ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH
MATTHEW 9:27-31
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
Introduction: Many have misunderstandings about faith. Faith does not save anyone. Christ’s righteousness provided by God’s grace saves us. Ephesians 2:8-9 declares, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” Faith does not keep anyone; the omnipotence of God does that. The Holy Spirit not our faith is the Great Agent in keeping us. Our faith is the instrument through which God acts and works. In Romans 12:6, we read that God gives a measure of faith to every believer to walk by faith and carry out the will of God. As our stewardship is a proportionate response to God’s blessings likewise God’s opportunities and blessings are a proportionate response to our faith. A cardinal tenet of faith is "According to your faith be it unto you” This was evidenced in the healing of the two blind men. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” What is Faith? Can we limit faith? In addition, what is the reward of faith?
I. What is Faith?
A. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
B. “According to your faith be it done to you.”
C. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
D. Faith is the hand outstretched to receive the gift of God
Faith is the eye that looks into the unseen beyond man’s reason
Faith is the heart’s response to the call of the Lord
Faith is soul’s reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ – Oliver B Greene, The Gospel According to Matthew – Volume II, © The Gospel Hour, Greenville
E. Hebrews 11:6 “... 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.”
F. Charles Kettering said that when he was research head of General Motors and wanted a problem solved, he’d place a table outside the meeting room with a sign: Leave slide rules here. If he didn’t do that, he’d find someone reaching for his slide rule; who would then be on his feet saying, “Boss, you can’t do it.” – Charles F. Kettering in Bits and Pieces, Dec, 1991, p. 24
G. Hebrews 11:8-12 “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
H. Concerning Abraham’s faith Romans 4:18-22 declares. “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, So shall your offspring be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”
I. Erich Fromm one of the world’s great psychologists declared, “Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life, CANNOT HAVE FAITH." To have true faith in God is to take risks, to embrace uncertainty. – "The Preacher’s Illustration Service," Jan/Feb 1997.
J. 2 Corinthians 5:7 “… we walk by faith, not by sight.”
II. How Faith is Limited
A. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Jesus allows us to choose. We can choose the limits we put on faith. We can choose the limits we put on the promises of God. We can choose the limit that we put on the blessings in our life.
B. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it done to you.” God works according to our faith not according to the account balances in our checkbook, the opinion of our peers, or what we feel our capacities or abilities are.
C. Israel’s lack of walking by faith limited God’s blessings.
1. Psalm 78:22 “... they did not believe in God and did not trust His saving power.”
2. Psalms 78:40-43 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power: the day when He redeemed them from the enemy, when He worked His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan. (NKJV)
D. The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. They walk by sight. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and without faith, we confine ourselves inside the flimsy corrals of life.
E. If we are going to limit God by our comprehension, we stop walking with God by faith. Limiting God to our comprehension takes faith all out of our walk.
F. Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us”
G. There is no limit to God’s power and ability. But the demonstration and exercise of that power and ability is limited by our faith.
H. This was clearly demonstrated during Christ’s earthly ministry by the people of Nazareth. Matthew 13:58 says, "And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." The people of Nazareth tied the omnipotent hands of the Lord God Almighty. The people actually spiritually bound the hands of Jesus. He could not do many mighty works in Nazareth because of their unbelief. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t have the power. He demonstrated His power in the miracles He performed elsewhere. Their unbelief limited God. Are you limiting God in your life or in the church?
III. How Faith is Rewarded
A. Hebrews 11:6 “... 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.”
B. Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. – Augustine
C. A Roman Centurion came on behalf of his paralyzed servant seeking Christ’s healing power.
• In Matthew 8:13 we read, “And to the centurion Jesus said, Go; let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment.”
D. Faith’s reward is proportionate to one’s faith.
E. Mark 9:23 “And Jesus said to him, If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.”
F. Matthew 17:19-20 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 mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
G. "When we depend upon organization, we get what organization can do -- and that is something. When we depend upon our preaching, we get what our preaching can do -- that is something. When we depend upon money, we get what money can do -- and that is something. When we depend upon education, we get what education can do -- and that is something. But when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do. And what all of us need is what God can do!" - Dr. A. C. Dixion, from Robert G. Lee, Sermonic Library, p. 103.
H. Have you ever heard of the nineteenth British minister, George Mueller? One day he looked down the streets of Bristol, England, & saw 100’s of homeless children. He was so moved by God with concern for them that he decided that something had to be done. He had only two pence in his pocket. That’s two cents. But he decided to start an orphanage. In 60 years, beginning with two pence, George Mueller took care of 10,000 orphans. He looked out and saw homeless kids. He could have said, "But, I don’t have any money. But, there is no way to care for them, to meet their needs, to buy the food." Instead, he looked at them and said, "Therefore, I will reach out and help them." Moreover, God blessed his efforts in a mighty way. He was an amazing man of faith, supporting his orphanages entirely through prayer. He never asked anyone for a contribution but simply prayed to God about his circumstances and the needs of the orphans he cared for. Someone once observed, “It looks like a hand-to-mouth proposition.” Mueller responded, “Yes, it is. But it is God’s hand and my mouth.” He refused to limit God and God rewarded his faith with more than 30,000-recorded answers to prayer. - copied
All Scripture quotations unless marked otherwise are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
