Date:      28th October 2007                                                  (Sunday AM)                                                                       Ref: A0344

Place:     Kambah P.S.

Title: Lord I Believe

Text:        & Mark 9:21-24

Illust: Faith, what is faith 1 simple sentence: “Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will!”

I.                   Goodness of God

A.               What is God Like

i.                 One of the big questions that all religions struggle with is what is our God like? ~  Hindu / Greek / Roman / pagan god’s; - very much like people with like passions / foibles. – Allah is an unknowable god, completely inscrutable.

      In fact early Islamic teachers ~ “took issue with the very idea that there were laws of nature; that would be blasphemy, a denial of Allah’s freedom”[1]  

ii.               What is God like? – For years Insurance companies classified natural disasters, calamities that afflicted people as “acts of God” – The picture that when anything bad happens, this is God. – Warped view that God is bad & brings bad things.

      Sadly this distorted view is also held subconsciously by many Christians. We expect God to at any moment bring sickness, disaster into our lives – live in fear.

iii.             Understand that God has revealed His character, His nature, what He is like through His Word. – Reveals that God is Good.

         Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (NKJV)

      Good:  Being positive or desirable in nature; not bad or poor

B.               The Goodness of God

i.                 Really need to let the goodness of God, the fact that God is good, that the nature of God is that he wants good things for you.

         Psalm 118:1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (NKJV)

         Psalm 119:68 You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes. (NKJV)

         Isaiah 63:7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord And the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. (NKJV)

ii.               So Good that the Bible makes it clear that if you put your trust in God, then you will be blessed & protected. – This is because God is Good.

         Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (NKJV)

         Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. (NKJV)

iii.             This is the consistent message through everything God has done throughout history as revealed in His Word, from the very creation where everything was proclaimed good through to the Israelites being taken to a ‘good land’

         Deuteronomy 8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; (NKJV)

      and the ultimate example of the goodness of God, His only son Jesus sent to die to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could have eternal life.

         Psalm 33:5  The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. (NKJV)

II.                 Will of God

A.               Sovereign Will

i.                 We see that God is good, now we want to look at another attribute of God. His sovereignty. – God is sovereign:

      Sovereign:  One that exercises supreme, permanent authority.

         Job 23:13 “He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. (NKJV)

ii.               Supreme authority over all nations and peoples is God’s – He raises up, He puts down, He is in complete & total control. All power & authority are His.

         Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. (NKJV)

iii.             His will and command are absolute - Jesus, God the son

         Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (NKJV)

B.               What is the Will of God

i.                 If His will is absolute then what is His will, what does God want? – Pretty important question. Worth spending a little bit of time on.

      First lets look at the negative perception that many have about the will of God, what they immediately think about: - Kenneth Mackenzie writes:

      The will of God is associated with sick rooms, poverty, loss, bereavement, funerals, the open grave. The will of God, to such, is always dressed in black. And this conception of His will gives us sickly Christians, weak faith, empty joy, puny conquests.[2]

ii.               This is so wrong, so perverted, we have already seen that God is good, His will flows out of His goodness.

         Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

iii.             The will of God for your life is blessing, it is a future & a hope. – The will of God is that you would be in health that you would be blessed.

      Kenneth MacKenzie continues:

      When we say, in prayer, “Thy will be done,” are we always impressed with its significance? God’s will is not a vindictive judge, exercising the keen scrutiny of inevitable retribution. Ah, how we have placed a libel upon our Father’s great heartedness in all these miserable thoughts of Him! His will is a blessed companion, which illumines our way, cheers our spirits, makes glad our lives and brings fruitfulness to all that we do. [3]

III.              Only Believe

A.               Faith is Grounded in Knowledge

i.                 Nearly everyone who would believe in God would recognise that He has the power to do anything, Our big struggle is to question “Will God really help me?” – Not that He can Faith is needed to believe that God will. – Faith, today is founded on knowledge. – a proper understanding of who God is, His character & nature.

ii.               When you understand God’s goodness, God’s good will for your life, then you can have faith to claim the promises of God for your life, knowing that He is a loving heavenly father who wants the best for you to help you, to provide, to heal.

         Matthew 6:25-26 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (NKJV)

iii.             God’s will is that you prosper, body & soul

         3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (NKJV)

B.               Step Out in Faith

i.                 The moment we say “If it be thy will” in prayer for the healing of the sick, we are throwing all the responsibility on God. We are making God responsible for the sickness, for we are saying the Lord could heal if He only would. This is not scriptural. The Lord puts the responsibility on the one who is seeking His healing touch.

ii.               Let’s look at our story again – Here is a father, his son is demon possessed, he is afflicted & he comes to Jesus.  The father cries out  & vs.22 The father, by his words, “If you can” was putting the responsibility on Jesus ~ Jesus turns it around and returns the responsibility to the father. & vs.23 – Its not If I can or will, it is If you will believe. – This same challenge goes out to you & I – Will you believe? – Will you step out in faith?

iii.             I love the response of the father because it is from the heart, it is so real. & vs.24 We need to step out in Faith, and only believe.

      “Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will!”

IV.             Altar Call

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[1] Spencer Robert (2005) The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades),  pg 96, Regnery Publishing

[2]Duffield, G. P., & Van Cleave, N. M. (1983). Foundations of Pentecostal theology (372). Los Angeles, Calif.: L.I.F.E. Bible College.

[3]Duffield, G. P., & Van Cleave, N. M. (1983). Foundations of Pentecostal theology (372). Los Angeles, Calif.: L.I.F.E. Bible College.