Increase Our Faith
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
When a father picks up his little daughter and tosses her all around in the air, she laughs and enjoys it, for she trusts—has faith in—her father.
Even though she finds herself in unusual situations, like being upside down four feet above the floor with nothing supporting her (normally an uncomfortable circumstance), she does not fear, for she trusts her father.
That is the sort of faith we should have toward our heavenly Father, too.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 17 and focus on verses 5 through 6.
Our message this morning is titled “Increase Our Faith.”
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As you are turning to our passage today please keep in mind this fact:
Today’s message is all about faith...
Especially, in dealing with the quantity of faith verses the quality of faith.
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So, this morning we will cover two main points:
1) The Size of Faith
And...
2) The Kind of Faith
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the Alpha and the Omega...
You are the First and the Last...
You are the Beginning and the End...
For you are outside of all of time...
And You are the Creator of all things seen and unseen.
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Help us to better learn all Your ways as declared in Your perfect Word...
Help us to put all our trust in You and the Scriptures You have given us by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit...
And help us to always see how the Whole Counsel of the Bible points to Your Son, Jesus Christ.
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Thank You for all Your patience and mercy...
Thank You for all Your saving grace that You pour on Your elect...
And thank You for adopting us, Your followers, into Your royal family...
For we deserve Hellfire...
But You gave us what we do not deserve...
You gave us eternal life!
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Request of More Faith
1) The Request of More Faith
Verse 5: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
So, what prompt the apostles, that would be the twelve disciples, make this request to Jesus...
Well, as usual, we need to look at the context...
So, take a look with me at the section right before this...
Take a look at the passage we looked at last week...
Take a look at Luke 17:1-4, which says:
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
So, Jesus, talking to His followers...
Gave the clear commands...
To guard oneself from temptation...
To rebuke our brothers and sisters in Christ...
And to forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ when they repent of their sins against us.
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To those demands...
The twelve disciples said, “Increase our faith!”
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So, as usual, lets break this down...
And lets breakdown some key words...
First off, the Greek verb which is translated “increase” means “to add to,” “supplement,” “develop,” or “grow.”
Therefore, the disciples response of “Increase our faith!” shows that they felt inadequate in the face of the high standard that Jesus set for them.
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You see, Beloved, they felt that this kind of guarding against sin and rebuking and forgiveness would demand more faith than they had.
So, the disciples request that Jesus “add” to their faith...
And this should not be confused with giving them the gift of faith as if they had no faith.
His followers had faith in Jesus...
But they wanted more faith...
As the New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“The foregoing pronouncements impressed the disciples profoundly with the severe demands made upon them, and they feel spontaneously that they will require supernatural grace and divine strength in order so to live that they may avoid offending others and always be prepared to forgive the repentant.
So they ask the Savior to give them greater faith—
The faith that will make them spiritually stronger, and enable them to act as He has just commanded them to do.”
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It was understandable that the disciples would ask to have their faith increased...
For many times they showed very little faith as seen in passages like Matthew 8:26, which says:
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Likewise, take a look at Matthew 14:31, which says:
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
And finally look with me at Matthew 16:8:
8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?
Now, Beloved, that is only a small sampling...
Throughout the Gospel accounts the ones closest to Jesus often showed little faith...
And Jesus rebuked them for that...
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So, it is understandable that the apostles were thinking that great faith is needed to be so forgiving to others who sin against us...
And the apostles were thinking that great faith is needed to be so bold to rebuke others...
And the apostles were thinking that great faith is needed to be so courageous to not lead others into sin.
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So, with this great need of faith...
They turned to the only person that can help them...
For faith comes from God!
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Likewise, pay attention to the request of the father of a demon possessed boy as recorded in Mark 9:21-24:
21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Again, we see an appeal to God to help our little faith.
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As John 6:63–65 says:
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
So, the very origins of faith in a person’s life does not come from within ourselves...
As Jesus said, “the flesh is no help at all.”
Yet, He gives faith to all whom the Father grants Him to give faith.
As Ephesians 2:8–9 puts it:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Faith is a gift from God, Beloved!
That is why when the apostles want to increase their faith they go to the very source of faith...
God!
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Beloved, this truth is found all throughout Scripture...
James, the brother of Jesus says this in his epistle in James 2:5:
5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
Did you see that, Beloved?
