey, where's your confidence now? Look at this army. We're ready to take over. Who are you going to trust now? Verse number five. Lo, thou trustest, verse six, and the staff of this broken reed on Egypt, Where on if a man lean, that's a good word related to trust. Where I lean. It says here, where on if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him. Or in other words, the servant of the king of Assyria understands a simple principle that is right. You can't trust in man. Like you're trusting in Pharaoh of Egypt and all that trust in him, you know what? It fails is what he's saying. Verse 7, But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God, is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give thee 2,000 horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. What was the proposal? Trust in our king. Trust in Sennacherib. And if you do that, you're gonna find out we've got resources for you. Isn't that easy to do in a land where there's desperate things going on? They were about ready to be destroyed. Read on, verse number eight. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it. The Lord said unto me, go up against this land and destroy it. Drop down to verse number 13. And Rabbi Sheikha stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews language and said, hear you the words of the great king, the king of Assyria, thus saith the king, let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord saying, the Lord will surely deliver us for this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king. of Assyria, hearken not to Hezekiah." You ever had somebody tell you, hey, you know what? Be careful of that decision. Trust in God and wait. You ever been tempted to ignore that counsel? Do you see in this passage the competition for trust that is going on for a whole nation, God's people? He was not speaking to a heathen nation. He was speaking to God's nation and said, don't trust Hezekiah, who's going to tell you to put your trust in the Lord. What he was saying was this. God's not going to work for you. You ever hear that voice in your mind? You ever deal with something that's over your head? That's desperate? That's critical? That's really, really hard? You ever hear that voice, God doesn't care? God's not doing anything? Why? Why are you trusting in God? Why do you keep obeying God? Look what He's doing in your life. That's Isaiah 36. The proposal. Thirdly, the pitfalls of misplaced trust. Turn to Hosea chapter number 10. Hosea chapter number 10. What is the fruit of trusting your own way? It is the tragedy of being deceived. No matter what the misplaced trust is, it has taken your trust away from God. It has taken your commitment to obey God and it has corrupted that commitment. So what does a life look like that has taken their trust in God and shifted it to something or someone else. In Hosea chapter 10 verse number 13, ye have plowed wickedness. Anybody that's plowing wickedness is not trusting in God. Because trust is connected with what? Obedience, isn't it? So we can say this, mistrust is connected to disobedience. in our lives. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way in the multitude of thy mighty men." Huh. What is the pitfall of misplaced trust? It results in sour fruit. It results in sour fruit. Notice that their trust was in their own way and in the multitude of thy mighty men. Bad roots produce bad fruits in our lives, particularly in the area of our trust. You know, trust has a lot to do with who you allow to influence you. Really does. Go back to the garden again. In the garden, who did Eve allow to influence her? The serpent. Right? In Isaiah 36, who was seeking to influence the nation of Israel? The leaders first, the three or four leaders that met with him. And then he cries out to the whole nation, Sennacherib's servant. Trust has a lot to do with the people that you allow to influence you. It's why conservative news right now is very dangerous. What do you mean, preacher? Man, things are going great. Yeah, and everybody's turning their eyes on Trump. And I wanna remind you that if I put my trust in Trump over my trust in God, I have made a grave, grave decision in my life that's going to bring forth sour fruit. And so, what is the fruit of lies? He says you've eaten of the fruit of lies. For these people, it was punishment, it was captivity, it was misery. Can I give you some lies that are often whispered in our hearts? that are easy to believe and trusted. I have the right to be angry when things don't go my way. Now question, if I listen to that voice, what's it going to produce in my life? Obedience to God or disobedience? It's going to produce disobedience in my life. which is going to bring trouble, further trouble, captivity, misery, punishment into my life. I'm measured by how I compare with others. Little voice. Come into your heart and mind. Plant that little seed. So what am I going to, how am I going to live my life if I believe that lie? I'm going to live my life by what others think. What's going to get me in trouble in life? Holiness is boring. Little voice. To be holy is to be bored. What's that going to cause me to do? run from the principles and the person of holiness. Where is that going to lead in my life? To profane attitudes and actions to worldliness? It's going to bring trouble if I listen to the other voice. A little look at the wrong stuff won't hurt me. Little voice. Where's that going to lead in my life? Well, a little leaven. I mean, you know, if I'm getting victory 85% of the time in that area, I'm really doing good. Yeah, but as long as you leave the gate open, you're going to run back and run back and addict and live with guilt live with frustration live without the joy of the Lord this little voice little voice pitfalls I can't afford to give more money away which is opposite of the Bible says he that scatters increases so it's not God's voice up what's that going to do it's gonna cause me to do this it's gonna limit my opportunities to minister I can hide secret sin or it only hurts me little voice opposite voice of what God says but if you let that voice influence you God says someday your sin will be broadcasted from the housetops God says in Numbers 32, 23, be sure your sin will find you out. You understand that voice isn't from God. Something's competing. Someone's competing for your trust. What others think of me matters more than what I really am. What's that voice say? That