The Power of Faith (Matthew 17:14-23)

Living by faith

As we approach 2024, I want to impart to you an encouragement to live by faith, maybe more than you ever have in your life. I am convinced God is going to show us great and mighty things if we will call out to him with just a particle of faith.

Many of us struggle to live by faith. Not necessarily in the order of nominal things. A husband eats food cooked by his wife without having it tested to see if it contains poison. Why? Because he has faith in his wife that she will not try to poison him. You accept paper money as legal tender because you have faith in the U.S.’s monetary system. You even get in your car and drive on I55 without much hesitation because you believe you are a safe drive, and those around you are relatively safe. Yet strangely, so many people become agnostics where God is concerned. We are slow to believe God is for us and not against us. We doubt he will do great things in our midst. We refuse to cast an extraordinary vision for the church, community, and home because we doubt God will come through. (Hobbs, Herschel H. 1990. My Favorite Illustrations. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.…)

Don’t get me wrong, it is not that we don’t have faith, its that our faith is often impoverished. It lacks sufficiency to “pay the bills” so to speak. That is the point Jesus gets to with his disciples in Matthew 17:14-23.

After Jesus was transfigured in Mount Tabor, he came down to see a spectacle doubters, some being his own disciples. Jesus had already given them the authority to cast out demons, but they lacked the faith to carry out the mission (Matthew 17:17). Jesus explains to them that their faith was directly tied to the reason why they could not see the glory of God.

Jesus says, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you (v21).”  When Jesus says, truly, it is his way of saying, “Listen to me.  I’m telling you the absolute truth.”  What is the truth?  God requires us to simply have a grain of genuine faith that he can do the impossible on our behalf. You see Christian,

The power of faith believes Jesus can.

In our text this morning, I want to help you live by faith this year by showing Jesus can: overcome the darkness, do the impossible, and guide your future.

Believe Jesus can overcome the darkness (Matthew 17:14-19)

Jesus had just come down from the mountain when he is confronted with a crowd. A man approached Jesus. The man was a father who was distressed about his son. He humbles himself before Jesus by kneeling and addressing him as Lord and begs for mercy. The man does know necessarily believe Jesus is the Lord, God, but that Jesus is a special man sent from God.

His son suffers terribly from seizures. At any moment the boy is so overcome he cannot control himself around water or fire. The father was hoping that Jesus disciples would heal his son, but they were not able to get the job done.

There are times in the Bible when you read of people being afflicted with diseases, some them were like epilepsy. For example, Matthew records of Jesus,

Matthew 4:24 ESV

24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.

In this case, however, the boy was demon possessed. The kingdom of darkness was physically afflicting this boy. This should cause us to pause and remind ourselves we live in a Genesis three world. Humanity is afflicted by disease on the one hand, and demonic darkness on the other, and both do not discriminate between the young and the old, rich or poor, abled or disabled. The Just as the world groans under the curse of sin, we groan as fallen image bearers under the rule of the prince of the air. So often disease and the demonic darkness make us realize just how powerless we are to them.

The boy was powerless to agaisnt the demon. Who knows when or how the demon possessed the boy, but the boy could do nothing about it. It is even possible the boy foolishly provoked it. I tremble at the thought of how many of our young people are opening themselves up to demonic affliction and possession by playing with ouija boards, consulting mediums, gross sin in their lives, and an over fascination with the a-cult. There is an increasing trend on social media to seek and interact with the paranormal, as if it is something to be toyed with or befriended. Their arrogance and naivety blinds them to the reality of their powerlessness.

The boy’s father was powerless to protect his son from the demon. I’m sure the father had tried every remedy he could find, from the medical to the mythical. You get the sense that the father had tried everything he could think of by the way he approached Jesus. He was humble and desperate. To him, Jesus was likely a prophet or Jewish healer who was his best chance at that point to heal his son. The father was powerless.

