May 7, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

How to Trust Him More

 

Introduction: Matt. 6:30

 

We all remember the oft repeated words of Jesus to those around him, “O, ye of little faith.”  (Matt. 6:30, 17:20.)  Man often fails to trust the Lord, even though He has made sincere promises to his disciples.  He has promised to take care of us physically and spiritually if we follow Him.  Man seems determined to go his own way and trust in his own ability to survive in this world.  One man admitted to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, but help thou mine unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24.)

 

This failure to trust the Lord causes us so much unnecessary distress and heartache.  The words of a hymn say: “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!  How I‘ve proved him o’er and o’er.  Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust him more.”  (‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, 687.)  The song says, “I am so glad that I learned to trust Thee.”  The song actually names several factors involved in trusting the Lord fully.

 

How can we learn to trust the Lord more fully?  The need is obvious by the words of Jesus Himself and by our experiences in life.  The benefits to our lives would be noticeable and powerful.  Think about it.  Most people never learn how to trust Him fully.  We know that believers ought to trust the Lord, but how is that done?  How can we all learn to trust Him more fully as we mature in Christ?

 

Little children trust their parents explicitly.  We need to be like little children in that trust and dependence upon God. But there is a problem—as children grow up and learn more about their parents they actually learn to trust them less.  But as we grow up, the more we trust the Lord.

Remember What You Cannot Do and What God Can Do (Matt. 6:24-34.)

(Point: Learn to trust the Lord first for the necessities of life.)

 

The first of Jesus’ statements, “O, ye of little faith,” occurs in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus wants to remove the fears and anxieties that mankind faces in the pressing need to provide food and clothing.  This is a perennial problem for each succeeding generation.  We have a choice—either we will fret and worry till our lives are over, or we will trust the Lord for what we need in life.  Our Father knows what we need; He created us; and He can provide for us, just as He provides for the whole creation.  (Psalm 104.)

 

But how can I learn to trust Him more?  We can learn to trust Him by taking note of what we cannot do and what God can do.  Note how often Jesus referred to this in his sermon. 

 

a)     You cannot serve two masters—God or mammon. (6:24)

b)     You cannot add one cubit to your stature.  (6:27)

c)      You cannot provide more than or better than God can.  Solomon could not.  (6:29)

d)     You cannot remove anxiety or ever fully satisfy the desire for mammon.  But you can serve God and satisfy Him.  Then God will provide for your needs.  (6:31-34.)

 

Matthew 6 is a reminder of what we cannot do for ourselves.  If we seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, then all these physical needs of life will be added to us.  David wrote, “I have been young and now I am old, but I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread.”   (Psalm 37:25.)  Children do not worry about food and clothing; they trust their parents to provide for them. 

 

There are other things more important than food and clothing!  Jesus pointed those out in His sermon.  Your life and body are more important than food and raiment.  (6:25.)  Seeking the Kingdom of God is far more important than fretting over crumbs and cloth!  God will provide.

The Miracles of Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:5-12; 17:17-21; 21:18-22)

(Point: The miracles reveal who Jesus really is—the Son of God.)

 

Matthew 16: The disciples were confused over what Jesus meant when he said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  They thought he was reproving them for not bringing enough food.  The twelve apostles had to learn to trust Jesus more fully.  At first, they really did not know Him very well.  They did not understand his parables or his spiritual language.  Leaven meant the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, not bread.  Secondly, they had forgotten two previous miracles of Jesus when he fed five thousand with five loaves, and four thousand with seven loaves of bread.  These miracles that they had witnessed ought to have helped them to trust him more completely.  His recorded miracles teach all of us who Jesus is, the kind of power that He possesses, and the depth of his compassion.

 

Matthew 17: The apostles could not cast out a demon.  Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief and asked, How long shall I suffer with you?  He added, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to a mountain, Be removed, and it shall remove to yonder place.”  Faith as a grain of mustard seed means the least possible measure, the smallest amount.  The apostles were slow to trust Jesus and understand His mission.

