Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 17, verses 14 to 23.
If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.
We'd love to give you a copy of it.
We're in Matthew chapter 17, verses 14 to 23.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Oh, Lord God.
Lord, how can it be that sinners like us have something to gain from the blood of our Savior?
How can it be that though all our righteousness is woefully inadequate,
that you have made a way for us to be saved by your grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone?
Lord, affirm and establish us in that glorious faith.
Fix our eyes on your Son, Jesus Christ, this morning.
Lord, we need more of Him, more of you.
Speak to us, God, in your word. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Please stand, if you are able, to honor God as I read from His word.
Matthew 17, verses 14 to 23.
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to Him and kneeling before Him 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.
And I brought him to your disciples and they could not heal him.
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.
And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him.
And the boy was healed instantly.
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 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.
As they were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.
And they will kill him.
And he will be raised on the third day.
And they were greatly distressed.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Please be seated.
Faith is a word that we use often.
As Christians.
But we rarely define it.
However, it is critical that we understand what faith is.
Because Romans 5.1 says,
We are justified by faith.
That's what Connor was just talking about.
It is by faith that we are declared righteous before God.
In other words, there is no salvation apart from faith.
Hebrews 11.6 also says,
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
It is not merely hard to please God apart from faith.
It is impossible to please God.
So faith is absolutely essential.
Faith features prominently in Jesus' ministry that we've seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew.
Jesus heals the Gentile centurion's paralyzed servant in response to his faith.
Saying,
Truly I tell you,
With no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Go, let it be done for you as you have believed.
When friends brought a paralytic to Jesus for healing,
It says in Matthew 9.2 that Jesus saw their faith.
And that's why he healed him.
Jesus also tells the woman who had the chronic discharge of blood in Matthew 9.22,
Take heart, daughter.
Your faith has made you well.
He heals the two blind men in Matthew 9.29 according to their faith.
Similarly, Jesus heals the demonized daughter of a Canaanite woman that we saw in Matthew 15.28 saying,
Oh woman, great is your faith.
Let it be done for you as you desire.
This is the consistent pattern in Jesus' ministry.
To work miracles, to help, to heal in accordance with people's faith.
Which is why in his hometown of Nazareth, where people did not have faith,
He says in Matthew 13.58,
He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Their lack of faith.
But why does Jesus care so much about faith?
Why does he emphasize faith so much?
And our passage this morning answers that important question.
Jesus teaches us what the nature of faith is,
and why God prizes it,
and why God has chosen to save us through faith.
And the main point of my sermon this morning is this,
Dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but holy trust in Jesus' name.
That's what we were singing earlier.
I take that main point from the 19th century hymn,
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.
It means don't put your trust in your favorable circumstances.
Don't put your trust in your frame of mind,
how you're feeling, how you think you're doing,
how you think you're making progress before God.
No, put your faith solely, wholly in Jesus Christ.
In his name.
I'm going to first talk about what little faith is,
and then I'll secondly talk about what faith like a mustard seed is.
Remember where we are in the narrative in the Gospel of Matthew?
We were just on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Peter, James, and John went up and beheld the glory,
the divine glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
unveiled for a period of time.
And now they have come down from that mountain.
The nine other disciples that Jesus didn't take up along with him,
who were left behind,
have apparently been redeeming their time
by ministering to people while Jesus was away.
And so in this passage, they reconvene.
It says in verse 14,
This story is also recounted in Mark chapter 9 and Luke chapter 9.
This man's son is afflicted with uncontrollable seizures.
The other Gospel writers note in more detail that he falls down.
He rolls about on the ground, and he foams at the mouth.
And the boy's father notes that he's been doing this,
this kid from childhood.
The Greek word here for having seizures
is a word that literally means moonstruck.
The Greeks believe that this kind of epileptic symptoms
came from being struck by the goddess of the moon, Selene.
We have an English word for that.
We call it lunatic,
which comes from the Latin word for moon, luna.
It means you're struck by the moon.
For thousands of years,
many ancient cultures held that epilepsy
was caused by spirit or a god associated with the moon.
Ancient Mesopotamians termed epilepsy
the hand of sin, attributing it to a spirit.
Modern-day neurologists, of course, deny this.
They tell us that epilepsy is not caused by evil spirits,
whether it's caused by disruptions
in the brain's electrical activity.
For example, it can be caused by traumatic brain injuries
or from tumor growth in the brain.
