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HAVE FAITH IN GOD

Mark 11:20-23
Key Verse: Mark 11:22

“Have faith in God,'Jesus answered.”

After cleansing the temple Jesus went back to Bethany. Then, early the next morning, he and his disciples went along the road to Jerusalem. They saw the fig tree withered from its roots.(20) Peter remembered Jesus’words,”May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”(11:14) He said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”(21) How was it possible that the fig tree withered overnight? Peter could not believe it. He wondered in his heart how one word of Jesus could have such great authority.

How then did Jesus answer him? Look at verse 22. “Have faith in God,”Jesus answered.”Jesus knew that his disciples had no faith in God and that they were anxious and afraid about their future. As Jesus”disciples, they too wanted to do great things for God. But what they did was only to be amazed at Jesus”power. Jesus wanted to teach them the power of faith through the event of the fig tree. Then, what does it mean to have faith in God?

First, “Have faith in God,”means that the source of power is God.Jesus taught that God is the power source that withered the fig tree from its root. “Have faith in God,”means that if Peter believed in God, he could do the same thing that Jesus had done. Jesus said, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been dong. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”(John 14:12) Jesus served gospel work around Israel and its vicinity but his disciples went to the ends of the earth with gospel. The disciples thought that they could not do great works because of their human conditions and short comings as Galilean country fishermen. So they tried hard to improve their human conditions while they were following Jesus. But Jesus knew that they did not have power because they did not have faith in God. They thought that they knew and believed God. But actually, their faith was theoretical. They were, in fact, practical atheists. Jesus knew that if they believed in God the source of all power, they too, could live powerful and influential lives. Later, when they believed in God, they became matchless teachers of humanity, men who brought the human history of the first century from darkness into great light. Likewise, faith is the tunnel through which the power of God flows to us.

Second, “Have faith in God,”means that we must look at and depend on God alone.Who, then is the God at whom we must look and on whom we must depend? God is the Almighty Creator. God created the whole world with his word. God created everything from nothing. God revealed himself to patriarchs as the all powerful God. To him, nothing is impossible. What we look at is very important. When we only look at our endless problems and our weaknesses and short comings, we cannot do anything. But when we believe in God, we can see God who is working out everything in the midst of despair and darkness. When God punished Pharaoh with ten plagues, he let Israelites go. But Pharaoh changed his mind right away and sent his armies to bring them back. Before Israelites, was the Red Sea. Behind them, the Egyptian Army chasing them. Indeed, they could not go forward. They could not go backward, either. In fear, the Israelites began to complain about their leader Moses. “They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?”“(Ex 14:11) If Moses had looked only at the advancing Egyptian Army or complaining Israelites, he could have committed suicide by jumping into the Red Sea. However, in that situation, Moses looked at and believed in God. He told fearful Israelites. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.”(Ex 14:13a) Moses believed that God himself would surely deliver Israelites. God indeed parted the Red Sea and helped the Israelites pass through the Red Sea as on dry land. But Egyptian army was drowned. So, to believe in God means to look at the Almighty God in any circumstance. It is to believe that I cannot do anything but God can do everything. So when we believe in God, our adverse situation becomes God”s opportunity.

Dr. Samuel Lee believed that when weak and fatalistic Koreans believed in God, Korea would be changed into a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And by faith, he challenged world mission through one-to-one Bible study and raising disciples of Jesus. According to his faith, Korea and America sent out more than 1,000 missionaries to the world and are raising up the disciples of Jesus among students in campuses of the world. Our missionaries are challenging students in America and Canada to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation by raising up disciples of Jesus on the campuses. Where materialism, selfishness and physical pleasure corrupt young people, it sounds impossible for them to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Indeed, it is like challenging an impossibility. So we must have faith in God and challenge as Dr. Lee did.

"'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered"