Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 17:14-21//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./

Luke 17:6 - 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.

*Prayer *

*Paraphrase this scripture… what is going on here?*

A man came to Jesus, knelt before him and said – Sir, have mercy on my son.

He is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls in the fire or into water.

I took him to your disciples, but they could do nothing.

Jesus said: How unbelieving and wrong you people are.

How long must I stay with you, when will you learn.

How long do I have to put up with you?  Bring the boy here to me.

Jesus gave one command to the demon, and it wet out of the boy, and that very moment the boy was healed.

The disciples came over and in private they said, hey, how come we could not heal the boy Jesus?

How come we could not make the demon come out of the boy?

Because you lack* faith* said Jesus.

I told you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you could move the mountain problems in your life.

You could speak to your problems and they would move – you can do anything but this kind of faith only comes by prayer and fasting.

Your not connected he told them.

Basically, they were just pretty fixtures around Jesus.

They looked good.

They were preaching and teaching Jesus.

But they were not connected to the power, they were just pretty faucets.

*I like to tell you a story about Thomas Edward Lawrence.*

Thomas Edward (T.E.)

Lawrence was born in1888 in Wales.

Popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence became famous for his exploits as British Military liaison to the Arab Revolt during the First World War.

The desert raids of British officer T.E.

Lawrence and his Arab rebels tied down many Turkish troops who could have been fighting the main British armies in the Middle East.

Lawrence of Arabia's struggle against the Turks during World War I was a classic of guerrilla warfare, and his personal account has become a classic of world literature.

And, of course, many of you have seen the movie about the life of Lawrence of Arabia.

Lawrence wrote about his Arabian adventures in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

During the war, Lawrence formed close friendships with many of the Sheiks of Arabia.

After the war, he brought some of these Sheiks back to England to show his appreciation for their support against the Turkish domination.

They had a wonderful visit, appeared before the Joint House of Commons and Parliament, had an audience with the Queen.

On the last night of their visit, Lawrence offered them anything they wanted to take back with them to their desert homes.

They led him up to the hotel room, into the bathroom, and pointed to the faucets in the bathtub and said that they wanted to take faucets with them that would provide them with running water in the deserts.

They didn’t realize that the faucets were superficial.

Behind them was plumbing, a hot water heater, an energy source that heated the water, a city main that supplied the water, and from the city main went a line to an outside source of water!

*The magic is not in the faucet!

It is what is behind the faucet that gives the water!

*

·     The faucet can be 24 carat gold, but if it’s not attached to a water supply, it’s useless!

·     The magic is not in the faucet, the power comes from what is behind the faucet!

Things that are not visible to the human eye, but are there nonetheless!

·     If the pump, or the plumbing, or the reservoir ever to out of service, the faucet is useless!

It’s what’s behind the faucet that gives it its power!

*THE FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY THIS MORNING IS THIS; THE FAUCET IS NECESSARY TO GET THE WATER TO WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE.** *

·     I don’t want to minimize the importance of a vessel!

God needs faucets!

·     God has always worked through human vessels.

·     In fact, most of the time, God works through the most unlikely vessels!

It really does not matter what the faucet looks like, just as long as it works.

It does not matter where it comes from, the water can pour though it.

God can use anyone to pour His power though; He is not a respecter of person.

Let’s look at some of God’s faucets:

*God Can Use Anyone *

| ·     *Moses* stuttered.

·     *David's* armor didn't fit.

·     *Timothy* had ulcers.

·     *Amos*' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.

·     *Jacob *was a liar.

·     *David* had an affair.

·     *Solomon* was too rich.

·     *Abraham* was too old.

·     *David* was too young.

·     *Peter *was afraid of death.

·     *Lazarus* was dead.

| ·     *John* was self-righteous.

·     *Naomi *was a widow.

·     *Paul* was a murderer.

·     So was* Moses*.

·     *Jo**nah* ran from God. ·     *Miriam* was a gossip.

·     *Gideon* and *Thomas* both doubted.

·     *Jeremia*h was depressed and suicidal.

·     *Elijah* was burned out.

·     *Martha*, the sister of Mary, was impatient and showed excessive concern for mundane matters·     *Mary* may have been lazy.

·     *Samson* had long hair.

·     *Noah* got drunk, and that's not all.

|

 

*But God doesn't require a job interview.

*

·     He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses,

·     Because He's more our Dad than our Boss.

– It’s a family business.

·     He doesn't look at financial gain or loss.

·     He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging,

·     Sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need

·     Orange County Cycles: Paul Sr.; Paul Jr.; Mikey

 *God needs us to be faucets!

*

*Turn to John 7:38 *

*38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.*

·     God can have all the plumbing in place, have the pump hooked up, ready to pour out blessings on His people, on the world, but He needs us to be vessels!

He needs a faucet!

·     In many cases, the only thing that stops a move of God is the lack of a vessel.

·     Turn to /2 Kings 4:6/

·     When Elisha was performing the miracle for the prophet’s widow, and the oil was flowing freely, the Bible says:

*2 Kings 4:6 \\ 6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel.

And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more.