However, we should not be too quick
in our own chronological snobbery
to dismiss all the ancients.
According to a 2020 article from the journal
Neuroepidemiology,
50% of epilepsy diagnoses have no identifiable cause.
50%.
And this research only concerns high-income countries
where they have access to thorough checkups
and medical diagnoses.
Could it be that some of these epilepsies
are not actually epilepsy at all,
but demonization?
Evil spirits attacking people?
I think so.
In this case, the boy's epileptic symptoms
are not caused by disruptions
in the brain's electrical activity,
but by an evil spirit.
And you can see the demon's malice
in what he does to this boy.
In verse 15, it says,
for often he falls into the fire
and often into the water.
The evil one comes only to steal
and to kill and to destroy,
and that is exactly what this minion of Satan
is trying to do.
He's trying to kill and destroy the boy.
The desperate father says in verse 16,
and I brought him to your disciples,
and they could not heal him.
No doubt the man was originally seeking Jesus,
but Jesus is up on the mountain
being transfigured.
So the next best bet is,
okay, well, you guys are his followers.
You're learning from him.
You're his students.
You're his disciples.
Maybe you can help me.
And they have tried their hand in exorcism,
but embarrassingly,
they could not heal the boy.
This should be surprising to us
because in chapter 10, verse 1,
Jesus explicitly and literally
gave them authority over unclean spirits,
it says,
to cast them out
and to heal every disease
and every affliction.
We know from Mark 6, verse 13,
that by the time of the transfiguration,
they had already been doing this.
They had already been casting out demons.
It says that they cast out many demons,
anointed with oil,
many who were sick and healed them.
In Luke 10, 17,
they returned with joy to Jesus,
saying,
Lord, even the demons
are subject to us in your name.
So they were already experienced exorcists.
They've had plenty of real-life,
hands-on opportunities
to witness the power of Jesus' name.
So it's actually surprising
that they weren't able
to cast out this demon.
And we learn later in verse 19
that the disciples themselves
were puzzled by their inability
to cast out the demon.
This report of his disciples' failure
stirs up in Jesus
a passionate lament in verse 17.
Oh, 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.
There's something about this generation,
Jesus says,
that is twisted,
like into a knot.
Something is off about it.
It's not the way it's supposed to be.
It's not straight.
It's twisted and askew.
And this generation is faithless.
If even his disciples,
to whom it has been given
to know the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven,
as Jesus said in Matthew 13, 11,
if they can't even cast out this demon,
if that's where their faith is,
the rest of this generation,
what can you say about them?
They are faithless and twisted.
How long am I to be with you?
How long am I to bear with you?
Bring the boy to me, Jesus says.
And when the boy is brought to Jesus,
exactly what we expect happens.
There's no spectacular, dramatic showdown
between this extra powerful demon
that the disciples could not cast out
versus Jesus.
There's no buildup in the narrative.
There's no climax.
Matthew's narrative is intentionally simple
and unadorned in verse 18.
And Jesus rebuked the demon.
And he came out of him.
And the boy was healed instantly.
What gives?
The sheepish disciples are too embarrassed
to ask in public,
why couldn't we drive out the demon?
They don't want to be embarrassed
by what Jesus might say.
So they ask Jesus privately,
why could we not cast it out?
And then Jesus' answer in verse 20
is simple but profound,
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.
If you have an eye for this kind of detail,
you may have noticed
that there is no verse 21 in this chapter.
It goes from verse 20 to verse 22.
That's not a typo.
It's not because someone didn't know how to count.
And it's definitely not a sinister conspiracy
to hide something from us,
like some people are prone to think.
It's simply because when the verse numbers
were added to the Bible in 1555,
verse 21 was in there.
It was included.
However, later,
as more ancient manuscripts
of the original text were discovered,
scholars figured out
that the best and most ancient
original manuscripts
of the Greek New Testament
did not include verse 21.
It was likely a later scribal addition
to bring it into harmony
with the Gospel of Mark.
This is why the modern translators
struck the verse,
and then once you strike the verse,
you can't slide up
all the other verse numbers
because then hundreds of years
of people dealing with these verses
and these schemes
and memorizing the Bible,
if you memorize any verses
in the Bible after this,
now you have your references wrong
by one verse.
You can't do that,
so they just struck the verse
so that it doesn't mess up
our usage of it.
