G.R.O.W.T.H.-Trusting

Intro:

Hebrews 4:14–16 NKJV

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Today, I want to continue the series entitled, [G.R.O.W.T.H]. Each week we will look at an aspect of our growth in God. The subject of today’s message is, [Trusting].

Trust is defined, firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

As I think of trust, I am reminded of relationships.

Some of the first people to trust us are our parents. In my teenage years, my parents grew to trust me. They didn’t declare full faith in confidence in everything I said or did. Instead, I gained their trust a little at a time.

Trust is also important in friendships. My best friend and I can trust each other, because we’ve been friends for nearly twenty years.

If he says, I have to tell you something, but you can’t tell a soul, he knows I won’t because I have gained his trust. How did I gain his trust?

There have been times I have shut down conversations with people who tried to gossip about him or his family. I have defended him and helped him with sensitive matters.

Marriage is another area where trust is vital. I know of no one who met someone and got married the next day. Instead, men and women should take time to see if they can trust the other person with their love, their life, and their future.

Gaining trust takes a while. But losing someone’s trust can happen instantly.

Had I drove 90 miles an hour, to the nearest high school party to get involved with alcohol and substances, I would have lost my parents trust.

Had I consistently gossiped about my best friend, sharing every confidential matter he shared, I would have lost his trust.

Had I made it a point to disrespect my wife, taking advantage of her good nature, I would loser her trust.

Likewise, in our relationship with God, trust takes time to build. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are saying, God I trust you to forgive my sins.

However, it is ludicrous to saw we all FULLY trust God the moment we are saved. If that were the case, we would never doubt, we would never question, we would never make mistakes, and we would never fall in our commitment to Him.

Likewise, we cannot say that God fully trusts us upon repenting of our sins. If that were the case, God would impart to us FULL revelation, wisdom, insight, and power.

Instead, there are moments in life, points of pain, that help us grow in our trust in God and God grows in His trust in us!

We are studying GROWTH. During this season of life, God wants us to GROW in Him. We have everything we need at our disposal to grow in God.

We must remember, there is no reference to someone in scripture who opted out of Spiritual Growth and remained faithful to the Lord.

Growing in God include:

Reaching out to Him when we feel like we are shrinking

Obeying Him when it would be easier to do it our own way and pretend it is a sacrifice

Wineskins, asking God to do a new thing in us!

And now we look at trusting. Who then is the best example of trusting God?

Jesus!

Some may think, well that is a good answer, but how can I look at the life of Christ and ever try to emulate His level of trust in the Father?

Our text lays out how. If you have a highlighter, red pencil, or pen, these two verses would be great to underline!

Jesus is our High Priest. He stands before God on our behalf. However, He is a High Priest who understands our weaknesses. What does that mean?

Jesus understands all about us because we faced exactly what we faced while He walked this earth.

He was tempted

He grew tired

He had fun

He moments of sorrow

He wept

He laughed

He took naps

He ate food

The difference between us and Jesus is HE WAS WITHOUT SIN.

We call this the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was on earth, He was 100% God and 100% Man. He was not part God and part Man.

The difference between Jesus and those around Him was one thing, His lack of sin. Jesus was perfect. He never did wrong. God could trust Him to fulfill the plan He had for Him.

However, that does not mean the enemy did not attempt to get Jesus to break God’s trust. Satan did all he could to thwart the plan of God by causing the Son of God to stumble.

What does that mean for us?

As we endeavor to grow in God, Satan will do ALL he can to cause us to stumble. He does not want us to trust God and he does not want God to trust us.

Therefore, he will use certain difficulties to stall us. But I want to declare to everyone, WE CAN TRUST GOD. Let’s look at the life of Christ and see how we can, [Trust God in Temptations], [Trust God in Testings], and [Trust God in Trials].

Let’s begin

1. Trust God in Temptations

Mark 1:11–13 NKJV

11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

The timing of Jesus’s first temptation by Satan is interesting. It occured after a supernatural encounter with the Father. At His baptism, God the Father spoke and those around heard His word.

He declared, THIS IS MY SON, I am pleased in Him. Then the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. What an amazing day.

