IF YOU HAVE FAITH

PROCLAMATION

“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.’ ”  Matthew 17:20 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to the Apostle Matthew.  After six days in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and led them up a high mountain. (Matthew 17:1)  There He transfigured Himself right in front of them, and Moses and Elijah appeared before them. (Matthew 17:2-3)  Then a cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.”  When the disciples heard it, the fell to the ground, face down, terrified. (Matthew 17:4-6)  After they came down from the mountain they came to the place where the multitude was, and a man approached Jesus and knelt before Him.  The man said that his son was demon-possessed and suffered from seizures, and His disciples could not heal him. (Matthew 17:14-16)  Jesus, The Christ, told them to bring the boy to Him.  He rebuked the demon and the boy was healed instantly.  Later on, in private, His disciples asked Him why they could not cast the demon out of the boy.  Jesus replied to them, ‘Because of your unbelief …”  If they had faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, then they could move a mountain.  Nothing would be impossible for them.  But some things require prayer and fasting before they could do them. (Matthew 17:17-21)  Then Jesus again predicted His betrayal, death, burial, and resurrection. (Matthew 17:22-23)  When they went to Capernaum, Jesus had Peter pay the required tax with money that he got out of the mouth of a fish. (Matthew 17:24-27)

 

APPLICATION

The problem that we as believers have today is that we have so little faith in God.  We believe, but we have doubts and therefore our faith is weak.  Jesus, The Christ, said that if we had the faith as small as a mustard seed, then nothing would be impossible for us. (Matthew 17:20)  We need to exercise our faith in order to strengthen it.  In addition to believing and having stronger faith, some things that we want will require that we fast and pray in order to accomplish them. (Matthew 17:21)  But remember, when we pray for an increase in our faith, we may be put in situations where we can exercise our faith to make it stronger.