Turn please, to Romans the
fourth chapter, and also we'll be looking briefly at
2 Thessalonians one. Romans four, 2 Thessalonians
one. They'll put it on the screen for
us. We began some weeks ago on a
series we're calling Exceeding Growing Faith. We've seen that faith can be -
concerning what area you're talking about, people can have
no faith in that area, or they can have little faith, or
they can have great faith. And does it make any difference
if we have faith in this life? Oh, my. Faith is the only way to please
God. Faith is the victory that
overcomes the world. That means anything in this
world, you can overcome it with faith. Say it out loud: "I can beat it
with my faith." No matter what it is. If it's physical attacks, if
it's an attack on your marriage, your family, whatever it might
be, you can overcome by your faith and by the Greater One
inside you. And one of the reasons that we
should get together like this on a regular basis and also that we
should read our chapters on a regular basis and that kind of
thing, is that our spirit is fed and is built up. And you don't want to wait until
you get hit to try to build yourself up. You can be playing catch-up, it
can be tough and rough. But, if we'll follow Him, He'll
have us ready. He'll be giving us the things
that we need prior and ahead of times. I know, sometimes I've seen this
in ministries, our own and other folks, churches, that's somebody
is a believer but they rarely go to church, they rarely read the
Word, they rarely pray, it seems like everything is going along
pretty well, but then there's a problem. There's an attack, there's an
issue. And so then they'll come back in
to the church or maybe they want counseling and prayer, and they
want in an hour session of counseling or prayer or
whatever, what they should've been getting Sunday and
Wednesday, special meetings, for the last two years. And it just doesn't work that
way. But, the Lord's merciful. I said, He's merciful. If you'll repent and ask Him for
help, He will help you get through it. It will be a lot rougher on you
than if you would've been walking with Him and getting
built up and staying built up, but He'll help you. You can make it through. But then let's be smarter for
next time. Because, we're not ignorant of
the enemy's devices, and if we will follow Him, you won't even
know why your pastors or your ministers are preaching on the
things that they are, and something keeps coming up to you
in your personal time in the Word and in faith, but then
something comes up and you go, "Oh, this is why the Lord has
been talking to me about this for the past six months." And you're ready. You already know the answer. You already got strength in you,
and you will overcome quickly. Thank You Lord. In Romans 4:16 it says,
"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end
the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which
is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of
Abraham; who is the father of us all." We have faith in our spiritual
DNA. It should be a natural
environment for us. I won't read this whole passage,
it's all good of course, but verse nineteen it says that
Abraham, "Not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now
dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet
the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of
God through unbelief; but was strong in faith," now you notice
it specifies he wasn't weak in faith, but he
was strong in faith. And then it tells you what he
didn't consider. What he didn't look at. What he didn't think about,
letting us know, giving us insight. What if every day when he got up
the only thing that he looked at and thought about and talked
about was how old he was? And how old Sarah was. And how when she was young woman
she couldn't conceive. There's no way he could've been
strong in faith doing that. He had to consider at this point
the promise of God. He had to consider what the Lord
said and remind himself God said it, He's big enough to do it. Right? If God said it, He could surely
do it. So he accepted a name change. The Bible tells us what he
considered, what he didn't consider, and not considering
the natural and his body and Sarah's body and considering
what God told him, he was able to come out from being weak in
faith and became strong in faith, giving glory to God. "And being fully persuaded that
what He had promised, He was able also to perform." So what is he considering? What He promised, instead of his
body. We have to consider that, "He
took our infirmities and bore sicknesses and carried our
pains." Not what the report said. Not how we feel. We have to consider that I have
given and it's, "Given to me good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over." I've given and, "God supplies
all my needs." I've given, I've sown. I'm a tither. And the devourer is rebuked. Instead of how much I need,
where is it going to come from? How bad it is, you can't
consider both or you will stagger or waiver. And remember what James talked
about, wavering? Don't think you will receive. It doesn't work that way. So he wasn't weak in faith, he
