The Force Of Faith
Part One.
Installment Four.

Review.

     We have, thus far, considered the source of faith and the
strength of faith.  Now, let's consider the final section of Part
One.

C.  The Size Of Faith.

Question.  How much faith does it take to receive something from
the Lord?  Does our faith vary based upon the size of what we are
requesting?  If so, how do we know how much faith is needed?  If
it takes more faith for a given request, how do we know how much
faith to use?

Illustration.  More than once, I have been listening to a teacher
on the radio.  He often has guests whom he interviews.

     One day, he was talking to a man about a miraculous healing
that the man experienced.  The man was an airplane mechanic.  He
was working on a small prop pitch engine.  suddenly, and without
warning, the prop pitch blades spun unexpectedly as the engine
tried to spin up.  One of the blades struck him in the face and
literally sliced his nose from his face.  As his cries for help
were heard, people came from everywhere and medical assistance was
immediately dispatched to the airport and he was rushed to the
hospital.  They sowed his nose back on to his face but he refused
to allow them to give him anything for the pain.  Less than 24
hours later, he was standing in church, having no pain or
discomfort of any kind, and giving his testimony of God's healing
power.  So far, so good.

     As the interview continued, the man was asked, "How should a
listener proceed with exercising his faith for healing."  The man
suggested that we all begin with small things.  A headache, for
example, he recommended, was a good place to begin.  He said we
could practice exercising our faith when we had a headache.  Once
we accomplished getting rid of the headache, then we could move on
to bigger things as our faith grows.

     As I said, I have heard this application of faith offered
more than once, that is, start with small things and then as your
faith grows, you will be able to use your faith against the big
things.  There is only two problems with this.  First, it isn't in
the bible.  Secondly, what if the medical tests you have just
taken, show that you have terminal and inoperable cancer and you
only have a month, at the most, to live.  How are you going to
practice using your faith until you conquer headaches when you
have precious little time before you die?  So, I ask again.  How
much faith does it take for whatever it is we are asking God to
do?

Increase Our Faith.

     In Luke's Gospel it says, "And the apostles said unto the
Lord, Increase our faith," (Luke 17:5).

Question.  Did He?  Did Jesus increase their faith?

Question.  When the same disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord,
teach us to pray," did He?  The answer, in this case, is yes.
That's where we first learned about what some call The Lord's
Prayer.  It isn't the Lord's prayer at all, of course, that is
found in John Chapter 17, but the one we call the Lord's prayer is
really the disciple's prayer.  That's a different sermon for a
different time.

     My point is this.  When the disciples asked Jesus to teach
them to pray, He answered their request.  When the disciples asked
Jesus to increase their faith, He didn't.  Instead, He launched
off into some story about mustard seeds, sycamine trees obeying
your command to be plucked up by the root and cast into the
ocean, and mountains being removed.  What's that have to do with
increasing our faith?

Question.  What was Jesus trying to teach His disciples?

Question.  Was Jesus criticizing the smallness of their faith and
suggesting, if they had more faith, nothing would be impossible
unto them?  Let's read some passages which will help us gain a
better understanding of what Jesus was talking about concerning
faith.

Matthew 17:14-21
And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a
certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy
on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he
falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.  And I brought him
to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.  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.  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out
of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.  Then came
the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him
out?  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.  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Mark 9:17-29
And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about
them, and the scribes questioning with them.  And straightway all
the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running
to him saluted him.  And he asked the scribes, What question ye
with them?  And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I
have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And
wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and
gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy
disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.  He
answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I
be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.  And
they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the
spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto
him? And he said, Of a child.  And ofttimes it hath cast him into
the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst
do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.  Jesus said unto
him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth.  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and
said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.  When
Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the
foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge
thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.  And the
spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was
as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.  But Jesus took
him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.  And when he was
come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could
not we cast him out?  And he said unto them, This kind can come
forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
     Comments.

     These parallel passages raise some interesting theological
questions about faith in more than one way.

     For example, in Matthew's account, the disciples come to
Jesus afterward, when no one was around, and asked Jesus why they
had been unable to do what He did, that is, the casting out of the
devil.  What was the reply they received from their Lord?  He said
they were unable to do so because of their unbelief.  Why didn't
he say it was their faith that was the problem?  If you keep
reading that passage, the very next thing Jesus illustrates is
their faith.  He suggests to them that if they had faith even as
small as a grain of mustard seed, they could command a sycamine
tree to be removed, plucked up by the roots, and cast into the
sea.  When it came to casting out the demon, on the other hand, He
said they were unable to do so as a direct result of their
unbelief.

     In Marks Gospel account, the event is somewhat expanded for
our benefit and we gain a little more insight to the situation.
The man with the demonized son brings him to Jesus, reports that
our Lord's disciples were unable to help him, and he was now
requesting that Jesus help his son.  Jesus said to the father, "If
thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth."  Believe?  Wait a minute.  I thought it was our faith
that removed mountains.  Jesus even called these people a
faithless generation ins both Gospel accounts.  So which is it
going to be?  Faith or belief?

