Viola Solid Rock Assembly
Complete Trust
We've been focusing on hearing from God and not only hearing from Him, but acting on what He's speaking to us. And one key component to this is trusting Him. We have to trust that He will and He can do whatever it is that He's saying or whatever He's speaking to us. We have to believe that He can and will do it. We have to believe that He'll go before us, right? When the math isn't math, then we have to trust Him. When voices of dissension are murmuring, we still have to trust Him. We don't like the outcome or when we have a bad report. We still have to trust Him. We have to believe that He's still going to do what He said He would do, right? Trusting Him is huge; when He's speaking to us, we have to trust that what He's speaking to us is what that He will take care of it if we do it, right? Romans 15-13 says, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will feel you completely with joy and peace because of why, because you trust in Him, and then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." Confident hope from the Holy Spirit only comes after we put our trust in Him. It doesn't say that He says that He is the God of the source of hope, but when does that hope come when we put our trust in Him? We have to trust Him. We have to have faith and faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. That's what faith is. And so in order to have faith in God, we have to put our complete trust in Him, right? Right? Anyone agree? Okay. Faith is the ultimate trust test. It's trusting when it's hard. It's trusting when it doesn't make sense. There are many times that God speaks to me about doing something, and when He's speaking to me, James, I'm saying, that doesn't make sense. And that doesn't add up, and I don't know how that's going to work. But if He's speaking it, He has the plan. I don't have to know the plan. I just have to be obedient. Luke chapter 7, verse 1 says, "When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, He returned to Capernaum. At that time, the highly valued slave of a Roman's officer was sick and near death. And when the officer heard about Jesus, He sent some respected Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal His slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man, "If anyone deserves your help, He does," they said, "for He loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us." So Jesus went with them, but just before they arrived at the house, the officers sent some friends to say, "Lord, don't trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor." Verse 7 says, "I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed." I know this because I'm under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say go, and they go, or come, and they come. And if I say to my slave, do this, they do it. When Jesus heard this, He was amazed, and turning to the crowd that was following Him. He said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel." And when the officer's friends returned to the house, they found the slave completely healed. This Roman officer hears about Jesus. He hears about the miracles that He's performing. He hears about the things that He's done, and His slave is sick, and He says, "Go and get this man, because I believe that He can heal him." He's been healed in other people, surely He can heal this guy. He's been healed in people all over the region. So Jesus is almost there, and He sends someone ahead of them and says, "Hold on." Verse 7, He said, "I'm not even worthy for you to come to meet me. Don't come. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed." I don't have to, you don't have to come to my presence for me to know that you're able to speak something into existence. That's a complete trust. That's complete faith. That's saying, "I've put all that I have in you, and I know that you can and will do, and all you have to do is speak it, and it'll be done." That's it. That's all you have to do. There's no secret formula. You're speaking, it'll be done. What an incredible amount of trust, an incredible amount of faith. He's saying, "I know you can just speak it, and it'll be done, and I trust in that. I trust in you." Jeremiah 17-7 says, "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord, and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by the long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." He has placed his hope and confidence in the fact that Jesus could do something. He's saying, "I trust you." It's hard. It's difficult right now. I know that he's near death, but I know that you're able to do something. Do we have that kind of faith? Do we have that kind of trust that we could trust Jesus to do it, even when it doesn't seem like it will happen, even when it looks hopeless? Do we still have that trust to say, "I know that you're able?" I know that you're able to do something. It doesn't make sense. I don't know how it would work, but I trust you. Verse 9 says, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel." I was thinking about this scripture and him saying that, that he's not seen faith like this in all of Israel. And I think about the fact that he was going to pray with this Roman soldier's slave, this Roman officer's slave, he's going to pray with him. But earlier in the scripture, if you read, he talks to a lady who's asking him to cast a demon out of her daughter, and he looked at her and said, "I didn't come for you. I came for my children, for the children of Israel." So he says, and she says, "Even the dog's under the table get the scraps, and his daughter is healed, delivered." But I think about him saying that to her, to then that he's going to this Roman