MUSTARD SEED FAITH

AND THE COST OF REVIVAL

 

TEXT: Luke 17:1-10 Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. 7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

INTRODUCTION: 

For three and a half years, Jesus prepared His disciples to receive the Kingdom of God. He was preparing the new wineskin to receive the explosive power of the Holy Spirit—a power that would not fit into the wineskins of religion. Said another way, He was making them ready to steward the first revival in the Church—which would begin on the Day of Pentecost. God wasn’t going to turn over the keys of the Kingdom to those who would not know what to do with them. 

And so it has been the way of the Lord in every successive generation. When it is in His divine timing to send another heaven-sent revival, the Lord begins the process of preparing a new wineskin that will be ready to receive and to steward His Presence and power. I believe that we are in the season of that

preparation that precedes the next outpouring of God’s Spirit. Why do I believe that? I believe it because I see the Holy Spirit separating a remnant Church that He will pour His Spirit into. He is preparing a Church that He can trust with His power—a Church that will steward His Spirit with His love, wisdom, and purpose. What is that purpose? It is to bring in, I believe, the greatest harvest of souls that has ever been seen! 

The searching question today is this: how many in the Church will be willing to become that vessel of honor and glory that God will work through to accomplish what is in His heart for this generation, our generation? Are you one? Only you can answer that question. Many are called, but few are chosen. Let’s pray. 

I. If we are to become the new wineskin of the coming outpouring of the Spirit, then how we live is not an option. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Jesus begins by telling His disciples the things that cause people to sin were inevitable. That was the world that they were living in. People carelessly did things without any regard of how it would negatively affect others. If what they did caused someone to sin, then so be it! “Am I my brother’s keeper,” once said Cain to God, after he had killed his brother Abel! 

Without question today, many people who go to Church and call themselves Christians, are totally unconcerned about how what they do may cause another believer to sin. “This is my life, and I’m going to live like I want to live it, and if someone stumbles over what I do it is not my problem.” Is it not? What did Jesus have to say about that? Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” Who are the “little ones” here? They are those who have put their faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus said that it would be better to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea! (Even a small millstone weighed up to a 100 pounds!) than to be crushed by the weight of knowing that what you did caused someone to stumble who had put their faith in Jesus: Perhaps your little boy or girl who believes in Jesus and looks up to you; maybe that person at work who had given their life to Christ because of your witness; or the person at Church who you have influenced to get closer to Christ. 

Here is the point: Can the Lord trust a believer to properly steward His Presence and power if they are unconcerned about offending other believers by how they live their lives? The obvious answer is no, He can’t trust them, and He won’t. If we are to be part of the remnant Church that God will pour His Presence and power into, then we must take a step of faith and surrender this area of our life to the Lord. We must learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. As a true disciple of Christ, there are things that we just don’t do! Well that’s not easy pastor. No it’s not. And that is why not everyone will be part of the new wineskin that the Holy Spirit is preparing for the coming revival. Not every believer will crucify their flesh for the sake of not offending another Christiaan. How about you friend? Are you willing to pay the cost of being His disciple? 

II. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming outpouring of God’s power, then forgiveness is not an option.

3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him. 

We spoke about forgiveness last week in our message on Job. We discovered that when Job forgave his three friends and prayed for them, God then trusted him with twice as much as he had before. The point I made was that the coming move of the Spirit will not come to those who refuse to walk in forgiveness. God will not trust His power to those who are willing to forgive others—those who are willing to be in right relationship with others—those who are unwilling to love their neighbor as themselves. 

Jesus is telling us here that if we see our brother sin, then we should rebuke him. That doesn’t mean judge him. Rather it means to love him enough to do all that you can to help him see that he has hurt you or has wronged you by what he has done. Treat Him the way that you would want to treat you. Work to heal your relationship with him and not tear it apart. Don’t treat your relationship with another believer as it doesn’t matter or is not important. Our relationship with God and with other believers should be the most important things in our lives. 

That is why Jesus went on to say, 4 “If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him.”

Those believers who fail to value their relationshipwith God and with other believers will not be entrusted to steward the coming move of God’s Spirit. This is an area that we must surrender to God. This is an area that we must mature in as disciples of Jesus if we are to see and experience the coming revival. And this leads to point three: 

III. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit, then we must be willing to grow in our faith in Christ.

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They were saying Lord, “what you are asking us to do is hard. And we can’t do what you are asking us to do if you don’t increase our faith.” 

The response of Jesus to their request is so important to being prepared for the coming revival! Let me show you how. 

Jesus said to them, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

Jesus is saying to them all you need is faith the size of a tiny mustard seed. All you need is to have enough faith so as not do things that would cause other believers to sin because you value their soul above being able to do what you want to do, and if you would have just enough faith to so love your neighbor as yourself that you are willing to put right relationship with them above your need to hold onto any unforgiveness, then you will be in the place where I can trust you to move mountains for the glory of God! You will be in the place to where you can say to the tree, be picked up and cast into the sea and it will obey you! Hear me friend, God will not entrust that kind of power to anyone who hasn’t learned to walk in love toward his brother; who hasn’t learned to love his neighbor as himself! 

