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Trust
The Ladies Home Journal
asked
"In whom do you trust?" Responses were:
Walter Cronkite 40% of the
vote
Pope John Paul 26%
Billy Graham 6%
God 3%
── Ladies Home Journal (Sept
1981).
※ When God puts a period
do not change it to a question
mark. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
One day
while my son Zac
and I were out in the country
climbing around in some cliffs
I heard a voice
from above me yell
"Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac
joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled
"Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act
catching him. We both fell
to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.
When I found my voice
again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why
you did that???"
He responded with
remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you're my Dad." His whole
assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live
life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn't this even more true for a
Christian?
Tim Hansel
Holy Sweat
1987
Word Books Publisher
pp. 46-47.
"Duties are ours
events are God's; When our faith goes to meddle with events
and to hold
account upon God's Providence
and beginneth to say
'How wilt Thou do this or
that?' we lose ground; we have nothing to do there; it is our part to let the
Almighty exercise His own office
and steer His own helm; there is nothing left
for us
but to see how we may be approved of Him
and how we roll the weight of
our weak souls upon Him who is God omnipotent
and when we thus essay
miscarrieth
it shall be neither our sin nor our cross."
Samuel Rutherford
quoted
in Prodigals and Those Who Love Them
Ruth Bell Graham
1991
Focus on
the Family Publishing
p. 106.
There is no situation I
can get into that God cannot get me out. Some years ago when I was learning to
fly
my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I
was totally unprepared for what was about to happen. After a brief time the
engine stalled
and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became
evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few
seconds
which seemed like eternity
my mind began to function again. I quickly
corrected the situation.
Immediately I turned to
the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly
said to me
"There is no position you can get this airplane into that I
cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly
go up there and do it
again." At that moment God seemed to be saying to me
"Remember this.
As you serve Me
there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot
get you out of. If you trust me
you will be all right." That lesson
has been proven true in my ministry many times over the years.
James Brown
Evangeline
Baptist Church
Wildsville
LA
in Discoveries
Fall
1991
Vol. 2
No.
4.
Trust Him when dark doubts
assail thee
Trust Him when thy
strength is small
Trust Him when to simply trust
Him
Seems the hardest thing of
all.
Trust Him
He is ever
faithful
Trust Him
for his will is
best
Trust Him
for the heart
of Jesus
Is the only place of rest.
Source Unknown.
David
a 2-year old with
leukemia
was taken by him mother
Deborah
to Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston
to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with
cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman's prognosis was devastating:
"He has a 50-50 chance." The countless clinic visits
the blood tests
the intravenous drugs
the fear and pain--the mother's ordeal can be almost as
bad as the child's because she must stand by
unable to bear the pain
herself. David never cried in the waiting room
and although his friends
in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him
he hustled in ahead of
him mother with a smile
sure of the welcome he always got.
When he was three
David
had to have a spinal tap--a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to
him that
because he was sick
Dr. Truman had to do something to make him
better. "If it hurts
remember it's because he loves you
" Deborah
said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still
while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over
the tiny boy
soaked in sweat and tears
looked up at the doctor and gasped
"Thank you
Dr. Tooman
for my hurting."
Monica Dickens
Miracles
of Courage
1985.
A television program
preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured blind skiers being trained for
slalom skiing
impossible as that sounds. Paired with sighted skiers
the blind
skiers were taught on the flats how to make right and left turns. When that was
mastered
they were taken to the slalom slope
where their sighted partners
skied beside them shouting
"Left!" and "Right!" As they
obeyed the commands
they were able to negotiate the course and cross the
finish line
depending solely on the sighted skiers' word. It was either
complete trust or catastrophe.
What a vivid picture of
the Christian life! In this world
we are in reality blind about what course to
take. We must rely solely on the Word of the only One who is truly sighted--God
Himself. His Word gives us the direction we need to finish the course.
Robert W. Sutton.
Years ago
Monroe Parker
was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot
sultry Alabama days.
He stopped at a watermelon stand
picked out a watermelon
and asked the
proprietor how much it cost. "It's $1.10
" he replied. Parker dug
into his pocket
found only a bill and said
"All I have is a
dollar."