officer's house, to then say, "I've not seen faith like this in all of Israel." And I feel like he said the same thing, and the reason that that woman, the older, was delivered was because she said, "Yeah, but…" Jesus came to guide the lost sheep of Israel. He came to guide them back to God, yet their faith and their trust was lacking. And here's a guy who has no real reason to trust or have faith, is saying, "I know you can." Jesus was essentially saying, "There should have been faith in Israel like this, but instead we're finding this incredible faith in a Gentile, Roman leader, Roman officer." Where's the faith of the people of God? Where's the faith of the people of God? Jesus is saying, "Nowhere else have I seen faith like this?" And I find it in this man. The people who should have had faith, who should have trusted him, didn't. They had no faith in him. In fact, they were full of unbelief, is what the Scripture says in Mark chapter 6. Verse 4, "Jesus told him a prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown. He's in Nazareth, and they're not believing. And among his relatives and his own family, and because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. These are, these people in Nazareth are Israelites. These people have seen the things. They've seen people healed. They had a front row seat, yet they were full of unbelief. They'd seen God move, they'd seen God change things. They didn't believe. They had heard the same thing that the Roman officer had heard. They had experienced some of the things that he had only heard the stories about, yet they were full of unbelief. And this guy is saying, "You don't even have to come lay hands on him. I believe that if you just pray, if you just speak the words into existence, it'll be done." These guys in Nazareth have been part of the stories. They had heard the stories of their past, and they had heard about the stories of God parting the Red Sea and them walking over, escaping Egypt. They've heard about imparting the Jordan River and the conquering of the Promised Land. They've heard about the walls of Jericho falling. They've heard all the stories that they've grown up hearing about God stepping in and showing up and performing miracle after miracle after miracle. But they were full of unbelief. They've experienced it. Just down the road, they were at front row seat, Matthew, front row seat to seeing people healed and delivered and changed. But they're full of unbelief. I have to imagine that some of them Gail had even experienced a touch themselves. Yet somewhere along the line, unbelief crept in. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the difference between unbelief and doubt. God can work without. He can't work with unbelief. There's a difference. There's a difference. They just didn't believe. But how often do we find ourselves in the same place lacking trust? Lacking trust. They'll do what He said He would do. Are we a church full of unbelief? Are you sitting there full of unbelief? There are things that are happening and things that are going on and miracles are taking place and prayers are being answered. But are you sitting back going, "Well, it's not happened for me?" And when I get up here and I tell you about God promising something and God speaking something and are you sitting there going, "Yeah, I don't know if I believe that." Sometimes we can get so hard in our walk with God that we miss out on God moving in our lives because we are full of unbelief and don't even realize it. We don't trust Him anymore. We don't look forward to anything anymore. We don't look at a situation and have hope for it any longer and we're full of unbelief and don't even realize it. One of the things that I found is sometimes when God speaks it's not comfortable. And sometimes the knee-jerk reaction is, "This won't work." And the knee-jerk reaction to God speaking and us saying, "This won't work," is doubt. But we can't allow our doubt to become unbelief. But too many times that's exactly what we do. Caleb as God speaks and we say it won't work and instead of saying yes and moving forward, we say it won't work and I'm not doing it. How often do we find ourselves in those situations? Proverbs 3.5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will show you with which path to take. Trust the Lord with all your heart." Complete and total trust. Do we trust Him? Do we trust Him? I don't want to get to a point in my life where I'm full of unbelief and I'm missing the miracles and I'm missing the things happening because my doubt instead of saying yes and doubting and seeing God work and not doubting any longer. I don't want to get to a point Matthew where my doubt then turns into a no and unbelief. I want to believe that it will do what he said he would do. I want to believe that when he promises something that I'm going to see it happen even if I know that it's a promise not for me but for my kids. Are we going to trust Him? Are we going to trust Him? That's really the question are we going to trust Him or are we going to allow unbelief to get in the way? For the fast several weeks I've been telling you that we are going to receive an offering for the building and this is a trust thing. This is a trust thing. I'm believing that God is going to pay that building off. I'm believing that it's going to happen. I've been telling you and I've been asking you to ask God what he would have you to do. And I know many of you have been paying towards the debt of the building and I thank you for that and it's working we're getting there. But I wanted you to pray and ask God to speak to you and I believe that if you were listening he did speak and I will I tell you this and I mean it