But even if the verse were included,
it wouldn't change much.
You might have a footnote
at the end of verse 20,
if you have certain Bibles
that have that,
and that tells you exactly
what the missing verse was.
It says,
but this kind never comes out
except by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9, 29 does include that verse,
and that's in the original manuscript.
It says,
this kind cannot be driven out
by anything but prayer.
So Jesus said that in this occasion,
but Matthew doesn't include it
because for him,
Jesus' diagnosis,
because of your little faith,
is sufficient explanation.
It is already inclusive of that.
Yes,
Jesus has given authority
to the disciples
to cast out demons,
but they must always remember
that this power
does not reside in themselves
or in their methods
or techniques,
but in Jesus alone.
They must draw
from the power of Jesus
through faith.
Faith is the only instrument
by which one can draw on
and exercise the authority
and the power of Jesus,
but they lacked it.
They had little faith,
and so there was little prayer
or none at all.
Why is faith the key?
Faith is one of the foundational
Christian virtues.
1 Corinthians 13, 13 says,
So now faith, hope, and love
abide these three,
but the greatest of these is love.
Paul says love is the greatest
of the three
because love is what lasts forever.
Faith and hope only last
in this lifetime
because they are characteristic
of this present age
before the consummation
of the kingdom of God.
Hebrews 11, 1 offers
a helpful definition.
Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for,
the conviction of things
not seen.
That's the ESV.
The reason why we need faith
in this life
is because we do not yet
see the invisible
spiritual reality,
so we have to walk by faith
and not by sight.
But soon will come a day
when we will see God
face to face,
at which point
we will no longer need
any faith
because our faith
will have turned to sight.
Faith is not a weak,
tentative thing.
It is assurance
and conviction,
it says in Hebrews 11, 1.
Paul uses those strong words
for a reason.
In fact,
the original in the Greek
is even stronger,
and I think I have
the King James Version
to project for you
which captures it well.
It says,
Now faith
is the substance
of things hoped for,
the evidence
of things not seen.
How in the world
is faith
the substance
of things hoped for
and the evidence
of things not seen.
Faith, Paul says,
is not something
that needs evidence
and proof.
Paul says,
No, faith is the proof.
Faith is the evidence.
It is the substance.
How?
Faith is worlds apart
from wishful thinking.
Wishful thinking
is fanciful.
Faith is solid
and substantive.
Wishful thinking
is grounded in fantasy.
Faith is grounded
in reality
because it is grounded
in the certain,
unchangeable,
objective reality
of God
and His promises.
When we walk by faith,
eternal,
heavenly realities
invade our present
earthly perspectives
and priorities.
Heavenly,
when we walk by faith,
heavenly power
invades
our earthly weakness.
And to convey this,
Paul picked
the most solid words
that he can think of
to define faith.
It is the substance
of things hoped for.
The evidence
of things not seen.
This is why Augustine,
the fourth century
Christian pastor,
describes faith this way.
Faith is to believe
what you do not see.
The reward of this faith
is to see
what you believe.
Faith is the evidence
of things not seen.
This is why Hebrews 11, 6
says, as I said earlier,
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.
The object of faith
is God
and when we walk
by faith,
we live as if
this all-knowing
and all-powerful,
everywhere-present God
really exists
and that His promises
are really true
and that He will
really reward us
for our faithfulness
to Him.
That's faith.
The disciples
did not try
to cast out the demon
with this kind of faith.
Instead,
they had little faith.
This is now
the fifth
and final time
that Jesus rebukes
His disciples
for their little faith.
Let's do a brief survey.
In Matthew 6, 30,
Jesus said,
you worry about
what you will eat
and drink.
Will not God
who feeds the birds
of the air
and clothes the grass
of the field
not take care of you,
you of little faith?
Matthew 8, 26,
why are you afraid?
This is when
they are in turbulencies.
They are rowing
and going on their boats
and then Jesus rebukes
the wind and the sea
so there's a great comment.
He says to them
before that,
why are you afraid,
oh you,
of little faith?
Matthew 14, 30 to 31,
Peter asks Jesus,
let me walk on water
because Jesus just came to him
walking on water
and Jesus says,
come,
and then Peter starts
walking on water
but he says,
as soon as he saw
the wind,
wind churning up
the waters,
he becomes fearful
and is filled with doubt
and then he begins
to sink
and then Jesus says
to him,
oh you,
of little faith,
why did you doubt?
