Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Hey, before we get into the message, let me just talk to you a moment. I know there's been a little bit of confusion about this ministry of the Holy Spirit being a person. And it just seems that everybody is caught up with praying to this Holy Spirit. So let me just take a couple moments and hopefully to bring a little bit of clarification for you. All right. It's actually by the way, it's good for us to think about this. And just to get settled on this matter. When we talk about the Holy Spirit, especially from a conservative church like ours, we need to realize that we have a tendency to react to the ministry of the Spirit, because there is such an extreme teaching about the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that the charismatic movement and extreme charismatic movement has hijacked the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So what we have done, what our tendency to do is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And so because we are afraid of the charismatic movement, we just kind of back away from the Holy Spirit. And so when you hear someone like me stand up and preach on a message like I did last night, sometimes it's a little bit disconcerting for people. And they're asking the question, Where are we going? Well, I want you to know where we're going. We're just going back to Biblical Christianity, because the truth that I taught you last night, is historic Christianity that has been hijacked by the modern, charismatic and Pentecostal movement of the day. All right. In fact, it was interesting this morning, in our prayer group, Deacon Joel reminded me that I preached this exact message in GLCC, 13 years ago. I didn't know that. But he did that, because he wrote it in his Bible, you know, and Pastor Mike, preach this passage, and so on and so forth. In fact, I've been preaching this truth around the world for years. All right. And sometimes, by the way, I've never been in a place where I've had such a reaction in my own church, all right, it just means we haven't preached this truth in such a long time.

So here's, here's what I just want you to know today. Somehow, we're all caught up in in praying to the Holy Spirit. The point is, he's a person who lives in your person. And we are to be building a relationship with him, because he's a person, I'm not going to reproach this message. And so you know, some people say, Well, who then should I pray to, you know, should I pray to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit? Well that's not the issue. What I said is because he is a person, we can pray to him because he's a person. And so Jesus said in John 16, verse eight, when he the Spirit comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteous and judgment. So I said, Because he is a person, why don't you ask the Spirit of God to do what he does - convict of sin, righteous and judgment. But if you forget that's what the Spirit does and you say, Heavenly Father, would you convict them of sin, righteous and judgment? You know, God the Father doesn’t look at you and say, well, sorry, that's not my territory. All right. By the way, there's no jealousy in the Godhead, Okay. God the Father does not get mad at God the Son and God the son doesn't get mad at God the Holy Spirit and God the Holy Spirit doesn't get mad at God the Father. In fact, our God is a very generous God. And we do have one God who manifests Himself in three persons with three distinct roles. And so when we ask the Spirit of God to do something, that maybe you know, or maybe when we ask the Father to do something, that the Spirit, you know, the Bible says does, by the way, there's no issue there. Right? So the issue is not necessarily getting everything right. So don't draw a list. I pray to the Father for this side, prayed to the Son for this, I pray to the Holy Spirit this, that was not the point. Okay. The point is, He is a person who lives within your person. So then you say, Well, why then should I pray to Him? Two reasons, and then we're done. Okay. We'll go to tonight's message.

Number one, because there are some things that the Spirit of God specifically does. He is the Lord of the harvest. All right, he sends people into the mission field, Acts, chapter 13, Acts chapter eight, and so on and so forth. He convicts, he gives boldness. All right, so the point was, why don't you ask him to do what he has been assigned by way of the Godhead to do all right. But even if you forget, it's no issue. Okay? It's no issue. There's no jealousy in the Godhead. Are you with me? All right, no jealousy in the Godhead.

But here's the primary reason and this is the point that you missed last night, at least some of you not everybody, of course, but I had 12 people talk to me last night, and I had every group leader come back to me and say, will you address this issue tonight? I say, Okay, here's the primary reason. Because if you're asking the Holy Spirit, say, Lord, speak to their heart, Holy Spirit, give me boldness. It's reminding you that living within you is a divine person of dynamic power who wants to be your daily partner. Are you with me? It's reminding you that this divine person of dynamic power lives within you. And you need to be developing a relationship with Him. Because as you remember that he lives within you, and you're communicating to him developing a relationship with him, he's able to lead you, I appreciate it this morning, our reading on Romans chapter eight, where it talked about we are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and He leads us, you know, if he's not leading you, it's because you've not developed a relationship with Him. And one reason you haven't developed a relationship with Him, probably because you're not daily reminding yourself that he lives within you. So when you pray to Him, you're reminding yourself that he lives within you, so he can guide you, He can direct you and you can develop a relationship with Him. Alright, so that’s all I want to say about that. Don't get caught up in lists, Father this, Son this that, listen, alright, there's no jealousy in the Godhead. Alright. God is a generous God. And sometimes He overlooks sometimes our misunderstanding of who He is and how He operates.

Okay, does that help you a little bit? Does that help you a little bit? Give me some peace tonight. I'm just kidding. I am not at peace. I'm not I am not not at peace about this. Alright. I am, I am. I'm at peace. I actually, I understand how truth works. And I understand. I've been a Christian a long time. I've been pastoring a long time. I've been preaching a long time. And I do know sometimes when we hear something that we've not heard before, or we hear something different than what we've heard before, it is a little disconcerting. And I perfectly understand that. And by the way, I do not want to offend anybody. I do not want to. I don't want to cause anybody to stumble. And so I appreciate clarification. I appreciate clarification.

How is your faith today? (Matthew 21:18-22)

All right, very, very much. Shall we move on? Are you guys ready? Are you in Matthew chapter 21? If you're not get there, if you would, please. Matthew chapter 21.

