“Do
not put God in a box,” were the words that Pamela Thomas told me as I sat in a
college bible
study at 20 years old. I
was considering doing a summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ. They had several different options for summer
projects, both in the United States and overseas. She was trying to convince me to go to
Venezuela as a missionary. I would need
to raise $ 3,500 for the trip and then raise $600 to cover my rent over the
summer. I did not think it would have
been possible to raise the money for the trip and my rent so I decided to do a summer
project in Santa Cruz, CA. The
state-side projects allowed students to get a job and pay for their expenses
throughout the summer. Santa Cruz was
about 40 minutes from my parents which would also enable me to spend time with
my family. It seemed like a very logical
decision. I sent my application in and waited and waited and waited.
Several months
passed and I had not heard anything so I called the Crusade office and they
informed me that my application was lost and all the spots for the Santa Cruz
project had filled up. Since I couldn’t
go to Santa Cruz, I told them to send me to another project within the States
that would allow me to work. I hung up
the phone. As soon as I hung up, the Spirit
of God spoke to me, “Do not put God in a box.”
Before I even knew what happened I called the office back and I told
them to send me to Venezuela. I received
an acceptance letter for the project and had two weeks to raise $4,000. The Lord allowed me to raise $5,000. “Do not put God in a box.” I lacked faith in God. I did not believe that God was able to meet
my needs. I put God in a box. I put limits on His ability. I did not have faith in Him.
One
of the greatest threats in the church is the “word of faith” movement. The Word
of Faith movement states that through a verbal confession of the promises of
God, we can receive blessings. The founder of the movement, E.W. Kenyon
preached that God would award financial and other gifts if his people verbally
asked. If they did not receive them, it
was because they lacked faith. He coined
the phrase, “What I confess, I possess.” Kenneth Hagin, the modern-day father
of the Word of Faith movement claimed a four-part formula for receiving
physical and financial blessing from God, “Say it; do it; receive it, tell it.”[1] The movement holds the, “name it and claim
it” theology. It is a threat to your
faith because the movement is built on the desires of the flesh rather than on
the Word of God. It is heresy and it is
dangerous. The movement emphasizes the
amount of your faith rather than the majesty and glory of the One who gives
faith.
Although
the teaching is so dangerous, we cannot allow the pendulum to swing too far to
the other side where we limit God’s ability to do great things with our lives. God hears our prayers and delights to answer
our prayers. God asks us to live in the
supernatural. We must believe in Matthew
19:26, “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible.” In an effort to distance ourselves from the
heresy of the Word of Faith movement, we may not ask God to do great things.
Beloved, we cannot avoid believing that with God all things are possible. Jesus
does not want us to put God in a box, but wants us to grow in our faith.
Grow Together in Faith
Jesus
commands his disciples to be willing to offer continual forgiveness toward the
repentant in the end of verse 4. “If he sins against you seven times in the
day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” This level of forgiveness seems extreme. This type of forgiveness takes faith, so the
apostles appeal to Jesus for more faith.
Hear how the Lord responds to this request. Luke 17:5-6,
The apostles said
to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a
grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
The apostles focus on the amount of
their faith while Jesus focuses on the presence of faith. God wants you to grow your faith not in
looking at the amount of your faith, but rather wants you to focus on the
object of your faith. As our view of God grows so will our faith, because we
have more reason to trust and treasure who He is and what He has done for
us.
The
book of Hebrews is written to believers who came to Christ from a Jewish
background. They were facing intense
persecution and many were in danger of drifting from their faith back into the
Law. It is instructive for us in how the author opens the letter to the Hebrews,
Long ago, at many
times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these
last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all
things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory
of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the
word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the
name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:1-4).
The people needed faith so the
author extols the greatness of the object of our faith!!! The greatest way to increase our faith in God
is to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This
is the exact opposite of the Word of Faith movement. They tend to focus on the greatness of Lord
Jesus Christ. They focus on themselves rather than on their their own faith, rather than the object of their faith. It is dangerous theology. I remember sitting on a front porch talking
to with distraught teenage girl who was taught that if she had enough faith then
her grandfather would not die. He did
die and she blamed his death on her lack of faith. She was carrying that weight around on her
shoulders. We should not focus on the amount of our faith, but rather on the
One who is worthy of our faith. If we
focus on His glory and His greatness, our faith and trust will grow. We want our faith to grow, but we want our
faith to grow in Jesus.
