Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed

Good morning beloved! I want to start out a little differently this morning. Is everybody with me this morning? Last week, Pastor Paul spoke about faith. We are going to continue talking about faith this morning. Here is how I want us to start.

God wants to hear the faith of His people. Part of faith is being able to boldly proclaim what we know is true! Boldly say with me, in unison, and unashamed, these words of truth:

I AM A CHILD OF GOD! I AM WORTHY, I AM LOVED, AND THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST JESUS I AM SANCTIFIED. I AM REDEEMED!

That my brothers and sisters is His absolute Truth and promise given to you this morning! Do you believe Him this morning? I do!

Pastor Paul brought up “faith the size of a mustard seed” last week. I love mustard! Especially the good kind that has the little seeds in it! We are going to look a little deeper this morning. Let’s look at the Biblical definition of faith.

FAITH—Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

The Greek word for “faith” is pistis. It means pledge or proof. Our faith in God is not baseless. God reveals Himself all the time, to the believer and to the non-believer! For thousands of years, God has shown Himself in Jesus Christ, in nature, and in those who follow Him.

As believers, our trust is in our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ABSOLUTE Truth! God’s Word is the Truth! Holy Spirit speaks only Truth. Do you believe that this morning? AMEN!

Our faith is based on Kingdom life. We must be careful about making everything about this world. Jesus was always pointing to kingdom life. Our measure of faith does not dictate the mountains, valleys, or problems that we encounter. When we remain obedient in our faith, God will supply for our needs according to His good will.

The writer of Hebrews is telling us that our faith is determined by our hope and trust in God’s promises.

⇒ Faith is trusting and possessing all that God is and says.

⇒ Faith is believing and possessing all that God is and says.

⇒ Faith is having confidence in and possessing all that God is and says.

⇒ Faith is hoping for something and possessing it because God is (exists) and has promised it.

My faith, your faith has already shown us the reality of Jesus Christ. We may not be able to see the Kingdom of heaven at this moment, but we certainly see the evidence of His mighty works and the results of Kingdom living because of our faith!

We see the evidence all around us! The changed lives because of Him. Jesus has given us ringside seats to witness the evidence of His power, simply look around this room. Praise GOD!

Most of you do not know that I am an avid photographer. I took this amazing picture not to long ago.

Can you all see that? Isn't that beautiful! Maybe we should have a closer look.

That my brothers and sisters is a mustard seed. Such a small insignificant looking thing, yet worthy of Christ to mention several times throughout scripture.

Matthew 17:20 NLT

20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Moving a mountain is proverbial in Jewish literature for doing what is virtually impossible.

The mustard seed was the smallest seed known of in the region. When Jesus was comparing the Apostles faith to a mustard seed, he was saying that they did not effective faith. That their faith was smaller than a mustard seed.

See, it appears that in this instance, the Apostles went in to cast a demon out of a boy. The father of the child was interceding for the boy, but the Apostles approached with an already defeated mind set. “WE ARE GOING TO CAST THIS DEMON OUT! maybe.”

They did not believe they could do it in the name of Jesus, so they failed. For our faith to be effective, we must believe what we are saying and we must live what we are claiming. Faith and Truth become synonomous with one another. Faith in Him and His Truth drive our motives, our thoughts, our hearts, and our lives. They become part of who we are.

Now, I want to hit on this. Does this mean that when our prayers do not produce the results that we desire that we lack faith? NO! Let us not confuse the the two. Prayer is communing with Abba Daddy. Sharing with Him, thanking Him. Faith is what brings us into His courts, into the inner sanctum, to His throne. Faith is knowing that we will one day be with Him. God is not a Genie in a bottle or a magician meant to amuse us. Remember, God owes you nothing, yet God gave you everything.

When my dad died of pancreatic cancer, It was awful. I prayed, Carolyn prayed, but the cancer did not go away. I was holding his hand when he died. I remember asking: “Why LORD?” “Why did you not answer my prayer the way I wanted?” “I believe. I have faith, look at what I do for you!”

God revealed a hard lesson to me during that time. Something we already know, yet refuse to realize at times. We are going to suffer, we are going to hurt, we are going to die physically. We are, in this flesh, subject to the same afflictions of everybody else. Is our faith in ourselves, this world, or is it in Him. It is not the brevity of life nor the longevity of life, but rather the faith that we carry in this life.

That faith is what gives us the hope of the glory to come! Knowing Him, and Trusting Him! After realizing this, I recall saying to God “LORD, if the summation of my life is bringing just one person closer to you, thank you for allowing me the honor and the privilege of serving you in this life.”

Within days of my dad passing, I prayed for God to reveal himself in this situation. Something strange happened. Carolyn can testify to this. I, for no reason apparent to me, started thinking about a family member who was struggling terribly with getting pregnant. I started praying “LORD, Daddy, please, in the midst of this hurt, show me your goodness! Bless this man and woman with a child.” Wouldn't you know it, He did.

For those who have met my nephew Jimmy, his parents call Him their miracle baby. The kid is like a prodigy, amazing. A true blessing to us. Did my prayers to Abba play a part in this? I like to think so.

The point being that the answer to our prayers will not always be “yes,” but those prayers are heard. God is not complacent, and he loves you. What we call “answered prayers” are not indicative of our measure of faith. We have to ask ourselves: “Do my prayers align with the will of God?”

A lot of my prayers in life were worldly, selfish, and self-centered. Like so many who would admit, I have prayed for God to take me home. Can you imagine the chaos if God granted every request that we have laid at His feet. It would be absolute madness! Think about some of your own prayers throughout your life. Aren’t you glad some one of those prayers did not come to fruition!

So the question of faith is “Do we trust God.” We have to pay attention. Faith cast aside and unused does nothing. I promise that if you took the time to make a list of the blessings that have occured in your life as a believer, that list of blessings would blow your mind. We tend to focus on what we feel is the bad occurence all the while ignoring the blessings being poured out on us. I want to show you something else.

Here is that mustard seed again. Jesus did not intend for us to make this the end result. He never said “STOP with faith smaller than the size of a mustard seed.”

This picture is the product of a mustard seed in Palestine. A mustard seed when planted and nurtured will overtake every other plant in the garden. A faith that focuses on the truth of Jesus Christ will do the same thing. Faith in Christ is meant to take over every aspect of our lives. When we grow that faith, faith increases and opens our eyes to the Truth of God. Amen?

Prayer/Alter Call