146-Resting in the Faith of Jesus#
146-Resting in the Faith of Jesus
Now we read Mark 11:20-24.
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered what Jesus had said and said to him:
“Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Amen!
Let us first say a prayer together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you. We know today is a special day you have prepared for us, because you are the Lord of life. When we seek you, you will not let us go away empty. You are always willing to supply us, always willing to strengthen us. No matter how much we may grieve you, as long as we come before Jesus, you will surely supply us. This time is specially prepared for us. We are here to look up to you alone. Jesus, guide each one of us personally. May you open our hearts so that we can see you here, only see Jesus. Hallelujah, we pray in the name of Lord Jesus! Amen!
This year we will continue to talk about the theme of rest. Our theme this year is resting, taking root downwards, and bearing fruit upwards!
There are two aspects to this. One is how to take root downwards, and what is the purpose of taking root? It is not to explore how deep the earth is, but to bear fruit upwards. Today I will mention this again. Let me repeat, rest is not sleeping, nor is it doing nothing. Rest is recognizing the power of Jesus, recognizing the faith of Jesus, and then converting that faith into your own. When you do things with the faith of Jesus, you are in rest.
When Jesus Christ said "It is finished" on the cross, what exactly was finished? All salvation has been accomplished, Amen! Hallelujah, has healing been accomplished? Yes, it has. It has already been accomplished because Jesus paid the price, so you do not have to pay the price anymore. When we go to the hospital for treatment, do we need to spend money? If someone pays for you, then you don’t need to spend money. Today, when we come before Jesus to receive healing, it is because He has already paid the price for us. So when Jesus shed His precious blood, your sins were all forgiven.
Similarly, if you say, I am now burdened with various economic pressures and in debt, what should I do? Come before Jesus to receive His prosperity, because He accomplished poverty for you on the cross, so you can become rich. This is what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross; everything I am saying now has already been done.
Finished, this word contains many things that you are to receive. When Jesus completed this, He returned to the right hand of the Father. You may not see Jesus with your eyes now, but you must see from faith that Jesus has accomplished this. You may not feel it because our faith is different from feelings. You need to rest in the faith of Jesus, not in feelings. If today I don’t feel well, I feel like Jesus has left me, is your feeling correct? No, it is not correct. You feel like Jesus has left you, but Jesus is still with you.
What you need to believe is the promise of God in the Bible, not your feelings. Because feelings are always unreliable; when you feel good, everything is fine, and when you feel bad, everything is not fine. So we should not rely on feelings but believe in faith. Receiving healing is actually that simple. You believe that Jesus can heal you, and then you receive it. You say, "Lord, I believe all power is within me, so I have already received healing," and you receive God’s various powers and gifts in this way. Because He has indeed accomplished it for us.
It is understandable that there are many things we cannot fully believe. We hear many statements: I believe Jesus died for my sins, I believe. But if you say Jesus can heal all my diseases, I don’t quite believe that. Just because you don’t believe doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t have the power to do it. So what do we need to do? Rest in the faith of Jesus! Amen!
When you don’t have faith, you may rely on feelings, but feelings are not accurate. What should you do? You say, "Lord, I know I don’t have faith, but I am willing to give you this tiny bit of faith." Even if you have no other faith, just don’t lack this one kind of faith. You say, "Lord, I have no faith, but when your faith is added to me today, as long as I connect with you, I will have faith." Do you understand?
If the water pipe in your house is disconnected from the water supply, how much faith do you have that it will produce water? The best way is to connect the two, and water will flow continuously into your home. Similarly, in Christ, all kinds of abundant power are available as long as you connect your faith with Jesus' faith. Amen! Connect your tiny faith with Jesus' great faith, and this will keep you in rest.
Sharing the first point: Recognizing the Faith of Jesus
If we do not recognize the faith of Jesus, you cannot rely on His faith, nor can you draw from His faith. So we need to first recognize the faith of Jesus. Under normal circumstances, our emotions are fluctuating; today we may feel good, tomorrow we may fall, and the day after we may feel good again. When you recognize the faith of Jesus, what is Jesus' faith? It is always at the high point! His faith is unchanging; we need to recognize the faith of Jesus.
Today I will tell a story.
One day, when Jesus was coming out of Bethany, He was hungry. There are many fig trees in Israel. If you go to Israel, you will see many fig trees. If you are hungry, you can just pick some. Today, Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree from a distance.
Let me look at Mark 11:12.
He saw a fig tree in leaf and went to find out if it had any fruit.