was strong in faith. Second Thessalonians 1:3 he
said, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it
is meet, because that your faith grows exceedingly, and the,"
love, "of every one of you all toward each other abounds." The Young's Literal says,
"Because increase greatly does your faith." God's Word translation says,
"Your faith is showing remarkable growth." Our faith is not static. Every day we are either feeding
it or we are starving it. We're either feeding fear or we
are feeding faith. We are feeding spiritual rest
and peace or we're feeding worry and anxiety by what we're
looking at, what we are listening to, thinking about,
talking. Well, if faith is fed and
exercised, it grows. And if your faith grows - we
read Brother George Mueller from back in the eighteen hundreds
who believed God for those orphanages and those kind of
things, he said when he first started believing God it took
all the faith he had to believe for ten pounds, but then after
all those years, decades of believing God for those
orphanages, it was just as easy for him to believe for a million
pounds. What happened? His faith was fed and exercised
for those forty years, whatever it was. And now, it's just as easy for
him to believe for this big thing as it used to be for that
little thing. Well, that's available to every
one of us. What used to seem impossible can
seem after a period of time, easy for God. Thank You Lord. So we studied passages that
talked about no faith, and then we have studied passages that
talked about little faith. You ready to go on? Let's look at some more. In Matthew six, if you would go
there again, please. Matthew six we saw where He is
telling the disciples, and of course we're His disciples too,
about not worrying and not taking thought and not taking
care and He referred to being of little faith if you are worried
about these things. Lack of faith can be measured by
the presence of worry and fear. Ever how much worry and fear
you've got, that's lack of faith. The more faith pushes the fear
out. In Matthew 6:22 he said, "The
light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single,"
Luke's account of this says, "If your eye is simple." Simple. So both words are used: if your
eye is single, if your eye is simple. And that's really saying the
same thing. If it's single, it's not a bunch
of stuff and complicated. Single. Thank You Lord. Some really interesting things
here this morning. Are you believing with me? I'm trying not to jump to it. I have to get to it the right
way. "If your eye is single," or
simple, "your whole body will be full of light. "And if your eye is evil," it's
not simple, it's not single, "your whole body will be full of
darkness." You know, God always makes it
simple. Always. Because He knows even as simple
as it can be, some folks still mess it up. But what does the enemy do? He tries to complicate it. In the very beginning He told
Adam and Eve, "Of all the trees in the garden you may freely
eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you
do not eat it." Because if you do, "In the day
you do, you will die." So here comes the enemy. What does he try to do? "Oh, you won't really die." Basically what is he saying? "It's not that simple. See, the thing is..." Have you ever heard this? That's why you're laughing. You've heard this before. "It's not that simple." Actually, it is. And if you won't let -
Corinthians talks about not letting us not being removed
from the simplicity that is the Christ. The enemy will endeavor to get
you away from the simplicity and get you to thinking with him,
reasoning with him, questioning, doubting. Can you see this? And it can start with just a
seed. He said, "No, you won't really
die." Well, they didn't know what
dying was anyway. "Because God knows when you eat
this, you will be like Him." And so he is implying that God
has ulterior motives in keeping them away from this tree, that
it actually would make them Godlike. They already are. What he's trying to get them to
do would take them away from being Godlike, cause them to
fall, where some would eventually live almost like
animals. Man hasn't evolved to the place
he is now. Man devolved. Devolved from being able to
function and commune with God on His level, to where people are
now. Not an improvement. But he's telling them, "No, it's
not that simple." It was that simple. Stay away from the tree. Stay away from the tree. See, he fed it to them, he
brought lies and thoughts, and the thing is the devil is a
master at this. Don't think you can outthink
him. If you say, "I'm going to have
to think about that." He goes, "Exactly. My feelings exactly. Let's think about this." No. There's a lot of things you
don't need to think about. Your sins are forgiven. You don't need to think about
that. "By His stripes you were
healed." "Yeah, but..." No yeah buts. "I'm healed by His stripes." "Yeah, but it's not that
simple." It is that simple. It's just that simple. Unless we allow the enemy
through his craft, through his subtlety, his deceptive devices
remove us from the simplicity that is in Christ. Look at your neighbor, help them
