| Subject: Increase Our Faith |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 19:02:53 02/18/14 Tue
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
The Apostles are being taught by Jesus and He has told them about the prodigal son, Lazarus and the rich man as well as instructions on forgiveness and not offending children. His disciples have been taking it all in and likely as not they, being in the flesh, have trouble believing everything Jesus has taught them. They then ask Him to increase their faith. Jesus' answer was not what they or we would expect the answer to be. Instead of what specifically to do He answers in the abstract as He so often did. "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." (vs. 6)
You might well wonder how that answers the question but it does so without the details. It is sort of like a riddle where you must fill in the details in the places left blank. The first thing to look at is the mustard seed itself. I don't know if the mustard seed is from the plant we grow in our gardens around here in Tennessee or a mustard plant native to the area they were in. In Matthew 13:32 we have a description from Jesus which shows the characteristic He wanted them to see. "Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Looking at this we see the emphasis on it's size. Notice it is a before and after description. It begins as the least of seeds and ends as the largest of herbs. In other words it grew. How did it grow? Well it must have got planted, right?
Thinking back now on the disciples request we see that they asked Him to increase their faith and did not ask; "Lord show us what we must do to increase our faith." Their request required no effort on their part but was a request for a bestowed gift. It is like the prayer I have heard many times in which the petitioner asks the Lord; "Please keep me humble." That is a foolish prayer because the Lord might just grant your request. God in His Word has told us to "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up . " (James 4:10) To be humbled many times means to be knocked down. It means to be made helpless where you cannot do for yourselves. It means to be utterly defeated in order to be made humble. It is far better to humble yourself and not depend on the Lord to do it. Crucify your pride and you can be humble.
Asking God to increase our faith is much like asking for humility. The Bible definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1 where it is written "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Strange definition isn't it. It's only substance is hope and it's only evidence is invisible. This is why non-believers ridicule us so much when we speak of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. They want something they can see and feel. They will tell you the substance has to be something that can be demonstrated like a scientific experiment.
In Heb. 11:1 we are given the definition of faith and in the rest of the chapter we are given the demonstration of faith. Abel's faith got him killed. Noah's faith brought great ridicule on his head as he was building and ark and preaching the coming flood. It had never rained and the people could not believe this crazy loon building a boat when there was no water to float it. Abraham traveled hundreds of miles, leaving his family and homeland for a place he had never seen. There had to have been much discomfort and skepticism in those who followed him.
Look at verse 13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. " How many mocked and said "Look how their God abandoned them and they never received what they thought He had promised them".
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, "Lord increase our faith". Well Abraham's faith was increased greatly after this test but would you want this to happen to you?
We look at the great faith of Moses but did God just give it to him or did Moses faith grow as he went though trial after trial? Take the time to read Hebrews 11:32 through 40 to get a complete picture of the growing of faith. Yes, faith is as a mustard seed PLANTED. It may be small when it starts but when it is planted and the rains and storms come it grows and grows and grows. The waters are the trials of life that God brings us through. When you ask for more faith the only way you can receive more is to receive more of the troubles of life that God brings you through so your faith can grow. Faith untested and unproven is not true faith. Until the real troubles come you don't know whether you will turn to God and depend on Him or depend on the arm of flesh. Until someone puts a gun to your head or your child's and tells you to recant your faith or they will pull the trigger you don't know what you will do.
Yes, I think I am safe in saying that we all desire more faith and probably at times have asked for more. When troubles came did you grow in faith. Did you trust God or did you trust in everything and everyone but God? Humility and the growing of faith go hand in hand. You cannot have faith if you are not humble. Especially before God. Pride in your life destroys faith. Pride and faith cannot live together.
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