[0:00] Well, it does kind of seem like it's not our morning in terms of microphone sound and so forth. Let me just give this preacher's mic one more try here.
[0:11] Okay. Are you getting any signal back there? Nothing. Okay. It's like the mic is down. So we will, I'll preach one-handed this morning.
[0:22] How does that sound? Okay. Okay. Let me raise just something that has been on my heart over the last number of weeks, number of months.
[0:41] Just I've been contemplating what we really do know. There's something about us, something about our world where maybe more so than any time in history, we have access to knowledge.
[0:56] We have access to knowledge that maybe our ancestors did not have. We are awash in knowledge. You can just pull out your phone and be inundated with information with knowledge.
[1:08] And I think one challenge that we have is we actually know a lot less than we think we do. This was brought to my mind over the last few years, especially in terms of, you know, that exhausting term, COVID-19, right?
[1:23] This just, this never-ending train wreck that we're in. And I want us to consider not so much what all is going on in the world, but consider our response to this world. All across the world, what percentage of people do you think have become more humble over the last two and a half years?
[1:45] What percentage of people do you think have become more proud? More, feeling more like they are vindicated. Feeling like they are right, like they know what's going on.
[1:59] Feel like they are superior to other people because they are right and other people are wrong. How well do you think we understand this disease?
[2:10] How well do you think that we understand all the things that have been done in response? How well do you think your family members understand? Your neighbors, what about you?
[2:22] Do you have it all figured out? Do you think, I know what's going on? Do you think you know what would have happened if the government had taken no action?
[2:33] Do you think you know what would have happened if the government had taken stronger action? Do you know, do you really know, among all the people who disagree with you about all these things, do you really know why they disagree and why they behave differently from you do?
[2:50] Do you know what's coming in the next few months? Do you know, if you get sick, how that would play out in your body and in your mind?
[3:02] Have we grown more confident in our knowledge or have we grown less confident? Well, Chris read for us earlier from Job chapter 38.
[3:12] And at the time, in that chapter, what happens is after 37 chapters of conversation among Job and his friends about what God is doing in the middle of Job's suffering, the Lord finally shows up and he speaks and he challenges Job in verse 2 of that chapter.
[3:28] He says, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Words without knowledge.
[3:41] You see, Job was speaking with a false sense of confidence about things that he didn't really understand. There's a common proverb that says, What you don't know won't kill you.
[3:57] What you don't know won't kill you. We like to tell ourselves that. Makes us feel better. But come on, we know that's not true. Not only is that not true, we don't even like saying this simple phrase, I don't know.
[4:13] That's a tough phrase to say. But God urges us to be much more willing to say, I don't know. I don't know. That's because I'm here to tell you this morning that what you don't know may kill you.
[4:33] And especially may kill you if you dwell on what you don't know. If you think you know something that you actually don't. And if you dwell on it, if you linger on it as though you know it with a false sense of confidence, and if you grip it tightly, it very well may rob you of life.
[4:55] It very well may rob you of the humble joy and the contentment that God wants for you. Let me pray for us.
[5:05] And then I want to give us, I want us to consider seven things that you don't know. Father, we are people who think we possess knowledge, have a high opinion of our knowledge, have often not really very carefully considered the things that we hold so certainly.
[5:24] Lord, there are some things we can be certain of, of you, of who you are, of the confession of our faith. But there is so much in this world that we just simply don't have that same degree of certainty.
[5:38] And Lord God, open our eyes and let us consider our own hearts. Search our hearts and may your spirit help us to see very clearly as we talk about this, are there areas, Lord, in my life, in the lives of each person in this room, where we think that we know, but we don't?
[5:59] where we have been arrogant in our sense of knowledge, in our sense of, I know what's going on. I know.
[6:09] I understand. Lord, grant us your help. Grant us your mercy to know, to see, to understand that you are a God of knowledge, to know and understand our place, that we can be human-sized humans once again.
[6:30] Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand. Amen. So, seven things you don't know. And then, once we've gone over those seven things you don't know, let's then consider how we ought to live in a world that we have grasped far less thoroughly than we think we have.
[6:52] Seven things you don't know. First, you don't know the hearts of other people. You don't know the hearts of other people. And when I'm talking about the hearts, I'm talking about the core of who the other person is, all their thoughts, desires, beliefs, attitudes, all the things that are central to who they are that are hidden from your sight.