And then finally
in chapter 16,
verse 8,
which we saw recently,
when they forgot
to bring bread,
they're worried
that they're going
to go hungry
and then Jesus
tells them,
why are you discussing
among yourselves
the fact that you
have no bread,
oh you,
of little faith?
All of these situations
have in common
something
and there is
that they do
have some faith
but it is not
full faith.
There's something
else besides God
that they are
depending on.
They're not coming
to God empty handed,
they're coming
with something else
in their hands.
When there's
plenty of food
to eat,
plenty of bread
packed in their
knapsacks,
they have full trust
that God's going
to provide for them
and feed them.
Oh yes,
our heavenly father
provides for us.
Look right here,
look,
I got some bread
right in my bag.
But when they have
no bread,
now that faith
falters.
Oh,
why?
Because they didn't
come,
their faith wasn't
fully on God
in the first place,
their faith was
in God and
my preparedness
in industry,
the bread that I
brought on with me.
As they're going
on the water,
their waters
churned up
by the winds.
When the waters
come and the sun
is shining and
full faith in God.
Yes,
God is our
navigator,
God is our
lodestar,
he guides us,
he protects us
and he will bring
us to our final
destination.
Full faith in God.
But as soon as
the storm
comes up
and the wind
blows and he
sees the water,
the Peter,
that faith
falters because
that faith
was not
fully on God
alone in the
first place
because it
was on God
and
calm weather.
Favorable
circumstances.
In what areas
of your life
do you have
little faith?
faith?
What are the
sweetest frames
of your life
that you are
putting your
trust in
rather than
in Jesus
Christ?
Your
intelligence?
your
financial
portfolio?
Your
savings account?
Your
resume?
Your
connections?
Your
diligence?
And
discipline?
I trust you
God and I
trust these
things that I
have.
Let's think
for a minute
about what
this might
have looked
like for the
disciples that
are trying to
cast out the
demon.
I cast you
out in the
name of
Jesus.
Leave this
boy.
Nothing
happens.
Maybe
he didn't
hear me.
A little bit
louder.
I cast you
out in the
name of
Jesus.
Leave.
Nothing
happens.
Oh wait,
that's right.
That's right.
I should lay
hands on the
boy.
I cast you
out in the
name of
Jesus.
Leave.
Nothing
happens.
Wait,
what's going
on?
Oh wait,
that one
time Jesus
cast out
the demon
legion.
Remember,
Jesus asked
them for
the name
first.
You're
going to
get the
name of
the demon.
Okay,
what's your
name,
demon?
Your name,
demon,
whatever it is,
I cast you
out in the
name of
Jesus.
Nothing
happens.
He says
that they
had some
experience
healing with
using oils.
Maybe they're
using oils.
You know
that some
denominations,
Christian
denominations
nowadays use
that for
exorcism.
Oils and
exorcised
salts.
Spread it
out and
apply oil.
Maybe it's
the oil.
Let's
apply some
oil on
this boy.
I cast you
out in the
name of
Jesus.
Leave.
Nothing
happens.
At some
point between
when Jesus
gave them
the authority
to do
this in
Matthew 10
and now
when they
failed to
exorcist,
cast out
this demon,
the object
of their
trust has
shifted
from God
alone to
these other
things.
They're no
longer coming
to God
with empty
hands.
I have
nothing.
It is all
in your
power to
do this.
They come
with something
else.
Trust in
God and
this.
I'm a little
experienced
now.
I've done
this before.
I've got my
methods now.
I've got my
techniques now.
I bring these
along with me
and it doesn't
work.
It doesn't
work.
Because that's
the point.
Faith is the
empty work.
Faith is the
one method,
one way,
the means
by which God
works powerful
things and we
get no credit
at all and all
credit and glory
belongs to him.
That's the only
way.
That's why God
moves like that.
This is why
whenever people
present techniques
or strategies
were proposed
to me some
foolproof way
of growing
your church
and having
success in
Christian ministry
and making
sure people
are converted,
I have this
kind of
instinctual
allergic reaction.
Probably to
a fault.
In his book,
David and
Goliath,
Underdogs,
Misfits,
and the Art
of Battling
Giants,
Malcolm Gladwell
writes a
revisionist
account of
the David and
Goliath
story.
He argues
that David
was actually
not the
underdog in
the fight.