Do
you have faith in Jesus? The Christian life is a lifelong process of shifting
trust from ourselves to Jesus Christ. If
you are here today and not a Christian, have you ever thought of the danger in
placing faith in yourself? God does not help those who help themselves, God
helps those who die to themselves and trust in Christ. We can’t help ourselves because we are
sinners and thus, need a Savior. If you
place your faith in yourself, your faith will fail you. But if we place our faith in God, He will
never fail you. We can trust God because He is perfect and offers the perfect
life of His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us; His life for ours. He promises you
new life through his resurrection from the dead, if you shift your trust from
yourself unto God.
God wants to use
us to do great things in His name. He
wants us to go and make disciples of all nations. He wants us to use our gifts to the building
up of the body of Christ. He wants us to help change eternal destinies which is
why Jesus says,
If you had faith
like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted
and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
He is not speaking literally as if
we had the power of the force like Darth Vader to move physical things with our
minds. He is saying that small faith in
Him can accomplish great things.
God wants us to work to spread His glory over the face of the earth. We live in a unique era of history. We have technology that is so advanced it can
send a message instantly to the far reaches of the world. We have thousands of mission agencies like
the International Mission Board that is sending countless missionaries all over
the world to reach the nations for Christ, but this was not always the case.
Things started to change, when one man had faith in our great God.
In
the late 18th century it was extremely rare for Christians to use
their wealth to reach the lost. William
Carey kept urging his fellow pastors to form a missionary society to convert
the heathen in East Asia. One elderly
pastor once told him, “"Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert
the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me."[2]
But Carey was convinced based on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 that
it was our obligation as Christians to go out into all the world to reach the
lost for Christ. He wrote an article, “An
Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of
the Heathens,” which became a
rallying cry to support and send missionaries overseas. On May 30, 1792 Carey
preached the “Deathless Sermon” to the congregation of Friar Lane Baptist
Chapel in Nottingham, England. In that
great sermon based on Isaiah 54:2-4, he preached, “attempt great things for
God, expect great things from God.”
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Carey had faith in God. He trusted him. He attempted great things for God by going to
reach the lost in India. On November 11,
1793 Carey arrived on the shores of India where he would spend the rest of his
life. He faced extreme difficulty and
trials including sickness and the deaths of several children and two
wives. It took him 7 years to win his
first convert to Christ. After 41 years on the mission field without a
furlough, he only saw 700 converts, which is only roughly about 17 people being
saved and baptized per year. These sound like very modest results compared to
our day. Carey would never see the
impact of his life on earth, but his legacy echoes an eternity. He translated the Bible into 42 oriental
languages which are still in use today. He
laid the foundation of all modern foreign missions and his example encouraged
thousands upon thousands to take cross to the nations. He attempted great things for God and
received great things from God. He had faith in God’s greatness and understood his
weakness. When Carey was buried in
Serampore, India he had only a stone slab to mark his grave which read, “A
wretched, poor, and helpless worm, on thy kind arms I fall.” Carey understood two great truths: his
sinfulness and God’s greatness.
Do not focus on the greatness
of your faith, but on the greatness of our God. We were wretched, poor, and helpless worms
that were shown the kindness of God in our redemption through our great
Savior’s death and resurrection. Jesus was marked as wretched and poor on the
cross so we could be marked with the righteousness of God. And upon his victory over death, Jesus has
given us new life through His Spirit. And now through the Spirit, we live to do
great things for Him while expecting great things from Him. Yet we do not want to error in thinking too
highly of ourselves, and conversely we do not want to error in thinking too low
of God. We must have balance. We grow in faith by growing our knowledge of God
and beholding His glory. And when we grow in our view of God, we will grow in
humility.