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God chose...
Yes, God chose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith...
That is why no born-again believer can ever boast!
The fact that you believe is only because God gave you the gift of faith...
And it had nothing to do with what you did in the past...
It has nothing to do with what you are doing right now...
And it has nothing to do with what you will do in the future!
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Beloved, faith does not come from within us!
We are not living in a Disney movie where we can save ourselves!
God and God alone assigned faith to us in an act of mercy...
We did not earn faith...
We did not merit faith...
For that would be something God would have owed us if that was the case.
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Beloved, according to the Word of God...
God gave some faith in an act of mercy!
As Romans 12:3 says:
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
So, if you are a believer, don’t boast about it...
Don’t think so highly of yourself...
Don’t go around thinking, “why can’t so and so believe like me?”
The faith you have was a gift that you did not earn...
God gave you mercy...
So, thank Him...
And stay humble.
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Additionally, in or daily lives...
In the face of all our obstacles...
We are to take that gift of faith and use it as a shield from our enemies attacks...
Or as Ephesians 6:16 says:
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
And never forget this truth found in 1 John 5:4–5, which says:
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
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So, those who have genuine faith in Jesus Christ are truly overcomers...
For faith in Jesus Christ is truly powerful...
And that takes us to our second and final point of our message for today.
2) The Power of True Faith
2) The Power of True Faith
Verse 6: And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
We see here that Jesus points to what even small faith can bring about.
So, more important than the quantity of faith is the object of faith...
And the object our faith is to always be our great and powerful God!
As the Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke says:
“Christians, even apostles, are distinguished not by the quantity of faith, but by the employment of faith;
Not by greatness or smallness of faith, but by acting on faith, even faith the size of a mustard seed.”
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Now, let’s break down a few more key words...
A “mustard seed” is so small that, held in the palm of one’s hand, it appears as a speck of dust, barely visible.
So, keep that image in mind as we witness the picture Jesus is painting for us.
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Now, in sharp contrast to the mustard see is the black “mulberry tree” which grew quite large...
In fact, it grew to a height of some thirty-five feet, and would be very difficult to uproot.
You see, Beloved, Jewish rabbis celebrated the mulberry tree for its vast and tenacious root system...
For its vast root system enabled it to live up to six hundred years.
Therefore, because of its root system, the Mishnah prescribed that it could not be planted within fifty cubits or 75 feet of a cistern.
So, a mulberry tree had a reputation as a formidable tree.
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Now, combining all of it together, we have an amazing image...
The mustard seed, which is proverbially small, was a suitable metaphor for the amount of faith needed to do the seemingly impossible.
Jesus’ answer to the request for additional faith seems to be that they should use the faith they had to petition God.
In other words, Jesus alters the request for more faith, speaking of “having” faith.
Faith’s presence is more crucial than its quantity.
Jesus is essentially saying that God can do a lot with a little trust.
As the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“Jesus’ answer shifts the focus:
Faith is not a matter of quantity but presence.
A little bit of genuine faith can accomplish a great deal.
Faith like a mustard seed pictures a small bit of faith, since the mustard seed was popularly referred to as the smallest of all seeds.
Jesus’ point is that even a little trust responds and follows, leading to great things.
It is the total absence of faith that prevents results.
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The idea of planting a mulberry tree in the sea is a paradoxical image similar to that of a camel going through the eye of a needle.
It is designed to graphically and hyperbolically illustrate that faith can do the amazing and is by no means intended to be taken literally.
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Jesus says that the way to increase faith is simply to have it and watch it produce significant results.”
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Beloved, just look at what faith can do in the Gospel accounts...
Take a look with me at Matthew 9:22 which says:
22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
Likewise, take a look at Mark 10:52 which says:
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
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Jesus want us not to focus on the quantity of faith that we have but on the quality of faith...
And that is seen in the object of our faith.
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So, we see that Jesus’ reply to his apostles indicates that even a very small amount of faith, if it is genuine trust in God, can lead to remarkable results.
The issue is not the size of faith, but its presence for a minuscule amount of faith can overcome overwhelming obstacles.
True faith, by Christ’s definition, always involves surrender to the will of God.
As the New International Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“The Savior replied that they have no need of more faith, but of the right kind of faith—
A vigorous, living faith.
