Small Faith, Big God

I would ask you to turn back to Matthew 17 because we'll be looking at the passage there as we go through. But the passenger Mark highlights a little bit more, the experience of the father. And his interaction with Jesus. And you can think of how desperate this father would be with this child, who has some sort of physical disease. Seems like an epileptic seizure, but is also taken control of by this by the demon demon possessed. If you've heard of Hodgkin's lymphoma Thomas Hodgkin, was the physician and pathologist, who discovered, what we now call Hodgkin's lymphoma, and he wrote this about failures, and so we think of the failure of the disciples, not being able to cast out the demon, He said failure is often God's Own tool for carving, some of the finest outlines in the character of his children. And even in this life, bitter and crushing failures have often in them, the germs of new and quite unimagined happiness. Even in this life are in crushing failures, have often in them, the germs of new and quite unimagined happiness. We all face times when we have failed or we feel powerless or we actually are powerless over things, that confront us. We want to trust God yet circumstances press in on us and we have a sense that there is no hope. And there's nothing more humanly possible that we can do. How many of you have been in those situations where there's nothing more I can think to do, there's nothing more I can humanly possibly do. We tried to do God's will yet? There seems to be no holy spirit Power behind us. And so perhaps No statement spoken in the Bible is more true to our experience. Then this man's words to Jesus, I believe Lord help my unbelief. One person wrote this about how do we believe in the midst of doubts? We can relate, can't we? We somehow do and do not believe simultaneously. Our faith is often mingled with doubt, and we must rely on God, to Deliver us from our uncertainty. Even Faith itself is a gracious gift from the Lord. He plants the seed, he Waters it, and he makes it grow.

And the man, the father of the boy recognizes his need to place his complete trust in Jesus and he also confesses that he is going to require help getting there. Description of I believe Lord, help my unbelief. Do we have the picture of the painting of the Raphael painting? This is Raphael the Renaissance artist picture of the Transfiguration. Now, now, of course. Well, it seemed bigger on my computer screen, so you might have a little trouble seeing it there but notice the two halves of the painting, the upper half depicts Jesus and the disciples on the Mount of transfiguration.

And then the lower half of the painting, depicts, the disciples trying to cast a demon out of the boy, the disciples are on. I think the left side of the picture in there. You can see on the right side the father holding the boy there. Thank you. And so again, it describes our experience. We live in a world that is corrupted by sin. We live in a world where a loved one's illness. Can be debilitating. We struggle with the physical decay of our own bodies. We we live in a world that is corrupted by sin and not just physically, but I imagine people who have a wayward child who's not walking with the Lord. Or men and fathers were taken down by Temptation or adultery or family is devastated facing Finance is running out. That's very real for some people. And so, the evil ones work is not always related to physical suffering. But when we feel most powerless, that's when God wants to bring us to a greater point of trust, I think that's difficult for me because when I feel powerless then I tend to be in the in the self-pity mode and I say Lord I just want to feel better, I just want to feel confident, I just want to be more courageous or or feel like that I have some sense of control over things. And God has to remind me that. I'm asking you to trust me. More and you won't necessarily feel better all the sudden but God wants to draw Us in in prayer and teach us, what faith is it? So, both the father with the ill Son and The Disciples needed to learn greater Faith through their powerlessness and failure. I mean, it's one thing to pray for greater Faith or stronger Faith, but it's another thing to say, Lord, Teach Me Greater Faith. Teach me stronger faith. I give me stronger Faith through Powerlessness and failure one person. I said the definition of prayer is learned helplessness. Learned helplessness. I've always remembered that probably, cuz it's a short to word definition, but I think it expresses the idea of prayer that we we come to to God humbly. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be your name will recognizing that God is greater than we are. That we are to give worship to him with that. We are powerless without him. So my challenge to you today my encouragement to us is to ask the Lord, and listen for his answer today in our lives, what situation in my life am I powerless over and God, how are you calling me to Greater dependence upon you in the midst of that situation? I'll just repeat that if you want to jot it down what situation, just ask the Lord in in your mind today. What situation Lord in my life and my powerless over, or do I feel powerless over and God? How are you calling me to Greater dependence upon you? How are you asking me to pray in light of this situation where I feel powerless? So here's the main point of the message. If you want to jot it down, Genuine Faith, trust God to do. What is humanly impossible? Genuine Faith. Trust God to do. What is humanly impossible? It places. No limits on God's power. At first glance, the passage in Matthew can be kind of confusing because what does Matthew focus on in verse 19 and 20? He focuses on the disciples not on the father's response. In Matthew 17 19 and 20 it says this then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out? 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. And so Matthew is restating, an aspect of faith that Jesus talked about in, in Chapter 13, in one of his Parables. But at, at first glance, it seems kind of confusing. Why can we cast out this Demon Lord? Jesus says, because of your little faith.