Grow Together in Humility
Jesus is the
master of balance. Right after
encouraging his disciples that small faith can do great things, he encourages
his disciples to keep their service in the proper perspective. Luke 17:7-10,
Will any one of
you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in
from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to
him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and
drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because
he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were
commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our
duty.’
Acts 17:24-25,
The God who made
the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live
in temples made by man, nor is he served
by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all
mankind life and breath and everything.
God does not need humanity to serve
him for He has all that he needs. And it is He who gives us life and breath and
everything. Jesus is giving his
disciples balance. Jesus wants us to
serve Him, but He wants us to serve Him in a very particular way. He wants us to serve Him where He gets all
the glory.
Jesus
was warning his disciples of the danger in thinking that spiritual service
entitles the disciples to special favor on earth. We will not be rewarded for what we are
commanded to do. Jesus makes this crystal clear in verse 10, “So you also, when
you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we
have only done what was our duty.” It is
natural to think that God owes us something for our labor for him. “Well God, I have been working very hard as a
Sunday school teacher, therefore you should spare me the trouble of Alzheimer’s”
or “God, I always give my 10% to your kingdom, so why would you allow me to get
laid off from my job?” or “God, I pray and study hard to preach to your people
so it is unfair you allowed me to get cancer.”
Beloved, we cannot think like this. God is never in our debt. Our service does not give anything to God as
though he needed anything, but He gave us everything through His Son. Even Jesus
did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as ransom for many
(Mark 10:45). Jesus gave his life for ours, his glory for our shame.
God
wants us to serve Him, but wants us to serve Him through His strength for His
glory. 1 Peter 4:10b,
Whoever serves, as
one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in
everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and
dominion forever and ever Amen.
Philippians 3:13,
For it is God who
works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). Do you see how if we trust in our own strength
than we are seeking our own glory? If we
bring something to the table, then God owes us something. We are called to
serve the Lord, but in the strength that He supplies in order that (1 Peter
4:10) in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Fortune:
Hey, what are you doing here don't you have practice?
Rudy:
Not anymore I quit.
Fortune:
Oh, well since when are you the quitting kind?
Rudy:
I don't know I just don't see the point anymore.
Fortune:
So you didn't make the dress list, there are greater tragedies in the world.
Rudy:
I wanted to run out of that tunnel for my dad to prove to everyone that I
worked...
Fortune:
PROVE WHAT?
That last line revealed that his
service for the Notre Dame Football team was ultimately for himself. Is that
you? Is your service ultimately self-serving? Do you serve God to prove to the
world that you are somebody? Or do you
serve God to prove to the world that He is somebody? Do you serve for your own glory or for the
glory of God?
Psalm
115:1, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake
of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Here how Charles Spurgeon warns
and encourages us with this truth:
And what have we
that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then how careful ought we to
be to walk humbly before the Lord!
The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the
universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of
an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the
potsherd exalt itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel? Shall the
dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean
struggle with the tempest? Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the
Lord glory and strength; give unto him the honour that is due unto his name.
Yet it is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn
this sentence—“Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory.” It is a
lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful
discipline. Let a Christian begin to boast, “I can do all things,” without
adding “through Christ which strengtheneth me,” and before long he will have to
groan, “I can do nothing,” and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything
for the Lord, and he is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown
at his feet, and exclaim, “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me!” [4]
Beloved, behold the glory of the
Lord. Give Him His due. We grow in faith as behold the Object of our faith. And
when we see His glory, we will serve in humility. Whatever service the Lord
calls you to: a stay-at-home mother, a praying widow, a faithful employee, or a
behind-the-scenes servant. Whatever
sphere the Lord has called you have attempt great things for His name and expect
great things from His hand. And when our
service is done, let us all say, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your
name give glory.” We are wretched, poor, and helpless worms falling before our
great and glorious Savior Jesus Christ.
We fall before Christ and lay our faith and our service at His feet for
He alone is worthy to receive glory, and honor and power and might forever and
ever!
[3]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108002/quotes
see clip here (http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/rudy/prove-what)
[4]
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and
evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.).
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
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