Faith And Obedience: What Moves God
Scripture: Matthew 17:20-21; 1 Samuel 15:1-9; 19-22; Luke 5:1-11
Introduction
I started out in life as a child. I did not come into this world as an adult, as some people think they did, I actually started off as a small baby and grew into what I am today. I came into this world with some things already within me, things that may have given my parents many headaches. For example, when I was a baby, no one taught me to cry when I was hungry or when I needed to be changed. None of us had to teach our children when they were babies to cry when they were hungry – it is already within them. When I did it I learned without understanding it, that I would receive something when I screamed at the top of my lungs (some adults still think this way.) Life was good back then. I went places without having to walk or drive because there were always people willing to carry me if I smiled and drooled enough. I was fed whenever I cried, so I learned to cry a lot. My grandmother once told me that she hated to feed me as a baby because it seemed like I would never get enough to eat…things that make you go ummmm.
But one of the main things that I did not have to learn and seemed to have a natural gift for was being disobedient. I think I came into the world with that being a part of my makeup. There were things that I did that I knew I was not supposed to do but I felt compelled to do them anyway. I find it interesting that I (as many of you did also) had to learn how to be obedient. For me, this came through the form of lectures, switches, and belts. I do not believe that my parents understood much about “time out.” Time out came after the other lesson was taught. As I grew older and became a Christian, I learned two key doctrines about my relationship with God. The first was about faith and the second was about being obedient. I was taught that my faith is what moved God into action. This morning we will examine the question: “Is our faith the only thing that moves God?”
I. The Importance Of Faith
There are several foundational Scriptures that we have all learned about faith. They include the following:
“And He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind of faith does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Matthew 17:20-21.
Jesus’ disciples were trying to cast a demon out of a man’s son but the disciples could not do it. When the man brought his son to Jesus, Jesus cast the demon out. Later His disciples asked Him why they could not do it. Jesus told them that they did not have enough faith and He used the comparison to a mustard seed. If you consider a mustard seed, it is a very small seed. Yet when it is planted it grows into a very large shrub. Jesus said if the disciples had just a little faith, the size of a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible to them. Our faith makes the impossible possible, the unbelievable, believable and the insurmountable surmountable. Another Scripture we often hear is found in Hebrews 11:1 which says:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Your bible could read this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.” What this verse says is that our faith brings those things that we are hoping for into reality. Because we know what we are hoping for will come, we begin to make plans to receive it. (Remember the story of the two farmers that I shared with you last week?) Our faith is our evidence that we have received what we have asked for, even though we may not have it in our hands. There is one more Scripture on faith that I want to share with you and it is found in Hebrews 11:6.
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
If you believe in God then you have a measure of faith. God has placed within everyone some faith, but it is up to us to exercise it so that it would grow. I lift weights as part of my exercise routine and when I exercise those muscles, they grow. Sometime that growth comes with a level of pain, but the exercised muscle does grow. Our faith is the same way. It needs to be exercised in order for it to grow. We cannot please God without faith because it takes faith for us to accept that He is. Atheist do not believe God exists therefore they cannot accept Him. In order to accept God, you must first believe that He is which requires faith on a very basic level. I read something recently that was based on the principle set forth by atheists. It said, “God does not believe in atheists therefore they do not exist.” It takes faith to believe that God exists and more faith to accept Him as our God.
There are many Scriptures that points to the importance of faith in our walk with Christ. Based on these Scriptures and many of the teachings surrounding them, many believe that it is all about faith. As long as you have faith, you can get things done. You can move God. You can move mountains. You can change your circumstances. But I must share with you this morning that although faith is important, there is something else that must be present in our lives if we are going to grow in our faith and if we truly want to move God. I will go so far as to say that without this your faith is pretty much meaningless. What we must have present in our lives is a spirit of obedience. I believe God cares more about our obedience than He does our faith. You see, as you walk in obedience, your faith will grow as a result of your obedience. God will move because of your obedience and as you begin to witness God working in your life, you will become to expect it. That expectation is the beginning of the growth of your faith. When you begin to expect God to do something, your faith is growing. Our obedience opens the door for God to move which opens the door for our faith to grow. Consider the story from 1 Samuel chapter 15. The chapter opens with the prophet Samuel going to Saul to give him directions from God. God tells Saul to go and destroy the Amalekites because Amalek went to war against the Children of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt on their way to the promise land (Exodus 17). When the battle was over, God told Moses the following: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this in a book as a memorial, and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Exodus 17:14 When Samuel appears to Saul, he tells Saul that God is ready to fulfill what He had said to Moses concerning Amalek.