out with this. Say: "Keep it simple." Keep it simple. What are we talking about? God said it, that's how it is,
let's rejoice. "Yeah, but..." No, no, get on out of here with
your yeah but. No. It's simple. And if you keep it simple,
looking at the right thing, light comes in to you. And you stay enlightened. But if you get to looking over
here, looking over there, "Yeah, but what about... Yeah what if... It's not that simple..." Darkness. You're looking away from the
light, and when you look away from the light, the light ceases
to flow in, and now - we're talking about spiritual
darkness, spiritual light. In darkness there's confusion. And then it gets more and more
complicated. And you get more and more
frustrated. Because you didn't keep it
simple. "Yeah, but what about all these
other religions and all these other people? Billions of people can't be
wrong." Actually, that's usually how it
is. Yes, billions of people can be
wrong. And are. Rebelling against God all over
this planet. Keep it simple. Jesus is the Only Way. The Only Truth and the Light. He's it. There's no other way to the
Father except by Him. "There is salvation in no other
name." No other. "Y'all are just simpleminded." And saved. You need to join us. You can see pride in it. People like to imagine
themselves, "I'm a well-read individual... I'm able to ponder all the
different aspects..." You are a confused individual. That's what you are. Don't know what you believe. I know a friend of mine some
years ago while I was going to RHEMA he was going to a
University and getting his doctorate in theology. And I wasn't. Anyway, I wanted to talk to him
about what was going on. Some things I was studying
about, because I knew he was really getting to some things I
wasn't getting into. And I said, "What about this
particular thing?" He said, "Well, Dr. So-And-So in
his exposition on such and such he said this and he said that. But also, other Dr. So-And-So,
he says this. And his position is this. But also, third Dr. So-And-So
said," and he went through about five Dr. So-And-So's. And I said, "Well, what do you
believe?" He looked puzzled. He said, "Well, I see merit in
Dr. So-And-So's position, but I also see merit..." he went through all five of them
again. I said, "Okay, what do you
believe? He looked at me dumbfounded. I didn't say it out loud but I
thought, I hope you don't have to act on this anytime soon
because you don't know what you believe. You're not ready. Just because you have a head
full of knowledge doesn't mean you have any faith in your
heart. Come on, are y'all with me? And this is a trick of the
enemy. Trying to be all- inclusive of
every thought and every belief. It will destroy you. You won't have what you need
when you need it. Because you are bunching up lies
and deception with the truth; if it's even in there. You have to hold onto the truth
and get away from the rest of that stuff. Right? Single. Simple. Then he talks about take no
thought, take no thought, take no thought. He said in verse thirty, "If God
so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to
morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith?" Well, what made them - that He's
talking to the disciples, what made them of little faith? What was preventing them from
moving past little faith and having great faith? He put His finger on it. Worry. Fear. This phrase keeps appearing,
take no thought, take no thought, take no thought. This is what keeps you in the
little faith category instead of great faith. It's continually looking at the
wrong thing which will cause you to worry and to fear. Can you see this friends? Go with me now to another
example that ties right in with this, to Matthew sixteen. I believe life-changing light is
here this morning. Matthew 16:5 says, "And when His
disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take
bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take
heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees. And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we," didn't get any
bread. Peter, I told you we should have
got some bread. Matthew, James. I thought you were going to get
some bread? No. So now they are disturbed, we
didn't get the bread, upset, thinking He is upset. Because we didn't get the bread. Verse eight, "When Jesus
perceived," it, He had to have a word of knowledge to work with
these guys. He perceived it and what did He
say? The Greek here is literally a
designation. Little faiths. Little faiths, "Why reason you
among yourselves, because you have brought no bread?" He's on channel three and
they're on channel eleven. He was talking about a great
spiritual truth and they're talking about bread. Literal loafs of bread. He wasn't talking about bread. He didn't say anything about
bread. He's talked about leaven. He didn't say anything about who
was going to bring the bread, where is it at, why didn't you
bring it, nothing about that. But that's what they heard. "The more the fear, the worse
you hear." The Lord gave me that phrase
last night. "The more the fear, the worse
you hear." Fear prevents you from hearing
