Title: Gather More Faith
Give me more faith
(Mark 16:9-18)
“Mary went… and reported this, and when they heard that Jesus was alive and had been seen by Mary, they did not believe it” (verses 10-11).
May the blessing of the resurrection be with all of us today.
As important as the Christmas of Jesus, the Easter is that not everyone in the world can be resurrected and ascended to heaven, and moreover, various religious leaders have failed to achieve the death of atonement, the resurrection of life, and the return of eternal life. Their grave is in the world, but the tomb of our resurrected Lord is nowhere else in the world. His resurrection changed the legal Sabbath of the Old Testament into the Gospel Sunday of the New Testament.
The resurrection of the Lord is the victory of life over death, the victory of forgiveness over hatred, the victory of justice over injustice, the triumph of truth over lies, the triumph of hope over despair, the triumph of truth over falsehood. You can.
Jesus made many promises about His death on the cross and resurrection (Mark 8:31, 9:30, 14:28). Still, the disciples did not believe. Verse 11 says, “When they heard it, they did not believe it.”
Verse 13 says, “Neither did I believe.” In verse 14, “Say unbelief”, a strong disbelief is expressed. The disbelief of the disciples toward the fulfillment of their promises shows how weak the promise of human faith is (Mark 14:31).
Then, through today's text, I would like to share the grace of thinking about the kind of faith that the resurrected Jesus wants.
1. It is faith that takes refuge in the Lord.
Psalm 57:1 says, "My soul will take refuge in you, under the shadow of your wings, until this calamity passes."
A fire broke out in a house and a hen was burned to death. When someone kicks a dead hen, several chicks creaking out of it. He was able to save his life because he had escaped from the mother chicken's arms.
If the Israelites had committed an unintentional murder while they were in the wilderness, they could flee to a nearby city of refuge (three towns on the east and west side of the Jordan River) and be protected until a fair trial was carried out. I hope that we too will have faith that only takes refuge in the Lord.
2. It is the faith that we entrust to the Lord.
Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will do it, and he will make your righteousness shine like the light of the noonday.” Psalm 55:22 also says, “Commit your burden to the Lord.” Forsake you; he will uphold you; he will never allow the righteous to be moved.”
Once upon a time, a missionary was on his way to a car van to preach at a rural church, and he picked up an old woman who was sitting on a chair and had a large bag on her head. It must be heavy, but when I asked him to put it down in an empty seat, he just kept saying, "I'm grateful for just letting this body burn, how can I put down the load?" Let us cast all our sins and transgressions over to the risen Lord.
3. It is a faith that only depends on the Lord.
It is a lovely relationship to see a loving wife hugging her husband's thick chest and saying, "Am I pretty?"
Just as a wife depends on her husband, a disciple depends on a teacher, a student depends on a teacher, an employee depends on the boss, a subordinate depends on their superior, and the people depend on the king, when humans depend on God God grants a person's wishes and makes that person prosper.
“I only depend on the Lord. I only depend on the Lord.
Only Jesus, I always depend on Jesus alone.”
4. Faith that obeys the Lord.
Because Abraham obeyed even to the sacrifice of his only son, Isaac, he became the "father of the faith." You want to obey, but you want "100% obedience". Just because a person who used to steal 10 a day does 5 times a day, or a person who used to drink 10 bottles of beer a day drinks 5 bottles a day is not righteous. There are ten holes in the ship, and if only five of them were removed, would the ship be complete?
It means strict obedience.
Thus, it refers to the process of chemical change, not physical change. The Lord wants faith in obedience with a happy and joyful heart, not obedience that is forced to do things that we do not want to do reluctantly.
5. It is faith that walks with the Lord.
As Enoch walked with God for 300 years, God took him without leaving him in the world (Genesis 5:21-24). Instead of living in seclusion in a mountain, eating dew, riding on clouds, and living beyond this world, like a god or a demon, Enoch walked with God in this world, marrying, having children, and leading the daily lives of ordinary people. You don't know how great your faith is. So, Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch walked with God and pleased God.
6. It is faith that endures and waits.
The prophecy that God promised to Noah was fulfilled in 120 years, and none of the prophecies promised to Abraham were fulfilled, and it has been fulfilled in this land since thousands of generations. I am fanning it.
When someone asked God how long a thousand years are, he answered even one minute. Then, when I asked how many people there were in a million people, I replied that it was a member, so when I asked for a member only, they told me to wait one minute.
Please be patient and wait patiently until the Lord returns.
7. It is the faith that awakens the Lord.
In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus was crossing the lake with his disciples in a boat, and while he was sleeping for a while, the boat and the lives of the disciples in the boat were very endangered due to a storm. After rebuking the waves, the lake soon became calm. The Lord also rebuked the disciples for not having faith. Let me sing hymn 419 verse 1.
8. It is the faith that puts the Lord first.
If the Lord is 1, then we are equal to 0. 0 has to be added after 1 to make the number 10. 100. 1000. If 0 is in front of 1, it is 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, so its value decreases to 1/10, 1/100, 1/1000. Let me sing hymn 389:1.
“Those who believe are like soldiers.
I will follow the Lord who has gone before me
Take the flag of our Captain Jesus
See what you've been up to
Believers are like soldiers
Let's follow the Lord who has gone before us."
9. It is the mission of evangelism.
Verse 15 of the text says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” In verse 17 and below, the signs that believers follow are listed.
The disciples immediately after the resurrection of Jesus were weak, but after the experience of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they became all witnesses of evangelism through the spirit of martyrdom. He risked his life to spread the gospel of Jesus to all nations.
We, too, must pray and exhort the unbelievers who know this mission commanded by the risen Lord as the greatest mission and who have written evangelism individually, and lead them to the Lord's altar.
10. Temperance is faith.
Verse 14 says that they rebuked their hardened hearts. I thought that such an accident would not have happened if I had endured a little bit of anger when I heard the report that the father-in-law, who was angry over his daughter's problem, died suddenly after receiving his son-in-law's chin to apologize with his head, but his dentures fell out and blocked his airway.
Resurrection faith is to kill blood, break stubbornness, and lower pride. When we die to sin, we live in righteousness; when we die in hell, we live in heaven; and when the body dies, the spirit lives. He is temperate in everything from me.
11. It is to let go of doubt.
Matthew 21:21 says, "If you have faith and have no doubts, not only can you do these things that are done to this fig tree, but you may say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea.'" Let him ask and do not doubt at all. The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea tossed and tossed by the wind; such a person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."
In the chorus of Hymn 327, it says, "Reject all doubts and receive the Savior. Open all the doors of your heart and receive your Savior." And in Hymn 340:1, "It is a great joy to depend on the Savior Jesus. To believe in Jesus, you have received many evidences. Please gather more faith in Jesus Jesus, the precious Jesus.”
We pray that we too will leave many evidences of faith with this kind of resurrection faith.
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