I want to make one final point here to make sure we understand what Jesus is saying here. 

IV. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming move of the Holy Spirit, then we must be free from self.

Jesus said, "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

Doing what God asks us to do does not mean that we have arrived or that we no longer have anything else to do as His disciples. 

If we are to be fully prepared to steward the coming move of God, then we must know that it isn’t about us or what we have done or may do. The coming move of God is not because we are good but rather because He is good. When the revival comes, we must give Him all the glory because we have only done what we should do as the sons and daughters of God. 

Further, the coming move of God’s Spirit will only be maintained as we continue to grow and mature in faith, as we continue as His servants to obey Him and do only what He leads us to do! 

CONCLUSION

As we conclude today, I know that this word will not be received by many because most in the Church are not willing to follow Jesus in full surrender. Too many have made the Christian life about themselves and not about putting the Kingdom of God first. But there will also be those who will receive this word from the Lord and walk in it. They will be a part of the remnant Church that God will trust to steward His Presence and power when He pours out His Spirit in the greatestrevival of our lifetime. 

ALTAR

How will you respond to the word of the Lord to you today? Will you walk away or will you say with His disciples, “Lord, increase our faith.”

It’s your choice friend. No one can make that choice for you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GENESIS DAY ONE, PART III

 

TEXT: Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (Here is the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit) was hovering over the face of the waters.” 

 

Verse one ends with the phrase, “and the earth” and verse two continues that thought with “the earth.” We might think this is not a very important phrase, but it is. 

 

How long ago did God make the heavens and the earth as said in verse one? Some people think it was billions of years ago. Why? Because many think scientists have proved that the earth is billions of years old. 

 

However, the reality is that scientists have not proved the earth is billions of years old! There are many scientists who believe that the earth is only thousands of years old based on the history recorded in the Bible—and nothing is observational science contradicts this. There are lots of dating methods that overwhelmingly confirm the universe is only thousands of years old. 

 

Scientists try and date the earth using complicated methods that have been shown to have enormous problems. For instance, they have used their dating methods on rocks that are known to be only hundreds of years old (or even younger), but their dating method gave a date of millions of years old! This has happened many times and should be a warning to us not to just accept these dates of millions and billions of years. 

 

Really, the only way you would know for sure how the earth was, is if you knew someone who saw it begin. I know of only one being who saw the earth begin—the God who made it! In the Book of Job, God asked Job a question: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4) In other words, God was saying, “Were you there when I made the earth?” Perhaps when someone tells you that the earth is billions of years old, you should ask them, with kindness, “Were you there?”

When they say, “no they weren’t,” but say to you, “you weren’t there either,” then we need to tell them that no human was there. But God was, and He has given us in His Word the details about the history of the universe! 

 

THE VERY WORD OF GOD

 

The Bible claims thousands of times that it is the Word of God (not just the word of men). For example, I Thessalonians 2:13 says, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what is really is , the Word of God, which is at work in you believers.” And 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “for all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 

 

So all that we read in the Bible is God’s Word—all of it! It is God-breathed, and is the inspired, infallible Word of the Living God! 

 

BUT WHY 6,000 YEARS? 

 

The Bible records the creation of the world in Genesis, and then gives us all sorts of information that enables us to add up dates to find out when God made the world. For instance, we are told that God made everything in six days. (These were six ordinary days just like we have today. We will talk more about that later) We are then told that our first parents were made on day six, and in passages in the Bible we are told when people were born, and when they died, and so on, just like we read in the verses that are part of the history given in Genesis 5 leading up to a man named Noah.

 

“When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

 

When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 

 

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 

 

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 

 

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he had fathered Jared 830 years and other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. 

 

When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch . . . Genesis 5:3-19. 

 

You can read the entire genealogy from Adam to Noah and his sons in Genesis 5:1-32. You can see that this list tells us when people were born and when they died. 

 

Many great scholars, who have spent a lifetime studying the Bible, have added up all such dates from that lists, and other events, and concluded that God created the world 4,000 years before Jesus was born as a babe in a manger. That means that as of this present day, 2024, the earth must be about 6,000 years old. 

 

A GAP OF TIME? 

 

Now, what does all of this have to do with the word “and” in verse one? As we have already seen, God is omniscient (He knows all things)—He has infinite knowledge. Compared to what God knows, even the person who has studied at universities all of their life, still knows very little—in fact, hardly anything at all compare to God. 

 

This means the only way we could ever be sure of being right about how and when this world came into existence was if we had information from someone who had all the answers and has always been there and told us what we need to know. Only God has all the answers and has always been there, and He has told us in His Word, the Bible, what we need to know to have the ability to correctly understand this earth and universe. 

 

Because the Bible is God’s Word, it gives information God had written down for us by inspiring special people over the years, inspired by the One who has all of the answers. This means we should start with God’s Word to make sure we will be right in our understanding of the world. 

 

God’s Word is the foundation for our worldview. Everyone has a worldview, and it is either founded in God’s Word or in man’s word. Our worldview is like a set of glasses we put on so that we look through those glasses (worldview) to understand the world around us. 

 

Sadly, even many Christians seem to forget that God knows everything. They listen to the fallible scientists who don’t know everything, who were not always there, who say that the world is billions of years old (based on their beliefs and fallible dating methods that all have problems) and say that Genesis chapter one must cover billions of years! Some Christians say that each of the six days of creation must be millions of years long.  We will see later on, from the Hebrew language, which Genesis was written in, that each of the six days of creation in Genesis chapter one can only be an ordinary day as we know it today—approximately 24 hours long. We must let God’s Word speak to us, and not impose our beliefs on God’s Word. 

 

Other Christians think that God must have made the heavens and earth that are spoken of in verse one billons of years ago and then He made everything else in six days. People who believe this say there is a great gap between Genesis chapter one and verse one, and verse 2. But what they are trying to do is take man’s belief about millions of years and add that into the Bible by inventing this gap idea. Such a gap idea compromises God’s Word and undermines the authority of the Word of God. 

 

Now we finally get to the importance of the phrase “and the earth.” The Old Testament, which includes Genesis through Malachi, was written in the Hebrew language as we have already said. People who have studied the Hebrew language for many years tell us that, In Hebrew, “and the earth” in verse one, and “the earth” in verse two is connected by a particular type of phrase. This means that verse two is written as a description of the initial condition of the earth as introduced in verse one. So no one can put billions of years between these two verses. Actually, the same Hebrew phrase connects verse one directly to verse three. So really, we could read Genesis 1:1-4 this way: “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.” 

 

Now the earth God created is described as a watery blob of matter. Everything else was dark but the Spirit of God hovered over the waters covering the earth. Then the next thing that happened was this: 

 

“And God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”

 

Not only this, but in Exodus 20:11 we read, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” 

 

This verse tells us that God made “the heaven and the earth,” which we read of  in verse one, and then everything else listed in all of chapter one, all in six days. So you can see that you certainly cannot put billions of years between the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything else. This also means Genesis 1:1 is not a summary verse—it’s part of the first day of creation. 

 

I’ve given you a lot to think about. I believe that the most important take away from tonight’s teaching is that we must let the Word of God stand alone. It is not only foolish but is also dangerous to judge or try and change the revealed Word of God so as to fit into so-called modern scientific thought. Let God be true and every man a liar!  

 

Next week we will answer the question of where does a week come from?

 

CONCLUSION

 

1. 1 AND 1,000= 6,000 Years (Food for thought as we see the pages of prophecy rapidly turning. Things are moving fast now to the fulfillment of all that is written in the Word of God!)

 

The First letter in the Hebrew alphabet is Alef. It occurs six times in the opening verse of Genesis 1:1. Each Alef has a numerical value of one. But Alef can also be read as Elef which has a value of 1,000. So from the very beginning, the Torah (the books of Moses) is telling us that the world will exist 6,000 years as has been taught. 

 

I want you to follow me closely for the next few minutes. 

 

I believe that we are close to the return of Jesus to the earth for the following reasons:

 

1. First, in order for Jesus to return, Israel which had ceased to be a nation in the first century due to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans, and the scattering of the Jewish people (Diaspora), had to be a nation again and in control of Jerusalem according to this prophecy of Jesus. 

 

Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

 

The beginning of the fulfillment of that prophecy happened on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation again after almost 2,000 years. 

The pages of prophecy continued to turn in June of 1967 when Israel took control of Jerusalem again for the first time since 70 AD!

 

Israel is now a nation again and is in control of Jerusalem! Two things that had to happen for Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew’s Gospel to be fulfilled! Israel had to be a nation again and be in control of Jerusalem in order for them to say of Jesus their Messiah, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” 

 

When Jesus was asked by His disciples when would the Temple be destroyed and what would be the sign of His Second Coming, He said something very interesting in Matthew 24:32-35"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” 

 

1. The destruction of the Temple was a significant sign because it meant the nation of Israel would cease to be a nation. That happened in 70 AD. 

2. Now fast forward to 1948. Israel becomes a nation again for the first time since 70 AD! That is I believe the greatest prophetic sign since 70 AD. 

3. Is it possible that the generation which saw the rebirth of Israel as a nation is the generation that will see His Second Return to the earth? The generation that will not pass away until all things have been fulfilled? 

 

Consider, according to the Bible a generation can be 40, 70, or 100 years. If we go the full 100 years that would take us to 2048. That’s 24 years away. 

 

Now, I do not believe in trying force the scriptures to say something that is not intended. But I will tell you that there is a lot of evidence that would point to the coming of Messiah in this generation! 

 

1. 6,000 years from creation to Messiah.

2. The prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 23:37-39

3. The rebirth of Israel in 1948 and the retaking of Jerusalem in 1967.

4. The formation of the WEF and the one world order of antichrist.

5. The attempted destruction of Israel by Satan through Iran and its’ proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.

6. Rampant anti-Semitism worldwide. 

7. Then the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth, bringing peace and rest corresponding to the seventh day of rest in the Book of Genesis. 

 

Did we know that the Creator put so much in the Book of Genesis?