what they said. Other things will have similar
effect, but this is not just an isolated thought, this is the
Word of God. Hold your place right here. You're right there by it. Go back to Matthew thirteen. The Lord is helping us this
morning. Can you tell? The more the fear, the more you
fear, the worse you hear. I didn't just say the less you
hear, your hearing is bad. They said one thing, you're
heard something else, and it's causing problems. Matthew 13:18 Jesus is teaching
what we call the parable of the sower. He said, "Hear the parable of
the sower. When any one hears the Word of
the kingdom, and," what? Doesn't, "Understand it,"
understands it not, what can happen? "Then the wicked one comes,"
immediately, "and catch away," he's a thief, steal, "that which
was sown in his heart." Why would he care? Because incorruptible seed of
the Word of God is one of the most amazing things there is in
the universe. It gets in you. And whatever it is, if it's a
seed of healing Word, it produces a harvest of healing. If it's a seed of righteousness,
a seed of prosperity, whatever it is, and so the enemy knows he
can't keep that seed from producing. But if he can keep it from
getting in you, then it's not going to change anything. And the way he can keep it from
getting in you is if you don't understand it. Even though you heard it, if you
don't understand it, it's like seed that falls on top of the
ground. It never got in. And if it never got in -
because, things come into our spirit through our mind. Understanding and acceptance. Verse twenty, "He that received
the seed into stony places, the same is he that heard the Word,"
received it with joy. This guy actually did
understand, he did receive it, but because things were going
that were contrary to it, he just lasted a little while and,
"When tribulation or persecution arose because of the Word, by
and by he is offended." How many know you'll have to
hold on to what the Lord gives you in these things? It will be tried. It will be tested. "I believe I receive my
healing." Well, it may not look like it
for little while. "I believe I receive more than
enough to pay off all my bills." It may not look like it. But even though there is things
testing and tribulation because of the Word, persecution. There will be people that will
go, "You're nuts trying to say that and believe that." Try to talk you out of it and
tell you how wrong you are. Hold onto that seed. It's the enemy trying to get
away from you. But notice verse twenty-two, "He
that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the
Word; and the care of this world," everybody say: "The
care." The care of this world, "And the
deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes
unfruitful." The more the fear and anxiety
and worry, this actually chokes out the Word in your life. It affects your understanding. It dumbs you down. It pulls a mist over your eyes. You're going, "Huh? Huh? I don't understand that. I don't understand that. I don't understand that." And a lot of times people use
this expression when they say, "I just don't understand." They think that excuses them
from all responsibility for anything because, "I don't
understand." But it doesn't. Because the question is why
don't you understand? When the Lord made it so simple
that any three-year-old could get it, why don't you
understand? Well, fear, believing lies,
thinking wrong, anxiety, worries will prevent you and me if we
let it, from understanding. The disciples' reaction -
probably what happened is the Spirit of God dealt with them to
take some bread. Or the Lord had already told
them at some time, always on these trips like this pack some
extra bread. Right? And they ignored it, and didn't
do it. I'm just saying this because
this is how this works. Then if you don't do what you
know you should do, you've opened the door to condemnation. And condemnation involves fear. Something is going to happen,
going to get caught, not going to have enough, going to run
out. Well, that fear messes with your
hearing. Is everybody awake? That fear messes with your
hearing. So then something can be said
and because you have your mind so strong on that, you'll just
say, "Yeah, I knew it. I knew it. He's upset because we didn't get
the bread." He's not talking about bread. He's not talking about that at
all. Are y'all with me? Care, worry, anxiety can choke
out the Word out of your life and heart. Man, this is serious. This is serious stuff. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Go back with me to Matthew
sixteen. Some good things are happening
this morning. A bunch of folks are going to be
aware in the future of the enemy's device and not let it
work again. Hallelujah. Jesus is always thinking
spiritually. He's always talking spiritually. And so they're in the boat
riding along, He's not just doing idle stuff or carnal dumb
stuff, He's communing with the Father, and these thoughts are
coming to Him from the Father. The Lord has given Him insight
into the situation and the people that they are dealing
with in the meetings that they are having, and He just turns to