And then he says, if you have faith like a grain of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you if I have little faith. I mean, a mustard seeds, pretty small. So, why is Jesus saying you have little faith? But you need Faith as small as a mustard seed.

At first glance, it seemed a little confusing.

But it was not a particular level of faith that they had, not yet reached. Otherwise Jesus would not have said, faith is small as a mustard seed. You know, I mean, if he had said, you know, you need Faith, like a like a as big as a coconut. That's what you need, you know. So in one sense, we often think of Faith as oh, you know, there's people with this high-level faith, I'm down here in the 10% to 20% range. And there's other people that have the 80% I don't think that's Jesus point. The issue was facelessness. Notice what Jesus says he really is rebuking the disciples and the father and the crowd around where he says in a verse 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? The word for faithless there, the Greek word for faith is piscis and the word for faceless is opposite. So where you put the the a.m. for the alpha in front of the the word that means without faith. So, you wasn't calling them to a certain level of Faith as if faith is on a m where it, you know, but like a gas gauge in a full empty. I mean, we we experience base that way but Jesus is identifying there's some level of unbelief there. That you have that needs to be dealt with. And so we're going to see two elements in the disciples and the father I think as well that are that are aspects of Faith. There's going to be a barrier to genuine faith and then how God wants them and us to grow in faith.

Lawrence Richards wrote. This faith is essentially a personal trusting response to God who speaks words of promise. Our God is so trustworthy. We need not hesitate to trust ourselves to him.

We read that again. Faith is essentially a personal trust in response to God, who speaks words of promise our God is so trustworthy. We need not hesitate to trust ourselves to him. Have you prayed to trust your entire self and trust your entire self to the Lord? God, who speaks words of promise? He's the promise keeper. We we saying about

our God is so trustworthy. We need not hesitate to trust ourselves to him, so we see these two elements, a barrier of their faith and how God wants them and us to grow in faith. So notice several details in verses 14 through 16. The man came up to him. Kneeling. Before him said, Lord have mercy on my son for he has seizures and he suffers terribly for. He often falls into the fire and often into the water and I brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him. So a couple things here. I think it's describing what what we would know us as some type of seizure. I remember the lifeguard training when I was working, as a lifeguard in high school you know they had these videos about how to deal with different situations and so we had to go go over somebody who, you know, had low blood sugar or something diabetic and had to deal with that situation or how to deal with someone who is having a seizure. But of course in the ancient world it was believed that was caused by demons. And so the Greek word translated seizures here, actually means Moonstruck or someone who was under the power or the control of the Moon. Now, we might think, well that's just, you know, ancient people ascribing, spiritual reasons for something physical, we know we know better. Now, we have science and all that, but notice the Demonic element. It's not just the seizure. He suffers terribly for often. He falls into the fire and often into the water. What Satan's goal to steal kill and destroy. So the Demonic part of how this boy was afflicted, was that Satan was the demon was trying to destroy him, destroy the image of God in humanity. The other thing that I think ties both the spiritual and the physical together. Is that the word healed is not usually associated with exorcism or demonic possession in verse 16 and 17. They could not heal him and then it says the boy was healed, instantly. The boy was healed. From that very hour. So my point is there's both the spiritual and the physical aspect here. And so Jesus, demonstrated his power over physical disease caused by the fact that we live in a sinful broken world and he demonstrated his power over the Demonic realm. He rebuked the demon and the demon came out of the boy and the boy was healed. So they're both the, the spiritual aspect and the physical aspect and they're not, they're not mutually exclusive.

Now it says the disciples. They were not able to cast it out. It literally says, they were not strong enough and so Jesus rebukes the disciples o faithless and twisted generation.

Now you get a picture here, I think, in Jesus words that of his loneliness, as he was going to the cross. Because he's really telling his disciples in one sense. I don't have a lot more time with you. How long am I going to be? What? I only have so much time to teach you to instruct you to, to help you, understand what faith is about. It's a y, the rebuke. Well, I think it's a rebuke because the father or the disciples were putting more trust in people than they were in Jesus.

Jesus, imagine the father Jesus, these disciples are your representative. You sent them out with authority to cast out, demons and Matthew 10:7. So there's a disconnect. Maybe this father had heard about the the stories of the disciples. Going other places in Healing The Sick. Raising the dead, casting out demons, curing the lepers.