Okay. I'm sure we all know the name, George Müller. George Müller was a man of God. Some years ago, a man that God used in a tremendous way we often call him, he was a tremendous man of faith. Well, stories told that one day George Miller was on a ship, and he was going to Quebec, Canada, because he had a preaching engagement. And as they were traveling along on this ship, it was a Wednesday afternoon and the ship came to an absolute dead stop in the middle of the ocean. And George Müller was a bit concerned by that. So he went to the captain, he said, Captain, I must be in Canada in Quebec by Saturday morning. The captain looked at him, he says, Well, I'm, I'm afraid there is absolutely nothing that I can do. And he said, Sir, I have not missed a preaching engagement in some 57 years. And I don't think God wants me to miss this. And the captain said, Sir, look outside and see how thick the fog is upon the sea. The ship cannot move. Mr. Müller looked at the cabinet. And sir, my eye is not on the fog. But my eye was on the living God who is in control of every area of my life. Let's fall upon our knees and let's pray. The captain says as they fell upon their knees to pray, the prayer of George Müller was that of an eight-year-old boy, it was a simple prayer of faith. And he prayed like this. He said, Lord, I know that it is Your will for me to be in Canada, on Saturday morning. So I'm asking, would you lift the clouds? And would you do it within the next five minutes. The captain began to pray, George Müller put his hand up on his shoulder and said, Captain, there's no need for you to pray. You don't believe God will do it. I believe he already has. Get up and you'll see the clouds are already lifting from the sea. The story ends this way. George Müller made it to Canada on Saturday morning, and he did not miss his speaking engagement.

Now, I don't know about you. But when I hear a story like that, or that story, that causes me to ask the question, Where does that kind of faith come from? And how can I have that kind of faith? In fact, as we look in the scriptures, you know, we discover, we discover that our life as believers from beginning to end is to be lived by faith, is it not? In fact, we're told in the book of Ephesians, chapter two in verse eight that we are saved by faith, For by grace have you been saved through faith and then once we're saved by faith, we're told in Romans one, verse 17, that “the just shall live by faith”. All right, and now that we're living by faith, the Bible says that we access the power of the Holy Spirit by faith. In fact, Galatians 3:14 says that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. And now that we're living in the power of the Holy Spirit, by faith, you realize victory in our Christian life comes by faith. In fact, John told us in first John five in verse four that this is the victory that overcomes the world even our, you can answer me, even our, I told you by the end of this week and we're coming to the end you're going to be talking to me. So we overcome by, by faith. All right, that's a theme. These are pretty simple things you see.

And also we're told in our passage here in Matthew 21, that whatever things we ask in prayer, believing, the Bible says we shall receive. In fact, we could say it this way, that all of God's blessings and all of His benefits, the power and the provisions of God flow into our life according to our faith. I love what Jesus said in Matthew chapter nine in verse 29. It says, according to your faith, Jesus said, be it unto you, according to your faith, be it unto you, all right? Everything that we have, whether it be victory, whether it be answered prayer, whether it be God's power, His provision, flows into our life, the Bible says, according to our faith.

In fact, this reminds me of an old story that I once heard of. That one day, two angels were in heaven, and they were, you know, kind of around the throne of God. And one of the angels came to God and says, Hey, God, a man has sent his requests into heaven. And God says, Well, what did he send his faith in? And the angel said, Well, he said, his faith in a little teacup. And God said them fill that teacup with blessing, because according to his faith, be it unto him. Sometime later, another angel came and said, God, a man is seeking a blessing from you. And God said, Well, what did he send his faith in? And the angel said, Well, he sent his faith in an unbelievably huge barrel, and God says fill the barrel with blessing, because according to his faith, be it unto him.

And friends, in the same way, do you realize that all of the blessings of God, the power of God, the provision of God, all flows into our life, according to our faith, and just as all the blessings of God flow into our life by faith, friends, it is important to know that many of the problems that we encounter in this race of faith are simply due to a lack of faith. Are you with me? For example, we can say it this way, do you realize that worry is nothing more than a lack of faith in God's goodness? You see, if you're overcome with worry and fear, it speaks of your faith, it speaks that you don't understand His goodness, His power, His majesty, His love and protection for your life. You see, oftentimes, loneliness is nothing more than a lack of faith in God's presence, we can say that guilt is nothing more than a lack of faith in God's complete forgiveness. Sin is nothing more than a lack of faith and God's wisdom and His Word. And so just as all the blessings of God flow into our life by faith, you see, many of the problems that we encounter in this race of faith are likewise due to a lack of faith. And so maybe tonight, you have not been experiencing God's blessings in your life. Maybe as you take that I have faith and you look back over your life and the last few weeks, maybe last few months, maybe you've not been experiencing God's blessings. And you are wondering why. Maybe God has not been answering your prayers, or maybe you've not been experiencing victory over the world of flesh and the devil. Or maybe you have just been paralyzed by guilt, fear and worry, or maybe, you know, you just simply doubt your salvation. And for you, you know, it's not a lack of knowledge. You see, you know, that God saved you, but for some reason, you still doubt your salvation. Or maybe God just not answering your prayer, you know, he answers prayer, but he's just not answering your prayers and you're wondering why. And for you, it's not a lack of knowledge. You see, you know, you know, you shouldn't worry, you know, you shouldn't fear, you know, you shouldn't be possessed by guilt, you know, you shouldn't doubt you know, you know, these things. So it's not a lack of knowledge. It's simply a lack of faith.

And maybe that's where we are tonight. And if that is where you find yourself tonight, I want you to know this, that this lack of faith, this problem of a lack of faith is not new with you. It is an age-old problem. In fact, it's the very problem that Jesus Christ Himself addresses here in this passage in Matthew chapter 21. In this passage, remember, I want you to see this tonight that Jesus comes to His disciples and thus He comes to us, and He tells us how our weak faith can be strengthened, because maybe today you're limping along, maybe your faith is weak. Maybe your walk is shaky. Maybe you're not seeing answers to prayer. Maybe you're not been seeing victory in your Christian life. And you're wondering why. You're coming to Bible study, after Bible study. You're drinking in the truth but doesn't seem that your spiritual life is moving forward, and friends and maybe today, what you need is your faith strengthened. That's what Jesus is dealing with here in Matthew chapter 21.

