Ep 31 – XTreme Faith: Actions

Hi there, this is Tom Mahairas with Vicki, my wife and we are going to be discussing in a few moments on extreme faith. X. Faith the extreme attitudes of faith. The extreme answers of faith, the extreme actions of faith. And as we discuss these words and we go into the stories, it’s just wonderful to be able to apply them to our lives. So uh thank you for following. Thank you for coming again to see what’s going on in the original language. It’s all greek to me and even some hebrew today and and we’re gonna just uh thank God for our friends that are watching and continuing and we want you to let other people know about this program. And if we’ve helped you in some way or you need something, you can always write us an email, let us know what’s going on, man. Let’s get into the discussion right now and talk to my wife and I as we open up this wonderful passage from Mark chapter two and Matthew chapter nine on how we’re bringing this paralytic to jesus and what these friends had in them. Let’s go and listen to it, check it out. Hi tom and Vicky maris again with it’s all greek to me and we want to continue on our X series of faith X faith series and its Extreme faith and great faith. We’ve looked at little Faith only rob the store and now we’re looking at great faith and we looked at the extreme or ex attitudes of faith, X answers of faith and X actions of faith and today we’re on the actions Vicki wants to give us and present to us a person that is such a great person of great attitudes, answers and action. So Vicky europe. Okay, so I was reading as we’ve been studying about people of great faith and this morning I was reminded of mary humble little girl that was chosen. Um and she had great faith. She answered the Lord when when the Angel of the Lord came to her, I’m just gonna read a few verses is only three verses here. Now in the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city in galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was joseph of the descendants of David. And the Virgin’s name was mary and coming in he said to her hell Highly favoured one. And that’s our Greek word that I’m going to be speaking about. The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at this statement and kept pondering what’s kind of salutation this might be. And the Angel said to her, do not be afraid mary for you have found favor that’s just hottest grace with God. And behold you will conceive a son and will bear his name and his name shall be jesus. She had to answer him when she heard the Angel she said, be it unto me according to your word. That was her attitude and answer of faith and then her action. She didn’t know that the angel already had was speaking to joseph. Don’t be ashamed. You don’t have to send mary away. The baby within her is from God. And I thought about how God also uses that same word towards us. His Children in Ephesians chapter 1: verse six. Wow, we are favored. Yes, we are highly favored Ephesians one verse 5, he predestined us to adoption as sons through christ to himself according to his kind intention of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace and here it is which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. That’s the same verb burrito and God takes his grace and he graced us just like he grace mary that we have this authority. We now have the authority of God in our life. We can call out to him, we can pray, we can claim his promises where his Children every promise is yes and amen for us. And I’m so excited that when when I’ve been listening to this and I watched how God responds to attitude of faith, actions of faith and answers of faith that if we do that in our prayer life when we’re overwhelmed, we get on our knees and we turned to him and we find this grace is available for us freely bestowed upon us enough grace. I love the fact that it only uses it two times once for her who is highly favored. That God would actually come into her life in the flesh that she would give birth to the Lord jesus christ. And then God uses that for us who are believers that we are highly favored, that he comes into us and now we are his flesh. We are his actual, you know his hands, his feet, his eyes. It’s just really phenomenal. So let’s go ahead into this extreme x actions of faith. And let’s read the story from Matthew chapter nine first and then we’ll look at it from Mark chapter two. The Four friends of the paralytic and they’re incredible extreme actions of faith. Look what they did. Let’s read it. Getting into a boat, jesus crossed over the sea and came to his own city cop Ernie. Um and they brought to him a paralytic lying on the bed seeing or all their faith. Pc’s jesus said to the paralytic, take courage son, your sins are forgiven a fear me, they are from you sent away. Yeah, this is the this is the actual uh word used for the second goat that that was sent away after the priest laid his hands and prayed over his head. The sins of the people of the second uh goat was the goat of forgiveness meaning to send away the first one was the goat of redemption. This second goat was the goat of release and that’s the word used here are femia paul away from And he me to send continue in verse three And some of the scribes said to themselves. This fellow blast themes and jesus knowing either of their thoughts and the missus literally the inner passion and emotional force with him. He said, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk. But so that you may know that the son of man has authority. We’ve been repeating this often through these