them and says, "Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and
the Sadducees." Why did He say that? He saw something. He saw how this hypocrisy can
infect other people, just being around it can infect you and
influence you. You don't realize it, but even
though when you first were around them you thought, man,
they're a big hypocrite. I despise that. But you hang around it too long,
you catch yourself doing some of the same things they were doing. You just got leavened. Some of it crept over into you,
so you take some dough that's rising and yeast, and you put it
with some that didn't have any in it, what's going to happen? It's going to get into that. It's going to affect the whole
thing. Influence the whole thing. And that's what He's saying. He just turned around to His
guys and He said, "Beware of the leaven of the Sadducees and the
Pharisees." They looked at Him and turned
around among each other. They must've had a pretty good
sized boat if they could have thirteen people and all your
stuff, this isn't a little aluminum fishing boat, it's
something that would accommodate everybody. On one occasion Jesus in the
back asleep and out of their way, and they are doing stuff. But He said, "Beware of the
leaven of the Sadducees and the Pharisees." They turned around and went, I
told you we should've brought some bread. Now Jesus is mad. Is Jesus mad? He's not mad about it at all. But can you see how the enemy
works? Instead of it being so simple,
He's trying to get strife started over nothing. Many would have already begun
acting defensively. Well, He didn't tell us to bring
in extra bread on this trip. You never know morning tonight
where we're even going to be. Or what we're going to need. There's no set schedule. He's always talking about the
Lord leads here, the Lord leads there. And now He's chewing us out
because we couldn't read His mind and know to take extra
bread? No, He's not chewing them out,
He's not mad. He's not even talking about
bread. But do you see how quickly
people can get to - that's unreasonable, He didn't tell us
on the specific want to take extra bread. Did He tell you? How are we supposed to read His
mind? You can't work under conditions
like these. And Jesus is trying to share a
pearl of wisdom with them. He's trying to give them
something valuable. This is how the enemy works. Why? And see, there's something even
worse in here. It's an implication that Jesus
is not fair. He doesn't really care about you
enough, He only cares about what He wants. We're busy. We were loading the boat. We were doing this, we were
doing that. We're packing and unpacking,
setting up and tearing down. And He wants me to run to the
grocery store too? Do you know why I'm elaborating? Have you ever seen the enemy do
this? Come on. You've seen it. Because of a wrong mindset, you
hear something completely different than what they're
saying. And you didn't understand. "Your understanding," Romans one
says your understanding, "is darkened." I know, all this would've been
just about the time when we started the first church there
in Branson, we had been through a couple of kind of rough years. And don't misunderstand me, not
the Hagins, the Hagins treated us like gold. But there were some situations
that came up, I won't go into details, but some folks accused
us of some things that we were trying to take over a ministry,
not the Hagins, but it was completely untrue. Nothing. But it irritated us. And over couple of years,
without realizing it, that mentality is there. Well, that alters your hearing. When I got to Branson, we were
doing some things, a minister, a wonderful man of God, I happened
across him and he was talking a little bit and he says, "Do you
want to take over this radio station?" And I'm like, "No, man. I'm not trying to take over your
radio station." He said, "I didn't say you were. Would you like to take it? I would like for you to take
it." Can you see this? He's trying to tell me something
good, and he's glad to see me, and I am hearing what my mind
has been influenced. Come on, can you see this? Somebody else accusing me of
trying to take something from somebody. No, I'm not trying to take your
- just like them going, didn't get any bread. Bread, bread, they got bread on
the brain. He hasn't said nothing about any
bread. And this guy, good man,
wonderful man. He was just being sweet and kind
to me. He was saying, "I see your
expanding ministry. Maybe you'd like to do this, do
you want to talk about it?" Inviting me. And I heard that he is accusing
me I'm trying to take something away from him. I apologized profusely. And I realized how much I had
let that stuff affect me. Come on, can you see that? Which is bad, it's not good. Worry, anxiety, can you see
this? It messes up your hearing. You get to where you don't hear
right. In John eight Jesus told the
Pharisees - in fact, let me just find it so I can read it to you
exactly. In John 8:43 He told them at one
point, John eight, this chapter you can sense frustration. The Master is trying to talk to
them and they're throwing stuff at Him, and He's explaining