The disciples were powerless to cast out the demon. This is odd for us on this side of the cross. Jesus had given them power and authority to cast out demons. In Matthew 17:19

Matthew 17:19 ESV

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

The phrase “could not” means they were unable.

They should’ve been able to help the boy. Why were they so powerless? They were powerless for the same reason why the boy and the father were powerless. They lacked faith.

After hearing the disciples were not able to cast out the demon, Jesus says,

Matthew 17:17 ESV

17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”

In verses 20, Jesus answers his disciples inquiry of why they could not cast out the demon. He simply says, “Because of your little faith.” One could translate “little faith” more descriptively with the phrase “poverty of faith.” The disciples faith was inadequate, not having enough to pay the bills.

Jesus rebuked his disciples and the crowd. He called them an “unbelieving and perverse generation.” To be unbelieving is to faithless. To be perverse is to be led astray, to not live your life right, obstinate toward the right thing. When you combine the ideas together, the phrase “unbelieving and perverse generation” could be translated,

You people are too stubborn to have faith!

It is no secret that darkness covers Litchfield. There is a dark cloud that permeates our community like a deep fog, and wherever this fog lands poverty, substance abuse, and broken families are left in its wake. It feels like Litchfield is in a spiritual ice age at times. There are flickers of the gospel fire here and there, but no consuming fire of God’s goodness, justice, mercy, righteousness, grace, authority, and power. We re not flourishing as the church, community, and home.

Are we too stubborn to have faith? Are we so hard to the things of God, we will not experience his work? DO you remember reading of Jesus doing ministry in his own community?

Mark 6:4–6 (ESV)

‌4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief……

Keep in mind, Jesus is speaking to both the community and the church. His disciples where not able to cast out the demon because of their unbelief. Jesus starts with his church first. Is it possible the gospel has not worked powerfully to overcome the darkness in Litchfield because the church has been too stubborn to have faith in God’s power and desire to advance His kingdom in Litchfield? Does Jesus marvel at our unbelief?

Maybe you say, “Pastor, I have great faith.” I say to you, “Great! When was the last time you shared your great faith with your lost friends, family, and neighbors? When was the last time you led someone to Jesus? When have you so invested your life into the darkness of an unbelieving neighbor that felt broken over the power of sin in their life? When was the last time you wept over those perishing under God’s wrath in prayer?” We cannot say we have great faith in Christ only to keep our faith to ourselves. That is a powerless gospel. Jesus said

Mark 16:15 ESV

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

The gospel is a message that must be spoken. The kingdom of darkness is overcome by the good news of Jesus, the message of grace. When Jesus speaks, power and authority depart from his mouth and Satan is defeated, sinners are saved, and demon possessed boys are healed.

The Power of Jesus (v18)

Jesus speaks. He does not invoke some chant or do a ritual dance. He does to fall into a trance and work the demon out. Jesus speaks a a word of rebuke to the demon. To rebuke is to denounce with strong disapproval, and to command to stop. Jesus renounced the demon and commanded him to stop afflicting the boy. The demon left at Jesus’s command. That is the power of Jesus’s word over the kingdom of darkness. Demons must obey his commands.

Furthermore, notice the power of Jesus’ word to heal. When he speaks a word of rebuke to the demon, not only does the demon leave, but the boy is completely healed. There are no side effects or permanent conditions. Verse 18, says the boy was healed. The power of darkness is no match for the power of Christ.

Jesus is the light of the world.

John 1:5 CSB

5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

In Revelation, when the resurrected Jesus rides on a horse to defeat the armies of darkness once and for all, John says in the book of Revelation

Revelation 19:15–16 ESV

15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

And as for the beast and the false prophet and everyone who worshiped the beast and rejected the king, they will be thrown into the lake of fire,

Revelation 19:21 ESV

21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Martin Luther wrote a hymn called, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” He wrote it as a meditation on Psalm 46, during the darkest times of the reformation. The Catholic Church was persecuting reformed Christians horribly. Luther wanted to remind his fellow brothers and sisters of the power and Lordship of the resurrected Jesus over the threat of the kingdom of darkness. The third stanza sings,

“And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us;

The Prince of Darkness grim,

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo, his doom is sure;

One little word shall fell him.

(Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (1529).)

One little word from King Jesus shall cause the prince of darkness to fall into eternal fire forever. Do you realize the Word lives inside of you? What does John say to those who are in Christ?

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Jesus is powerful enough to use disciples who have faith the size of a mustard seed to shine His light into the darkness. He uses your mustard seed faith to bring the light of heaven and the heat of God’s grace to those who suffer in spiritual darkness and freeze from death’s cold grip on their soul. Your faith stokes the flame and fuels the heat of the gospel’s effectiveness in Litchfield. Believe! Believe Jesus can overcome the darkness in Litchfield. Prove your faith by sharing it with the lost and broken of Litchfield.

Believe Jesus can do the impossible (Matthew 17:20)

After Jesus explains to His disciples why they could not cast out the demon, he describes the kind of faith that God uses to do great and mighty things. Jesus says,

Matthew 17:20–21 CSB

20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The Gospel of Mark adds some more insight to the story,

Mark 9:29 ESV

29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

The mustard seed was not the smallest seed on earth, but it is small enough. Jesus used the mustard seed as a metaphor to describe the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:31-32). It that case Jesus was making the point that like a mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven starts our small and insignificant but grows into something grand and significant to the world. In this case, Jesus is using the mustard seed as a metaphor to show that its not the size or amount of faith you have inside of you, but the genuine faith you have in the greatness of God. N.T. Wright eloquently says,

It’s not great faith you need; it is faith in a great God. Faith is like a window through which you can see something.

N. T. Wright

What do you want to see? God do the impossible.

Jesus was likely looking at Mount Tabor, where Jesus was transfigured, and says to his disciples, “if you have just a small amount of genuine faith in the power of God, you can se God do the impossible, like command this mountain to move from here to there, and watch it obey you.”

Think of moving the mountain as proverbial, not so much literal, although Jesus has the power to physically move mountains. The point is, it is impossible for us to command a mountain to move. its an act of God to move mountains with your words. True faith, genuine faith, mustard seed faith believes Jesus can do the impossible.

When Jesus was on earth, he cast out demons, walked on water, commanded the winds and waves to be still, fed thousands with a few loaves and fish, and raised the dead. Even more than these, Jesus did what was absolutely impossible for any human being to do, he completely and irreversibly reconciled sinners to God.

Jesus lived a perfect sinless life. He died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice in the place of sinners, as their substitute. He bore the wrath of God for every sin we ever committed, being despised and rejected by God so that you and I can be accepted by God. God’s wrath was satisfied with Jesus’s sacrifice. God raised him from the dead on the third day, and accepted him back into heaven where Jesus sits now, alive and well, at the right hand of God, praying for those who accept his gift of salvation. For everyone who confesses their sin, repents, trusts Jesus’s work on the cross, and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, will be saved. it doesn not take great faith to save you. It takes a little faith in a great Savior.

Charles Spurgeon would agree with me, but he would also,

Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God.

Charles Spurgeon

We cannot do great things for the Lord if we are too stubborn to have faith. What was hindering the disciples faith? I believe it was pride.

Pride has a tendency to domesticate the power of God, as D.A. Carson would say. That is, those who have been given some power and authority, just as the disciples were given, wanted the power of God controllable, tamed, submissive to human leaders. (Carson, D. A. 2009. God with Us: Themes from Matthew. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock.)

Pride says, “The power of God will be my magic wand that I can wield whenever I choose.” It s arrogant and a form of self-reliance. The disciples probably looked upon the child with an “I got this” attitude expecting a quick and good outcome. Instead Jesus said, “your self-reliant faith is good for nothing.”