passages, the xia on earth to forgive. Since then, he said to the paralytic, get up, pick up your bed and go home and he got up and he went home. But when the crowds I saw this, they were awestruck and glorify God who had given such authority to men. That is a powerful passage. But then in Mark chapter two verse one through 13, the paralytic is healed there and the fantastic illustration that is given to us again. And I want to just stop and talk about Ed Burnham called me up. He tells me that he wants to go and find his brother who has been missing for a year. And Ed is a close friend of mine who was a heroin addict and got changed and saved his life And he had been on heroin for 19 years and now has been free for over 20 plus years has been just a phenomenal testimony. A wonderful businessman and he and I pray together and his brother was missing for a whole year and he said tom I’m gonna fly into philadelphia, pick me up and we’re gonna go and we’re gonna look for my brother Artie. And uh, I’m like, okay. I mean I didn’t even think twice about it. We’re gonna look for his brother through the streets. He brought another friend named Van and we for two hours went looking in Camden New Jersey where all the, a lot of the addicts are all over the place. We saw all kinds of crazy things, but God, that day we identified his brother, we found him and God blessed. I think it was just the action of our faith that I was willing to go that ed immediately called me and we, the three of us went, I mean it was like, okay, let’s do this. And uh, here is. And we found him and we were able to help him and here in verse one of mark chapter to begin, just begin to read the how these four friends gather around the paralytic and helped him. Would you continue Vicki when he had come back to camp Ernie. Um several days afterward it was heard that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there was no longer any room, not even near the door and he was speaking the word to them and they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men being unable to get to him because of the crowd which was like a throng. They removed a Post Postiga’s. Oh so they literally took out a Postiga’s or the roof above him. And when they had dug X or Iso I mean this literally is to uproot and take out. So they were breaking rocks. They must have been breaking some of the floor, the roof on top of uh where jesus was and the crowd was all pressed in and they could, you could imagine this stuff being taken away. They tore up the roof. Yeah, so they tore up the roof. Keep reading there an opening. When they had an opening they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying and jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic sons, your sins are forgiven. But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning de el Aviso may in their hearts, why does this man speak that way? He’s blaspheming. Who can forgive sins? But God alone, immediately, jesus aware, in a spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them. Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts, which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to say get up and pick up your pallet and walk. But so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, Get up, pick up your pallet and go home and he got up and immediately picked up the palette and went out in the side of everyone so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God saying, we have never seen anything like this. And he went out again by the seashore and all the people were coming to him and he was teaching, you know, this is a great uh illustration of not only the paralytic faith, but the four men’s faith as you can see that jesus uh you know, said it’s it, he said seeing their faith. Well, when I read that, it doesn’t really specify whose faith it’s talking about seeing whose faith was, it just the four guys, was it maybe the paralytic and his dad or whoever else was around or was it all of them? And I don’t know, I’m just gonna talk a little bit about that, but why don’t you explain to me what you think in the next minute? I think it was all the four men who who went with him, they were willing to literally tear open the roof of somebody’s house and pushed through the crowds. Nothing stopped them to get to their friend to be healed. But also I want to stress the fact that jesus said to the man, your sins are forgiven. Now he would not have said that had that man already had been praying already have been crying out, Lord be merciful to me, a sinner God, I need help and I don’t know how to do this and so I know that the forgiveness came in response to the confession, we don’t have the confession, we don’t have the prayer that this paralytic uh prayed, but we know and must he must have done it because jesus immediately deals with that first and and then he deals with his physical and so jesus actually does say look, so you can know that the son of man has authority to forgive sins, which was really the greater paralysis in this man’s life, which was the spiritual now he says get up and walk and so I think it was everyone’s faith, whoever else was in the team are bringing this guy, you know, and but these four men, these four friends for sure that were, that were part of this team and of course the man himself or else you know, he wasn’t, he wasn’t doing that, they weren’t doing this against his will, he actually probably got hold of them and said, listen, I’ve heard about jesus, I don’t know the details, we just kind of speculating, but we do know this, that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all