things to them, and they're not getting it. Finally He says, "Why don't you
understand," what I'm saying, "even because you cannot hear My
Word." You can't hear. Anybody remember Him saying, "He
that has ears to hear," we'll see, fear will cause your ear to
where it can't hear. Anxiety, pride, junk like that,
messes up your hearing. He's looking at them going,
"This is not complicated. I've already repeated this two
or three times." If you read that eighth chapter
He's told them the same thing. He's quoting Scripture to them,
it's not complicated. It's simple. It's glorious, but it's simple. And they're just... Like the disciples. He has given them a pearl and
they're going, bread. We need more bread. We didn't get the bread. I told you we should of gotten
it. And you're going through this
angst, and then you're looking at Him going, You didn't say
anything about bringing any bread today. Can you see this? And you getting all this junk -
and you are off. It is an erroneous assumption. "Erroneous," the word means
"off." Way off. Were they off? Wrong error, we're they way off? Jesus said why can't you
understand what I'm saying? It's because you can't hear it. He's looking at them and He's
going - let me rephrase it. He's going, you didn't hear what
I said, did you? They are educated, they have
their doctorate's, they think they're so intelligent. He said, why don't you
understand this? Then He says, you didn't hear
it, did you? It's not because He didn't say
it right. Nothing wrong with what He's
telling them. Something wrong with their ears. So, lack of understanding is not
just an excuse for ignorance from now on, we need to ask
ourselves why don't I understand it? Why am I not getting this? It has to do with faith. Matthew sixteen, go back there
please. Matthew 16:7, "And they reasoned
among themselves, It is because we have taken no bread." This is going to come back to us
in some situations. You're going to start getting
riled up and twisted up and you're going to hear these
words: we didn't bring any bread. And that's going to be your key
phrase. You're are going to go, hold on
now, what did they say? What's going on here? See, it's not that things are so
hard to get and so hard to understand, the Lord makes it
easy. How many believe the Holy Spirit
is the Master Teacher? And a Master Teacher makes it
where you can get it. I mean, He knows how you think,
He uses the words, the phrases come the illustrations. If you need small words, He uses
small words. If you need pictures, He draws
you some pictures. But why does it seem so
difficult to get it at times? Because of opposition, because
of the enemy. He's a dirty liar, and he's
always trying to jump in there and mess it up and convolute it
and instead of it being simple, make it all complicated. When it's not. He said, "O ye of little faith,"
still talking about little faith, "why are you reasoning
among yourselves, because you have brought no bread?" At this point they're looking at
Him and going, it's because we didn't bring any bread and You
just brought up about is not bringing any bread. No, He didn't. No, He didn't. I've had people argue with me
adamantly about what I said that was completely different from
what I said. I was teaching in healing school
some years ago, this has been almost thirty years ago, and a
guy came up afterwards, he was livid. He was angry. And he said, "That's not right. That's not right what you said." I said, "What" And he said it. And I said, "No, I didn't say
that." "Yes, you did." I said, "No, I said the opposite
of that." "No, I sat right there, I heard
you." And man, he was pushy about it. I said, "Well, right back there
they have tapes. Go get it, listen to it." "Well, I know that's what you
said." "Go get it, listen to it. Are you going to be back
tomorrow?" "I'll come back and I'll tell
you. I'll show you." So next day I didn't see him
before the service. After the service, there he was. And I said, "Hey, what about
it?" He said, "Well, you didn't
exactly say that, but that's what you meant." Now there's no need in us
judging him, reckon you have ever done some of that? And you know the reason for it? Lack of faith. Lack of faith. Because if you're in faith, you
would be in rest, is that right? You would be loving people, you
would be showing respect. Even if they did say the wrong
thing, that's not going to cause the world to come to an end, is
that right? You're believing that God is
going to help you, He's going to help them, you're going to be
alright. Come on, can you see this? But when you get into this
tension and this fear and this anxiety and this anger, your
ears get to where they don't hear right. They're saying one thing, you're
hearing something else. And some people, like I said,
they will swear that that's what was said. How many think at this point
these disciples think He talked to them about not bring bread? They do, and these are good
guys. Jesus hand-picked them. But He's having to correct them
right here." He said, "O ye of little faith. Why are you reasoning because
you didn't take any bread? Do you not understand, neither
remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets you took up? Neither the seven loaves of the
four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?" Go to Mark eight, let's read
Mark's account of this same passage because he actually
gives a lot of detail, some that you don't see in Matthew. Mark 8:14, if you start in verse
one, this is the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and
the fish. And then right after that, there
was the boat trip and on the heels of this, that's where we
are. This comes right after the
multiplication of the loaves and fish. "Now the disciples had forgotten
to take bread," they what? They forgot. How can you forget something if
you never knew it? So they knew they were supposed
to take some bread. But they what? Have you ever forgotten
something? Yeah. Oh yeah. They forgot and once they got in
the ship and they got underway, they don't have, "With them more
than one loaf." One loaf for thirteen people,
and who knows, a couple of meals or three. Okay. "And," Jesus, "charged them," He
turns around in the boat and He says, watch out, "Beware of the
leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." Watch out for that. "And they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread." I told you. I forgot. Why didn't you bring some? I forgot too. Jesus is mad. No, He's not mad. He's upset, He's disappointed in
us. No He's not. He's not talking about that. "And Jesus knew it, He said to
them, Why reason ye, because you have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither
understand? Have you your heart yet
hardened?" The hardening of the heart dulls
and distorts the ears. When Jesus says, "He that has
ears to hear, let Him hear," what makes a hearing ear? It's a willing heart. Come on, can you see that? A believing heart, a willing
heart, a good heart makes a good ear. But when you start having
problems in your heart, your hearing goes. And they say one thing, and you
heard something else. You are reacting to something -
of course, it's the enemy helping you to be confused. "Why reason you because you have
no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither
understand? Have you your heart yet
hardened? Having eyes," don't you see? "Having ears," don't you hear? "Don't you remember?" Remember boys, I mean this
hasn't happened that long ago. You remember when, "We broke the
five loaves among five thousand," is Jesus really going
to be this upset because we didn't have a big load of bread? When we just saw thousands of
people get fed with a little boys lunch? We've seen it happen more than
once. Two or three times, we don't
know how many. Why couldn't it happen again if
you needed it to? He said, you remember boys, come
on? "How many baskets full of
fragments took you up?" You're the ones that picked them
up. "They said, Twelve. And when the seven among four
thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And He said, How is it that
you," are not getting this? How is this that you, "Do not
understand?" Are y'all with me? No, whatever's going on in the
heart affects our ability to understand. You will especially see this
when people get heated with each other. They get mad and they are
arguing, husbands and wives see this kind of thing. And you get to the place where
you are not hearing what they are saying. And that's frustrating for them
and you. They said it so clearly and
plain, it should have been something that stopped the
problem, but they didn't hear it. They're hearing something else. They are seeing something else. The harder your heart gets, the
worse you are hearing gets. You are hearing stuff nobody
said. You are imagining things people
did that nobody did. Can you see this? I don't want to live that way,
how about you? I don't want to be that easily
deceived by the enemy. Keep your heart right and your
ears hear. Sometimes people don't even say
stuff the way they meant it, but if your heart is right, the Holy
Spirit can help you hear their heart. Eliminates so many problems. Phyllis and I had this many
times. We didn't say it exactly right,
but it worked out right, it was done right. I knew what you meant. Right? I knew that's what you would
have wanted, I knew this. Thank You Lord. Not only do you avoid problems,
but you begin to function supernaturally. Words of knowledge, words of
wisdom, spared problems, supernaturally being able to get
into things you couldn't have gotten in otherwise. Oh, somebody say thank You Lord. That's the life for me. Is that the way you want to
live? Hallelujah. Glory be to God. Go with me in closing, I think -
thank You Father, to Luke the tenth chapter. I believe this is enough to chew
on for a bit. In Luke ten, I know most of you
know this account and story but I believe you'll see things in
it now that you didn't see before. In Luke 10:38 "It came to pass,
as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a
certain woman named Martha received Him into her house." I already hear lights going off. "And she had a sister called
Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and," did what? She sat at His feet and did