[7:17] I think of that line from, there's that, an old radio drama from the 1930s and 40s called The Shadow and it begins with this famous line, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
[7:28] The shadow knows. And then he goes and defeats all these criminals that he knows, he knows what's going on with them. What about you? Do you think you're the shadow? You're a mind reader, right?
[7:40] How often have you said these words to your spouse? Oh, I know why you're saying that. How often have you said of a politician, oh, I know why they're doing that.
[7:52] Or of a friend, I know what they really want. I know. What are you, a mind reader? Where did you get these psychic powers?
[8:05] Where did you get this ability to read between the lines, to look into the hearts of other people and to see what God sees? Consider what the Lord says in 1 Samuel chapter 16.
[8:17] He says, The Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Man looks on the outward appearance, the Lord looks on the heart.
[8:30] Consider that there are things that we cannot see in others, things that we don't share with them. Proverbs 14 verse 10. The heart knows its own bitterness and no stranger shares its joy.
[8:45] Anyway, fundamentally, what happens inside of us is not available to other people. Consider how every human being, as I've had this conversation with folks, that every human being is a bit like an iceberg, right?
[9:00] Most of the iceberg is below the surface. You only see and observe a little bit at the top. Most of who we are are hidden deep beneath the surface.
[9:12] Isn't that true? Think of yourself. How much do the people in this room really know about you? How much do they know about your life experiences? Do they even know what's going through your head right now as I'm saying this?
[9:27] Proverbs 25 verse 3 warns us against even especially judging those in positions of political power, for example. We're eager to criticize those in power over us, but Proverbs 25 verse 3 says, As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
[9:45] Perhaps that might grant us a little bit of humility next time we start talking about politics and about our politicians. In fact, in Jeremiah 17 verse 9, we are warned how easily we are deceived about what is going on in the hearts of other people.
[10:03] The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. who can understand it? Who can understand it? And we could go on and on and on.
[10:18] There's so many scriptures that speak about this. In 1 Corinthians chapter 4, the apostle Paul warns us not to judge others quickly because we do not know what we are talking about.
[10:33] He says, Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.
[10:47] Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Dwelling on the hidden motives of other people, fixating on reading between the lines saying, I know what's going on, I know why they're saying that, I know what they're doing.
[11:07] It will only lead you to be deceived by yourself and condemned by God if this verse speaks correctly.
[11:18] It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about these things. These are words without knowledge. even as a counselor, I've often had to take great care and do lots and lots of listening and understanding before I start to venture what's going on in someone's heart.
[11:35] I cannot quickly say, you don't know the hearts of other people. Second, you don't know your own heart.
[11:48] You don't even know your own heart. Consider Jeremiah 17 verse 9 again. This speaks not just of other people but of you the heart is deceitful. That's your heart.
[11:59] Treacherous, deceitful, above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? Certainly not you. You do not truly know your own heart.
[12:16] I've had this experience in the past. Not only do I now look back at my past and see that I did not know my heart then. I had people in real time point out things that I didn't even see in myself.
[12:27] Blind spots. I had a friend who once challenged me. We were having a conversation and he quickly challenged me that I was taking a passive-aggressive shot at him with a comment I made.
[12:39] I don't even remember what I said but I remember him just like, you know, jumping at me on that and I utterly denied it. No, like I'm not doing that. I'm not saying that and then a few hours later I realized, oh yeah, I was.
[12:52] I didn't even know it. He was right. I remember a former girlfriend telling me that I was angry about something in a conversation we were having and I was like, no, no I'm not.
[13:03] Not angry. Not me. Only later did I realize, oh, she was right. I was angry. I didn't even know my own heart. Now maybe you guys are different.
[13:16] Maybe you're a lot more self-aware than I am but if my experience as a counselor is any indication, you're probably not. You're probably not as self-aware as you think you are.
[13:30] You don't actually understand that tangle of thoughts and feelings, desires and motives, the shame and the sin, the distortions, the grievances that are all going on in your own heart.
[13:42] You don't understand what's happening there. Consider this amazing humility. Here's an example of a humble man, the Apostle Paul, back in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 where he says, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
[14:05] In fact, I do not even judge myself. There's a bold statement. I don't even judge myself for I am not aware of anything against myself but I am not thereby acquitted.