Brothers and sisters, why did Jesus go to that fig tree when He saw it had leaves? Because Passover was approaching, and the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey was coming soon. The Passover season, according to our current calendar, is around March or April. At that time, if a fig tree in Israel has leaves, it must have fruit. This kind of tree is very special; as long as it has many leaves, it will definitely have fruit. Especially by Passover, almost all the fruit is ripe. So, if there are no fruits, how can there be ripe ones?
At this time, the tree had many leaves, so He went to look for fruit. Because He knew that if there were leaves, there would definitely be fruit. But when He got to the tree, what did He find? Nothing, not even a single fruit, just leaves. Ah! This is the situation of this fig tree. But some say, "No, there is another sentence; it is not the season for figs." If it is not the season for figs, why go looking for figs?
Is Jesus trying to make things difficult for this tree? It says it is not the season for figs. For example, wheat matures in June, but now it is April, and if there is not a single wheat seed, can you harvest in June? No, you should at least see one unripe wheat seed. The problem is that you must first have figs before you can have ripe ones. At this time, Jesus looked at the tree and found no fruit. When other trees begin to bear fruit, will there still be none? Still none. It only has leaves.
Brothers and sisters, today we need to be vigilant not to become this kind of person. Today we share this parable. Around March in the Gregorian calendar, in Israel, as long as a fig tree has leaves, it almost certainly has fruit, and some of the fruit is already ripe. So when Jesus went to look for fruit at this time, was this request too much? Not at all. But the problem is that He found nothing.
Brothers and sisters, today we said our theme this year is resting and taking root downwards. What is the purpose of taking root? That’s right, to bear fruit upwards. So we are not pursuing fruit; what are we pursuing? You just need to take root, absorb nutrients, and absorb water, then bearing fruit is a natural thing, right? As long as this tree has no problems, then it will naturally bear fruit. The problem lies with this tree; what does this tree have? It only has leaves.
So today I want to explain to you what "leaves" mean. What does "leaves" mean? It means what is visible. The first mention of fig leaves in the Bible is where? Yes, it is after Adam sinned, he realized his shame and made himself a garment of fig leaves, right? That’s right.
Today, do you know what people in the world boast about? Hairstyles, clothes, etc. These are what people in this world can see, but how many people boast about the life inside them? None, right? The life inside cannot be seen. You see a person, but you cannot see what they are thinking inside, just like this tree, it only has leaves. The leaves of the fig tree are like a person's dirty clothes; they are merely a person's effort. When the sun shines, can the leaves dry up and cover a person's shame?
Today, the fig tree's leaves represent human effort. You only have this exterior; if there is no life inside, that is very bad. If you are thirsty, do you eat the leaves of the fig tree or the fruit? You cannot eat leaves; absolutely not. This tells us that leaves are often used by people to boast, while fruit is the part that supplies others. If you only have leaves, what are you boasting about? What do you have? Those are all leaves. But I need to have fruit so that I can supply others. Brothers and sisters, today after we believe in Jesus, we have a lot of biblical knowledge, just like the leaves of this fig tree, which cannot supply others; only fruit can supply others.
Brothers and sisters, after we finish learning today, you will understand that many times our knowledge is just leaves. If you want to turn knowledge into fruit, you can supply those around you. Hallelujah.
The chief priests and scribes only had leaves; they had only the appearance of religion and could not supply others. Just like this fig tree, when Jesus went to the temple, what did He see? He saw only leaves, all kinds of rituals were very complete, all kinds of training were very complete. If you were there for the first time, there would be beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional stages of learning, allowing you to participate step by step in these trainings. After the training, there were only leaves, no fruit.
Brothers and sisters, this is not what Jesus wants to give us. Jesus wants us to have fruit so that we can supply others. So brothers and sisters, after we believe in Jesus, we understand a lot of knowledge about Jesus, which is just leaves. We need to turn knowledge into fruit so that we can supply ourselves and also bring supply to those around us. If what we say is different from what we do, others will say, "Look at this group of people who believe in Jesus; they are all crazy," or say, "We are better off not believing in Jesus than they are." Is this a problem with the fruit? Or is there simply no fruit, just leaves?
So brothers and sisters, what we want to tell you today is not to let various religious rituals occupy your heart. Do you know what I worry about most in our church? I am most afraid of holidays. Do you know why I fear holidays? Because when the holidays come, we have to prepare this and prepare that, and there are various programs. Not just our church, but many churches are the same because many people in the church are busy preparing various programs, and I find it quite a headache.
In preparing various programs for the holidays, we end up losing Jesus. The whole person is busy with various services. Today is a youth meeting, tomorrow is some other meeting, the whole week is busy from morning to night, all entering into rituals, activities, and services. In this process of serving, we lose rest; this is the leaves.
