Sermon Central
-
Adequate Faith
Contributed by C.a. Mccracken on Mar 22, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: This sermon answers the age old question... Do I have enough faith?
"Adequate Faith"
Rom 12:3
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can’t hang on much longer."
"That’s all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
There are those who would ask the question…
Do I have faith?
LET ME RESPOND BY SAYING…
Everyone has faith…
The athiest and the Christian.
The evolutionists and the creationists.
The churched and unchurched individuals.
The rich and the poor.
Every race, every culture…
Our text tells us that God has dealt to EVERY man the measure of faith.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary…
“Measure” is an adequate or due portion
So in essence God has given to every individual an adequate portion of faith.
God has given to mankind a “measure of faith” that is adequate and sufficient to meet the need.
ADEQUATE- sufficient for a specific requirement…
THE FAITH GOD HAS GIVEN US IS AN ADEQUATE FAITH!
IT IS SUFFICENT FAITH!
This ADEQUATE FAITH allows us to…
to see the miraculous…
to experience a personal miracle…
to see YOUR prayer answered…
to see an awesome REVIVAL…
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
The only reason the disciples could not cast out the devil from the young man was because of their UNBELIEF…
NOT because they had no faith!
BUT…
Their UNBELIEF was greater than their BELIEF!
THEY HAD FAITH…and unbelief!
Is this possible?
Remember, “I believe, help thou mine unbelief…”
When Jesus responded: “because of your unbelief…”
This particular word UNBELIEF comes from the Greek word…
oligopistia (ol-ig-op-is-tee’-ah);
It is found only once in scripture in Matt. 17:20:
It means littleness of faith, lack of faith.
I BELIEVE THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS SIMPLY THIS…
THE DISCIPLES DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE FAITH THAT THEY DID HAVE!
HOW MUCH FAITH WAS REQUIRED TO SEE THE MIRACLE?
20 …for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Matt 17:20 (NIV)
20 …if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
MOUNTAINS ARE REMOVED WITH ADEQUATE FAITH!
Jesus said that if we had this kind of faith…
“Nothing will be impossible for you."
Faith is seeing with the eyes of the Spirit what cannot be seen in the natural.
George Muller said that:
Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible.
Another instance in the Gospel of Luke tells us this…
5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
It seems as though Jesus was telling the disciples it does not take much faith to cause Him to respond!
All you need is faith the size of a small mustard seed and “nothing will be impossible for you!”