[14:19] It is the Lord who judges me. Paul doesn't even judge himself. Why? Because he knows that he is not a reliable judge of his own heart.
[14:33] he appeals to the Lord. He does exactly what we're told to do in Proverbs 21 verse 2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the heart.
[14:49] Oh yes, we always do what we think is right in our own eyes. What seems good to us but the Lord sees through it even when we don't. And so, our humble response has to be to pray the prayer we see at the end of Psalm 139.
[15:07] Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
[15:22] It is the Lord who sees your heart when you don't. Sometimes, people get into this sort of navel-gazing mode where they're just like obsessively trying to work out the thoughts and motives of their own heart and in counseling I often encourage them like, give it up.
[15:43] You're not going to be able to do that. You need to pray that. You need to pray and ask the Lord to do that for you because you can't do what only the Holy Spirit can do. Dwelling on the hidden motives and errors of our own heart, speaking with certainty and confidence, I know why I did that.
[16:01] I know what's happening inside of my heart. It will only lead you to be mired in self-absorption or false self-confidence and self-righteousness. It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about these things.
[16:16] These are words without knowledge. You don't know your own heart. Third, you don't know the story of other people's lives.
[16:29] You don't know the story of other people's lives. You see, you do know a little bit, don't you? You know a little bit of the lives of other people. There are people in this room you know, some whom you know better than others.
[16:43] You know where they came from, you know the circumstance of their lives, you know their relationships, perhaps they've confided in you some of what God has done in their lives, through their lives.
[16:54] Perhaps you've started looking at other people and envying them because they seem to have a better life story than yours. Things start to go awry in our hearts.
[17:06] When we look at other people, we see their life story and we think, why doesn't mine look like that? I want that for myself and we dwell on it.
[17:19] Perhaps you have wanted the Lord to explain why does their story seem so much better than mine? Why does it seem so much happier than mine? Why? Recall again Proverbs 14, 10.
[17:33] The heart knows its own bitterness and no stranger shares its joy. I want us to humble ourselves. There is so much that you do not know about the lives and the stories of other people, even the people that you think you know best.
[17:55] All of this ought to remind us of a conversation that the Apostle Peter had with Jesus after his resurrection. In John chapter 21, there's this really remarkable conversation.
[18:06] Jesus has been walking down a beach with Peter along the Sea of Galilee, walking along the shore and he's hinted at Peter what his future is going to be. That Peter is going to die a martyr's death to glorify God.
[18:20] And then here's what we read happens next. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. The one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?
[18:34] When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?
[18:51] You follow me. You follow me. That is Jesus' way of saying, Peter, his story is not for you to know.
[19:03] It is not for you to dwell on. It is not for you to compare with your own. My will for his life is none of your business. Your responsibility is to follow me, yourself, regardless of what happens to him in whatever journey I have you on.
[19:26] If you're a fan of Chronicles of Narnia, you probably have a favorite novel from these novels that C.S. Lewis wrote and mine is The Horse and His Boy. And there's a scene towards the end of The Horse and His Boy where Shasta speaks to the lion Aslan, the Christ figure of the story, and he asks Aslan, why did you, he asks him why Aslan wounded a friend of his.
[19:50] And Aslan explains it this way, child, I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own. It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty, to speak with, to speak as though you have full knowledge of all that has happened to other people and of how you interpret their lives.
[20:15] These are words without knowledge. I want to tell you how many times I sit in counseling and hear someone's story and think, I still only know the tip of the iceberg of what they're telling me.
[20:31] I don't fully know everything about this person. You don't know the story of other people's lives. Fourth, you don't know the story of your own life.
[20:46] You don't even know the story of your own life. One of the challenging things in that counseling room is I'm listening to people tell their life story and they describe all the difficult events, all the difficult relationships of their life and you know what's hard about that?
[20:59] It's not hard for me to hear the hardships to sit and mourn with them, to talk about their struggles. What's challenging for me is the fact that I know I'm not getting the whole truth.
[21:11] Do you know that? Even if the other person is being completely honest with me and I usually give them the benefit of the doubt that they're being completely honest with me but the story that they're telling me is always, always edited, always curated.
[21:28] That's what a story is. There's a lot they've cut out. There's a lot they've forgotten. There's a lot they've misremembered.
