Title: Mustard Seed Faith
Bible Book: Matthew 17 : 20
Author: Jesse M. Hendley
Subject: Faith; Mustard Seed Faith; Trust
Objective:
Introduction
Matthew 17:20
Friends, we come now to another amazing statement in God's Word found in Matthew 17:20. "Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
The possibility of the miraculous life! The glorious possibility of every Christian! Seeing miracles take place! Receiving miracles from God! That is an amazing statement: "Nothing shall be impossible to you." NOTHING is impossible, to certain Christians, even the moving of mountains.
Our LITTLE FAITH is one of the reasons we do not realize the miraculous things of God in the spiritual realm. Christians live in the physical and the spiritual as well - both realms. Now you remember the story found here in Matthew 17. I have before me a Greek Testament in my right hand and a Scofield Bible on the desk, and the Scofield Bible titles this particular section, "The powerless disciples, the mighty Christ." The sad thing is, the powerless disciples ought not to have been powerless. YOU AND I ought not to be powerless. We ought to be able to create miracles through our Mustard See Faith. Now let's read the context.
I. A Spiritual Problem
"There came to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed. Oft times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. I brought him to Thy disciples, and they could not cure him.’"
This was a spiritual problem, a demon possessing this boy. The demon cast him into the fire and into the water, trying to destroy his life. When the father brought him to the disciples and asked them to help the boy, they couldn't do it.
Beloved, around us is the world, is people with great needs. Do they come to you and to me as Christians and get no help because of our lack of faith?
Now notice. "Then Jesus answered and said, ‘0 faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?’ How long shall I put up with you?"
The Lord got a little bit tired of unbelief. Then he said, "'Bring him hither to Me.' And Jesus rebuked the demon and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart (quietly, thinking it over, after the matter was over) and said, 'Why could not WE cast him out? Why can't WE create a miracle like that? Why can't You use US to bring to pass the miraculous?' And Jesus said, "Because of your oligopistian.'"
The Greek Testament says, "On account of your oligopistian." One word in the Greek is two words in the text. The word 'oligopistian' is the English 'LITTLE FAITH!' The word 'oligo' comes from 'oligos,' which means little.' We get the word oligarchy from that word, the rule of the few. Then notice 'pistia,' which is Greek for 'faith.'
"Your little faith," Jesus said. "On account of your little faith. That's why you couldn't do it. You didn't have faith enough to do it. Not enough FAITH!"
Isn't that an amazing statement? Yes, it is. FAITH! FAITH can produce MIRACLES! So "little faith" keeps us from the realizing the miraculous things of God, bringing to pass miraculous things to man, in the realm of the Spiritual.
This was a spiritual problem, which led to physical distress. There is a new science called "psychosomatic.” It comes from psuche, the Greek word for life, and soul, and soma, which means body. So it means soul and body problems. In other words, some doctors say from 50% to 75% of the people who come to them have no real trouble in the realm of the physical at all; it is psychosomatic, the SOUL, the immaterial part of us, that is affecting the physical. A man can THINK himself sick and BE sick. That is true. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, we are told in the Scriptures. So here we have it.
Now this boy was troubled. It was a pneumosomatic problem, or spiritual problem. There was a demon in this boy. Now don't run away from the Bible friends. Don't think you are going back to old days of ignorance when you talk about demons. The Bible says there are such, and there are problems in medical science that the doctors are not able to treat - ever learning things that are amazing. Science never arrives. It is always learning some fresh truth. They are making research in the matter of mental telepathy now, for instance, mind thought waves projected and received. There are strange things! We are MORE than body, we are more than physical.
Now this boy was troubled by a demon and the demon led him almost to take his life - Suicide. I wonder, friends, as we think about suicide, how many times it has been a demon that has whispered in somebody's mind, "Take your life. Take those sleeping pills. Blow your brains out. Jump from that bridge, or highest story window." How many times, if we know the inside and what goes on in a person's soul, inside a person's mind, could see there demon possession, driving them to take their lives.
God's Word says that demons are getting ready the NATIONS of earth, driving governments and their armies to the Great Battle and the Great Day of God Almighty. Why do we have war, when men KNOW it is senseless? Everybody knows that war is senseless. Why should our boys go over yonder and kill a man across the seas that he has never known, doesn't even know his name?