I think the disciples self-reliance is seen in what is not said. There is no mention of them praying with the Lord’s authority for the child’s welfare. They should’ve like the boys father, on his knees before Jesus, begging for mercy on the boy, ensuring all glory and honor go to Jesus.

Matthew does not include Marks comments about prayer. Some manuscripts have a verse 21 in Matthew that says, “ but this kind will not go out except through prayer and fasting.”

Prayer and fasting expresses humility and dependency on God. Prayer says to God, “I believe you are there. I believe you are sovereign and can do whatever you please. I believe you are my only provider and sustainer. I believe the kingdom of darkness is match for your power and might. Humility says, “I can do nothing apart from you. I beg you you, have mercy, and help me.”

Self-reliant faith is presumptuous on God’s power. It’s arrogance takes liberties to assume God’s power. Its kind of like walking into someones house whom you’ve met for the first time and taking the liberty to go to their kitchen, eat their leftovers, and ask them to make cookies for desert. It’s uncouth, appalling, and even dangerous. Speaking to self-reliance, John Piper says,

“The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness.” John Piper

Why is it dangerous? Self-reliance is a faith killer. There is no room for faith in self-reliance, and without faith, you cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Self-reliance is also church killer. Churches who are self-reliant do not walk by the Spirit, nor do they walk by faith. They walk by pragmatism, the fear of man, and the bottom line. There is no calling out to God expecting Him to answer is and to show us great and mighty things (Jeremiah 33:3). There is no stretching ourselves beyond what we can see, reaching into heaven to grab hold of God’s heart for the nations, or even our community. No, sir. Self-reliance presumes God’s grace and acts according to the pragmatism of the human will.

How do you pray? Do you pray believing Jesus can? John Calvin rightly quips,

Doubtful prayer is no prayer at all.

John Calvin

You cannot pray for your wayward child and doubt God will do nothing about it. You cannot pray for a besetting sin in your life to be overcome and doubt Jesus has toe power to overcome it. You cannot pray for God to bless our new school with families and resources to sustain it, and doubt God is not able to accomplish it. He is the God of the impossible.

John Calvin also went on to say,

The true proof of faith is the assurance when we pray that God will really perform what he has promised us.

John Calvin

Believe Jesus can do the impossible. Express your faith by praying with confidence that Jesus can do the impossible.

Believe Jesus can see the future and has the power to wield it as he wishes (Matthew 17:22-23)

Jesus has the power over your future, and collectively, the future of this church. Matthew offers two short verses between the story of casting out the demon of the boy and paying the temple tax.

Matthew 17:22–23 ESV

22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

This is the second time Jesus predicts his death and resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 16:21-23). Jesus was preparing his disciples for the sorrow that would come at his certain death. But keep in mind the power of Jesus in both his foretelling the cross and enduring the cross. First of all,

Jesus has the power to know.

Jesus knew where he was going and what was going to happen. The cross was not a surprise to Him. Although the crucifixion looked chaotic in the hands of sinful men, it was appointed and governed by God. Nothing was going to happen that God did not ordain to happen. Paul says of God’s sovereignty,

Romans 11:33–36 ESV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Jesus had the power to lay his life down and take it up again.

Jesus makes his authority over his life and death clear. He says in The Gospel ofJohn,

John 10:17–18 ESV

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Satan has no power over the Son of God. Death does not have power over the Son of God. No government or kingdom on earth has any power over the Son of God. Jesus did no merely die at the hands of men. He gave Himself to them for the Father’s glory. And he took it up again when his work was finished.

Jesus has the power of perfect faith.

Jesus chose to die trusting His father. Peter says of Jesus,

1 Peter 2:21–23 ESV

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Jesus perfectly trusted the father to judge his life and raise him from the dead. He is given to us as an example to follow. Moreover, he’s given us his Spirit to to empower us to follow his example.