[21:39] And frankly, a lot they never noticed in the first place even when it was happening. If you've ever compared memories about an event or conversation with somebody, oh boy, don't you know what I'm talking about?
[21:55] Ever had that conversation where you tell someone, here's what happened last week between us and the other person says, that's not how I remember it. That's not how I remember the conversation going down.
[22:09] You were yelling at me. No, I wasn't. You said this. No, I didn't. You said this. No. You were doing this. No, no, that's not what happened. You each remember different things.
[22:22] Even modern neuroscience has shown. Did you know that every time you retrieve a memory, that memory is vulnerable to being altered? Your mind is actually full of modified and false memories.
[22:33] Kind of scary, isn't it? Some amazing studies. I remember reading some studies done after 9-11 of short, you know, within a few weeks afterwards, people were asked stories of what had taken place on that, what had happened to them on that day, how did they hear the news, what happened.
[22:49] And then they were asked a few years later, and guess what? Their stories changed. And then when they were handed their original, here's what you actually said shortly afterwards. They said, no, no, that's not true.
[23:00] That's not what happened. They could not bear to believe that their memories were false. You are not a reliable storyteller of your own life.
[23:19] Think about Jesus' disciples. Did they not witness astounding miracles and yet completely misinterpret what they saw? Consider that they were present on two separate occasions in which Jesus fed two huge crowds with only a few loaves of bread.
[23:37] And not long afterward, they imagine, and this is just almost comical, it's so funny. They're in a boat on a lake, Jesus makes a comment about bread, and they imagine that Jesus is criticizing them for failing to bring enough bread with them.
[23:53] As though that's a problem for Jesus. As though Jesus struggles for a lack of bread, and he must be talking about bread. Consider how Jesus critiques their hard-hearted forgetfulness, the fact that they did not clue into what was going on.
[24:10] In Mark chapter 8, he says, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you not see?
[24:21] And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? Sometimes for fun in counseling, I've often preached and then talking to somebody, I've asked them in counseling, you know, what did you learn from the sermon?
[24:35] And then they'll tell me something and I'm like, sitting there going, what sermon were they listening to? No, that wasn't a sermon about how to live a better life and be a good person.
[24:48] The whole point was the opposite, that we can't. But they heard what they wanted to hear. Consider that there are things going on in your life that you do not see or understand.
[25:02] Things that would change the story completely if you had eyes to see. In 2 Kings 6, the prophet Elisha is trapped in a city. He's under siege by an army.
[25:14] And his servant panics when he sees the army that's arrayed against them. Here's what we read in 2 Kings 6. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.
[25:28] And the servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we do? He said, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
[25:42] Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw.
[25:56] And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The army of the Lord was always there the whole time, but the servant didn't have eyes to see it.
[26:14] Jesus' provision of bread was always there, but the disciples didn't have eyes to see it. Consider the story of your life. might there not be blind spots?
[26:28] Might there not be things, both good and bad, that you don't have eyes to see? It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about all that has happened to you and how you interpret it.
[26:44] These are so often words without knowledge. You don't know the story of your own life. Fifth, you don't know the if-onlys of the past.
[26:58] You don't know the if-onlys of the past. The longer you live, the more opportunities you have to look back and think, oh, if only.
[27:09] Oh, if only. If only my dad hadn't left us. If only I had taken school more seriously. If only I hadn't married that person. If only I had seen that stop sign.
[27:23] If only the stock market hadn't tanked. We live in regret of the choices we made. And we live in regret thinking of all the things that happened to us.
[27:35] And the longer that you dwell on the if-onlys, the more that your heart withdraws from the real world where God has called you to live. The more we forget Jesus call, you follow me.
[27:51] The more your heart is drawn instead into a fantasy world or a variety of, a multiverse of fantasy worlds where everything turned out Disneyland, where everything turned out exactly as you had always dreamed, exactly as you arranged it in your mind.
[28:08] That alternate universe, a universe of rose-colored glasses where everything was wonderful. Boy, we look at the past with rose-colored glasses enough, don't we, right?
[28:22] We're warned in Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Say not, why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Boy, skewering our nostalgia, we are not wise to look at the past with rose-colored glasses, thinking back longingly as, oh, they were so much better.
[28:42] Neither are we wise to dwell on the rose-colored past and present that might have been if only, if only. We don't truly understand what might have been.
