Faith + Obedience Moves God
Scripture: Matthew 17:20-21; First Samuel 15:1-9; 19-22; Luke 5:1-11
I started out in life as a child. I 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 was 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 – you know how wonderful it is to be fed as a child? Someone prepares your meal and then holds you and stuff the food in repeatedly in your mouth? Those were some good old days!
But one of the main things that I did not have to learn, and seemed to have a natural gift for, was being disobedient – not obedient, but disobedient. 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, and yet I felt compelled to do them anyway. I find it interesting (as many of you did also) that I 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 lessons were taught or dispensed. Now as I grew older and became a Christian, I learned two key doctrines that would impact my relationship with God. The first was about faith and how without it I could not please God. The second was about obedience, without which I could not accomplish what God commanded me to do. Are you seeing a connection here? The title of my message this morning is “Faith + Obedience Moves God.”
Before I go into the heart of the message, I want set the stage with a story about emotions – I will go into a lot more details of this story in my message next week. Do you remember the story of why Moses was not allowed to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land? You will find the story in Numbers chapter twenty. We will not turn there today because, as I said, it will be the subject matter for my message next week. But if you remember anything about Moses, you know that before he began his faith journey, he would, at times, let his emotions get the better of him. We see an example of this in Exodus 2:11-14 which records,“(11) Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (12) So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. (13) And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ (14) Then he said, ‘Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ So Moses feared, and said, ‘Surely this thing is known!’” (Exodus 2:11-14)
In the heat of a moment he killed an Egyptian which led to him fleeing Egypt setting him on a path to have a meeting with God at the burning bush. After meeting the Lord at the burning bush, and receiving His commandment to lead the children of Israel out of bondage, Moses developed a strong relationship with the Lord where he talked with Him like we talk with each other. Moses was a man of faith, and yet, one act of disobedience kept him from entering the Promised Land. What was that act? He hit a rock out of anger versus speaking to it like God had commanded. I told you last week that I experienced moments where my anger fought against my faith. Emotions can cause the most faithful of us to disobey God if we are not very careful. I wanted to remind you of Moses’ story as a foundation for what I am going to share with you about the relationship between faith and obedience.
Do you remember the story of Jesus’ disciples attempting to cast out a demon, but were unable to do so? They tried to cast a demon out of a man’s son but could not do it. When the man brought his son to Jesus, Jesus cast out the demon. Later, His disciples asked Him why they could not do it. When Jesus answered their question, this is what He told them according to Matthew 17:20-21. “(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. (21) However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” 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. It is so small that one could be placed in a person’s hand and almost be undetectable, and 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. I want to pause here and address something that is critical for us to understand: what Jesus meant by “faith as a mustard seed.” Too often Christians have taken this verse and interpret it to mean that they only need a small amount of faith move the mountains in their lives. But is this what Jesus is saying? Jesus helps us understand what He meant in Matthew 13:31-32. “(31) Another parable put He forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: (32) which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32) When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we entered the kingdom of heaven as children with mustard seed faith, with faith that needed to be developed. That’s why Jesus emphasizes, not the mustard seed, but what happens when it is planted and nourished. The mustard seed is the starting point for faith. And Jesus tells us how to build our mustard seed faith into a tree of faith with branches so large that birds builds can build their nests with the parable of the sower in verses 3-9 and in verses18-23 of the chapter.
As our faith grows, and it’s a continuous process, it makes the impossible possible, the unbelievable believable and the insurmountable surmountable. Hebrews 11:1 says, “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 believe what God has said. Because we know that what we are hoping for will come, we begin to make plans to receive it. Our faith is our conviction 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. It says, “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.” 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. When you lift weights as part of your exercise routine, the muscles you are exercising will 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. Atheists do not believe God exists; therefore they cannot accept Him. In order to accept God, you must first believe that He is – that He exists – which requires faith on a very basic level.
There are many Scriptures that point 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 see God move in our lives. I will go so far as to say that without this it will be impossible for you to have faith. 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 because He knows that our obedience will increase our faith. You see, your faith will grow as you learn to trust God, believe what He says and obey Him. 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 expect God to do something because you know that your life is one of obedience, 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 First Samuel chapter fifteen. 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 that 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 First 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. When Samuel asked him about the sounds of 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.” (First 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’s obedience than his sacrifices. Samuel makes it clear that God cares more about our obeying Him than any sacrifice we can offer. You make a “sacrifice” to come to Church, yet God cares more about the fact that you obey Him. You make a “sacrifice” to give, yet God cares more about your obedience than your sacrifice. You make a “sacrifice” to help others, yet God cares more about your obedience. There is absolutely NO sacrifice that we can ever make that will be more important to God than our 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, we will not have the faith God needs to move in our lives. If I am not willing to obey God, it will not matter how much faith I think I have; my inability to be obedient will cancel out God acting on my faith. Obey first, the faith will follow. You cannot have true faith without obedience.
If you have faith that is very small, if it’s small that it would take a high powered microscope to see it, your obedience to God will undergird your faith enabling it to move mountains in your life! Why do I say this? Because when God tell us to do something and we do it out of obedience we are exercising some faith in God even though it might not be the faith you’re accustomed to hearing people talk about. We might have a little faith, but the more obedient we are to God and believing His word, the more our faith will grow. It’s simple math: faith plus obedience equals results. This is what we are missing today. There are so many ministries out there teaching that all you need is faith and people are walking around depressed thinking God that is disappointed in them because their faith is weak. I am standing before you today to tell you that if you think that you have much faith, little faith or no faith at all, God will move on your behalf because of your obedience to Him because your simple obedience proves that your faith in God is evident. If God tells you to do something you do not have to know the ending, just be obedient and see what happens. Turn to Luke 5:1-7.
“(1) So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, (2) and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. (3) Then 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 taught the multitudes from the boat. (4) When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ (5) But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ (6) And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. (7) So they signaled to their partners in the other boat 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 was done 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 five. “….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 disciple, he became a disciple after this incident. Peter had no real faith in Jesus at this moment; to Peter Jesus was a new, unique religious teacher who healed people (like his mother-in-law in chapter four.) At this point 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 not demonstrated faith as a follower of Jesus at this point 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 chance 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.
What about you and me? Are we trying to use our faith for something instead of just being obedient? Has God told us to take a step, but instead we are trying to exercise our faith and do it our own way? We may go to Church every day, but if we are not obedient to what God is telling us to do, then our “sacrifices” of being a good church worker will not move God. Our faith will also be weak because we will continue to pray and yet nothing will happen because we are not obedient to what God has told us to do. Understand this New Light and those watching the live stream, being obedient to God does not mean you must do everything Rodney or Pastor Fulks tell you to do. If we 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 each 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?
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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