Knows nothing about him, but just goes over yonder and shoots at each other and kills each other. Why? It isn't human, is it? It isn't normal. There are demons.
So we read that the father brought this boy to the disciples, and they couldn't cast out the demon. But Jesus cast him out. The disciples asked why. "Because of your oligopistian! Your little faith!"
So little faith keeps us from realizing miraculous things. This boy had a pneumosomatic problem, pneuma, "spirit," and soma, "body." There was an evil spirit within his being, driving his body, disturbing him physically. Notice now Christ's amazing statement. It is a very precious one, God help us to receive it. "Verily I say unto you. . ."
Verily! Truly! Whenever Jesus said "Verily," it was doubly important! "Verily, I say UNTO YOU." That if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, "Go hence there," (Go from here to there!) and it shall GO OVER. And not one thing shall be impossible for you to do.
II. An Amazing Statement
What an AMAZING statement! NOTHING shall be impossible to the BELIEVER. NOTHING, NOTHING, shall be impossible in the realm of the physical, the mental, or the spiritual. May God help us, friends, if we have failed!
Now notice, friends that He says, "If ye have faith." What is this mysterious something we must have to get God to work miracles? It is called "faith." Pistis is the word. Get your concordance and study FAITH.
FAITH is dependence on the veracity of another. That is, on the veracity of God.
FAITH is belief, or trust, in a person or thing or doctrine or statement. In the Scriptures we have saving faith. We have faith in the Truth and Faithfulness of God, faith that God will do things BECAUSE HE LOVES US. We have faith that He saves us; why can't we have faith for the healing of our bodies and minds and souls?
Jesus says, "If ye have FAITH." He didn't say, "If ye have GREAT faith." He said, "If ye have faith as a GRAIN of MUSTARD SEED." There's not much faith required! Mustard seed is a tiny, tiny seed.
There's not much required. But it has got to be FAITH IN GOD. We must have faith THAT GOD LOVES US, that He wants to do these good things for us, as impossible as they seem. We must have faith that He WANTS to do it and WILL do it.
So, IMPOSSIBLE, MIGHTY things we can accomplish with this one LITTLE THING, pistis! Little faith moves BIG MOUNTAINS! "Ye shall say to this MOUNTAIN," JESUS says, "REMOVE here to there! And it shall GO OVER." It shall transfer. It shall immediately MOVE.
Beloved, we stand in the presence of a statement like this and say, "That's impossible," and we quit. But it ISN'T impossible. Down through history there have been people who have taken God literally at His Word, and have had faith in Him, and have launched out on that faith and have seen MIGHTY MIRACLES OF GOD! My, what a statement! God help us for a week to live in the presence of this passage!
III. A Wonderful Victory
Till FAITH GETS HOLD OF OUR HEARTS! Faith to claim victory for our bodies, victory for our loved ones to be saved, victory for the salvation of souls and healing of bodies! Victory over bad habits, cigarettes, temper, drink, lust, and all that. There is victory THROUGH FAITH for the person who comes to God in prayer. Faith releases all the POWER OF GOD. WE can't move mountains, but GOD CAN! FAITH is the channel through which God does it. Faith is the power that comes through the channel of prayer, that does it.
Unlimited power and blessing, then, are for the person who has even faith "as a grain of mustard seed." The Lord says this amazing thing: "NOTHING shall be impossible to you." Not even one thing shall be impossible, to YOU. I made this study while I was on my knees, in a hotel room in a distant city where I was in a meeting, and I wrote at the bottom of my notes, "GIVE IT TO US, 0 GOD! Give us faith, as a grain of mustard seed! Mustard seed faith!"
Will you BELIEVE GOD, with me, FOR MIRACLES? LET'S BELIEVE GOD. LET'S PRAY TOGETHER, and LET'S BELIEVE GOD for MIRACLES. Healing of bodies, saving of souls, victory over sins that dragging one down in the mire. Think of the things you want to see done, that seem impossible. THEY CAN BE DONE, through pistis! FAITH! FAITH, that God loves us, that He is Almighty, that He CAN do these miracles, and that He WILL do these miracles, and give us the power to have victory over EVERY ENEMY.