He argues
that David
had the
advantage
because he
was using
superior,
unconventional,
high-speed
projectile
technology
against a
slow,
heavy
infantryman.
But I
assure you
that if
David had
entered that
battlefield against
Goliath with
that mindset,
with his
faith,
not in
the living
God,
but in
his
superior
sling
technology,
he would
have been
speared to
death,
and we
would have
never heard
of him
again.
What does
David say
to the
Philistine
Goliath in
1 Samuel 17,
45,
46?
You come
to me with
heavy sword
and javelin
and spear,
but I
come to you
with advanced
high-speed
projectile
technology.
no,
of course
not,
that's not
what he
says.
David says,
you come
to me with
the sword
and with
the spear
and with
the javelin,
but I
come to
you in
the name
of the
Lord of
hosts,
the God
of the
armies of
Israel,
whom you
have defied
this day,
the Lord
will deliver
you into
my hand.
David defeated
Goliath because
of his faith
in God,
not because
of his faith
in himself
or his
weapons.
And whenever
we have
the Lord
of hosts,
Almighty
God,
on our
side,
I don't
care what
the odds
makers say.
I like
our chances.
Psalm 20,
verse 7,
says,
some trust
in chariots
and some
in horses,
but we
trust in
the name
of the
Lord,
our
God.
This
doesn't
mean
that the
Israelites
never used
chariots
and horses.
They did.
But they
must never
trust in
chariots
and horses
in the
place of
trusting in
the Lord.
I'm not
denying that
God uses
means.
He does
use means.
But there's
a difference
between trusting
in the God
alone who
uses means
to help us
versus
trusting in
the means
themselves.
the big
difference.
Maybe
that's why
in Joshua
11,
6,
when they're
first conquering
the land
of Canaan,
the Lord
commanded
them,
hamstring
their horses
and burn
their chariots
with fire.
Why?
That's
perfectly good
equipment.
We could
use those
for ourselves.
No,
burn the
chariots,
hamstring the
horses.
So you
might always
know that
your battle
is won
not by
horses and
chariots,
but by
the Lord
God
Almighty.
In
contrast to
their little
faith,
Jesus says
in verse
20,
for truly
I say
to you,
if you
have faith
like a
grain of
mustard
seed,
and you
will say
to this
mountain,
move from
here to
there,
and it
will move,
and nothing
will be
impossible
for you.
what is
faith like
a grain
of mustard
seed?
We've
seen a
grain of
mustard
seed before,
early in
chapter 13,
where Jesus
compares the
kingdom of
heaven to
a grain of
mustard
seed that
is sown
in the
field,
and in
that context,
Jesus
describes this
as the
smallest of
all seeds.
A
mustard
seed,
probably in
this case
black
mustard,
is a
proverbially
small
seed.
It's the
smallest
seed that
was commonly
sown in
that
region.
I kind
of wanted
to bring
the
perilla
seeds that
I have
at home
because it's
about the
same size.
You wouldn't
be able to
see it if I
were to
hold it up
to you.
It's the
smallest of
the common
cultivated
seeds in
the
ancient
areas.
And this
is why
most people
understand
faith like
a grain of
mustard
seed as
referring to
small
faith.
Since
mustard
seed is a
small
seed,
a mustard
seed
faith must
be a
small
faith.
However,
that
interpretation
runs into
a small
problem in
verse 20
because Jesus
just admonished
the disciples
saying that
they were
unable to
cast out
the demon
because of
their little
faith.
So then
right after
saying that
is Jesus
now saying
that all
you need
is little
itty bitty
faith like
a mustard
seed and
then you
can move
mountains?
Well then
why didn't
it work?
you said
they have
little
faith.
It doesn't
quite fit.
I was
confused by
this.
I'm sorry
to say
that this
is the
first time
I'm
preaching
on this
passage
and I
didn't
realize
this until
this past
week that
doesn't
work,
doesn't
make sense.
And so I
was confused
and I
asked God
for help
and then
he
immediately
brought to
my mind
1 Corinthians
13 verse
2.
According
to this
verse,
what kind
of faith
is required
to move
mountains?
Not
tidy
mustard
seed
faith,
all
faith.
If you
have all
faith so
as to
remove
mountains,
so it's
not little
faith that
Jesus is
talking about
here.
Mustard
seed faith
cannot refer
to a
small or
weak faith.
