We Can Trust In The Lord

We Can Trust In the Lord

Hebrews 2:14-18

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - August 24, 2014

*I don't know how much faith you have right now, but I know God wants you to have more. God wants us to have bigger, growing faith in Him. He even wants us to have great faith in the Lord. We know this is true, because Jesus often criticized His disciples for their lack of faith.

*In Matthew 8, the Lord was asleep in the boat while a big storm raged on the Sea of Galilee.

25. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!''

26. But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?'' Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.

*Later in Matthew 14, Peter tried to walk on the wind-tossed sea to Jesus, "but when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. 'Save me, Lord!' he shouted." (Matthew 14:30 NLT) And in Matthew 14:31, "Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"

*God wants us to have bigger, growing faith in Him. We also know this is true, because Jesus praised people who had great faith. We see this happening at least three or four times in the New Testament. For example, please listen to the Lord's praise for a Roman soldier in Matthew 8:

5. Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

6. saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.''

7. And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him.''

8. The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

9. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.''

10. When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"

*God wants us to have great faith. He wants us to trust Him more every day. And we should! Today's Scripture gives us 3 great reasons why.

1. First: Trust Jesus, because He came to destroy Satan.

*Verse 14 explains: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." God the Son became a man, "a partaker of flesh and blood," so that through His death, He might destroy the one who had the power of death, and that's the devil.

*Since this is true, what should we do about the devil? -- A wise man once gave this very good advice: Don't underestimate him, and don't overestimate him.

[1] Never underestimate the devil.

*Verse 14 tells us that he had great power, even the power of death, and the devil still has great power. We are reminded of that every time we hear about the barbaric atrocities of ISIS over in Iraq. They have murdered thousands of Christians, and anyone else who refuses to submit to their evil religion. They gleefully love to behead people or bury them alive. In John 10:10, the Lord called the devil a thief, and Jesus said: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy . . ." We must not underestimate the devil.

*As David Holwick said: "Your devil is too small if he is consigned to long-ago times and faraway places. Job 1:7 tells us that Satan roams over the whole earth. John 12:31 & John 14:30 call him 'the ruler of this world.'

*Your devil is too small if you decide he is not capable of performing miracles. The Bible says he can in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and Revelation 13:13.

*Your devil is too small if you assume he leaves Christians alone. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us: 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.' The Devil tried to tempt Jesus, and he will try to tempt you. He cannot steal your salvation, but he can ruin your spiritual effectiveness, and he will try." (1)

*Priscilla Shirer said: "The enemy knows he can't destroy you. But the rest of your life he will be trying to distract you." (2)