[28:58] You don't know. We have no idea what would have come next if only things had gone differently. We can't even grasp what's happening in the real world, in the real universe, let alone a hundred thousand other universes of possibilities.
[29:18] We don't know. In Ecclesiastes 7, we are told, that which has been is far off and deep, very deep. Who can find it out? Even when it comes, even when it comes to looking back on the past regretfully about our own sin, we're told that not just regretting, but dwelling on that regret, living there, grieving it, it actually doesn't do any good.
[29:46] It only leads to death, the obsessive remorse. In 2 Corinthians 7, we are told, godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
[30:03] death. Death. Godly grief takes seriously Jesus' call, you follow me and the life I've given you. Worldly grief is consumed with the what-ifs and the if-onlys, and it produces death.
[30:20] Dwelling on what would have been will only lead to death. It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about these things. These are words without knowledge.
[30:31] you don't know the if-onlys of the past. Sixth, you don't know the what-ifs of the future. You don't know the what-ifs of the future.
[30:44] And oh, there are so many warnings in Scripture about this. Consider Proverbs 27, verse 1. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
[30:57] Oh boy, isn't that true? How many times have you woken up in the morning and you've actually been like, yeah, you know, I'm ready to take on the day, I've got so many good things coming, and then boy, the day turns out really differently than you expected.
[31:12] Consider Ecclesiastes 11, verse 2, the counterpart to that. Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. You don't know. James 4, verses 13 through 15.
[31:26] Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
[31:40] What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
[32:00] You do not know whether tomorrow will bring the good you expect, so why do you approach it with such arrogant confidence? Why do you act as though you will have infinite opportunity ahead of you, as though you are immortal, as though you could never possibly die?
[32:19] On the other hand, then, why do you catastrophize and fixate on the worst-case scenarios of tomorrow? All the what-ifs, all the universes of possibility where things go horribly, horribly wrong.
[32:37] Why do you think you can master the future by overthinking it? Ecclesiastes 11 gives us this advice. In the morning, sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
[32:58] Maybe of all the possibilities before you, maybe all of them turn out good. Has not God called us to be faithful simply with the troubles of the present?
[33:11] Consider what Jesus says in Matthew 6, verse 34. I love this. It's so practical. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
[33:24] Jesus says, look, your life is already hard enough today. You do not need the troubles of tomorrow. God has not given us grace for the troubles of tomorrow, just grace for the troubles of today.
[33:39] Boasting about future plans, dwelling in fear on all the what-ifs. That is only going to lead to death. It is a sense of certainty about these things.
[33:54] It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about them. These are words without knowledge. You don't know the what-ifs of the future.
[34:05] And then seventh and finally, you don't know the secret purposes of God. You don't know the secret purposes of God. In Deuteronomy 29, verse 29, Moses tells the people of Israel what they are responsible to know.
[34:23] The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
[34:38] God has revealed his will, this revealed will of God. It's his law, his moral will. That's what's our responsibility to obey. That's what his spirit gives us grace and energy and power and wisdom to do, what he's revealed to us.
[34:56] The secret will, how he has orchestrated the universe, what his plans are from the beginning of time, all that is in store, all the plans and purposes for the world he made for you and for me.
[35:13] We only know but a tiny crumb of that, the secret things he's planned. We only see what Job calls the outskirts of his ways. In Ecclesiastes 3, verse 11, we read, he has made everything beautiful in its time.
[35:32] Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet, so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. God has put this sense of eternity, this sense of history, this sense of the ages, this sense of a world that is, where so much is happening, a world that much is yet to come, and yet we, he has done that in such a way that we cannot fathom all that God is up to in our world.
[36:06] Again, Ecclesiastes 8, verse 17, I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out, even though a wise man claims to know he cannot find it out.
[36:26] It's too big. It's too much. It's too deep for us to fathom, too much for us to grasp. An ant can sooner understand the inner workings of an iPhone than you can understand all the secret purposes of God for this world.
[36:50] And just for good measure, we were told once more in Ecclesiastes 11, verse 5, as you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with a child.
[37:01] So you do not know the work of God who makes everything. His readers could not see. They could not see what was happening.
[37:12] And he says, you don't know. All of this ought to lead us to honor God, to exalt him, to praise him.