Faith that
moves mountains
is a
great faith.
It's all
faith.
Why then
does Jesus
highlight faith
like a
grain of
mustard
seed?
A
mustard
seed is
a small
seed and
there's
something
else that
is small
that Matthew
loves to
talk about.
more than
any other
New Testament
writers and
four times as
much as the
other synoptic
gospels,
Matthew
mentions
little ones.
That's
Matthew's
favorite way
of referring
to the
followers of
Jesus.
And whoever
gives one of
these little
ones even a
cup of cold
water because
he is a
disciple,
truly I say
to you,
he will by
no means
lose his
reward.
Matthew
10,
42.
Matthew
18,
6.
Whoever
causes one
of these
little ones
who believe
in me to
sin,
it would
be better
for him
to have
a great
millstone
fastened
around his
neck and
to be
drowned in
the depths
of the sea.
Matthew
18,
10.
See that
you do
not despise
one of
these little
ones for
I tell you
that in
heaven their
angels always
see the face
of my
father who
is in
heaven.
These
little
ones have
uninterrupted
and unhindered
access to
God.
They are
precious to
him.
So it
is not the
will of
my father
who is
in heaven
that one
of these
little
ones should
perish.
Jesus
says in
Matthew
18,
14.
Christians
are by
definition
little
ones,
small
people.
This is
also why
twice in
Matthew's
gospel Jesus
points to
children,
he brings
children in
the midst
and then
he says
to them,
truly I
say to
you,
unless you
turn and
become like
children,
you will
never enter
the kingdom
of heaven.
Whoever
humbles
himself like
this child
is the
greatest in
the kingdom
of heaven.
I think
faith,
like a
grain of
mustard
seed,
refers to
the wholly
dependent,
humble
faith of
these
childlike
little
ones.
This
humble
faith is
worlds
apart from
the little
faith of
the disciples.
Remember
what I said
earlier,
their faith
was little
because it
was divided.
Here's
trust in
Jesus and
here's
this other
thing.
Children
are not
like that.
Children
have nothing
to bring
to the
table.
They
have nothing
to offer.
They
come
empty
handed,
childlike,
dependent,
humble.
And so
viewed in
this light,
you can say
that the
little faith
of the
disciples
is a
prideful
faith.
And faith
like a grain
of mustard
seed is a
humble
faith.
Mustard
seed faith
is a
humble
faith because
it's an
undivided
faith that
trusts in
God alone
and puts
no trust
in self
or any
other thing.
Is it
unimpressive
on the
outside?
Of course
children are
unimpressive.
It is
unimpressive
and small
on the
outside because
it's a
faith that
does not
make much
of self
but only
makes much
of God.
Jesus
commands a
mustard
seed faith
because it's
a faith that
makes us
look small
but it
makes God
look big.
So when
Jesus tells
us that
faith like
a grain of
mustard seed
can move
mountains,
he's not
saying that
that's the
minimal adequate
faith.
A mustard
faith seed
is great.
If you have
it, good
for you.
You can
move mountains
but imagine
if you had
an avocado
seed
or a whole
coconut.
You can
move planets
that way.
That's not
the point.
He already
said that if
we have
faith like
a grain of
mustard seed
nothing will
be impossible
for us.
This is the
kind of faith
that Jesus
commends for
all of his
people.
Mustard seed
faith is when
small people
trust in a
big God.
Charles
Hedden
Spurgeon,
I've used
these two
quotes that
I'm about to
share with
you many
times but I
do it again
and again
because I
love these
quotes.
Prayer,
and you
can apply
this to
faith,
prayer is
the slendered
nerve that
moves the
muscles of
omnipotence.
Do you
want to be
powerful?
Childlike,
dependent,
humble
faith.
John
Piper says
this,
prayer is
the splicing
of our
limp wire
to the
lightning bolt
of heaven.
I love
that image.
Think about
lightning for
a moment.
Lightning is
five times
hotter than
the surface
of the sun.
If you see
a lightning
from 50
meters away,
it will
appear 10,000
times brighter
than the sun.
A single
super bolt
of lightning
can carry
up to
1 billion
volts and
light up
100 million
standard 100
watt light
bulbs for an
instant.
100 million
of them.
It can
single-handedly
power 850,000
homes for an
entire day.
A single
bolt of
lightning.
Now imagine
that lightning
bolt falling
on a copper
or aluminum
wire.