I have never been to a baptismal service like that. Normally after our baptismal services, we roast hot dogs and eat by the creek.

Jesus did not have time for this, for we read, IMMEDIATELY Jesus was drove into the wilderness. Who sent Jesus into the wilderness? The Holy Spirit.

Think about this. Why would the Holy Spirit force the Son of God into the wilderness to be tempted? Remember, He was fully God, but also fully Man.

Therefore, to understand what we face and to help us overcome, He too faced temptation.

Mark does not expound on how Satan tempted him, he mostly wants us to realize Jesus overcame the enemy’s temptation. We won’t read it, but Matthew 4 and Luke 4 tell the story of Jesus’s temptation.

While in the wilderness, He fasted for forty days. Facing intense hunger and weakness, Satan tempted Jesus with food, worship, and power.

To get Jesus to give into temptation, Satan lied. However, there is something unique about Satan’s lies.

He never flat out tells a lie. Satan did not directly say, “Jesus, I want to cause you to fall so I can steal earthly and heavenly worship from you. In doing so, I will derail the Father’s plans for I want to defeat you forever.”

That is too obvious. Instead of outright lying, Satan will distort the truth. He takes a little bit of truth and places it in front of a really BIG lie.

Jesus was smarter. When Satan distorted scripture, Jesus would answer, depending on the Word of God. After three tries, Jesus overcame the temptation.

How?

God sent supernatural reinforcement through angels, who are ministering spirits sent on assignment to help us.

We trust God in temptation because Jesus was tempted as we are, yet He did not sin. As we grow in God, Satan will tempt us, but we can trust God.

2. Trust God in Testings

Mark 6:1–2 NKJV

1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!

After Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations, he used people around Jesus to test him.

Who has heard the phrase, “you’re testing my patience.” I read one author who explained, “If someone tests your patience, they annoy you so much that it is very difficult for you to stay calm.”

There we many people who tested Jesus, for instance, His family and hometown friends. Since He had left home, His influence grew. His popularity grew. His followers grew.

But the Satanic attacks also grew. They could not believe the wisdom Jesus had, the knowledge of scripture, and the power they felt in His word.

Then they tested Him.

Mark 6:3 NKJV

3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.

They were offended. They wondered, how could Jesus think He could come in here and tell us what we need to do? I know Him, He is the carpenter’s son. We know His family. Who does He think He is to talk to us?

This would have tested many people’s faith. But Jesus trusted in God and explained, I knew I would not have honor in my home town.

To add insult to injury, John 7:5, tells us even His brothers refused to believe in Him. TRUST ME, there are times family will test us, but we trust God.

The religious leaders also tested Jesus.

Mark 8:11–12 NKJV

11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

This was not he first time the Pharisees attempted to set a trap for Jesus. They constantly questioned and tested Him.

They tested His understanding of scripture

They tested His loyalty to the Jewish Law

They tested His commitment to follow Roman Law

Now, once again, they tested Him, wanting to see a miracle. They didn’t really care about the miraculous, it was all a trap to stop Christ.

Notice verse twelve, Jesus sighed deeply. I can hear it in my head, SIGH, once more they are testing me. But Jesus did not let their testing get the better of Him, for He trusted God.

He knew the Father had a plan for His life, so He would stay the course and do what God called Him to do.

It was not surprise that some family member and religious people tested Jesus, but His disciples also tested Him.

They constantly misunderstood His parables. They bartered for special favors, fighting over who was closest to Him. Even when He gave them specific instructions and delegated supernatural power to Him, they still never quite seemed to get it right.

One story in particular in Mark 9 after Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, they heard a multitude of people surrounding the remaining disciples at the bottom of the mountain.

The disciples and the religious leaders were in an argument. Imagine testing Jesus’s patience. He wanted to know why they argued and one man explained, my son is demon possessed. He foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, writhing on the floor.

I brought him to your disciples and they couldn’t do anything for him. Jesus answered His disciples:

Mark 9:19 NKJV

19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”

By this point, He had led the disciples for over two years. They were trying His patience. The enemy wanted to use Jesus’s family and friends, the religious leaders, and even His disciples to stop Him.

But Jesus overcame temptations and now testings, because He trusted God!