Jesus has the power of victory

Death could not hold him. Jesus knew his disciples would be heart broken over his death, but assured them he would rise on the third day. They could not believe Jesus could overcome death. The disciples stubborn hearts were hard to the reality of the cross and the resurrection. Jesus, however, knew he would be victorious over Satan, sin, and death. He knew he would see his disciples once again, and empower their faith, and the faith of everyone who believes upon Him.

Christian, there is nothing to fear when Jesus is your king. He knows your future. He has power over life and death. he wields his sovereign will as he chooses, for your good. He conquered death to prove to you nothing in this world has authority over him. You can trust him. You can believe he can use you now and bring you safely home.

Faith 2024

God is moving in our church. I am convinced that He is going to reveal more and more of His glory to us. By this time next year, we will be enjoying our first Christmas break as Litchfield Christian School.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent out a devotional text on Matthew 17:14-23. In that devotion I said Jesus was annoyed at the fact that the disciples did not have the faith needed to carry out the mission.

We are on mission. We have been given the task to confront the kingdom of darkness with the light of the gospel. We aim to do this as a church by,

Joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus until the church, community, and home joyfully abide in Jesus.

To help us fulfill this mission, God has given us the vision to bring the light and heat of the gospel into the darkest and coldest ares of Litchfield by starting a school. A Christ exalting, Bible believing, God honoring school is a means of grace to break the cycles of poverty, the chains of substance abuse, heal broken family dynamics, overcome impaired learning, and bring light to spiritual darkness. Litchfield Christian School’s mission:

Empowered by the Spirit, guided by the word, and in fellowship with the church, we unite families to God’s goodness in Christ by partnering with parents to strive to provide students with a robust education, so that they may grow in knowledge and wisdom of our Lord, use their gifts to love their neighbor, and make much of Jesus in the church, community, and home.

Our school will be a platform for family ministry. The desire of FBCL is to untie families to God’s goodness in Christ. Education is a means to do that.

Starting a school in Lichfield, IL may seem like an impossible task, something way above our pay-grade.  We may be tempted to believer the power of darkness is too strong, the church is too small, and we are not clever or knowledgable enough to pull it off. If this describe you, with all do respect, you are too stubborn to have faith. Today, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. God will make our path straight. He says to us, Jeremiah 33:3

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV

3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Pray with a mustard seed of faith for God to:

1. Drawing families and children to LCS.

2. Raising up Bible saturated, God honoring, Christ exalting, Education minded, teachers, administrators, and volunteers who will serve our students and their families with joy.

3. Give us courage and protect us from the enemy who seeks to devour us.

4. Provide scholarships for every child who needs it to be served in our school.

5. Supply every single penny we need to start, sustain, and advance LCS for the glory of God.  This includes the present grace we need now and the future grace we need when we grow.  We are going to grow and will need more space!

6.  Save our children who suffer terribly at the hands of Satan. 

 The children will be the testimony of the glory of God! You will see God’s glory and power when he provides millions of dollars to build our facilities. But the greater testimony of his power and glory will be fully experienced when the children who graduate from our school testify the of redeeming work of Jesus breaking their chains of poverty, freeing them from substance abuse, healing their families, equipping them to flourish in their vocation, and walking in the light and heat of the grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ.

Live by faith: Believe Jesus can!

The call to have faith, even as small as a mustard seed, suggests that it's not about the size or strength of our faith but the authenticity and trust placed in God. It's a reminder that God is for us and encourages us to believe in the extraordinary possibilities that faith opens up.

As we approach the future, embracing a mindset, a heart-set, of faith can indeed lead to experiencing great and mighty things. It involves stepping out in trust, casting vision, and believing that God can work wonders in our lives, communities, and beyond.

Jesus commands us to pray to that end for LCS.  God has given us the authority to establish this mission, to rob the streets of Litchfield of our children.  Believe Jesus can! Amen!