     In Marks account of this miracle, the disciples ask Jesus why
they couldn't cast out the demon.  Wait just a minute.  These very
same disciples had been given authority to cast out demons and
they had been doing so right along as Luke records in Chapter 10
of his Gospel.  So why couldn't the disciples cast this demon out
of this child?  Jesus said it was directly due to their unbelief
but then, in both stories, Jesus goes to the trouble of explaining
what faith is and how it works.  So, again.  Which is it?  Faith
or belief?

     It would appear to me that Jesus was trying to differentiate
between faith and belief by doing this miracle.  They wanted more
faith but instead, Jesus said that their faith wasn't the problem.
It was what they believed that counted.  In short, Jesus was
telling His disciples that it wasn't the size of their faith that
was the problem, it was what they believed about the size of their
God.

Question.  How Big is God?

Answer.  Whatever you believe.

Note.  You see, Jesus was attempting, in my opinion, to show the
disciples that it was not their faith which needed to double or
triple for His name to work in their behalf.  If we believe God
is only a certain size, that is, He is only so big and can only do
certain things today, as many preachers and teachers confess they
believe for today, then your faith, regardless of how big it is,
won't accomplish a thing.  All you need to do is turn on the
Christian radio broadcast and it won't be long before you hear
some Bible teachers and preachers telling us that God doesn't do
miracles any more in this church age.  Convenient.  If you
believe that God no longer does miracles today, your faith isn't
needed when asking God for just such a miracle to occur.  Thus,
you don't have to believe God for it.

Definitions Of Faith.

Illustration One.

     I awakened one morning and rolled out of bed.  As soon as my
feet touch the floor and I began to stand, I saw an empty set of
glistening railroad tracks in front of me.  I had been meditating
and studying everything I could find on prayer and faith and how
to believe God for answers to prayer for many months.  When I saw
those tracks, I said, "Lord, what is that?"  I knew it had
something to do with faith because I felt such to be the case in
my spirit.  As sleepy as I was, I promptly forgot about what I
saw.

     A few hours later, as I was working, the vision of the
railroad tracks came to mind once again.  I asked the Lord what
this meant.  He told me to think about it and so I began to
meditate as I worked.  The Holy Spirit pointed out to me that the
tracks represented faith.  He told me that anyone who walks up to
a set of empty railroad tracks knows, if they stand there long
enough, a train will eventually come.  He also told me that
believing this was based upon knowledge, that is, what I had been
taught about trains and how they traveled upon rails.  If I stand
in one place without moving, I know, believe, a train will
eventually come.  My faith keeps me waiting.  What I believe
confirms, by harmonizing with my faith, that a train is coming.
The Lord furthermore told me that most of His people become
impatient and begin wondering where the train is.  They begin
moving up and down the track, moving back and forth, as it were,
trying to find the train on their own.  Such is not faith nor
believing.  Faith is standing in one place and waiting, based upon
what we believe, and letting the train, the answer to our prayer
come to us.

Illustration Two.

     During this same period of time of my life, another example
of faith was given to me by the Lord.  I was Struggling with the
theological concept that faith was a fix value.  That is, we
receive, at the moment of salvation, the measure of faith dealt to
every man by God.  Many of my friends were debating with me that
this concept of faith was wrong.  They pointed out how Jesus
referred to faithlessness in people, people with no faith, some
faith, and great faith.  So, they reasoned, this had to mean that
our faith could grow and strengthen.

     As I meditated one day on all these ideas, the Holy Spirit
once again spoke to me and answered my questions.  He suddenly
brought to my mind how I loved to play with our water hose at
home.  I often got to wash my dad's car.  Not because I enjoyed
washing the car but because I enjoy playing with the water.

     As I contemplated this time of my early childhood, the Lord
began to explain His truth about faith to me in a way that made
sense to me and also allowed me to apply faith in a way I had
never thought of before.

     The Lord told me the water in the hose was a fixed value.
Yes, I could place my thumb over the opened end and get a little
more water pressure that helped in washing the car but it didn't
help all that much but it was me doing it by my own human power.
What I really needed is a device that could use the water in ways
I couldn't.  What I really loved playing with, as a kid, was the
nozzle I screwed on the end of the hose.  The nozzle had four
settings.  One setting shot a solid cylinder of water about 30
feet out into the yard in a huge arc.  Another setting allowed the
water to be turned into a very fine stinging spray which was so
powerful, it would actually hurt your hand if held directly in
front of the nozzle as the needle spray setting was used.  This
setting was useful in slicing off the dried mud caked on the
undercarriage of the car.  Other settings were useful in similar
ways so that a car could be washed quickly and professionally.

     As I meditated on this childhood memory, the Lord clearly
revealed to me that the hose was what we believed.  The water,
which was a fixed value, was our faith.  The nozzle could
represent the Holy Spirit and the different settings were what the
Holy Spirit could do with our faith if we agree with God's Word.
Thus, the water never changes in strength unless the nozzle is
screwed on the end of the hose.  Faith, therefore, works based
upon what we screw on the end of what we believe.

End Of Installment Four