3. Trust God in Trials

Mark 14:34–36 NKJV

34 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” 35 He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

I would say one of the most difficult moments in the life of Christ took place on the Thursday before His crucifixion. He knew what would happen the next day. He had his disciples with him. He needed their prayers and encouraged them to pray.

In deep distress and sorrow, He prayed to the Father. Luke tells us He began to sweat drops of blood. Jesus knew the significance. It was in the Garden of Eden thousands of years before that Satan tempted and tested Adam and Eve and the failed.

Now Jesus knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane. Where humanity lost to the enemy, Jesus came in the flesh, fully human to restore what Satan tried to ruin.

His divinity knew the importance of His death. But His humanity knew the pain of death.

As Pastor Tucker once told me, “I don’t mind dying if it wasn’t for the dying part.”

Therefore, He asked the Father, if it is at all possible, let the cup pass away from me. What was the cup?

The cup of God’s wrath that was about to be poured out on His life. He knew He was about the endure the wages of sin, death on the cross.

This is the only instance in scripture were the Son’s will struggled with the Father’s will. Even though Jesus knew the pain He was about to endure.

Even though He did not have to die, for people did sin and they deserved death. He trusted God’s will. He submitted to the plan of God, knowing His ways are perfect.

He trusted the Father knew what He was doing. Even though He would endure a gruesome death in the place of people who deserved death.

Jesus trusted God in the face of the worst trial anyone has EVER faced!

Therefore, we can TRUST God when we face trials. Why? Because the Father’s will is perfect. Jesus submitted to the will of the Father because He trusted Him.

We can submit to the Father’s will, even when we face trials, because God is trustworthy.

Close:

Trust sounds great. We want to trust our friends and family. We want our friends and family to trust. We want to trust God and we want God to trust us.

The concept of trust is simply. The reality of trust is not. Trusting God is costly. Why? Because the moment we determine to trust God, the enemy will do EVERYTHING He can to stop us.

He will tempt us, test us, and try us. But thank God we can TRUST in the Lord with ALL our hearts.

Why?

Because we have a High Priest who sympathizes in our weakness. That does not mean that God feels sorry for us in our weakness. Friends and family can feel bad for us.

But remember, “Jesus knows all about our struggles, He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, no not one, no not one!”

Jesus’s sympathy turned into action when He died on the cross. And on that Resurrection morning the angels declared:

Mark 16:6–7 NKJV

6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

He already declared He would rise from the dead. Now the angels herald this message, YOU CAN TRUST HIM for HE STOOD BY HIS WORD AND NOW HE IS ALIVE and VICTORIOUS OVER DEATH!

Because Jesus overcame temptations, testings, and trials, we have a means whereby we can TRUST God.

We have the blood of Jesus

We have the power of the Holy Spirit

We have the name that is above every name

We have delegated authority

We have ACCESS to the Father, through the Son

Therefore, when we determine, God I want to GROW in you, trust me, Satan will bring temptation.

Then we remember Jesus understands and we go to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace.

How do we go to the throne of grace?

Do we timidly go before God? Do we sheepishly look down to the ground and act like God does not have time for us?

No we come BOLDLY! Not because of us, but because of what Jesus did.

Therefore, when the enemy tempts us, and he WILL. We go to the throne of Grace, declare the name of Jesus, and trust He will give us a way to FLEE temptation.

When the enemy uses people to test us, and He will. When family tests our patience, trying to get us to show out, especially after we’ve made a decision to grow in God.

When people push our buttons to get a rise out of us, so they can say, and see, you call yourself a Christian, we GO TO THE THRONE of GRACE.

When we face trials that seem impossible. When God’s plan’s do not make sense. When life seems to crumble around us. We submit to God’s will and we GO TO THE THRONE OF GRACE.

Trusting in God means we do not walk through this life alone. It means we serve the ONLY GOD who can truly sympathize with us, for He knows exactly how we feel.

And we have a friend in heaven, one who sticks closer than a brother, the only one who reunited us with the Father.

So hear me this morning, NO MATTER WHAT WE FACE, we can TRUST GOD!

And the more I trust God, the more I grow in Him.