In this way, you will find that many people in the church, the more they serve, the more tired they become, to the point where they cannot continue, but they still dare not stop serving. Why is that? Because there is no fruit. If we have no fruit, what can we give when others want something from us? We can give nothing, and we will feel very tired and bitter, but there is no way out because there are only leaves. Now Jesus is hungry and wants to eat fruit, but you only have leaves.
May brothers and sisters first recognize the faith of Jesus and possess the fruit of Jesus. Whenever someone comes, they will see a tree full of fruit and can eat freely. When you finish eating, tomorrow it will bear another bunch, which can supply others, right? Jesus hopes we become such children.
We are not saying that these services are not important; what I want to say is that you should enjoy rest in all kinds of services. It is very good to participate in training, but you must remember to recognize the faith of Jesus Christ in such training. Amen!
All kinds of rituals, all kinds of training, all kinds of activities should not depart from Jesus. Whether it is Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving, the center must be Jesus. If you take Jesus away, all of this becomes meaningless; it becomes leaves.
Today we see that the chief priests and scribes only had leaves, and immediately after, Jesus mentioned what in the temple? There were money changers. If your home is too far away and you did not bring a lamb, no problem, please follow me; there are many lambs here for you to choose from. These are all carefully selected; you can choose any one you like at a discounted price. These are all very abundant, but they are all leaves. But what is the temple for? It is a house of prayer. They used all of these for rituals, and prayer was gone.
Jesus did not look at the outer leaves; He looked for life. If we just say we worship God, "Lord, I have already offered a lamb; this matter is already completed, and I have nothing to do with you anymore; I should go home," this has become leaves. Only when? When you truly kneel down and pray to God, you connect with God. This is very important!
The Lord Jesus is full of fruit, Amen! Brothers and sisters, He is full of fruit; He always brings supply to others. Amen! In fact, during the three and a half years of Jesus' ministry, there was only this one time He cursed; at other times, He was healing and blessing. Only this time did He curse. There is a foreshadowing here, foreshadowing the fate of the Israelites. They were like this tree; they clung to various rituals and regulations, but there was no life, which is very unfortunate. In the end, the temple was destroyed, and they drifted everywhere. The purpose of Jesus doing this was to prevent us from losing ourselves in such rituals and to find true life within. This also serves as a warning to those who do not believe! So Jesus Christ, who gave His life, is our supply. Is He not our supply? Jesus Christ died for us; His blood became our supply, and His body also became our supply—supply for the Holy Communion, supply for healing, and supply for inner peace.
Let me share a testimony here.
Someone sent me a message saying she had been listening to my sermons. After three months, there was a person among us suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, which is called the immortal cancer in the medical field. This disease is extremely painful, and she has had this problem for many years.
As a result, after continuously listening to my sermons for three months, she was completely healed. Hallelujah! This is the fruit; we need to bring out such fruit for others. Don’t say it’s because you didn’t serve enough or you don’t have faith; that would be troublesome. That would give them leaves, and after they eat it, they might get poisoned. Don’t give them leaves; give them fruit! Amen! Jesus supplies us this way. He is not a fig tree with only an outward appearance; He is a fig tree full of fruit. So Jesus said to this fruitless fig tree, "From now on, no one will ever eat your fruit." How terrifying is this statement! From now on, no one will ever eat your fruit!
Today I want to briefly introduce this experience to you. If there is an opportunity later, I will specifically talk about this section. What it means is that Jesus tells us not to eat anymore, not to eat the fruit that has only an appearance and no life, not to eat the fruit of the law, the fruit of death!
Do not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! What should you eat? The fruit from the tree of life! So who is that tree of life? Yes, Jesus Christ is that true tree of life. You need to eat Jesus, eat Jesus, eat Jesus! Amen! Continuously recognize the power of Jesus, recognize His authority, recognize His love, and you are eating Jesus. If you keep recognizing the Ten Commandments and keep eating the leaves of the fig tree, the more you eat, the more poisoned you become, and the longer you are bound! Right?
So Jesus said, "From now on, no one will ever eat your fruit!" Because He cursed this thing, from now on, no one will eat this poisonous thing. Today, do you know? If you have a certain disease, is it poisoning you? You need to eat fruit, not leaves. You may not fully understand what I mean. For example, if someone has back pain, and you eat the fruit of back pain, what do you do?
Pray to Jesus: "In the name of Lord Jesus Christ, from now on, I will no longer eat your fruit; I curse this disease to leave here."