 

Matthew 21:  Jesus cursed the fig tree because it did not bear any fruit.  This fruitless fig tree represented the Jewish nation—a tree with a lot of leaves, but without fruit.  The disciples wanted to know how Jesus caused the tree to die so quickly.  Readers of this text want to know why he cursed it.  The miracle was different from all the others in that it was a miracle of judgment.  The tree began to die instantly instead of taking weeks to wither.  Jesus told the apostles that if they had faith , they could not only do this, but also remove mountains into the sea.

 

We should learn from the Gospels that the miracles of Jesus teach us who He really was.  This should prompt us to trust him completely. 

The Resurrection of Jesus  (Luke 24:25.)

(Point: Learning to trust Jesus spiritually.)

 

“O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?”  (Luke 24:24-25.)

 

Here is another example of the slowness of heart to believe important things about Jesus Christ, his resurrection from the dead.  Jesus had taught them about his death, burial and resurrection from Caesarea Philippi onward.  (Matt. 16:21.)  The Old Testament was filled with references to what would happen to the Messiah.  (Isaiah 52-53.)  Jesus taught these two disciples from Moses onward showing them what their Bible had said about Him.

 

Having before us the whole picture of God’s plan of redemption, from the beginning to the end, we have a more advantageous sight to see more clearly than those who lived around Jesus Christ.  If we do not believe and trust Him, how much more will he say to us, O ye of little of faith.  Why are you so slow to believe all that the Bible says about me?

 

It is a very basic matter to trust the Lord for our physical needs. (Matt. 6.)

The miracles of Jesus reveal His power and demonstrate his faith.  They teach us who the Messiah is.  This knowledge such increase our faith.  (Luke 17:5.)  Having seen his power demonstrated through the miracles and experienced his providence for our daily needs, we should trust him for our redemption through his death, burial and resurrection.  That is the meaning of the cross.

 

It should encourage us that many disciples, including the apostles, wrestled with the development of faith.  We should not be dismayed that this is a growth process with special growing pains all its own.  Each disciple will have his own battle to fight while faith is conceived and seeks to grow to maturity.

 

Conclusions

 

What are factors upon which faith is built?  Many misunderstand faith thinking that it is a “leap in the dark.”  Or it is a subjective thing so that each person simply chooses what he wants to believe; and that there is no way to verify one’s faith.  But faith is an objective reality; that is, it is always built upon evidence.  No one should believe anything without proper evidence.  The Christian faith is built upon the reports of eye and ear witnesses.  It is based upon the life of Jesus Christ.  (Rom. 10:17, John 20:30-31.)

 

Does God exist?  Yes.  How can we know?  By his handiwork around us. (Psalm 19 and Romans 1:20.)  We can know because God came down to earth to reveal Himself to mankind and to save us.

 

Is there evidence that Jesus lived on earth?  Yes, and it is based upon the reports of hundreds of eyewitnesses.  Did he live a pure life without sin?  Yes.  Did Jesus bear our sins to the cross and carry them away?  You bet.  And he was raised by the power of God the third day.  Those who reject it do so in the face of the sincere reports of hundreds of dependable eye-witnesses.  We have no basis upon which we can dismiss their testimony.

 

The disciples in the first century and the centuries afterwards struggled to increase their faith and trust the Lord fully.  Now, it is our turn.  It is a personal matter in that we are now in their place.  Doesn’t Jesus say to us, O ye of little faith? Why are you so slow to believe all that the prophets wrote concerning me?

 

Faith is built upon knowledge of the Gospel.  It is build upon the sincere reports of eyewitnesses who saw and heard.  It is built upon our own need for God to care for us.  It is built upon our special need of redemption. 

 

“Lord, to whom shall we go?  Thou hast the words of eternal life.”  (John 6:68.)