The grain of mustard seed is exceedingly small, but it contains the germ of life which, when it germinates, shoots up irresistibly into a tree.
If the disciples had had faith of the same quality of life and vigor, no problem or task would have been too difficult for them.
(After being filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, they possessed in a rich measure this kind of faith which enabled them to perform so many mighty deeds for the extension of His church.)”
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Now, Beloved, do you remember the exchange between Jesus and the father of the demon possessed boy?
I want to return to that event and look at the account as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew...
For within that account Jesus uses very similar language in that text like our main passage today that is found in Luke.
So, take a look with me at Matthew 17:14-18, which says:
14 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him,
15 said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.
16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”
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.”
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.
So, we see that the disciples struggle to cast out a demon...
In the past they where successful in events like this...
However, over time they started to put faith in themselves and their own abilities...
And once they did that they where not able to do the things they used to be able to do.
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When the apostles ask Jesus why they struggled He answers them in similar fashion to when they ask Him to increase their faith as it states in our main passage...
So, look with me at Matthew 17:19-20, which says:
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. 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.”
The disciples have faith...
But it is little faith in God and too much faith in their own abilities...
Then Jesus reminds them that just a small amount of genuine faith in Him can make the impossible possible.
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Now, a great write up on faith and the power of faith is found in Hebrews 11...
I would like to go through this profound chapter together for our study today...
So, turn to the 11th chapter of Hebrews and lets park hear for the remainder of the message today...
Lets start by looking with me at Hebrews 11:1-3, which says:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
So, Beloved, we are not talking about blind faith...
We are not talking about faith in self...
We are not talking about faith in our human wisdom...
We are not talking about faith in an organization or an institution...
We are talking about genuine faith in the one true God of the Bible!
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And that kind of faith is powerful as seen in Hebrews 11:4-5, which says:
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
So, Beloved, we can see that genuine faith in God leads to faithfulness in our sacrifices to God...
We can see that genuine faith in God leads to living a faithful life...
And without that kind of faith, it would be impossible to be in right standing with God...
Or as it says in Hebrews 11:6-10:
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Beloved, Noah’s good works that he produced was a byproduct of genuine faith in God...
And Abraham’s good works that he produced was a byproduct of genuine faith in God...
There is no such thing as someone who can product genuine and true good fruit without genuine and true faith.
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In fact, things that are impossible are made possible by genuine and rue faith in God...
As Hebrews 11:11–12 says:
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
Beloved, in Abraham and Sarah’s old age...
When it was a medical impossibility for Sarah to conceive and give birth...
She did!
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This did not happen due to her will...
This did not happen due to her husband’s will...
The impossible was made possible because it was God’s will...
So the object of our faith must always rest on Him!
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Now, look with me at what it says in Hebrews 11:13-16:
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Beloved, the Old Testament heroes of the faith died before the promise of the Messiah was fulfilled...
But that faith which was gifted to them in the promised Messiah saved them...
So faith was credited to them for the future fulfillment of that promise...
While today, we as believers with the faith that has been gifted to us, look back to what Christ has already done so it is like debit...
Christ already paid it all for us!
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Next, lets take a look at Hebrews 11:17-22, which says:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
Beloved, we see here faithful men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph mentioned...
Men of God who lived lives of great faith...
Not perfect but overall very faithful...
And I would like to bring to your attention Abraham who is often referred to as the “Father of Faith.”
He had the kind of faith to move a mulberry tree...
He had the kind of faith to move a mountain...
He had the kind of faith to know that even if God allowed him to sacrifice his own son...
That God, because He is always faithful to keep His promises, would raise his son from the death!
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That is the kind of faith we need to have...
That is a faith that is built on the object of our faith...
God almighty!
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And the writer of Hebrews does not stop their...
Take a look at Hebrews 11:23-31 for some more heroes of the faith:
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
Beloved, being in possession of true genuine saving faith does not mean that we will be perfect...
Being in possession of true genuine saving faith does not mean that we, in the past, lived very sinful lives...
Moses was a murder...
And Rahab was a prostitute...
But, they are no longer those things anymore!
For to have that kind of faith transforms a person...
And for us who live in the post-Pentecost area...
We receive the Holy Spirit when we surrender and put our trust in Jesus...
