Trust Me

Jn 14:5-13

We are a world of skeptics. We’ve heard so many scams that people have to really jump through hoops to gain enough of our trust to hear anything besides their opening line.

That skepticism starts at a young age. Several years ago, we were on a family vacation and had bought life jackets for the girls to wear in the pool so they could swim around a little. Well, Rhyann was fine in the pool with the life jacket on as long as she could touch the bottom, but I wanted to show her that it would help her float even when she wasn’t touching the bottom. I proceeded to walk her into deeper water thinking that she would trust her father implicitly and do exactly what I told her. Well, being her father wasn’t enough. As soon as her feet left the ground, she grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go for anything. I kept telling her to trust me, but at that point, there was no trust, only doubt and fear.

Doesn’t that sound like our spiritual lives? As long as we are in control and have our feet on the ground, we’re okay, but when thing get over our head and we need to trust God more than ever, doubt and fear start playing into our lives big time.

Today we are going to look at what we can learn from Jesus as he talks to his disciples about trusting him and in him until he returns.

PRAYER

I. Trust in Me

A. Jesus urges them to trust him

1. going back to verse one of our text, Jesus says, “Trust in God, trust also in me.”

2. They were willing and able to trust in him while he was in their presence, but what about when he was gone?

B. That’s what I wonder too

1. I believe in God and trust in him with all my heart… most of the time.

2. But there are times of nagging doubts. There are times when it doesn’t seem as if Jesus hears me or even knows I exist.

3. As we had studied on Sunday evenings recently, we experience doubts, and it’s okay to doubt.

4. We need to find the answers and understand we don’t have to give up our brains to have faith in Christ.

5. It’s been good to know we can see God’s will rationally as well as believing in faith.

II. Is Jesus Trustworthy?

A. Some questions already answered

1. We spent a couple of Sunday evenings looking at Jesus and his resurrection and seeing that we can intellectually believe in him and his resurrection.

2. Today, we are going to look at something a little deeper and maybe the heart of our occasional struggles.

3. Is Jesus trustworthy?

B. When has Jesus let us down?

1. One of the things I find myself often doing when someone I don’t know comes and asks for help is looking at the person and deciding if they are telling me the truth.

2. They can make their case very persuasively, but can I trust them?

3. I think we need to do the same thing with Christ.

a) Looking at what he has told us, can we trust him?

b) Has he let us down or ever lied to us?

4. How do you decide if a person is trustworthy?

a) Usually you start with a track record.

b) Over the time you have known them, do they consistently show trustworthiness?

c) One of my favorite shows is the program “Alias”. This season they introduced Sidney’s long lost mother into the show. She had in reality been an agent for the Russians and then her own boss after that. She left her husband and small child when she was done using them. Now is back and trying to get them to believe she is a changed woman. At first they don’t trust her, but slowly she has gotten them to trust her. Last week however, she again betrayed them and went over to the bad guys.

d) They should have considered her track record a lot more than they did. She had made a whole life out of lying.

e) As you get to know someone they develop a track record of trustworthiness or lack thereof.

5. Jesus’ track record

a) All you have to do is look at what people have said about Christ over the last 2000 years and you realize he has a track record of trustworthiness.

b) So many men and women have testified to his caring for mankind just has he said he did.

c) So many men and women have testified to how he has changed their lives just as he said he would.

d) He has a great track record.

6. How about you?

a) Has his word ever steered you wrong?

b) Has he ever been wrong?

c) Has he ever abandoned you?

C. Where else could we turn?

1. When I have struggled with doubt, I usually ask myself a question that puts things into perspective.

a) Do I believe in Christ or not?

b) Jeff Walling gave me a better question to ask myself.

c) Who or what else can I believe in that is better?

d) Jn 6 shows why Jeff’s question is better than mine.

(1) Jesus had given some very tough teachings in his lesson.

(2) Many of the people who heard that lesson decided not to believe in Jesus.

(3) That struggle must have been played out in the faces of disciples as he asked them if they too wanted to leave him.

(4) Peter for once got it right. “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy one of God.”

(5) What better alternative is there?

(6) He understood there was no better alternative than Christ.

2. It’s not just about believing or not, but about the alternatives.

a) Is Buddha better?

b) Is the Dalai Lama the real savior?

c) Is money the better God?

d) Is looking in the mirror and putting our trust in ourselves any better?

e) I think not

D. Why not trust Jesus

1. Ultimately we come to the question “why not trust Jesus?”

2. God allows us free choice. He let’s us choose to trust him when the water is over our head or splash back in fear to the shallow end.

3. Maybe Rhyann had the right idea after all. In her fear and doubt she clung to me as if her whole life depended on it. What she was saying in that action was that she trusted ME to be her savior. She pinned all her hope on me.

4. Later that day with her hope pinned on me, I was able to again lead her into the water and this time, she trusted in the life jacket to hold her up. When it did, it opened a whole new freedom to her. She could go in the deep end as well as the shallow end. She could enjoy the whole pool just as I said she could.

5. When we finally ask the question why not trust Jesus, the answer brings us a freedom we never knew about.

6. We don’t have to fear any more, but Jesus is there to hold us up.

7. We don’t have to doubt any more because Jesus really is the answer we are looking for.

8. He knew what he was talking about when he said “trust me.”

9. Believe in him, he’s proven trustworthy.