Sunday Sermon
sunday morning 17th Jan 2010
Mat 9v1-8 Real Faith Saves!
Jesus is returning to his own town. He has been out preaching, healing, performing miracles now he goes back to his home town – which at this point was Capernaum. (see Mat 4v13).
It was a bigger town than Nazareth where Jesus and his message had already been rejected.
And as usual as soon as he gets to a place he is contacted by those in need.
Note, Jesus never has to go looking for work. The work comes to him.
1) the paralytic and friends v2
Some men carry to Jesus a man on a mat.
They are people of faith.
That is why they bring the man to Jesus, they know he can heal.
That is their faith, they trust in Jesus!
Jesus seeing their trust, takes their faith and does something amazing!
He takes the sins and sends them away!
Jesus says be of good courage, cheer up! Your forgiven!
The man was a paralytic but his big problem was his sin!
Yet he has faith to go to Jesus – and Jesus forgives him!
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The thing we learn from these guys is that we are saved by faith!
All that we need for salvation is a little bit of trust in Jesus.
Enough just to go to him!
· These men are the great example of that.
The man was not perfect. He had a physical problem.
He was also discouraged. He was not in good spirits.
· We think that we need to be perfect before we can come to Jesus.
But all we need is just enough faith to go to Jesus as we are, with all our problems – physical, emotional, spiritual. And then Jesus does the work of saving us!
Ultimately all these other problems are symptoms of our main problem: sin.
· We need forgiveness.
But don’t be discouraged: Jesus will forgive.
Sin is not too big a problem that it will never be able to overcome it.
Sin can be forgiven, all sin can be forgiven. Because of Jesus!
· So what is saving faith?
Simply going to Jesus like these men did. Takes no great show or drama. Just enough courage to go to Jesus as you are – broken, needed, guilty; He will do the rest.
2) the scribes v3
The words of Jesus are shocking to the scribes.
Perhaps they had turned up to see some miracle, some wonder.
But what they hear is a man offering that which only God can offer: forgiveness.
So they assume Jesus is blaspheming. Which he was to their ears.
Jesus is just a man they assume, so he cannot forgive.
App: Wrong faith blinds.
We all have faith of one sort or another.
We all believe on something, rely upon something.
The person who does not believe has great faith in not believing!
I do not know how someone can look at the world and see all its systems and design and
still deny that there is a God!
“the fool says in his heart, there is no God” Ps14v1
If Jesus is just a man he cannot forgive.
The scribes and Pharisees saw Jesus and all his works but they did not believe!
So we need to ask who is Jesus.
Who Jesus is, is the all important question.
But it is a personal question. Who do you think he is?
Can he offer you forgiveness or is he a blasphemer?
The only way you can find out is by going to him for yourself, with whatever faith you have.
Only then will you find out what Jesus can do for you!
3) so why trust Jesus? Why put your faith in him, like the paralysed man did?
Jesus v4-8
A. Just as Jesus had seen the faith of those who had come to him with the paralytic so he sees the evil thoughts of the scribes v4.
He questions them – why do they think evil in their hearts?
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A) because of his unmatched wisdom and insight!
There has never been anyone, apart from Jesus, whose insights and teaching have changed the world!!
Shown here just by the fact that he knew what the Scribes and Pharisees were thinking!
But not only that the way he dealt with their accusations.
Not with a counter allegation but with a word to make them question their presuppositions.
“why do you think evil in your hearts”v4.
This is a great question for us to ask about our own opinions of Jesus.
Who do we really think Jesus is?
There is only two options:
That Jesus was a blasphemer – that he claimed to much for himself.
Or he was simply who he said he was!
What option fits the results best?
Is there any evidence to show that Jesus is not the Son of God, the Saviour of the world?
A lot of people who reject Jesus do so for no good reason at all!
If you are rejection Him today, then ask yourself: Why? For what reason.
B. Then Jesus asks another question. Which is easier to say...v5
It is easy to say your sins are forgiven because there is no immediate verification.
But to say you are healed requires a healing!
So to give proof of the forgiveness Jesus also gives the healing!! V6.
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Why put your faith in Jesus? Because of the evidence.
Proof is essential for faith.
Faith is not about believing just because there is not enough facts.
Faith is believing because there are the facts to be seen by all who choose to look.
Jesus wants people to believe he can forgive so he heals to prove it!
2000 years of Christian history, the world and all its beauty, millions of individual testimonies all mount up to a huge amount of proof for the veracity of Jesus Christ.
Ultimately the man is forgiven and healed v7.
That Jesus was able to heal, proves he was able to forgive.
That is what the majority of the onlookers new to be true v8!
4)so what about us who look on today?
This short event and its surrounding debate must lead to some kind of conclusion.
App
Faith in Jesus is the key to life in God.
Faith is what leads to a life of praise and wonder.