“Let no fruit grow on your ever again” (Matthew 21:19)

So let's pick up the story beginning here in verse 19. Now, in this passage, remember, this begins our Lord's last week. So He and His disciples are traveling to Jerusalem. It's early in the morning and Jesus and His disciples come to a fig tree, and His fig tree has leaves, but it has no fruit. And so Jesus looks at this fig tree, and He curses it and says this, let no fruit grow on you ever again. Wow. And may I just say that Jesus didn't curse this fig tree because He was mad that the tree failed to provide Him and His disciples their morning meal, all right, he wasn't mad because you know, he wasn't going to get breakfast. Here's a tree would have leaves, but it had no figs. All right. But you see, Jesus would later use this withered fig tree as an object lesson to His disciples, teaching them the importance of living a life of faith.

“How did the fig tree wither away so soon” (Matthew 21:20)

So the very next morning, Jesus and His disciples passed by this very same tree, and the disciples now seeing this tree withered. They said, How did the fig tree, to Jesus, wither away so soon? (Matthew 21:20) And so Jesus now using this, as an example, teaches the disciples, this lesson found here in verse 21. Listen to what he said. He said, Surely I say unto you, if you have faith, and you doubt not, he says, You will not only do what was been done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea, it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, the Lord says, you will receive. (Matthew 21:21-22) What a powerful truth. You see, he used this fig tree as an example, to teach them a very valuable lesson on living the life of faith. Because Jesus knew that faith was the key that enables us to experience God to know His power, and to enjoy His provision in our life. And since faith is that key that enables us to know and to experience God, and to know and to experience His power and to enjoy His provisions, it is important for us to stop for a moment and define some terms such as what is faith, right? I mean, if the gesture to live by faith, if we experience victory by faith, you see, then we need to understand what faith is.

Faith is; Taking God at His word and trusting Him to do what He says

So let me give you an extremely complicated definition. Are you ready for this? Yeah, I know it's late. I know you've been running. I know that half of the men here have been up till two o'clock in the morning watching football downstairs in the bar. Okay, I have my sources. All right. And so since you're so tired today, let me give you an extremely complicated definition just to challenge your thinking. Are you ready for this? Here's what faith is. Now. Listen, faith is trust. Did you get that? Shall I spell it for it? I'm just kidding. Right? Faith in its essence. That's all it is, really faith in its essence. If we want to boil it down to its very essence, faith is trust. All right. It's simply trust. And you know, we exercise whether we know it or not, we exercise faith, trust, everyday in many ways. You see, everyday we eat food. You see, by faith, we eat food, believing that food, all right, trusting that food to strengthen our bodies. All right? Sometimes by faith, we bought an airplane, and a pilot and we trust that plane, that pilot to safely take us to our destination. See, faith is nothing more than trust. And we do it all the time. Sometimes we go to a doctor, you know and he's sometimes he's a man we do not know, degrees we've never verified, gives you a prescription that you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist, a man you've never met, it gives you a chemical compound that you do not understand. You go home and buy they according to the directions on the bottle, you take that medication, trusting that medication to heal your sick body.

All right, that's faith. It is nothing more than trust. All right to have faith in God is nothing more than to trust God just as we trust food, to strengthen our body and a pilot to take us to our destination and a doctor and a medication to heal our sick bodies. Faith is nothing more than trust. But as a believer, what are we to be trusting in? Well, we know we are to be trusting in God as God has revealed Himself in His Word. Now there's your complicated definition, but I wrote it down for you. It is taking God in His Word and is trusting him to do what He says. Faith is taking God at His Word and is trusting him to do what He says and this definition of faith by the Way is played out all throughout Scripture. If you have this definition in mind, you'll see it everywhere.

Let me just give you a few examples. Do you remember the story of Gideon? There He was Gideon and his merry men. And Gideon and his merry mighty man had some weapons of warfare. Remember what they were, he had a torch. They had a glass pitcher. And they had a root trumpet. And although these were their weapons of warfare, and although they were outnumbered 350 to one, they blazed into the enemy's army into the enemy's camp in order to fight the enemy. And it raises this question, why would they do that? I mean, they had really no weapons of warfare, outnumbered 350 to one. What caused them to go in to the enemy's camp to fight the enemy. The reason they did it is because God promised Gideon and his merry men that they would have victory. You see, that's faith. It is you and I taking God in His Word, and trusting that God will do what he says. And God did what he said for Gideon, and they found victory.

How about Moses? Do you remember Moses for 40 years, lived on the backside of the desert? Because he was fearful of the Egyptians, right? And yet, 40 years later, we see Moses marching in to the city, into Egypt. And there he confronts the most powerful man on earth, Pharaoh, and remember what he does, he stands before him and he says, Let my people go. What gave this man Moses the courage to confront the most powerful man on earth, and say to him, you let my people go. He had no army. He had no authority. I mean, he spent 40 years of his life living on the backside of the desert in fear of the Egyptians. What gave him the courage to do it? He did it because God said, Moses through you, I will deliver the nation. That's faith. You see, he took God at His Word, and he trusted God to do what he said. And did God do it? Yes. through Moses, God delivered the nation of Israel. That's faith. Let's think about one more Bible character.