That wire,
however slack
or limp,
however short
and stubby,
however thin
and frayed,
as long as
it is purely
metal,
will conduct
that powerful
lightning
bolt.
Likewise,
because its
material itself
is beholden
to electrical
currents,
likewise the
mustard seed
faith that is
beholden to
God alone
will conduct
the power
of God.
However,
if you have
a nylon
wire,
the kind
you use
for fishing
or jewelry
making,
no matter
how long
and strong
and thick
that nylon
wire might be,
it cannot
conduct the
lightning bolt
because its
material is
not beholden
to electrical
currents.
Likewise,
the little
faith that is
beholden to
not just
God but
to self
and to
self-effort,
to self-righteousness,
to all these
other things,
will not conduct
the power
of God.
It's not
the faith
itself that
is impressive
but the
faith that
taps the
power of
the Almighty
that is
impressive.
Who is
impressive?
God,
who is
impressive?
And when
you have
such faith,
he says,
you can
move mountains
and nothing
will be
impossible
for you.
Mountain
is something
that doesn't
move,
right?
That's proverbial.
If you do
a time-lapse
video of a
city that
has a mountain
in the middle
of it,
everything around
it will change
over time,
over years,
over decades.
The mountain
is just going
to sit right
there.
It doesn't
move.
That's what
mountains are.
But when
that mountain,
a proverbially
immovable
thing,
meets the
lightning bolt
of heaven,
it moves
because God
is immovable.
Mountain
has to
move.
Now,
to qualify
this a little
bit because
it's such an
open-ended
promise,
nothing will
be impossible
for you.
This doesn't
mean you can
do whatever
you want
with faith.
To have
faith is
to place
ourselves
under the
mercy of
God.
If God
was obligated
to do
everything
that we
had faith
for,
faith,
for example,
to win the
lottery,
then that
would place
God at
our mercy.
No,
a self-serving,
self-centered
faith is no
faith at all
because faith
by definition
places us
at God's
disposal,
not the
other way
around.
So,
Jesus'
open-ended
statement
in verse
20 that
if we
have faith
like a
grain of
mustard
seed,
nothing
will be
impossible
for you,
must be
understood
within the
parameters
of God's
will and
God's
promises.
It's similar
to what Jesus
said earlier
in Matthew
7,
ask and it
will be
given to
you,
seek and
you will
find,
knock and
it will
be opened
to you.
For
everyone
who asks
receives,
and the
one who
seeks finds,
and to
the one
who knocks
it will
be opened.
Does that
mean that
we'll get
good things
to those
who ask
him?
God only
gives his
precious
children
good things.
And God
who alone
is good
and not
we who
are evil
gets to
define what
those good
things are.
This is the
confidence we
have toward
him if we
ask anything
according to
his will.
He hears
us.
1 John
5,
14.
And then
Jesus
again returns
to his
unpopular
topic that
he loves
to preach
about.
Verse 22
and 23.
And they
were gathering
in Galilee.
Jesus said
to them,
the son
of man
is about
to be
delivered
into the
hands
of men
and they
will kill
him and
he will
be raised
on the
third day
and they
were greatly
distressed.
It's a
little
curious.
We've
seen
Jesus
predict
his
passion
and his
death
multiple
times
now
and he'll
do it
again
but the
disciples
never
quite get
over it.
He says
he's going
to be
raised
from the
dead.
That's a
good thing
but they're
distressed
because
this again
is a sign
of their
little faith.
They're still
stuck on the
death part.
They can't
imagine
resurrection
from the
dead.
But why
did Jesus
have to
die?
To move
a mountain
that nothing
else would
move?
Right?
It's what
Connor was
talking about.
Realizing the
depth of our
own sins.
if I
could
pile
a piece
of dirt
or a
rock
or stone
for every
sin
every
stray
sinful
thought
every
sinful
speech
word
I've
said
every
sinful
act
and pile
it up
it will
be a
veritable
mountain.
How can
sinners deal
with that?
how do
we
deal with
a mountain
of sin?
And so
Jesus comes
and he
goes to
the cross
he dies
as our
substitute
in our
place
because only
his righteousness
is sufficient
to be imputed
to us for
our salvation
because only
his blood
is sufficient
to cleanse
us of
all
unrighteousness.