what? Come on, help me out. What was she doing? "Heard His Word." What's her focus? Hearing what He's saying. Not trying to read His mind. Not trying to anticipate what He
may say in a bit. Not assuming what He wants,
what? Listening. Hearing what He's actually
saying. Verse forty, but, what's Martha
doing? In contrast to hearing the Word,
she, "Was cumbered about," with a lot of, "serving," and we know
from the rest of the story she's getting irritated, by the
minute. She's got the dumplings on,
she's got the bread in the oven, she's dicing the cucumbers, and
they have a room full of people. They have a house full of
people. And her lazy sister is sitting
in there not lifting a hand to help her. And no doubt she'd come to the
door of the kitchen more than once trying to get her
attention. Oh, you know you should be
looking at me. She's not even looking over
here. She goes back in, she's
sweating, and she's doing this, and she goes back in. Pssst! Tell me what's happening in
here. Jesus is speaking. He's ministering. And she wants to interrupt it. Hey, Mary, you know you hear me. And finally she can't take it
anymore. She interrupts the ministry. She interrupts what the Master
is saying and doing. What is Mary doing? Hearing the Word. She is hearing, and from all
implication of what we saw today, she's understanding too. She's getting it too, what the
Master is actually saying. What is Martha doing? She's not hearing what He's
saying. She has assumed what He said. You'll see that more in just a
minute. She came in, finally, and said,
I'm sorry, excuse me, excuse me. Jesus is right in the middle. How many think it was good what
He was saying and doing? So everybody has to stop and
turn around and look at Martha. She said, excuse me. "Lord, do You not care,"
accusations, Lord, don't You care, "that my," lazy, "sister,
" I'm paraphrasing, "has left me to serve alone? Bid her," tell her to get
herself up and come in here and, "help me." Why? She has assumed that's what the
Lord wants, as much as if He had said it, but He didn't say it. She's a good woman, don't
misunderstand me. From all accounts, Martha is a
good woman and probably a real good cook. Jesus came over there a lot. And He enjoyed their
hospitality. He enjoyed her cooking. But just because you have done
something doesn't mean that's going to be the same every time,
and so she assumed. And so she's with all these
preparations. Pride assumes. Humility asks. Come on, are you listening? Did Jesus tell her to make
provisions and do all this cooking and food? If He had have, you wouldn't see
this next response. He didn't tell her to do this. What's He doing? He's ministering the Word. You might assume if He's
ministering the Word, He wants somebody to hear it. Which is what Mary is doing. She's not trying to assume what
He wants done, she's with Him when He's doing. "Tell her to get up here and
help me." Verse forty-one, "Jesus answered
and said to her, Martha, Martha," when the Lord calls
your name twice like that, just go ahead and start kneeling down
and repenting because you have messed up. "Martha, Martha," now, what
messes up your hearing? "You are full of care and
troubled about many things," when the Lord didn't tell you to
do it, there's no grace on you to do it. Can you see this? You are in your own efforts,
you're in your own strength, and it is wearing you out, and it is
irritating you. And misery loves company. She wants her sister to be in
there just as weary and troubled as she is. But Mary is not participating
with the trouble and worry. "You are full of care, you are
troubled about many things. But one thing," somebody say:
"Simple. Simple. Simple." He said, "If your eye is
single," Luke said, "If it's simple," your whole body, "your
whole being will be full of light." "One thing is needful," she
should've asked, shouldn't she? She shouldn't have assumed. Before she started all this
stuff, before she sent people to the grocery store, before she
fired up the wood stove, before she did any of this, she
should've come to Him and said, Jesus, you want me to get things
ready to eat? We have people to feed here. Obviously from this, He would've
told her, no, not today. You just come on in here and sit
down with us. Who knows, they might've had a
multiplication of loaves and fishes here. It happened more than once. No, you come on in here. But instead of doing that she's
assuming - you can see it when she goes in there and says,
"Tell her to get up and come help." She assumes He's going to think
the same way. He's going to say Mary, what you
doing? Get in there. But He didn't. Her thinking is wrong, full of
care. "Mary has chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her." Hallelujah. Let's stop assuming. Let's stop presuming. Let's stop worrying. Come on, are y'all with me? Let's stop fearing, let's stop
being anxious, and man, when we do, our hearing is going to
clear up. Thank You, Lord. And we're going to hear what's
actually being said. We're going to understand what's
actually going on, and it's going to save us so many
problems and trouble. Can you say, "Amen?" Stand up on your feet please. Thank You, Master.