How about Noah? Noah, not the 214 Russell Crowe sci fi movie? Okay, I'm not talking about that one. Alright, so washed it out of your mind. Okay. And I think we should call it a sci fi movie, because that's exactly what it is. But I'm talking about the biblical account of Noah. All right, so just to get your minds back to the Bible, all right, because we're discussing faith and not Russell Crowe. So, Noah, all right, let's think about him for a moment. Have you ever wondered what kept Noah building that ark for 140 years? What kept him you know, every day going into the forest, cutting down trees, making nails, cooking bitch, building a boat that he had never before seen to save him from rain and never before experienced? Could you imagine what it must have been like for Noah in his day? I mean, here he is building this monstrosity of a boat. I can imagine that people coming to Noah and saying, Hey, Noah, what are you building? And they would say I'm building a boat. And they'd say, Well, Noah, what is a boat? He'd say, Well, I don't know what a boat is. Well, Noah, why are you building this unknown boat? I'm building it to save me from rain. We'll know what is rain. And Noah wouldn't say, Well, I don't know what rain is. But here's one thing I do know, I do know that God warned me that if I build this boat, it will save me and my family from some unknown flood. You know what that is? That's (Faith), See, he simply took God in His Word, and trusted God to do what God had promised to do. And by the way, did God deliver Noah? He did. In fact, I like what it says in Hebrews 11 verse seven. Referring to this account, it says, “By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, he was moved with godly fear and He prepared an ark for the saving of his household.”

You see, friends, that's what faith is. Faith is you and I taking God at His Word, and trusting God to do what God has promised to do. One more illustration, all right, not from the Bible. One day there were two little girls. And they were counting their pennies, right? And one little girl counted. She says I have five pennies. And the other little girl counted. She says I have 10 pennies. Well, this little girl said to that little girl she says you don't have 10 pennies. You only have five pennies like me. And she says no, I have 10 pennies. And she said no, no, you have five like me. Notice, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Those are mine. And these are years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. You have five pennies just like me. She says no, I have 10 she said because my daddy said when he comes home tonight he's gonna give me five more pennies. Therefore, I have 10 pennies.

Does that help you understand what faith is? You see, faith is you and I taking our Heavenly Father at His word and trusting our Father to do what He has promised to do. You see, that's faith. That's all it is. That's exactly what faith is. Please know that faith is a choice that we make to trust. It's an act of your will. We make to trust God, to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And when we make that choice to take God at His Word, and trust Him, and what He said in His word, it's at that moment, we begin to experience His power to begin to know His provision and to enjoy His presence in a real and a living way.

“Assuredly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt” (Matthew 21:22a)

But having said that, by way of giving faith a definition, please know that faith has an enemy. And this is where we struggle. You see the enemy to faith is simply doubt. In fact, Jesus said that to His disciples when He says, surely I say to you, if you have faith, and you do not doubt, you see, faith has an enemy, the enemy of faith is doubt. And when we fail to take God at His Word, and trust Him to do what He says, Do you realize that we rob ourselves of all that God wants to do in and through our lives? That's why we limp along. That's why sometimes our walk with God is a bit shaky. That's sometimes why we are overcome with worry and fear, and we're paralyzed. That's why we don't really know His power, or have boldness to do what God has asked us to do. Why? Because we simply doubt or we fail to trust God and to take him at his word. And friends, when we do that, we rob ourselves of all that God wants to do in and through us.

That's why the Lord said in Hebrews 11, and verse six, that “without faith, it is impossible for you and I, to please God.” Now, I don't know about you, but that is one of those serious and sobering verses of scripture. “Without faith, we can't please God.” Have you ever read that verse in Hebrews 11, verse six, and thought to yourself, Well, why is it that without faith, we can't please Him? Why does our doubt displease God? Here's the answer. Because our doubt calls the character and the integrity of God into question. Did you hear that? Friends, when we doubt, or when we fail to take God at His Word and trust God to do what He says, We are calling the character and the integrity of God into question. Here's what we're saying, we're saying, God, you're not powerful enough to do this. Or to deliver me from this problem, God, you are not wise enough to solve this problem. Or, Lord, you don’t love me enough to deliver me. We're calling His power and His wisdom and His love into question. We're simply saying, God, you are not who you claim to be. And you cannot do what you have promised to do, doubt. In fact, do you realize that when we doubt God, when we fail to take Him at His word and trust that he will do what he is promised to do? Do you know what we're calling God, in essence, we're calling Him a liar. And we're putting Him into partnership with the devil, to whom the Bible says is the father of lies. No wonder the book of Hebrews gives us this word of warning in Hebrews 10. He says, “Now the just,” that's the justified, he's referring to you, “they shall live by faith. But if any man draws back”, doubt, he says, “My soul takes no pleasure in him”. (Hebrews 10:38)

You see, when we doubt God and fail to take Him at His word, and to trust Him to do what He has promised to do, we live our lives, helpless, and unable to access His power and know His provision and His blessings in and through our life. In fact, it's interesting that, as you follow the ministry of Jesus, He is constantly telling these disciples, and constantly teaching them the importance of living by faith, because you see, I think they were just like you and I, we so easily doubt. And here's a perfect example. It's found in Mark chapter nine. We don't have the turn there. But I think you know the story. Do you remember Jesus was constantly training His disciples and so one day He sent them out on an evangelistic tour. And as they were down in the valley, you know, talking to people about the coming Messiah, a man came to the disciples, and they brought to the disciples, he brought his demon possessed boy, and he asked the disciples, could you please deliver my boy from the delusion of the devil and the disciples could not deliver this demon possessed boy. And so they walked off and sometime later, Jesus came upon the scene, and the same father brought to Jesus, his little boy, and he said, I brought my boy to your disciples, but your disciples could not deliver him and Jesus turned and looked at his disciples and said what I believe to be some of the most tragic words of Scripture. He said to His disciples, You faithless generation, if you can only believe all things are possible to those who believe. Do you realize that their unbelief, not only robbed them of the power of God, but it left this little boy helpless and hopeless, it left him dead in trespasses and sins, deluded by Satan, and destined for eternal hell, the tragedy, as it were of our unbelief.