But it was only gone who healed. It was not their power in prayer. It was God's power. Sometimes I hesitate when I when I hear people say well, but yeah, we just have to tap into the power of Prayer. Well, yes, but it's God's power through prayer. We need to ask God for his power when we pray.

It's not the prayer itself is the is the actual cause of something that happens. Is God healing through, prayer, is God healing through medicine, it's God healing through. Whatever means he decides, And so I think there's a danger here. The rebuke is, I think partly because the disciples were trusting in themselves and perhaps the man was trusting in people in the disciples more than he was in God's power. And I think that's happens to us when we become desperate, don't we? When we become desperate, and we prayed about something a long time, and we feel like God is not responding. What's what's? I am always thinking of my backup, right? What's my backup was my backup plan. Who can I talk to who, who, Who's going to? Who else is going to help me with this situation? I mean, that's, that's one of the feelings. I hate, I hate feeling like, I don't have someone to help me.

Maybe I should get Alexa or something. I don't know. I don't think that's a good idea though.

But it's tempting for us when we become desperate. Do we still trust? Do we trust in people instead of God? It's tempting to think if we're if we get the wrong end of a business deal, it's tempting to think Lord. I'm going to appeal for a remedy from the courts for this. And there may be times to do that. But we have to put our trust in God and not in people.

It's tempting to think Lord. I'm going to see a counselor for my marriage. When that may be a good thing, but it's, but if it's tempting, when we put our trust, completely in that and not in God himself, Or Lord. I'm going to seek Acceptance in these friendships. And friendships are good things. but sometimes we put too much trust. In friendships or were seeking to get from friendships, what we can really only receive from God. That's one, Definition of idolatry is when a good thing, becomes an ultimate thing, it becomes an idol.

Our hearts can become divided so that we are functionally trusting another people and not genuinely trust in God and his power to deal with our situation. Now God does call us to walk alongside one. Another God does call us to pray for one another confess your sins to one another and part of the strength of that is that we are strengthened in our faith. When we have, we know that we have people that we are doing that with, right?

But ultimately, our trust is in the Lord.

The other barrier to Faith here is, I think just a father's situation with his son, the circumstances are so negative that we begin to doubt God's ability.

Can it can you do anything to help us? The father had a sense that Jesus could do something. And so he says in March after 9 if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us and Jesus replied if you can All things are possible to him, who believes. So the issue is not what the man is able to do. The issue. Is what Jesus is able to do. Amen.

And I was thinking about this, I just realized, you know, sometimes as Christians we get exasperated and we say, well, all we can do now is pray.

As if everything that we've done before is the really important stuff. And then at the end here, we say, all we can do is pray. in one sense, I mean, prayer is the work that God wants us to do But it's as if we are saying we did the things that we could do, which we thought would really work. And now we're going to pray.

God brings us to deeper trust in him only, when we confess our own inability and recognize his Supernatural power, just give you a cross reference here, Hebrews 11:6. What is Faith. Thankfully, the Bible gives us a good definition right here. Hebrews 11 chapter 6 11:6. Ended 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, And 11:1. Now Faith is the Assurance of things hoped for the conviction of Things Not Seen.

By faith, we understand that the Universe was created by the word of God. So that what is seen was not made out of the things that are visible. And again, verse 6 without faith, is it? It is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to, God must believe that he exists and that he rewards, those who seek him,

God brings us to deeper trust when we recognize our inability to solve something.

I remember meeting a woman who worked at a bank and she had gone through cancer treatments and so I think I think she had one of the scarves on her head and she said well my hair starting to grow back but I found out that the cancer was back and I'm going to have to go through more treatments. And she was facing doubts. The circumstances are so negative that we begin to doubt God's ability.

But what God wants from us in those moments is the face to plead to Jesus for help recognizing our inability and weakness and asking for deeper dependence upon God.

I think there's a distinction there, sometimes we think having more faith means trusting that God is going to work out the situation according to what we've projected But having more faith drawing nearer to God, maybe we need to pray. God, help me to trust you more with this situation, which I don't know, will change one way or the other, it may change for the better may change for the worse. So, having more faith isn't necessarily trusting that a particular result is going to happen having more faith. It means asking, God, help me to trust you more completely and depend upon you.

Thinking about circumstances that are so negative. We begin to doubt God's ability. Some of you may have heard of the Theologian. BB Warfield, who taught at Princeton seminary for for a long time. And I just learned this this past week that his wife when they were, I think fairly young and their marriage, they took a trip to Europe and they were skiing at a ski resort and she suffered a spinal injury and was homebound the rest of her life. And so, he committed to never traveling more than two hours away. From, from his home in Princeton, And then for the next, I think thirty-some years 39 years later she died.