voice says how I portray myself is more important than the heart work in my daily relationship with God. And brethren, I want you to know that voice has pervaded our churches. That little voice. What others think of me is more important than what I really am. Pleasure and entertainment can satisfy me. What's happening, you're looking for a temporary solution. That's a misplaced trust. It's not going to satisfy you. Church, I can take it or leave it. You know, preacher, I don't really think membership or commitment is that important. I just kind of think it's up to everybody. God sets the members in the body, according to the scripture. Our faithfulness and commitment to the church is very important. If Jesus died for the church, which he did, What's that going to leave you? It's going to leave you in a bad place as far as where you're going to go in your life. I have never seen a mature believer outside of the local church. I've never seen one get to where they need to get to outside of the local churches. I'm thankful for evangelism. I'm thankful we can go to the mission fields and get people started in the gospel and in evangelism. And I know Brother Gilmore's been here, is here, and has done those things. But I guarantee you, he understands, even on forum fields and getting those Bible studies started, what needs to happen. A church, a local church. There's things in the local church that you get that you can't get anywhere else. I can take it or leave it. My wife or my husband is supposed to make me happy. Is that a biblical truth? Where do I get my happiness from? I get my joy from the Lord. If my wife is to make me happy and she doesn't make me happy a day, can I still have joy? Let's say my wife is making me miserable or she's acting in a way that could make me miserable. Can I still have joy? Yes, because she's not the author of my joy. Jesus is the author of my joy. And time spent with Jesus brings me joy. It's not found in my marriage partner. Now, my wife makes me happy on many fronts. I'm thankful for that. She brings things into my life and pleasures into my life in many ways. But if I didn't have my wife, I could still be happy and joyful. So can you. I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings. Jesus did. Jesus longed that Jerusalem would turn to him. But they would not. You know what? Those unfulfilled longings keep us in good places. Paul had a longing. Please take this thorn out of my flesh. Did he ever have that resolve from what we know in Scripture? Never did. Never was fixed. What did he say? Most gladly, therefore, I will glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. In other words, the longing Paul saw wasn't as important as what it was driving him to as far as dependence upon the Lord. That was a greater blessing in his life than getting rid of the thorn in his flesh. I can't control my emotions, preacher. You can't. Well, the Bible seems to indicate that you can. Because the Bible talks about ruling your spirit. He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down and without walls. In another passage it says, take heed to your spirit, in Malachi chapter 2, that you don't deal with your mate treacherously. The Bible says you can control your spirit. So if you're hearing a voice that says, I can't, you're hearing another voice besides God's. Do you see it this morning? Do you see the clarity? There's a proposal, there's a competition for your trust, and it's all over who you're listening to and what you're believing, who you're following. A sailor buys a boat, assured that it's reliable, but he sets out on the open sea, and as he sets out, he starts to notice water coming in the cracks. The boat slowly fills with water, and he realizes, despite its shiny exterior, that the boat was not seaworthy. Brethren, misplaced trust in anything that seems attractive or promising but lacks the trustworthiness of God can be like a leaky boat that causes us to sink spiritually. I ask you this question in the Sunday School Hour this morning. Is there a competition for your trust right now? Specifically? Somewhere? My friend, that's not a small thing. You hear another voice that's different than what you know is in the book? Shut it off. Trust God. Obey God. Let's bow in prayer. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You, Lord, for the power of the Scriptures. Lord, it's a sword. Lord, it pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. It is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Lord, this morning's lesson has dealt with the heart. It's where our trust comes from. God, I know in my life there's a competition for trust. Lord, that's true in my life, that's true throughout the pages of scripture, and that's true in every life here today. God, I pray your spirit would speak. I pray your spirit would put his thumb, Lord, on the area, on the struggle, on the competition. And Lord, I pray that we would trust you this day. I pray we'd make a conscious decision today. Lord to put our dependence on you, on the front that we are dealing with. In Jesus' name, amen. Our morning service. Thank you for joining us by way of the internet today. We're so glad that you were able to be with us and we pray that the service was a blessing to your heart. Even though the sermon is over, our service is not over. At the end of our service, we give an opportunity for people to respond and come to an altar and pray over what God dealt with them about. Sometimes people come to call upon Christ and to be saved. Others come to make a decision for Christ regarding their Christian lives. Others come to call out to the Lord about special needs and situations in their lives. Maybe God has dealt with you today about some specific area of your life. I invite you to make an altar right there in your home, a quiet time before the Lord where you pray to Him and respond to Him about what He has spoken to you about. If you made a decision for the Lord today, we would be glad to hear about that decision and or answer any questions you have today about the message that was preached. You can contact us by way of email at info at mountziononline.org or by way of phone at 717-927-9227. Again, we thank you for joining us today and we look forward to you joining us again for our live stream. weekly on Sundays at 1045 a.m. and on Sunday evenings at 645 p.m. If we can meet a need in your life, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you and God bless you.