For by grace through faith we are saved!
And although we still sin as believer...
We make a practice of righteousness instead of making a practice of wickedness...
And we are no longer slaves to wicked habitual sins!
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The Old Testament was filled with a lot of weak men and women who put their simple faith in a very big God!
As Hebrews 11:32–38 says:
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Wow, Beloved...
Just look at that list...
That is what true and genuine faith can do!
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And now take a look at how the author of Hebrews ends this section...
Look with me at Hebrews 11:39-40, which says:
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
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Beloved, the Old Testament saints kept the faith while they waited for the long-promised Messiah...
We in our day know who that Messiah is...
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
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So, this is far more than simply know of Jesus...
This is far more than simply knowing all the facts about Jesus...
True and genuine faith in Jesus requires a surrendering of our wills, our desires, our priorities, our trust, our everything!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
Suppose there is a fire in the upper section of a house.
As the people gather in the street below, a child is seen at the window of a room next to the fire.
The fire trucks are at least five minutes away and so will be too late to help.
How is the child to escape?
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Now suppose that in the neighborhood lives a large man, well known for his strength and athletic ability.
He arrives at the scene and shouts to the child,
“Drop into my arms.
Don’t be afraid.
I’ll catch you.”
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It is one part of faith for the child to know that the man is there.
It is another part of faith to believe that the man is strong and able to catch someone.
But the essence of faith lies in his dropping down into the man’s arms.
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Beloved, the faith can move mulberry trees and mountains is a faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Now, we can’t put our faith in any Jesus...
A Jesus of our own imagination will not save...
A Jesus who acts like a genie in a lamp will not save...
A Jesus who has no issues with the habitual sin in your life will not save...
A Jesus who is a glorified hippie will not save...
A Jesus who is the world’s idea of a really good teacher but nothing more will not save...
The Jesus of the prosperity gospel will not save...
The Jesus of Mormonism will not save...
The Jesus of Jehovah's Witness will not save...
The Jesus promoted by “progressive Christians” will not save!
No matter how much faith you have...
If it is in the wrong Jesus...
Then it will not save!
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Beloved, only the Jesus Christ as found in the Holy Bible will ever save!
That Jesus is the real Jesus!
That Jesus is 100% man and 100% God...
That Jesus is eternal and has no beginning or end...
That Jesus is part of the Trinity, the second of three persons in one being...
That Jesus was incarnated nearly 2,000 years ago...
That Jesus lived a perfect life without sin...
That Jesus died in our place on the cross at Calvary...
That Jesus after three days days rose again physically...
That Jesus ascended into Heaven physically and is at the right hand of the Father...
And that Jesus is coming back again!
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Faith in that Jesus...
That is the kind of faith to move mulberry trees and mountains!
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So, may we never forget that our Lord and Savior voluntarily gave His life for us so that we could live with Him for all eternity...
And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in, you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and the juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand, and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider 1 Corinthians 11:24:
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In an article by David Mathis titled, “What Is the Lord’s Supper?,” he says:
“‘Do this,’ Jesus said in instituting the Supper, ‘in remembrance of me.’
However we understand the spiritual efficacy of that remembering, Jesus’s words in the Gospels, echoed by Paul, make this remembering critical to the meaning of the Supper.
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One of Christ’s aims at the Table, among others, is to keep his person and work central in the life and worship of his church.
In a world of complexity and tangents, we are prone to forget what matters most.
We are disposed to drift, to shift, to waver, to allow our spiritual feet to move to the margins and not stay planted in the center.
We all have need to rehearse the fundamentals.
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So the risen Christ designs, in the corporate habits of his church, to remind us again and again of what’s most important.
He calls us back to the center.
At the Table, we remember together the gospel, the good news at the very heart of our faith — that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, and still lives right now at God’s right hand.
Like Passover, that old-covenant memorial meal for the nation to ceremonially remember its great rescue from Egypt, so we in the new covenant have the Table — a ceremonial reminder of our own great exodus in Christ from sin and death.”
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom, will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian, will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that, we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way:
Then I beg you to give them the gift of true and saving faith...
Open their eyes to see the beauty of who You really are.
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You:
Remind us to never boast in our faith...
For our faith was a gift given to us that we did not deserve.
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