[37:23] In Romans 11, Paul takes this truth and he says, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.
[37:39] For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Would that be you? speculating on the hidden secret work of God, it is only going to lead to exasperation.
[37:58] It is not a mark of humility to speak with certainty about these things. These are words without knowledge. You don't know the secret purposes of God.
[38:12] So what then are you to do? Panic? Should we live in anxiety?
[38:23] Should we live in terror because of what you don't know? Well, no. The book of Ecclesiastes is wonderful because it emphasizes how little we truly know and the counsel of the book is not to hide in a corner in a closet in your bedroom and just try to stay safe from the world.
[38:48] The counsel is in fact to spring forward into action in an uncertain world. It's the opposite of what you'd expect. Consider some of the words we've already heard from Ecclesiastes chapter 11.
[39:00] Cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven or even to eight for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
[39:12] In the morning sow your seed and at evening withhold not your hand for you do not know which will prosper this or that or whether both alike will be good. So his counsel is get out there.
[39:26] Take some risks. Why? Because you don't know what will happen. Diversify your investments. Be generous toward others. Do what I often encourage people do in counseling.
[39:39] Throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall see what sticks. We'll just try stuff. How can we live with that sort of confidence with that sort of boldness when we don't have certainty when so often all we can say is I don't know.
[40:02] You may have noticed again and again in the scriptures we've read that what you don't know God does know. God knows the hearts of other people.
[40:14] God knows your heart. God knows the full story of other people's lives. God knows the full story of your life. God knows all of the if only's and what might have been's of the past.
[40:31] God knows all the possibilities and what ifs of the future. God knows the secret purposes he has for the world and for you and for your family.
[40:46] Will you then repent and let go of claiming you know these things?
[40:58] Will you repent of that false sense of certainty? I'm asking you this because to me I know perhaps you hear these words and they sound discouraging.
[41:09] Let me tell you what this is one of the most encouraging things for me to just let go and to say I don't know. I don't have it all figured out and it's time to let it go.
[41:26] Time to stop letting my mind dwell forever and ever on all these things. obsessing overthinking ruminating let it go. Will you abandon these words without knowledge?
[41:44] These words as we have seen they are the root of so much anxiety and despair and depression the root of so much anger and bitterness and resentment.
[41:54] these are seeds that grow up into death. Will he respond the same way that Job did when he replied to the Lord's challenges?
[42:09] Here's what he says in Job chapter 42. He speaks to the Lord and he says I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
[42:25] Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand things too wonderful for me which I did not know.
[42:38] Here and I will speak I will question you and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
[43:00] Job responds to the Lord's challenge. Who is this that hides counsel with words without knowledge? I will question you.
[43:11] You make it known to me. What do you know Job? And he repents. will you follow in Job's footsteps and after admitting what you don't know will you follow the wise counsel of Proverbs 3 trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.
[43:51] Our God and our Father we have falsely elevated ourselves as though we are readers of minds readers of the past readers of the future readers of a multiverse of possibilities as though we are God-like in our wisdom our understanding we have gone far beyond our station and have expressed a false confidence forgive us for our words without knowledge that we have spoken forgive us for the words without knowledge that we have spoken to ourselves in our own minds Lord let us humble ourselves and admit to you here's all the things I don't know Lord perhaps there are many people this morning who hear these things and say yes some of those things I've been dwelling on Lord may they turn to you and cry out and say
[45:05] Lord that was not my place I am just a creature I am very limited I am mortal and not only mortal but I am full of sin it has warped the way I think I am so limited in my understanding Lord forgive me Lord if there are those here who have not placed their trust in Jesus Christ the one who is wisdom from God and whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge the one that we can trust the one we can count on because he died in our place he rose again from the dead he is now ascended to heaven he is reigning forever and ever and he will come back one day to judge the living and the dead he knows all things he will set all things right which is something we cannot do Lord I pray that we may entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ that everyone here may do that open our eyes let us see what we don't know and let us see clearly the one that we can know who has revealed himself to us and knows us fully
[46:25] Lord we repent have mercy on us we pray Lord Amen what a humbling message how can we have assurance and hope in this world full of uncertainties by trusting the one who knows all things and as our knowledge of him grows deeper so is our trust there's that's why there is no greater thing than knowing Jesus let's all stand up and let's together declare our full trust to him