"That's ok
" the
proprietor said
"I'll trust you for it."
"Well
that's mighty
nice of you
" Parker responded
and picking up the watermelon
started to
leave.
"Hey
where are you
going?" the man behind the counter demanded.
"I'm going outside to
eat my watermelon." "But you forgot to give me the dollar!"
"You said you would
trust me for it
" Parker called back.
"Yeah
but I meant I
would trust you for the dime!"
"Mack
"
Parker replied
"You were't going to trust me at all. You were just going
to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!"
Haddon Robinson.
Uncle Oscar was
apprehensive about his first airplane ride. His friends
eager to hear how it
went
asked if he enjoyed the flight. "Well
" commented Uncle Oscar
"it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be
but I'll tell you this. I
never did put all my weight down!"
Source Unknown.
A man who lived on Long
Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for
himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home
he was
extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck
pointing to the sector marked "HURRICANE." After shaking the
barometer very vigorously several times
its new owner sat down and wrote a
scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The
following morning on the way to his office in New York
he mailed the
letter.
That evening he returned
to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing
but his house also. The
barometer's needle had been right--there was a hurricane!
E. Schuyler English.
One problem I remember was
a time when our son Bob broke our trust and lied to his mother and me. He was
still young
dating Linda
his wife-to-be
and was only allowed to see her on
certain nights. Well
one night he wanted to see her without permission and
told us he was at his friend's house. When we found out the truth
there was a
real scene between us. He had violated our trust; it was like a crack in a fine
cup that marred its appearance.
In the confrontation
I
smashed a fine English tea cup on the floor and told Bob that to restore our
trust would be like gluing that cup back together again. He said
"I don't
know if I can do that." And I said
"Well
that's how hard it is to
build confidence and trust again." The outcome was that Bob spent
literally weeks carefully gluing the pieces together until he finished. He
learned a very important lesson.
Dr. Rovert H. Schuller
Homemade
Jan 1985.
There is an old story of a
father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back
porch. He then went down
stood on the lawn
and encouraged the little fellow
to jump into his arms. "I'll catch you
" the father said confidently.
After a lot of coaxing
the little boy finally made the leap. When he did
the
father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his
son up
dusted him off
and dried his tears.
"Let that be a
lesson
" he said sternly. "Don't ever trust anyone."
Bernie May
Learning to
Trust
Multnomah Press
1985
p. 4.
EVERY
“THOUGH” HAS ITS “ YET.”
Ⅰ.
Confidence in God. “ Though He slay
me
yet will I trust in Him” (Job.13:15).
Ⅱ.
Confidence in His power. “ Though
after my skin worms destroy this body
yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job
19:26).
Ⅲ.
Confidence in His care. “ Although
the fig tree shall not blossom……yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (Hab.3:17
18).
Ⅳ.
Confidence in His Word. “ Although
my house be not so with God
yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant”
(11. Sam. 23:5).
Ⅴ.
Confidence in His purpose. “
Although I have scattered them among the countries
yet will I be to them as a
little sanctuary” ( Ezekiel 11:16).
Ⅵ.
Confidence in service. “ Though ye
have ten thousand instructors in Christ
yet have ye not many fathers”
(1.Cor.4:15).
Ⅶ.
Confidence in His renewing. “ Though
our outward man perish
yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (11.Cov4:16).
Ⅷ. Confidence in the Lord. Though we have
known Christ after the flesh
yet now henceforth know we Him no more” (11.
Cor.5:16).
Ⅸ.
Confidence in ministry. “ Though I
be rude in speech
yet not in knowledge” (11. Cor.11:6).
Ⅹ.
Confidence in His Resurrection. “
Though He was crucified through weakness
yet He liveth by the power of God”
(11. Cor.13:4).
Ⅺ. Confidence in
His example. Though He were the Son
yet learned He obedience”
(Heb.5:8
M.).
Ⅻ. Confidence in
self. “ Though I should die with Thee
yet will I not deny Thee”
(Matt.26:35).
── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》
Living By Faith
INTRODUCTION
1. An important aspect of being a Christian involves the element of "faith"... a. The gospel to which a person responds in becoming a Christian is called "the faith" - Ju 3 b. Those who obeyed the gospel have been "faithful to the Lord" - Ac 16:15; Co 1:2 c. Christians are called referred to as "the household of faith" - Ga 6:10 2. Indeed
"faith" is the underlying principle of all the Christian's conduct... a. It is fundamental to our salvation in Christ - Ro 1:16-17 b. It is central to the life we now live in Christ - Ga 2:20; 2 Co 5:7
3. Yet the nature of faith and its importance in the life of Christian... a. Are often misunderstood b. Are often neglected [As we continue to examine "The Significance Of Being A Christian"
wetherefore wish to emphasize that it means "Living By Faith"! What thatentails may be clearer as we first define...] I. THE MEANING OF FAITH
A. INVOLVES THE IDEA OF BELIEF... 1. The certainty or conviction that one has in some truth or proposition 2. E.g.
believing in things concerning Jesus and His kingdom - Ac 8:12 3. Such faith
or conviction
comes from the Word of God - Ro 10:17; cf. Jn 20:30-31
B. INVOLVES THE IDEA OF CONFIDENCE... 1. The willingness to place one's trust and reliance on someone else 2. E.g.
placing our trust in God
that He is reliable - Ro 4:3
20-22
3. We are to have similar trust in God - 1 Pe 4:19 C. INVOLVES THE IDEA OF FIDELITY... 1. That one is loyal
committed
and can be trusted 2. E.g.
a faithful steward is one who is reliable - 1 Co 4:2 3. Our faithfulness (commitment
trustworthiness) is to last even to the point of death - Re 2:10
13 [A faithful Christian
then
is one who believes in the Word of God
hehas confidence in the Person of God
and is himself loyal and trustworthy in the service of God. Now let's take a look at what canbe said about...] II. THE LIFE OF FAITH
A. INVOLVES CONFESSING OUR FAITH... 1. I.e.
acknowledging our belief in Jesus Christ before others 2. Something we must do as a condition of salvation - Ro 10:9
10 3. Something we do throughout our lives - Mt 10:32
33; 1 Jn 4:15 -- The life of faith is never ashamed to admit that one believes in Jesus Christ B. INVOLVES LIVING BY FAITH... 1. I.e.
conducting one's life with trust in Jesus Christ - Ga 2:20
2. Trusting in the works of Jesus
not our own; that His death was truly for our sins - 1 Co 15:1-3; Ti 3:5-7 3. Trusting in the words of Jesus
and living accordingly - e.g.
Mt 6:33
34; Lk 6:46-48 -- The life of faith is one that seeks to live in harmony with the teaching of Jesus C. INVOLVES BENEFITING BY FAITH... 1. I.e.
enjoying the blessings that come from a life of faith 2. Such as joy and peace
hope and power - Ro 15:13 3. Through our faith in Jesus Christ
we can receive such blessings - Ep 3:12; Ph 4:6-7
13 -- The life of faith does not go unrewarded in this life
even though its primary concern is the life to come D. INVOLVES MAINTAINING OUR FAITH... 1. I.e.
remaining steadfast in the faith we have in Christ 2. There is a need to stand fast
for faith can turn into unbelief - 1 Co 15:1-2; He 3:12-19; 4:1-2
11 3. To maintain faith
we must add to it other things such as virtue
knowledge
self-control
etc. - 2 Pe 1:5-11; 3:17-18 CONCLUSION
1. A Christian is one who should take his faith very seriously... a. It is essential to salvation (both being saved and remaining saved) b. It is essential to life (to receive blessings now
and in the life to come) 2. Are you "Living By Faith"? a. Do you believe what has been revealed about Jesus Christ? b. Do you have confidence in Him
that He can deliver on what He promises? c. Are you a trustworthy disciple of Jesus
someone He can count on to be faithful? Unless we can answer in the affirmative to such questions
we have yetto appreciate that "The Significance Of Being A Christian" includes"Living By Faith"!
－－《Executable
Outlines》