on righteousness and the son of man, jesus christ, even humanly speaking, who is the messiah is able to forgive sins, why? Because he is the sin bearer, why, because he was the holy one of God. And uh that’s what I think and and then he was able to also rebuke those Pharisees, those leaders that said, well, who is this guy who can forgive sins? God is the only one that does that. In fact they validated the fact that jesus christ is god in the flesh, that’s all they were doing. I just love this story, don’t you? Well, Jesus saw their faith, he saw their faith, faith. You don’t actually, they saw he saw it in their hearts which we couldn’t see, but he also saw their actions, their actions. These are great extreme actions of faith, great attitudes of faith. A centurion, great answers of faith, of serra phoenician woman, great actions of faith. These four friends of the paralytic and the parallel himself, God bless you and we’ll continue next time. Keep watching. It’s all greek to me, this is what we’re looking at. We’ve looked at the friends of the paralytic bringing him his own faith that not only had his sins forgiven that he believed that Jesus was the messiah, but his own friends that tore down through the roof and lowered him there. And he also was physically healed as well, but we want to also look at some other people who had incredible extreme actions of faith. The father who had a son who was a demon possessed right here in this passage of scripture in uh in Mark 9 23 the bible says immediately, the boy’s father cried out and said, I do believe help my unbelief. This same story is found in Matthew chapter 17 the father comes to the disciples, the disciples could not help, they couldn’t help. And so the man so frustrated again goes after, he says Lord, I took them together so they couldn’t do anything. You see the extreme action of faith was that he did not stop in this case, he just kept on plowing when the disciples were trying to send him away, just like they were trying to send the serra finish a woman away, she was screaming crying out. But the disciples themselves, the ones who were supposed to give that assurance of faith that jesus can do it really didn’t. And so we have to realize that people are, they’re struggling, they’re hurting, they’re crying, they’re they’re not coming in a clean way to christ, they’re coming with their tears and their drug addiction and their immorality and all the problems that are in a home and yet jesus christ will embrace them and bring them in, forgive them and transform their life Here we find job in chapter 13 verse 15 though he slay me he said still will, I hope ya’ll in him. Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before him Tremendous attitude that job had, I want to just continue to some of the other passages of scripture that I have psalm 42, hope in God for I shall again praise him. Yes, it’s a here it expresses upbeat waiting which endures as long as necessary for the fulfillment. No matter how many or how long the, the apparent delays are. We’re gonna stick on. Uh, coming, we’re gonna keep on coming. We’re gonna pursue. Even in the face of discouragement. There’s a long and patient waiting. A lingering hope, still expecting and earnestly desiring though hitherto with delay and disappointments. Wilson said, seeing their faith. Now, the Lord said to Abraham and that was the first time he said something to and you all the families of the earth shall be blessed, verse three verse one and verse three and verse four. Now, Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Heron, he listened to God. God told him to leave, he left. He did what God wanted him to do. He packed everything up. Yet hundreds of people, perhaps thousands of people moving together in a caravan. And uh it says, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants, I will give this land. Now. Abraham was had no Children. Abraham’s wife, Sarah was barren. He was 75 years old. She was 65 years old. God gave that promise. And it was not until 25 years later that the promise Was fulfilled Genesis 15 6. It says that Abraham believed in the Lord and he reckoned, hey, Schaab think it out or account credited It to him as righteousness. Now Romans four in explaining this story uses this word 11 times. The word is Louisa man to speak about this word. He reckoned or credited or accounted into his faith because of his faith into his life righteousness. That’s what it says there. So Abraham on the basis of what God told him, even though it says in romans four, in hope against hope he believed so there’s an incredible, extraordinary, great faith of a man who is old, his wife is barren and yet God says, I’m going to have um you’re gonna have a son and that son is gonna be the heir of everything moses with pharaoh exodus 12 and verse 11 and through 13 notice what it says, It is the Lord’s passover for I will go through the Land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the Land of Egypt, both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord and the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you live and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will be for you to destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt. Listen, God told him he was coming with the death angel was coming many, many signs had already been performed miracles had already been performed. This was coming towards the end and God says, I want you to take a lamb and and sacrifice that lamb and then put the blood of that lamb on the door post and on the lentil of