And
I think
this is a
common
malady
among
believers
and sometimes
among the
sincerest
believers
to be
insecure
about our
assurance
of salvation
because
you're relying
on these
good works
and
coming
to God
not
faith
alone
in
Jesus
Christ
but
trust
in
God
and
with
this
other
thing
I
went to
all my
catechism
classes
I
answered
all the
questions
I
attend
all the
Sunday
services
I don't
miss it
I read
the Bible
every day
and I
pray
and I
sing
and when
I sing
I raise
my hands
and I
do
this
and when
I sin
I feel
really sorry
about it
I'm going
to cry
and I
have tears
and because
I do
all these
things
and I
bring
these
things
to God
God
will
accept
me
no
that's
not how
it works
faith
alone
bring
nothing
along
come
empty
handed
faith
alone
isn't
that why
it says
in Ephesians
2
you're saved
by grace
through faith
and this
is not
your own
doing
it is
not a
result
of
works
it is
a
gift
of
God
why
does
God
save
us
this
way
so
that
he
says
in
Ephesians
2
no
one
may
boast
so
that
no
one
may
boast
if
you
come
with
this
trusting
God
in
something
else
you
have
something
else
you
can
boast
about
but
if
you
come
to
God
empty
handed
!
God
I
am
a
wretch
!
I
am
a
sinner!
there is
nothing
to
commend
me
to
you
I
dare
not
trust
the
sweetest
frame
but
holy
trust
in
Jesus
name
then
the
lightning
bolt
of
heaven
thunders
in
to
cleanse
and
move
that
mountain
of
sin
that's
why
faith
is so
precious
let me
close
with
this
quote
from
J.
A.
Packer
the late
J.
A.
Packer
he says
one of
the
unhealthiest
features
of
protestant
theology
today
is
its
preoccupation
with
faith
wait a
minute
I'm
undoing
everything
I
just
said
no
yeah
faith
that
is
viewed
man
centeredly
as
a
state
of
existential
commitment
inevitably
this
preoccupation
diverts
thought
away
from
faith's
object
even
when
this
is
clearly
conceived
as
too
often
in
modern
theology
it
is
not
though
the
reformers
said
much
about
faith
even
to
the
point
of
calling
their
message
of
justification
the
doctrine
of
faith
their
interest
was
not
of
the
modern
kind
it
was
not
subject
centered
but
object
centered
not
psychological
but
theological
not
anthropocentric
but
Christocentric
the
reformers
saw
faith
as
a
relationship
not
to
oneself
but
to
the
living
Christ
of
the
Bible
and
they
fed
faith
in
themselves
and
in
others
by
concentrating
on
that
Christ
as
a
savior
and
Lord
by
whom
our
whole
life
must
be
determined
are
you
guys
following
that
so
if
you
are
insecure
this
morning
about
your
faith
how
strong
is
my
faith
am
faithful
enough
do I
have
enough
faith
to
stand
before
God
no
don't
rely
on
that
it's
not
the
intensity
of
faith
that
saves
you
it is
the
power
of the
God
who is
the
object
of our
faith
who saves
you
so
if
you
struggle
with
assurance
of
salvation
you
struggle
with
doubts
the
key
is
not
to
try
to
conjure
up
more
faith
or
to
try
to
do
more
things
so
you
could
have
more
sureness
in
yourself
no
the
solution
is
to
look
away
from
yourself
and
look
only
at
Jesus
Christ
only
at
Jesus
Christ
he
died
!
for
me
!
and his
righteousness
is
enough
his
blood
!
glory
revealed
in
the
gospel
of
Jesus
Christ
you'll
see
that
it's
sufficient
and
you'll
see
your
doubts
fade
away
and
in
so
doing
that
faith
becomes
the
evidence
of
things
not
seen
let's
pray
oh
father
course
through
our
souls
our
minds
our
hearts
with
the
power
of
your
Holy
Spirit
that
we
might
be
cut
to
the
heart
to
believe
in
Jesus
Christ
alone
to
put
our
faith
in
Jesus
Christ
alone
in
all
our
service
to
you
and
in
all
our
ministry
and
in
all
our
acts
of
obedience
to
do
it
all
not
in
our
own
strength
but
through
faith
in
Christ
Jesus
alone
dependence
on
him
prayerfully
Lord
make us
a faith
filled
church
a
prayerful
church
because
we are
a
Christ
fixed
church
Lord
we pray
this
in
the
precious
name
of
Jesus
Christ
Amen