When I went back to visit him on vacation we spent a lot of time together. During one of our visit I asked him, “Dad I’ve been in charge of a church and have been to a many Salvation Army Churches. But my Question was this. When Billy Graham, Spurgeon, even our own founder William Booth preached the Gospel hundreds came forward to be saved during the meeting. It seems like verily anybody comes forward to be saved when I peach the same Gospel same goes for the places I’ve visited. Why is that?” My dad said “Son, every time you preach do you expect all the people will encounter Jesus and be saved?” Thinking hard I said, “I don’t think so, not everyone, every time.” My dad responded, “Then that’s why your community and your people are not being saved with regularity when you preach. You need to have faith and believe.” I was like thanks dad… No Faith.
We see in today’s story (Matthew 17: 14-21).
The smallest speck of faith you activate or “speak” will authorizes you to do miracles. Do you believe that Church! Amen!
This man came and knelt down in-front of Jesus, and asked him to have mercy on his son, who was tormented by a demon spirit. At that moment he said, “I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” (Verse 16) Jesus told them to bring the boy to Him and He rebuked the demon and “Boom!” the boy was miraculously healed immediately. Later, the disciples came to Jesus alone and wanted to know why they were not able to cure the boy themselves. Jesus answered, “Because of your unbelief…” (Verse 20). After that, Jesus taught them a principle on the power of faith. He told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Verse 20). This is the Messiah talking, not a false prophet, but the King of Kings, Lord of Lords not a TV evangelist, but Jesus! And he speaks truth that even with the smallest amount of faith brings forth miracles you can’t even began to imagine, and with that small faith brings power for you and I to do the impossible.
I want to look at these verses today, and make three observations concerning the power of faith. The first observation is this:
1. Other people lose out, when your faith is Lacking! Faith that moves mountains will not just improve the quality of your life; it’s some of it, but not all. Also, Faith that moves mountains also advances and lifts up the quality of other people’s lives. If you don’t have faith or a lack of it, you won’t be able to help people experience the presents of the Lord in their lives. We see this exact same thing in this story that the disciples had little faith, powerless faith, a faith that wasn’t engaged, and for that reason, the young boy truly came close to missing the experience of God’s work in his life. We see examples in Scripture where faith is able to make a difference in the life of someone else. For example, in Mark Chapter 2, four friends brought a paralytic to Jesus. The house where Jesus was speaking was crowded and they couldn’t get to him, so they climbed up on the roof, tore a hole in it, and lowered their friend into the house. The Bible says It was the faith of these friends that caused this man to be healed. If they had lacked faith, the man would have died a paralytic. Acts 3 Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray, and a beggar asked them for some money. The Bible then says that Peter grabbed the man by the right hand and pulled him to his feet, and immediately the man was healed. This man was healed not because of his own faith. Peter never even asked him if he has any. He was healed because of Peter’s faith. If you have faith that can move mountains, you can do great things for other people. But, if your faith is lacking, other people will lose out.
Today there may be people close to you who are under attack with problems they don’t have the strength to face or the faith to solve, and your faith can make a difference in their life. If you lack faith, other people lose out. The second observation is this,
2. If you apply the smallest amount of faith, you can do miraculous. Jesus said, not Randy, but Jesus “If you have faith a small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Verse 20). Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed because the mustard seed was a tiny, tiny seed, and the mustard plant was a big, big plant. In other words, a tiny mustard seed could produce a big plant, and a tiny amount of faith can produce big results. It’s also important to note that when Jesus said, “you can move mountains” he was using this phrase as a figure of speech. In his day, the phrase “moving mountains” was used pretty much as it is used today; it referred to removing and resolving difficulties, even huge difficulties. He’s not talking about flamboyant miracles that serve no point; he’s talking about transforming your life. I would venture to say that everyone here today is facing a mountain of some type. There’s something you would like to see happen in your life, but you’ve written it off as impossible. “I would like for my marriage to be what it once was, but that’s impossible. I would like to overcome this sin that I’ve struggled with all my life, but that’s impossible. I would like to lose weight, I would like to be physically healthy again, but that’s impossible. I would like for my rebellious kids to walk with God, but that’s impossible. I would like for my business to succeed, but that’s impossible.” And on and on we go. But Jesus says, “Nothing will be impossible for you.” That obstacle you’re facing is not impossible. Your marriage can be restored. Your family can be re-established. Your business can be revitalized. Your sin can be conquered. Whatever it is you’re facing right now that you think is impossible, remember that just a little bit of faith empowers you to do the impossible. If your problems are stacked up like a mountain before you, with faith, that mountain can be moved. No situation is hopeless; no problem is insurmountable. Faith can work miracles in your life. The third observation is this…
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3. Faith “Activated” means Results! I want to make an important distinction in Jesus’ words. He did NOT say, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, mountains will move from here to there.” He did NOT say, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, and you want a mountain to move, it will move from here to there.” He said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can SAY to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and IT WILL MOVE.” (Verse 20). Here’s the distinction. In order to move the mountain you have to engage your faith; you have to put it in gear. By speaking to the mountain, you activate your faith. The faith that you have in your heart and in your mind cannot accomplish anything until it is activated until it is put into action. In this example, Jesus says that we must speak the word of faith to the mountain. In the stories I mentioned earlier, the friends of the paralyzed man activated their faith when they climbed on the rooftop; Peter activated his faith when he pulled the beggar to his feet. For most of us, exercising our faith is like trying to drive a car in neutral. You press on the gas, it revs up the engine, it makes a lot of noise, but the car doesn’t actually move, and it won’t until you put it into gear. Much of our “faith talk” is nothing more than revving up the engine. It makes a lot of noise, but it doesn’t move us forward, and it never will until we put our faith in gear…until we activate it. And that requires risk. In order to experience results in the life of faith, you have to activate your faith, you have to put into action, and you have to take risks.
CONCLUSION
If you have no faith, you’ll lose out and so will others around you. But if you exercise even a small amount of faith, you’ll accomplish the impossible. But you’ll accomplish nothing at all with your faith until you put it into action. Now, some of you are saying, “This sounds good in theory, but how do I put my faith into action, and how do I develop this kind of faith?” For starters, you’ve got to remember that your faith is not in yourself, and your faith is not in faith, but your faith is in God. It doesn’t take a lot of faith to see miracles happen; it just takes an active faith. Activate your faith. Put it into gear. Take that first step toward moving your mountain, and let God’s miracle power go to work in your life.
Alter Call:
Today God wants us to activate our faith. He wants us to depend on Him and Love Him. As we activate our faith I would love to pray for you and anoint you with oil. James says in Chapter 5, Verse 13 if there is anyone among you who are sick and hurting or in trouble, they need to call upon the Elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of Jesus, and the prayer of faith will make the sick person well. Jesus will raise him up and his sins will be forgiven. Praise the Lord! I invite you to, come! As we sing
Chorus: There’s just something about that Name. Chorus: Amazing Grace “My Chains Are Gone”
Let us Pray…. God your love is so amazing….
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