every house so that the firstborn of your Children may not die. So they they acted in faith. They did what they did by faith. They went and physically did exactly what God said. And the people that didn’t think it was all that important. Unfortunately their first born child died. And uh and then it goes on exodus 14. The seas divided moses said to the people. Do not fear stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, the Egyptians whom you have been, who’s seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent. Now they had the Egyptians on their back, they had the red seat in front of them. They were really in a bad spot. And yet God said, stand still, say nothing. Just stand still and I’m gonna fight for you which the Lord did. Israel crosses the Jordans. Now, here’s another passage Joshua 3, 12 through 17. Now then take for yourselves 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe and it shall come about when the soles of the feet. That’s so important that the river was still there and they were walking in in the river and when the bible says, when the soles of the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above shall stand in one heap. So it came about when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people. And when those who carried the ark came into the jordans and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge uh in the edge of the water for the jordans overflowed all its banks all the days of the harvest God didn’t make it easy. He made them to cross that river when the river was overflowing, not in some low spot, but at the most at the most uh the fullest spot. And they went forward, it says. And the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water for the jordans overflowed all its banks. All of the days of the harvest that the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap and a great distance away at Adam the city that is besides Zarra thon and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Ariba, the salt sea were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jordan’s Jericho and the priest who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. While all Israel crossed on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the jordans. What a story! But they had by faith to go first. They didn’t see the outcome. They believed they believed that God was gonna do it. Here’s another story, the conquest of Jericho and Joshua 611 through five. Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel. No one went out and no one came in and the Lord said to Joshua see I have given Jericho into your hand and uh with its king and valiant warriors and you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once you shall do so for six days also, 73 shall carry seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark. Then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priest shall blow the trumpet and it shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people will go up every man straight ahead. I’ve actually been to the site and I’ve actually seen the foundation of the world that it was and and it was pushed out, you know, rather than pushed in by by uh an army that is attacking. And then it says, and the final illustration I want to use is David versus Goliath for Samuel 17 45. And David said to the Philistines, you come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the lord of hosts, the god of the armies of Israel whom you have taunted this day, the Lord will deliver you into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you and I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a god in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear. For the battle is the Lord’s. And he will give you into our hands. Then it happened when the philistine rose and came uh and drew near to meet David that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the philistine. He wasn’t running away. He was running towards and David put his hand in his bag took from it a stone and slung it and struck the philistine on the forehead and the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground phenomenal story Now the final that I thought that was the final. The final one is in habitat where it talks about all the things going wrong, everything’s going wrong. The fig tree should not blossom, there’s no fruit on the vines, there’s no yield on the olive should fail and the fields produce no food though the flocks should be cut from the fold and there’d be no cattle in the store yet. I will exalt in the Lord. I’m gonna exalt in the Lord because I know even if I see nothing in this life that’s productive. I still can look to God and look what it says. The Lord God is my strength and he has made my feet like hinds feet and makes me walk on high places for the choir director on my stringed instruments. There’s so much to say about this subject matter. But when you do these great actions of faith, these these x actions of faith, you have to move first. You have to believe in your heart that God has already done it and then God will actually make it happen. Not because we claim it and name it and claim it and wish something. But based on the word of God, we can wait. We can trust we can believe and the Lord jesus christ has given us the believers the ability to say, I know that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above and beyond all that I ask or think by the power that is working in me in the church and through jesus christ for his glory. God bless you until the next time with it’s all greek to me with tom and Vicky.