Believing that God is who he says he is – the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Believing that Jesus is who he says he is – the one who came to the world to bring forgiveness so that we could have life and life to the full.
Put God to the test by trusting him each day.
sunday evening 17th Jan 2010
MAT 17v14-20
The past two Sunday evenings we have seen examples of great faith.
Great faith from unexpected places: the Roman Centurion and the Canaanite woman.
This week we see a lack of faith in the place where we would more likely expect it.
The context:
Jesus has just been transfigured into something of his true glory before the eyes of Peter, James and John. Moses and Elijah appear before Jesus and the disciples. The voice of God commands them to listen to Jesus, they are terrified!
Following this they come off the mountain and into the crowds again.
And as always happens, Jesus does not need to go looking for work: he is approached.
A man comes asking for mercy on his son. He had brought him to the disciples but they were unable to help; Jesus then heals the boy!
This whole event highlights not great faith but little-faith.
So what can we learn about living by faith from their poor example?
1) lack of faith among the people v17-18.
Jesus’ first words to the situation are words of rebuke.
a) The people were “unbelieving” they had no faith.
They had no doubt seen many miracles and had been around Jesus for quite a time but they are still unbelieving!
b) The people were “perverse”- literally the word refers to an object on the potter’s wheel that has become misshapen!
Jesus at this point seems to be referring to the whole Jewish race, “generation” means descended from one ancestor. In their case Abraham.
Great things were expected of them, they had the blessing of the old covenant, and here they are in the very epicentre of Gods Messianic work but they cannot believe!
They should be a shining example of what it means to live by faith, but they have become misshapen! Perverted!
The word of rebuke though is not the final word!! At least not yet.
The word of rebuke is meant to awaken faith and recast the pot on the potter’s wheel.
c) Jesus heals the boy v18.
Jesus then calls the boy over.
In previous cases of great faith the healings came “that hour”, meaning right away.
In this case of no faith the healing is still instant!
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a) to live by faith we need daily belief.
The generation had become unbelieving.
We need to do all we can to stay believing every day – prayer, reading, putting ourself n the place that will lead to a lively faith.
b) we need a daily holiness
the people had become perverted. We need to do all we can to become pure.
Obedience to all that God reveals. Thinking on what is beautiful, lovely etc.
c) we need to practice faith
Jesus healed the boy! He spoke to the boy and healed him
God may be asking us to go and do something – just do it!!
2) lack of faith among the disciples v19-20.
a) The disciples ask the right question at this point.
They want to know why they couldn’t heal the boy.
They want to know why their commands were ineffective! Why it didn’t work for them!
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This is the kind of question we need to address to our lack of progress in spiritual matters, whether it be our prayer or outreach or personal growth or whatever.
Why are things not happening, why is it not working?
We have a fear of asking such questions, we are afraid of thinking that we are getting it wrong! But it is only as we ask the difficult questions that problems can be solved.
The disciples were also embarrassed by the situation! They came to Jesus in private!!
b) Jesus gives the answer.
Their problem was their little-faith. One word in the Greek. Their faith was not up to scratch.
Something about the case weakened their faith.
Was it because Jesus was up the mountain? Did they not realise that even without the personal presence of Jesus they still could do such things?
Literally the answer reads “through your little-faith” .
They could have performed the healing, but their faith instead of progressing the miracle prevented it!! That is a scary thought is it not?! A big problem that needs addressing.
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At a personal level lack of faith is equally devastating, because it prohibits the work of God.
God may be challenging us to do something but our lack of faith stops us and thus Gods to!
c) So Jesus addresses the problem with one of his blockbuster sayings:
If they had mustard seed faith, they could move mountains from here to there, they would have power to do anything!! What is about the mustard seed?
It’s small but it is full of growth potential, see Mat13v31-32.
Faith that can move mountains is faith that does not care how small it is, it simply knows that by trusting in God it can do great things.
Mustard seed faith addresses the problem in the way, the mountain, the demon or whatever and simply sends it away!!!!!
Not because the faith is big, but the faith gives us access to the power of God.
For God nothing is impossible, faith calls us to engage Gods power in our work.
d) what was the disciples problem then?
Their understanding needed teaching.
Their problem was they thought if only they had great faith then they could do things!
In other words they thought it was up to them!
But the whole point about faith is that it is faith in God and what he can do.
He can pull a huge tree out of a tiny seed!
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Surely this is a challenge to us and our faith.
Who or what do we trust? Where do we place our faith? Is it in God or our own abilities?
The encouraging point to all this is that Jesus never request great faith on our part!
Just simple belief in God and his power and what he can do.
In practise this means that as God calls us to live for him, obeying his leading, as his servants on earth, there is nothing that we cannot do!
All that God asks of us we can do.
Nothing is impossible with Gods power.