And yet here is the punch of that story. Do you realize that just before Jesus sent these disciples out, to heal the sick and to cast out demons that Jesus gave them the power to do so? In fact, in a parallel passage in Matthew 10 and verse one, Jesus said to these disciples, I give you power over unclean spirits. You see, so why if they had power, could they not deliver this boy, it wasn't because power was unavailable. It wasn't because God was unconcerned for this boy, it wasn't because the demon was just too rough and too tough. It was because of their own unbelief. And thus the tragedy of our own unbelief. Because you see, when we doubt, and when we fail to take God at His Word, and trust God to do what he says, it leaves us like the disciples, it leaves us powerless. In fact, I'll say it this way, it leaves us paralyzed by our fear, and our worry. It leaves us crippled by guilt. It keeps us from seeing God's power working in and through our lives. It hinders God from meeting our needs or answering our prayers or experiencing that greater work that God wants to do in and through our lives, the tragedy of our own unbelief, our doubt.

So maybe tonight, that's where you find yourself, knowing that we're to be living a life of faith, and yet our lives are so gripped by doubt. And so here's the question, how then can we overcome our doubt? How can we overcome our doubt? I want you to see it this way? How can we strengthen our faith? All right, because maybe tonight, you're weak in faith? Maybe you're struggling with this whole concept: Can God be trusted?, you know, or maybe you believe God can be trusted but your faith seems to be weak? I mean, you just seem to be stagnant. You're not really going forward in your spiritual life. And so maybe the question for you tonight is how can I overcome my doubt? Or how can I have my faith strengthened? So let me just spend a couple of moments and just I want to help you tonight, okay. I want to help unlock this matter of doubt that we might step into faith, trusting our great and mighty God, so that our great and mighty God might do great things through you.

So how do we overcome our doubts? How do we strengthen our faith? Well, let me just say this, it's not by you simply coming to God and saying, God, increase my faith. Because how many of you have come to God and said, God, increase my faith and you stand up off your knees? And you're exactly the same? I'll raise my hand for you. Probably 100%. Okay, because the disciples tried that and it didn't work. Do you remember the passage, Luke chapter 17? The disciples, they came to Jesus, you know, I mean, after an episode like this, they say, Lord, I'm so baffled, you know, why didn't it work. And so they, they came and said, Lord, what we need is we need more faith. That's the problem. We need more faith. And notice the Lord's answer. He said, If you have faith, and if that faith that you have is the size of an itty bitty tiny mustard seed, you know what I'm talking about mustard seed. Can you see that little hole? I mean, we're talking tiny. Have you've ever seen a mustard seed? I mean, it's tiny, it's smaller. It's about the size of a grain of salt. And the Lord says, If you had faith about the size of a mustard seed, do you realize that you could say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea? And that mulberry tree would obey you? (Luke 17:5-6) You know, the Lord was saying to these disciples, The Lord was saying, it's not about you having more faith. It's not about you, having great faith. It's not the size of your faith that matters, is not you coming to God and saying, God increase my faith. And sometimes that hinders us because, you know, we read biographies, we read stories, we see the lives of Christians, we hear all these wonderful stories from the pulpit and you say, Wow, you're such a great man of faith. I could never be like that. I could never have your faith. Jesus says, What are you talking about? All you need to do is exercise the faith you have. Do you see what he's saying?

The issue is not having great faith but having faith in a great God

So let me say it this way. It's not about you having more faith. It's not about you having great faith. It's about you having faith in a great God. Did you hear that? See, this is where we get sidetracked. Like last night, I made a very powerful statement. And if you could catch it, it could revolutionize your life. Here's what I said. We all got. We all got waylaid by praying to the Holy Spirit, when the most important statement I made last night was this statement. Christianity is not about you, fulfilling your will with God's help. Christianity is about you so surrendered to God that he's able to fulfill his will through you with your help. Did you get that? Okay, that was the most important statement tonight. Now, here's the most important statement tonight. Okay. And it's this, it is not about you having great faith, it's about you having faith in a great God. You see, that's the issue. And if you have a faith today that is weakened, if you are just kind of limping along in your faith, you see, it's not you coming to God and saying, God, increase my faith, it's you coming to know that great and mighty God in a better way. You see the object you have your faith in must be strong. You need to come and realize that we serve a great and a mighty God. And all God asks for us is to put simple faith in that God. And if we do, if it's even like a mustard seed, but you understand that you are placing your faith, your trust in a great and a mighty God, that great and mighty God will do great things through you.

Did you get that? It's not about you. It's not about you, it's about God. And if you're not seeing mountains move. If you're not moving forward in your Christian life, if you're stuck in the muck in the mire of this life, if you're just seem to be spiritually spinning your wheels, it's because you need a greater understanding of a great mighty God. And trusting that God to do great things through you who has mustard seed faith. Are you with me? All right, I'm gonna tell you what make a statement that I'm giving you a story. Because I want to illustrate this, right? So it's not about you having great faith. It's about you having faith in a great God. And if you want your faith to increase, then it's not asking God increased by faith. It's you getting a greater understanding of our great and mighty God. Did you get that? That's the most important thing you'll hear today. All right, the most important thing wasn't we are having mutton for dinner. That was not the most important thing. This is the most important thing. So let me tell you a story. I want you to get it. Are you with me? Okay, I know that the men were up till two o'clock in the morning. But we're almost there. Okay, so hang on. Not all the men. I was in bed by 11.

