I Believe, Help My Unbelief

Mark 9:23–24; James 2:14–24; Luke 7:18-30 ; Luke 12:16–21; John 15:11-17

Mark 9:23–24 NASB95

And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

How Do You Believe?

Your belief System stems from your Faith.

What does Faith mean to you?

If Faith is a desire

then your faith is like recreational gambling - you dream about what you would do if you win the jackpot, and you wager a very small amount of your resources on the off chance you actually do win.

If Faith is an entitlement

then your faith is like a gambling addiction - you are so convinced you will win the jackpot, you are willing to sacrifice everything, despite every evidence to the contrary.

If Faith is a promise

then your faith has nothing to do with what you do, but lays solely in the hands of the one making the promise - if you truly believe, your actions are preparatory, as you invest your time and resources to receive what has been guaranteed.

If Your parents told you they were taking you to Disneyland tomorrow, would you pack tonight?

James 2:14–24 NASB95

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Faith is not merely hoping something is going to happen, faith requires an action.

Luke 12:16–21 NASB95

And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

How does your faith line up when dealing with God’s promises and desires?

We don’t have a problem with faith when dealing with our own desires…even when they are contrary to God’s Will in our lives.

Who Do You Believe?

Luke 7:18–30 NASB95

The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’ ” At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. (29-30)

Do your actions follow your own desires?

Faith in Man

Do your actions follow God’s Desire for you?

Faith in God

But you say, I need more faith!

Luke 17:1–10 NASB95

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? “But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? “He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’ ”

” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ” (5-6)

Live What You Believe

John 15:11–17 NASB95

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command you. “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. “This I command you, that you love one another.

If we call ourselves Christians, then we must first do what God has asked us to do. Faith must be lived out in us, in all we say and do. But what is it we are called to do?

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full… This I command you, that you love one another." (11, 17)

But what if I mess up?

You are an imperfect and fallen soul in an imperfect and fallen world. Failing God is our nature.

The very fact you are aware of your failings shows how God is working in you and through you.

Our weaknesses and failings are evidence of how much we need God. Being aware of our weaknesses and failings should provoke us to seek God more.

James 4:13–16 NASB95

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.