God commands Saul to go and utterly destroy Amalekites and everything they own. However, as you read in 1 Samuel chapter 15, Saul did not do that. Instead of destroying everything, he allowed his men to take some spoils (the best of the flock and everything that was good) and he did not kill their king. God sent Samuel to Saul once again to tell him that he had disobeyed God and that God would remove him from being king. When Samuel approached Saul, Saul being true to human form, began to make excuses. In his excuse after Samuel asked him about the sheep, Saul said to Samuel “….They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 1 Samuel 15:15 Samuel made the following statement a few verses down that I want to stress this morning. Samuel said in verse twenty-two “…..Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”
God cared more about Saul obeying Him than him offering sacrifices. Samuel made it clear that God cares more about our obeying Him than any sacrifice we can offer. You made a “sacrifice” to come to Church last week in the rain, yet God cares more about the fact that you obey Him. You make a “sacrifice” every week to set up all of this equipment for our services, yet God cares more about our obedience than our sacrifice. You make a “sacrifice” to give into the offering, yet God cares more about your obedience. There is absolutely NO sacrifice that you can ever make that will be more important to God than your absolute obedience to Him. It is our obedience that will move God faster than our faith. If our faith is not in line with our obedience, our faith will be useless. If I am not willing to obey God, it will not matter how much faith I have, my inability to be obedient will cancel out God acting on my faith. Obey first, the faith will come. You cannot have true faith without obedience.
Let me share something with you that you can go our and proclaim that you heard it first at New Light Baptist Ministries and Church. If you have very little faith, your obedience to God will move your mountains. If you have no faith at all, your obedience to God will move mountain. If your faith is so small that it would take a high powered telescope to see it, your obedience to God will move your mountains. This is where we are missing it today. There are so many ministries out there teaching that all you need is faith and people are walking around depressed thinking God is disappointed in them because their faith is weak. I am standing before you today to tell you that if you have much faith, little faith or no faith at all, God will move on your behalf because of your obedience to him. If God tells you to do something, you do not have to have “high powered” faith to believe for the outcome. If God tells you to do it, just be obedient and see what happens. Doing what God tells you to do does not require your faith, it requires your obedience. Turn to Luke 5:1-7.
“Now it came about that while the multitude were pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the multitude from the boat. And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your net for a catch.’ And Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their nets began to break; and they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.” Luke 5:1-7
Jesus was being pressed by a large multitude of people as He was teaching them. He decided that He needed to have some space between Him and the people so He climbed aboard Peter’s boat and asked him to take it out a little ways from the shore. From there He taught the people. When He had completed teaching the people, He asked Peter to go out further into the deeper waters and let down his net. Now here is where I want you to really focus on the story. Peter and his partners had been out all night working hard to catch some fish, and ended up catching nothing. They were back to shore cleaning their nets when Jesus came by. When Jesus climbed aboard Peter’s boat and asked him to move his boat away from the shore, Peter had to stop what he was doing and move the boat. Once Jesus finished teaching the people, He told Peter to let down his net. Notice what Peter said in verse 5. “….Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.” We must understand that at this time Peter was not a disciples, he became a disciple after this incident. Peter had no faith in Jesus at this moment; to Peter Jesus was just another religious teacher. Peter did not know that Jesus was the Son of God. So when you look at his response, you know this was not something he was looking forward to doing.
Peter had worked hard all night and now he was being asked to let his nets down again, in the same waters where he had already been fishing. Although Peter did not want to do it, he relented and told Jesus that because Jesus asked him to do it, he would. When Peter let down the net, they took in so many fish that he had to call his partners over to help. Both ships started to sink because of the number of fish they caught. It was at this point that Peter understood that this man Jesus was more than just a teacher. Peter did not let down his nets because he understood who Jesus was, he did it only because Jesus asked him to and he was being obedient to the teacher (showing respect). Peter had no faith so we know that it was not Peter’s faith that brought the fish, it was his obedience. Because he was willing to obey, when he let his net down, it was as if all of the fish in the area were compelled to come and jump into his net. I believe some of the fish may have even been depressed because the nets were too full before they got the change to get on board (if that were possible). Peter received this huge amount of fish because of his obedience, because he took Jesus at His word, not his faith.
Conclusion
What about you and me? Are you trying to use your faith for something instead of just being obedient? Has God told you to take a step, but instead you are trying to exercise your faith and do it your own way? You may god to Church every day, but if your are not obedient to what God is telling you to do, then your “sacrifices” of being a good church worker will not move God. Your faith will also be weak because you will continue to pray and yet nothing will happen because you are not obedient to what God has told you to do.
Understand this, being obedient to God does not mean you must do everything Rodney tells you to do. If I tell you something based on God’s word and you verify that it is there, then it becomes an issue between you and God. God has such great plans for ear of us, but often times He is unable to fulfill them because we continue to be disobedient. If we learn to be obedient, everything else will fall into place.
What is God telling you to do? Are you walking in what He has called you to walk in? Are you fulfilling your responsibilities in your commitment to God? Are you obedient?
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers. May God truly bless you this Mother’s Day weekend. Take care everyone.