One day there was a man and he lived in a very cold part of the world. And his wife was deathly ill. And he knew that on the other side of a lake was some medication that would save his wife's life. The man knew that if he walked around the leg, pick up the medication and came back, his wife would likely die. He only had one choice. He had to go across the lake, but it was the middle of winter. And the lake was frozen. But he didn't quite know how frozen the ice was. But he had no choice. He had to get up on this ice and he wasn't certain about its strength. And he had to go across this quite a large lake to get to the other side, get the medication come back, give it to his wife, and hopefully she could live. And so this man got on the ice. And of course he was a bit fearful not knowing it’s strength and on his hands and knees, he began to crawl. And as he was crawling, he was tapping the ice, tapping the ice, tapping the ice to ascertain its thickness. And all the time as he's crawling across the ice. He's listening for the ice to begin to crack under his weight. And so as he's about in the middle of the lake, he hears this thunderous roar. And all of a sudden, horrified, he thinks that the ice around him is cracking. And at any moment he's gonna plunge to his watery grave. And so his heart starts to beat and, you know, he's hearing this thunderous roar and it's getting louder and louder and louder and louder and all of a sudden he looks over his shoulder, and to his surprise, he sees this huge wagon being pulled by a team of 12 horses and it just zips across that frozen lake to the other side. And immediately the man when he sees that he stands to his feet, this creeper becomes a leaper. This crawler soon begins to run, and he darts to the other side of the lake picks up the medication. And he runs all the way back, gives the medication to his wife, and she lives happily ever after. End of story.

But I have a question. Did that man have faith? He had faith or he wouldn't have been out on the lake, right? So what changed this man's actions? What made this creeper leap? Or what made this crawler a runner? What changed the man's actions? Did all of a sudden, he get Wow, more faith? No, you know what changed his actions. He had a greater understanding of the ice. And when he understood that, that ice was able to take his weight, it changed his actions, and he got up in abandonment and he ran across the lake. You see, that's what Jesus is trying to teach these disciples. He's saying it's not about you having more faith, you see, you can have a little itty-bitty bit of faith. That guy didn't have a lot of faith, but he had enough to get on the ice. What changed his action was not that he was infused with more faith, it was a greater understanding of the strength of the ice. And so it is with us, friends, if your faith is weak. If you are struggling this matter of trusting God, then what you need is to get to understand your great and mighty God and have simple mustard seed faith in him. Are you with me? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I say this to people all the time. Why do we read the Bible? Because I'm supposed to. It's duty? No. I mean, we read the Scripture. And we read biographies. And we listen to stories because they teach us about God. And we realize that yes, He is a great and a mighty God. And God says when you understand that, then put simple faith in me. And I'll do great and mighty things through you. Because it's not about you. It's about God. And when we understand He's a great God. And we put simple faith in Him who do great things through you.

I mentioned at the beginning of the message, a man by the name of George Müller. Remember that name? Kind of like last night sandwich message. This is the filling because we're going to end with the another story about George Müller. George Müller had a favorite verse. You know, what it was? You say no, but you're going to tell me. Here was George Müller's favorite verse. I want you to just read this for a moment, okay? And realize that on this verse, He did everything that he did. This first revolutionized his life. And it was by this verse, he did everything that he did. But I want you to notice something about the verse it says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” And then God says, Now “open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10) Isn’t it a great verse? But you know, when reading this verse, have you ever thought to yourself, Why didn't God say what he said? Why did God come and say to us, I'm the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now open your mouth wide and fill it. You see, when God said in the first half, I am the Lord, your God was brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Here's what God is saying, God is saying that's who I am. God was giving us his credentials. God was reminding us before we open our mouth wide, and ask him to fill it. He was reminding us of who he is and what he can do. He is reminding us that he is a great and a mighty God. He was reminding us He is the God that deliver the nation of Israel from the most powerful army on the face of the earth. He's the God that preserved them in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He's the God that parted the sea. He's the God that delivered them the land of Canaan. He said, I am that God, I'm a great and mighty God, and nobody can stand me. And based upon this fact, he says, Now church, open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. Do you get that? You see, it's you and I, taking God at His Word. And trusting him to do what he says, because we understand that our God is a great and mighty God. He's a great God. I love it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about him.

So if your faith tonight is weak, It's shaky. You seem spiritually going nowhere. You are kind of on that treadmill. God's not answering your prayers, you're not experiencing His power. You're possessed by fearfulness rather than boldness. And you've been praying to God, God, give me more faith, Lord, grow my faith, God grow my faith. And all of a sudden, you know, we're like that, and my faith isn't moving. And all of a sudden, my mind slips down. And I think, well, maybe God doesn't love me like he loves you. Or, you know, I know God's powerful to do this, but he doesn't love me to do it enough through me. And all sudden, you know, we not only fall down into debt, but we fall into the muck in the mire of discouragement. And pretty soon if we're not careful, we walk away from God. And the problem is, we got it all mixed up. You see, it's not about you coming to God and saying, God, increase my faith, it's you coming to God and saying, God revealed to me your greatness and your mightiness. Lord, remind me of who you are. And once we understand who he is, we put simple faith and trust in that, and God begins to do through you great and mighty things.

In fact, Jesus Christ agreed with this, when he said to the disciples notice, he says, “if you have faith, and you doubt not”, he says, notice, “not only will you do what has been done by the fig tree, but also you can say to that mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing”, the Bible says that, “you will receive”. (Matthew 21:21-22) You see, friends, God can do great and mighty things through you. If we're willing to take Him at His word, and trust Him, because we know and we understand that He is a great and a mighty God, because you will never know what God can do through you or what God wants to do through you until you start taking him at His Word and trusting Him to do great and mighty things. Are you with me tonight? I hope you are.