I'll never ask you to give an offering that I'm not willing to give it I'm giving in today. And I told you the last time that we took up an offering for the building back in April that last year in October that God began to deal with me about our salary and giving it up in December he made it pretty clear that that's what I was supposed to do and and we shared that with the board and then so since since the beginning of the year we've we've I've foregone gone my salary and it's been going towards the debt and so this whole year we've been making double payments every month towards this building. During this time Chelsea has still been receiving a salary but June 16th on Father's Day morning during worship I was standing worshiping and God began to speak to me pretty clearly. He spoke to me pretty plain about giving up her salary and I argued and I made this statement to him that we could not do that because it wouldn't work the math isn't math. And he spoke as plain as I've ever heard him spoke to me and he said do you not trust me? So I told him it's not me you have to worry about it's her so you talk to her and during camp that week because we left that next day to go to camp he did. So from this point forward the rest of the year she will not be receiving a salary either and I don't tell you these things to puff out our chest or to make you feel sorry for us. I tell you this because I want you to know that I'm practicing what I'm preaching. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that I will obey the voice of the God when it doesn't make sense, when it goes against logic, when the math isn't math. I'm telling you this because I'm not preaching about something I'm not practicing. Telling you this because I believe that God's going to do something and if he's asking me to do it then he has a plan so we're going to receive this offering for the building. And I pray that you have asked God to give you a number and I pray that you're obedient even if it hurts and I'm going to ask us to come and we're going to receive this. Lord I just thank you right now. I thank you for these people. I thank you for what you're speaking. I thank you for what you're doing and God I just pray today that today that we're obedient to what you're asking us to do. Lord I'm praying that today that you begin to move in a mighty way. Lord I pray that you send outside sources to help pay this building off God. Lord I'm believing that this building is going to be used and it already is being used to reach our community and the neighboring communities and Lord I just pray that you just continue to move and you continue to use us as your conduits to get things and products to other people Lord I pray that you help us. Lord in our obedience Lord I pray for blessing on this church and on these people. Lord bless them as they give Psalms 37.5 says commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you when we trust the Lord when we put our faith in him he will help us he'll help us when we're walking out what he is speaking to us I'm not saying that when you begin to walk out what God is speaking to you that it will be easy it's not going to be easy but what I am telling you that he will be there to help you because that's what he said he would do if we put our complete and total trust in him he will help us are we doing that God is bigger than the problems that we'll face if we're being obedient he'll take care of the rest. Can we commit as a church can you commit as an individual to say Lord I'll trust you in everything that I do and that when you speak I'll react and I'll put it to action and you agree to do that with me I ask everyone that would just stand your feet. Lord I just thank you right now I thank you right now for what you're doing in this house. Lord I thank you for moving for moving in this place Lord Lord I thank you for the building that you've given us down there Lord and I thank you that you're going to pay it off Lord I thank you for the obedience in this house Lord Lord I just pray that this morning if there is anyone in this room that they haven't put their complete trust in you or this morning that they will maybe you're hearing you haven't made him your Lord maybe you haven't made him the Lord of your life and you want to put your complete trust in him this morning and say I want to make him the Lord of my life I just want to invite you to come to this altar I want to pray with you I want to believe with you but maybe God's been speaking to you about some things maybe he's been speaking to you about doing some things and for whatever reason you haven't trusted him maybe you had doubts and the doubt you don't want the doubt to become unbelief I want to pray with you I want to believe with you I want to invite you to come maybe you just say I'm a willing vessel God I'll be like Samuel here I am Lord send me whatever you ask whatever you speak I'm willing I want to invite you to come Lord we trust you we sing songs about trusting you and Lord I hope that it is truly our hearts that we do trust you that we will trust you in everything that we have that we will trust you in everything that we do God but when things when the when the murmuring begins God that we'll just turn to trust you when the bumps happen that will trust you when the breakdowns happen that will trust you Lord help us help us to trust you in all that we do help us to trust you in all that we do God Lord we just thank you today God we thank you today Lord we thank you today Lord oh thank you for these people Lord I pray that you watch over and you protect them as they travel to their homes and bring them back here safely the Lord bless you we'll see you tonight at six o'clock