What is the State of Your Faith?

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Mt. 17:14-27

Introduction: (What?)

As we grow increasingly close to the second coming of Jesus, the enemy is going to ramp up his activity here on earth. Our faith will be sorely tested in many ways. Just as the president of the US presents an annual “State of the Union” message we need to examine our faith at least annually if not more often. Paul warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that the closer we get to the end times the more active the enemy of our souls would become. Now is time to take inventory.

Examination: (Why?)

1. When the cat is away…(Mt. 17:14-21)

You have heard the old adage, “When the cat is away, the mice come out to play.” While Jesus was on the Mt. of Transfiguration, the devil played with the 9 disciples who remained with the crowd.

Mt 17:14-21 “When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed. Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” “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.” As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.’ And they were deeply distressed.”

While Jesus, Peter, James, and John were away, the remaining disciples were confronted by a situation that sorely tested their faith. Back in Mt 10:8 they had been commissioned to handle such a situation. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” So…what happened? Somewhere between the time of their commissioning and this encounter, their faith had become depleted and misplaced. The thing that we must be aware of is that faith is like a muscle. It grows stronger when exercised and atrophies when left dormant. Our faith, even as small as a mustard seed, is enough to carry out the ministry God has given us as believers IF it is kept fit through use. Although we are not told, it seems obvious that the faith of the 9 disciples had atrophied to the point that they were unable to heal the boy. They trusted their former experiences rather than God. Faith does not mean that we can presume on God to do our bidding. Faith means that we find out from God what He wants done and then go do it in faith that He will bring it to pass. John McArthur stated in his Study Bible that “True faith, by Christ’s definition, always involves surrender to the will of God.”

Years ago I heard the story of a missionary who became became severely ill to the point of death. Local doctors had given up. Someone at the mission knew of a “prayer woman” in the village who was known for answered prayer. They asked her to come and pray for the missionary. When she entered the room instead of going to the bedside of the missionary, she went across to the opposite side of the room and knelt in silent prayer. After awhile she rose and moved to the bedside and knelt and prayed for the man to be healed. In a matter of hours he was up and around; healed. Someone asked her why she first prayed silently across the room before praying for healing of the man. She replied, “There are different types of sicknesses. One is a sickness unto death, for that we should not pray. Another is a sickness for the glory of God, for that we can pray. I needed to know what type of sickness this was.”

When we know God’s will we can pray confidently and expect Him to answer. John put it this way in 1 John 5:14-15

“This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.”

2. The Core of the Gospel (vv 22-23; 1 Cor. 15:3-7)

Mt 17:22-23 “As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.”

In chapter 16 when Jesus first mentioned His impending death, Peter had quickly rebuked Him saying, “Not on my watch!”

The central core of the gospel is the betrayal, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Any presentation of the gospel that does not include these aspects is incomplete. Paul explained the gospel in 1 Cor 15:3-7

“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”

Jesus had mentioned His coming death in Matt 16:21 “From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”

This time He added the fact that He would be betrayed. The disciples were grieved to hear again Jesus predicting His own demise, but after Peter’s experience a little while earlier, they were not about to rebuke Jesus.

What Peter and the other disciples had to learn and we also must learn is that we must have a complete concept of Messiah, not one that makes us comfortable. We must also have a complete concept of salvation and its aftermath. Life after salvation always becomes more difficult, but with the difficulty comes the peace and assurance that, as Paul wrote in 1 Cor 2:9 “But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him.”

3. How to relate to the State (vv 24-27)

Mt 17:24-27 “When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?” “From strangers,” he said. “Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.””

The key phrase in this passage is “so we don’t offend them”. Jesus, as God’s Son, was not subject to the religious authorities who collected the annual temple tax. However, He voluntarily complied rather than to raise a “stink”. Paul must have had this in mind when he wrote in Rom 13:1-7 “Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience. And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s servants, continually attending to these tasks. Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.”

Although the temple tax was a religious tax, the principle applies to civil taxes as well. Some hills are not worth dying on. For example, you can’t expect an unregenerate person to buy the scriptural reason for a “pro-life” stance. Arguing will not change their minds. Only rebirth will bring this about. Don’t wreak your relationship with someone over this issue, rather pray for them and seek every opportunity to expose them to the gospel.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Your primary need is complete surrender to Jesus. If you’ve never done that, nothing else is important.

Your faith will be tested. However, if your faith is based on God’s Word, you can confidently move forward expecting God to work through you.

Focus your energy on fulfilling God’s commands and on staying connected to Him through study of His Word and prayer.