As I've mentioned earlier, George Müller's favorite verse was Psalms 81:10. That'd be a great memory verse, by the way. That'd be a great memory verse. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, open your mouth wide, and I will fill it”. Great memory verse. But based upon that verse, George Müller did everything that he did. And let me just remind you of what God did through him based upon the promise of His Word. George Müller, as you know, started an orphanage called Ashley Down. And for almost 100 years, he had over 2000 children that he housed and he fed entirely by faith, never asking man for money. He printed millions of Bibles and distributed multi millions of tracks, he supported personally hundreds of missionaries. And when he died, and they went through his books, you know what they discovered? They discovered this man, George Müller, who never once in his life ever masked a man for anything. You know what they discovered? They discovered that he was a single largest financial supporter of Hudson Taylor, China in the mission, who had 1100 missionaries. You know why? Because you see George Müller, he took God at His Word. And he trusted God to do what God had promised to do. And George Müller saw mountains move.

And friends, so can you. So can you. I hesitate to tell you a personal story. And I can tell you a lot. But I will tell you just one personal story, because I want you to see that this is just not a truth for George Müller. But this is a truth for you. Is years ago at GLCC, when we were still at 360 Dunearn Road, and I was a little bit more involved in evangelism. And so you know, my wife and I would go out sometimes two or three months at a time and evangelize. And we had been invited to Africa, South Africa, Kenya and some other countries to do like a 30-day gospel meeting. And so I called my travel agents and I asked my travel agent, I gave her my itinerary, you know, different airports and countries. And she said, I asked, you know, that always that painful question, how much will this cost? And she said, it will cost about $3,500, both my wife and I were going, I said, Hey, that sounds good, you know, and I said, go ahead and book that ticket, my travel agent in those days would book the ticket pay in advance, and then I would just pay her just before I got the ticket. And so a week or two later, just a few days before we had a fly, I called the travel agent back on the phone and I said, I'm gonna write you a check, how much is it? And she said, it'll be $7,000. And I was shocked. I said, I'm thought you said there's only going to be $3,500. She says, Mike, that was for one person. Well, usually in a case like that, I look at least and say, sorry, you're not going right. But she had already purchased a ticket. So I was kind of stuck. And so you know, kind of in unbelief. I said to her, she was a believer. In fact, she was our travel agent for years. She went to Life BP and I said to her, I said, so what am I going to do? And she says, Well, Mike, why don't you just trust God? And I thought, duh, okay.

Okay, you know, and, and I have always had as one of my life verses, that great passage in Philippians, four nine, verse 19 says, “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” When I got off the phone I sat down with Lisa said, Lisa, we got a little problem here, you know, I thought is only gonna be 3500. But now it's $7,000. We do not have that kind of money at all. I think we need to bring this before God. So we sat down open the Bible, we turned to Philippians chapter four in verse nineteen. And we said, Lord, you have said, Lord, You have made us a promise that you shall supply all of our needs, according to your riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Lord, this is a desperate and a definite need, would you provide this money. And it's always been instilled as our policy, my wife and I, we never talked to people about money unless someone comes and asks us, but we never talked to people.

And I remember we were I think we were meeting on a Friday night prayer meeting in those days at GLCC. And so we went to prayer meeting and I didn't tell anybody until Dr. Choo. And I didn't come to him and whisper in his ear, you know, hey, you know, pray for us. We're having a bit of financial difficulty, you know, how you can kind of drop hints along the way. Okay, we didn't drop any hints. Okay. You know, we didn't say anything to anybody. And after the prayer meeting, the Lord just spoke to Dr. Choo’s heart and says, you know, I think church we need to take a love offering for Mike and Lisa. All right. And so the church took a love offering for us that night, not something that we prompted, something that God spoke to his heart about, and a love offering. I just want you to guess exactly how much money we got. Anybody can give that a guess? It's another one of those. But you'll get it wrong. Unless you've heard this story before the Lord gave us and we need how much? $3,500? You know how much he gave us? $3,506? Why $6? The Lord knew we needed to get a hamburger and our coffee as we are going to the airport, you know. But you see, God met our needs. You know why? Because when we by faith, trust God, to do what God has said. Mountains will move. And friends if you want God to move mountains in your life, or to move mountains through your life.

When you understand the greatness and faithfulness of God and trust Him to do what He promised mountains will move

If you just want your weak faith strengthened, then here's what you need to do. You need to understand the greatness and the faithfulness of God. And you need to trust Him to do what He has promised. And if you do, mountains will move. Can I say that again? You see, friends, if your faith is weak, and you need to be strengthened. You just feel you're stuck in the muck in the mire of this life, your spiritual life seems to be going nowhere. Friends, you just need to overcome your doubt. Then here's what the Lord says. The Lord says you need to understand the greatness and the faithfulness God, trust him to do what he's promised. And God says to you, then mountains of difficulty, mountains of obstacles, they will begin to move. Why? Because he's a great and a mighty God, who does not waver, who does not change His mind, a God who is great, and a God who is faithful and a God who is on your side, a God who is in your boat, a God who loves you, but He waits for you, to take Him at His word, and to trust Him to do what He has promised to do. You see, if you want strength for the day, then take God at His Word.

You say, Well, what does God's Word say about strength? Well, how about this verse Philippians, 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. And if you need strength for the day, you just feel that you're not able to do what you've been asked to do. Then ask God by faith, Lord, you've made a promise that I can do all things through you who strengthens me. Lord, so would you just strengthen me for this hour, and then move forward believing God has given to you what you've asked him to give and what he's promised to give. That's what faith is. We're not waiting for an experience. We're just making a transaction with God, we're taking Him at His word, and we go forward, believing God has given me what he's promised. You see, maybe you need your guilt removed. Maybe for some reason, you know, the sins of yesterday are still haunting you today. And it's bringing you down in the muck in the mire of discouragement then take God at His Word.

And you say, Well, what does God's Word say about guilt? Well, how about First John one, verse nine, that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And once we've confessed, friends, we need to go forward in faith, believing God has cleansed us as He's promised from all of our sins. You see, that's taking God at His Word, and trusting God to do what God has promised you because you see, faith is the key that enables us to know and to experience God, enabling us to know His power and to enjoy His provision in our life. No wonder John said, and I love this verse in first John five and verse four. He says, “this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith”, because the just shall live by faith. Let me just close with this.