And here's a man who wrote. Wonderful things about the sovereignty in the Providence of God.

A barrier to our faith. Genuine faith. Is that when the circumstances become more, and more negative, we doubt God's ability. God wants us to confess our doubts. Amen.

Sometimes we have to say, good Lord, I confess that I have only focused on what is humanly possible and not on what you can do. So is the reward getting what we ask for in prayer not necessarily the reward is knowing Christ amen the reward is knowing Christ more deeply when we gain strength in God, so I'm 43 before then I will go to the altar of God to God, my exceeding Joy.

It's a news, flash, brothers and sisters. I have to remind myself this all the time. There is never a point in our lives. When we don't need to rely on God, on a daily basis.

Look at the disciples question. Why could we not cast it out? I think there's an element here where they were placing their trust maybe in their previous experience, maybe in their previous experience of Jesus. Sending them out in chapter 10 and they had, they had had victory.

Make him come back to Jesus and they say, Lord this is amazing. Even the demons obey us.

Will Jesus answer here is you affect you have ineffectual faith?

there's a barrier to Faith in a basic level, not just in your thinking, but in your trusting

Impalas. The animals, the Impalas of kind of, kind of like an antelope so. Well, someone probably correct me on that. But Impalas in Africa, I know people hunt them and I remember having an Impala when I was a kid, Chevy Impala, not the animal, the Impala, but, you know, it doesn't Chevy Impala had the the logo with the Impala logo on it. Apparently, they can jump 30 feet. But yet, they can be contained in an enclosure with only a 3 foot high fence.

Because they will not jump over there. They will not jump because they cannot see where their feet will land. It's a psychological instinctual physiological. Excuse me, physiological. Instinctual barrier. And so for the disciples, it may have been they were trusting their previous experience. It may have been a formulaic prayer or words that they had spoken before thinking oh well this is going to this is going to cast out the demons. But Jesus, rebukes them because it was a faith issue. He was asking them for further. Dependence upon God, they had to realize that God's power was not at their disposal. It was not a technique technique that they could just formulate and receive results.

So then we wonder these questions. What do I pray? In order to release God's power.

and of course, in in, in Mark, in the account of March, Jesus says, will this kind can only be driven out by prayer?

And then, of course, my mind goes, okay, well, tell me what the prayer is but Jesus is calling for trust. He's calling for complete trust upon Him. Upon God.

What exactly do I pray? How do I know when I've prayed enough? Those are questions that we ask, aren't they?

What about us? What have you grown tired of praying for or what do you find it hard to pray about? What situation perhaps have you given up praying about?

Genuine Faith recognizes that prayer is not a technique subject to our own power, but a continual dependence on God's person and God's power. Notice he didn't give them and us he didn't Jesus didn't give them the secret key to prayer that unlocks God's power. May we have the Lord's Prayer, what we know as the Lord's Prayer. But in this situation,

He says 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. Now, Jesus is allowed to use metaphors. So you know, sometimes we need to think, we need to take the Bible, so literally that it's that it's that it's static. but what he saying is, there's an issue with the genuineness of your face at this point.

Genuine Faith does not put limits on God's power. Genuine Faith. Trust God. To do what is humanly impossible.

What does he mean by moving mountains? Well, that's related to God's Will and doing his kingdom work.

We have small Faith but we have a big God. Amen. Let's go to him and remember that we can depend upon him because he is the promise keeper. He is our savior, he is our Shepherd. He is our King.

Let's pray together.

heavenly father, I admit that sometimes it's difficult to pray and I sometimes I avoid prayer because it's, it's It's hard. Sometimes to struggle in prayer. When we, we give all of our emotions and all of our doubts all over confusions to you. It's sometimes it's hard to to voice that even by ourselves.

And so we pray today Lord that you would give us genuine faith. Genuine faith that trust you with everything in our lives and entrust ourselves. Even our very selves to you

We pray. Lord that your Holy Spirit. would feel us and would come upon us and this community,

In a way that would increase our dependence upon you increase our confidence in you.

Where we have doubts, Lord. May we confess them where we have worries anxieties, where we have confusion? May, we admit all that to you. And say, Lord, I believe help my unbelief.

I know that you are powerful over this circumstance, Lord. And I entrust it to you.

May our prayers Lord be, according to your will. And may, we may our faith be strengthened. As we see, your will be worked out in our lives. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.