I. EXORDIUM:
Are you taking GOD seriously?
II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:
Believers
III. OBJECTIVES:
To show that we need to remove unbelief in our hearts and practice our faith in every way we can.
IV. TEXT:
Matthew 17:20 (The Message)
17:20 "Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."
Matthew 17:20 (New King James Version)
17:20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
V. THESIS:
Praise, worship and thank You very much LORD JESUS, for there is no unbelief in my life because of Your faith that it is in me and the things you allow in my life that will lead me to pray and depend on You. I both trust GOD, and You to make it all happen in my life all Your good purposes.
VI. TITLE:
Take GOD seriously
VII. EXPLICATION:
A. Author: Matthew (also called Levi)
B. Date written: 60 A.D.
C. Purpose: To show that Jesus of Nazareth was the kingly Messiah of Jewish prophecy.—Thompson Chain - Bible Book Outlines
D. To whom written: Jews
E. Main Theme: Jesus is God's promised anointed Messiah, the King of the Jews.—Thompson Chain - Bible Book Outlines
F. Keywords: Fulfilled
G. Key verses:
Matthew 16:16-19 (The Message)
16:16 Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
16:17 Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.
16:18 And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.
16:19 "And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven."
VIII. MAIN BODY:
A. The size of faith is irrelevant
""Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed,"
"So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed,"
John Gill described the apostles as:
"...but their faith was very low, and their unbelief very great."
[Source: John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible]
Combine great unbelief and very low faith and what do you get? No miracles.
Unbelief or "apistia" in Greek meaning:
1. faithlessness
2. disbelief, unfaithfulness (disobedience)
Faith or "pistis" in Greek meaning:
1. persuasion
2. moral conviction of truthfulness of GOD
3. reliance upon CHRIST for salvation
4. assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity
Grain or "kokkos" in Greek meaning: kernel of seed, grain. Kernel - The edible substance contained in the shell of a nut. The central part of any thing; a small mass around which other matter is concreted; a nucleus.
This is their generation and our generation as well. People of this world will believe everything: superman, batman, spider-man, iron-man but they won't believe JESUS.
Matthew 17:17 (Amplified Bible)
17:17 And Jesus answered, O you unbelieving (warped, wayward, rebellious) and thoroughly perverse generation! How long am I to remain with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.
Even the spokesman of the Apostles, Simon Peter have a hard time to believe the WORD of the LORD JESUS:
Matthew 14:30-31 (Amplified Bible)
14:30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
14:31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
The Jews after they were Exodus by Moses, all of them (1 million plus people including men, women and children) did not enter GOD's salvation because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified Bible)
3:19 So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].
Numbers 14:1-35 (Amplified Bible)
14:1 AND ALL the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and [they] wept that night.
14:2 All the Israelites grumbled and deplored their situation, accusing Moses and Aaron, to whom the whole congregation said, Would that we had died in Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!
14:3 Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be a prey. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?
14:4 And they said one to another, Let us choose a captain and return to Egypt.
14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of Israelites.
14:6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the scouts who had searched the land, rent their clothes,
14:7 And they said to all the company of Israelites, The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land.
14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not.
14:10 But all the congregation said to stone [Joshua and Caleb] with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting before all the Israelites.
14:11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people provoke (spurn, despise) Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me [trusting in, relying on, clinging to Me], for all the signs which I have performed among them?
14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and will make of you [Moses] a nation greater and mightier than they.
14:13 But Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for You brought up this people in Your might from among them.
14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, and that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
14:15 Now if You kill all this people as one man, then the nations that have heard Your fame will say,
14:16 Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to give to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness.
14:17 And now, I pray You, let the power of my Lord be great, as You have promised, saying,
14:18 The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation.
14:19 Pardon, I pray You, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness, just as You have forgiven [them] from Egypt until now.
14:20 And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word.
14:21 But truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,
14:22 Because all those men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested and proved Me these ten times and have not heeded My voice,
14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; nor shall any who provoked (spurned, despised) Me see it.
14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
14:25 Now because the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.
14:26 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
14:27 How long will this evil congregation murmur against Me? I have heard the complaints the Israelites murmur against Me.
14:28 Tell them, As I live, says the Lord, what you have said in My hearing I will do to you:
14:29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness—of all who were numbered of you, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me,
14:30 Surely none shall come into the land in which I swore to make you dwell, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
14:31 But your little ones whom you said would be a prey, them will I bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised and rejected.
14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
14:33 And your children shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and shall suffer for your whoredoms (your infidelity to your espoused God), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness.
14:34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], even forty days, for each day a year shall you bear and suffer for your iniquities, even for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement].
14:35 I the Lord have spoken; surely this will I do to all this evil congregation who is gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, plagues], and here they shall die.
B. The size of problem is irrelevant
"say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."
"you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 21:21 (Amplified Bible)
21:21 And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.
Mountain is any hindrances or obstacles in life that you will encounter in this world. Finances, healing, relationships all can be turned into GOD's glory if you will only let GOD do it for you.
Mark 9:23 (Amplified Bible)
9:23 And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!
Luke 1:37 (Amplified Bible)
1:37 For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.
Luke 18:27 (Amplified Bible)
18:27 But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.
Jeremiah 32:17 (Amplified Bible)
32:17 Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You—
Illustrations:
I believe in the sun—even when it does not shine; I believe in love—even when it is not shown; I believe in God—even when he does not speak. Robert Schuller—Illustrations Unlimited
We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided. Phillips Brooks
—Illustrations Unlimited
It's not what men eat, but what they digest that makes them strong;
Not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich;
Not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned;
Not what we preach or pray, but what we practice and believe that makes us Christians. Francis Bacon
—Illustrations Unlimited
IX. CONCLUSION:
Take GOD seriously by: (1) removing every unbelief in your faith, (2) practice your faith whenever you can - in praying, in attending services, in ministry involvement. So practice, practice, practice your faith, because practice makes perfect.
Praise, worship and thank You very much LORD JESUS, for there is no unbelief in my life because of Your faith that it is in me and the things you allow in my life that will lead me to pray and depend on You. I both trust GOD, and You to make it all happen in my life all Your good purposes.
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