Do you know in the Scripture, the only time Jesus, the Bible says that Jesus was ever amazed. The only time Jesus ever says he was amazed, and He only says it twice. Both were in connection to faith, one positive and one negative. The Bible says Jesus was amazed when he saw the unbelief in his hometown in Nazareth. He was amazed at their unbelief. And then a second time was positive. When he saw the faith of that Roman centurion, he was amazed at his faith. Friends, you want God to be amazed with you, and more important you want to see God do amazing things through you.

Then I challenge you, understand the greatness and the faithfulness of our God. And let's trust Him to do what He has promised. And mountains will move through you. Because it's not about you. It's about Him. And all He waits for us, for you, is to take your simple mustard seed of faith, and place that faith in Him, a great and a mighty God. So, I asked you this question, friends, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? But let me ask you a question. Another question, how's your faith today? How's your faith? If your faith is weak, I hope you got an answer. Stop asking for more faith, start coming to God and say God reveal to me your greatness, you faithfulness. God is a faithful God. One of my heroes of the faith is a man by the name of Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor was known to say this, we can have faith in the faithfulness of God. God is faithful, and He won't let you down. Friends, you can trust Him.

Prayer

Let's bow for prayer. All heads bowed and eyes closed, just for a moment. And ask the pianists to come and play if they would. As the piano plays, let’s bow our hearts, just for a moment. Lord, I want to come to you right now. And I want to say thank you that you are that God that delivered the people of Israel from the tyranny of Egypt. And Lord, I'm thankful that as you have laid out your credentials throughout the Scripture, you've come to us and said, based upon who you are and what you've done, that we as the people of God are to open our mouth wide. And Lord, you have promised to fill it. And Lord, I want to pray right now, for anybody in this auditorium who is struggling with doubt or maybe their faith is weak, and they're just kind of just drifting along in a Christian life. Lord, I pray today that by way of the Holy Spirit, that you would remind him that yes, you are a great and a mighty God. And that you're a God who can be trusted. And that they would start taking, trusting you and taking you at your Word. And I pray that through them, you would do great and mighty things. Lord, I pray that You would speak to the hearts and the minds of your people. As the piano plays with your head bowed and your eyes closed just for a moment, maybe right now you need to come to God and you need to tell him. Lord, I've been drifting, my faith has been weak, I need my faith strengthened and maybe that's where you find yourself today, you just need strength. And maybe you are overcome with worry, fear, maybe guilt incapacitates you spiritually. Maybe you're not seeing his power, maybe you've lost your boldness, maybe at one time you're a soul winner, but you just seem to be overcome with fear. Or maybe for some reason you've been watching or listening to things is because you simply doubt God. Maybe this morning or tonight God has spoken to your heart, and you know that your faith is weak. God has put His finger upon your problem and what you need is you just need your faith strengthened tonight. That's where you are right now, would you talk to God about it  and then ask God, ask Him this, Lord, would You begin to reveal to me a fresh and to know your greatness and your faithfulness to me that I might again afresh and anew trust you to do what you have promised to do

With your heads bowed, your eyes closed as the piano plays, just do a little transaction with God right now right here. How's your faith growing? If your faith isn’t growing, you can start growing right here, you can start afresh right now. Right now, acknowledged to God, your struggle and your weak faith. Ask that God to do alone what He can do to reveal to you His greatness. May not be said of us, oh you, faithless generation, all things are possible to those who believe. Lord, I asked today that you would sweep across this auditorium right here, stir us, open our eyes to see you, who you are, what you've done. That our faith might be strengthened by you.

Let’s just wait a minute, as we tarry in His presence. Like last night, maybe, you know, maybe you need to make some kind of a public commitment to God because you need something a little bit more cemented in your heart. I do want you to know at this invitation hour, you can stand on your feet, you can come forward, you could fall upon your knees. But if you need to do business with God, the time to do business with God is when God's doing business with you. If God has been speaking to your heart this week about something, maybe for you was on Sunday morning and it was just absolute surrender. And maybe God has been tugging at your heartstrings you need to make that choice, then I invite you tonight to surrender. And maybe you need to stand your feet. Maybe you need to come forward maybe to fall upon your knees. But whatever you need to do, would you do it tonight if it's surrender, maybe God just been speaking to you as Pastor Jason mentioned this morning, it's just your motivation. And your motivation for wanting to live a godly life is wrong. Maybe you've been a performance-based Christian thinking that if I live a godly life, God's gonna be pleased with you. But now you realize, wait a minute. No, I do what I do because I fear Him. And I do what I do because He loves me. Maybe tonight God has spoken to you about just getting into the Word of God. And here we are a couple days into the camp but you've not been able to break open the Word, break that old stubborn habit. God wants you just to surrender that part of your life to Him. And maybe you need to make that choice. Maybe tonight, you're so moved by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But you've still not yielded yourself to Him to be Lord and leader. Maybe you need to do that tonight too. Or maybe God just speaking to you about faith. Friends, whatever God's doing in your heart tonight. Would you let Him have His way? Let Him have his way.

Lord, I pray tonight, as we conclude this service, I pray that you'd be amazed with us. Because you see in us. You see us, taking you at your Word and trusting you to do as you have promised to do. So you're pleased then to do amazing things through us. Lord, would you be pleased with us tonight as we recommit ourselves to trust you a great and a mighty God. Lord, I want to pray tonight that each and every one of us would know and live by the reality of Psalm 81 And verse 10, knowing that You are our Lord and our God and you are that very God that delivered the nation of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. Lord, You are our God. That is you. And so I pray that each of us in our own areas of life would open our mouth wide and that you would fill it. Lord, bless these your people here tonight for Your glory and we ask it in Jesus’s name, Amen.