Make a declaration like Jesus did. Hallelujah! Do you know Jesus did this to the tree? And you know that the disease in your body needs to be cursed; you need to say, "From now on, I will no longer eat your fruit; I want to eat Jesus." He lives in my heart. Hallelujah!
Do you know what happened to the tree after Jesus cursed it? It withered from the roots. Do you know why the Bible says so clearly? Why does it say it withered from the roots? It means it will never have a chance to sprout again. Hallelujah! If you curse a certain disease in your body, you need to say, "In the name of Jesus, I curse you to wither from the roots, never to recur." Amen! Look at how Jesus does things; you should also do things this way.
The next day, the disciples said, "The fig tree you cursed has withered from the roots!" What did Jesus reply? Verse 22. Jesus did not say, "Why don’t you try it too?" No, it has already withered; you don’t need to dig up the soil to know it has withered. Jesus answered, "Have faith in God." Amen! Just now, I introduced the faith of Jesus. The faith of Jesus is like this; He does not repeat, "Oh, why is there no fruit? Oh, how unfortunate! I am so thirsty and hungry; how did I find a fig tree with no fruit? Oh, how unlucky I am!" Did Jesus say that? Jesus did not say that, so you should not say that either. Saying this will make you lose faith.
When you have that evil thought, bad thought, or disease, you need to curse it in the name of Jesus. Amen! This is the faith of Jesus.
We share the second point: Have Faith in Jesus
First, recognize this power, and then you need to have faith in Jesus. Mark 11:21-22, Peter said, "Look, the fig tree you cursed has withered from the roots!" Jesus said, "Have faith in God." What does it mean to have faith in God? To believe and obey? Many times, I check the Chinese Bible; it may not be translated incorrectly, but I don’t understand, so I have to check the original text. This verse is the same; Jesus said, "You should have faith in God." I thought, what does it mean to have faith in God? The original text says you need to have faith in God.
Oh! It does not mean you need to strive to obey or believe, but you need to have faith in God. Another meaning is that you need to have faith like God. It is not about your effort to obey and believe, but about believing that God can do it. He is the Almighty God, the God who created heaven and earth, the God who created all things out of chaos. He said, "Let there be light," and it was done. You believe in such a God. Do you have faith in Him?
You say, "Lord, this disease is so severe." God says, "Do you believe in me?" You just need to say, "Lord, I believe you can handle this disease." That faith is enough. Then what should you do? Have faith like God. You say, "Lord, I cannot, but now I have whose name? The name of Jesus." If you say to the disease, "I curse you," does that work? You need to add a name in front, "In the name of Lord Jesus, I curse the disease to leave!" Immediately, that disease will leave. Because this is the faith of Jesus; this is the power of Jesus. Hallelujah.
So later Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." Therefore, the wording in the Bible is very precise and rigorous, and I also hope our brothers and sisters use words carefully, Amen! What does it mean to use words carelessly?
In the past, I heard a brother and sister share, "How was the New Year?" "Not bad!" Then I thought, he might be doing well, but there are still some bad things. But how much good is there, and how much bad is there? But when I saw his bitter face, I thought it must be more bad than good! But if you answer, "This year, I had a great New Year! When I returned home, my mom believed in Jesus!" Look, that is called joy; that is called good, right?
Or some people say, "The situation is not as good as I expected, but I believe God is already working." Do you see the difference between the two? This person is always full of faith in God. So what kind of words should we say? Affirmative ones. The Bible often says, "Truly I tell you." As long as Jesus says this, it means what follows is very important. I truly tell you, the original meaning of this is Amen! Never doubt this Amen; this Amen has great power.
“If anyone says to this mountain,” this mountain may be your disease, your debt, your lack, or various pressures. Isn’t this all your mountain? It doesn’t matter; now Jesus says, "If anyone," does that include you? Tell the person next to you, "Including you!" That’s right, now don’t look at how big the mountain is. Is Mount Laoshan big? You say you don’t know. "Lord Jesus, my debt is as big as Mount Laoshan!" If you repeat this a hundred times every day, I don’t believe you will have the strength to get up and walk. Why? Because you said the wrong words. Let’s see how Jesus says it: "If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea!’" You see, Jesus uses this wording; the mountain is a high place, and the sea is a low place. Jesus means that if you think this is already high enough, I will now throw it where? To the lowest place. This is the power of God! The high and low will be leveled. Who is leveling? Jesus is leveling. Amen! You say you don’t know I am in a low valley; He says to level the high and fill the low. You just can’t see it!
If he does not doubt in his heart, do not doubt! Do not doubt; just believe that what he says will happen. Brothers and sisters, who is speaking? Let’s read verse 23 together:
"Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea!’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them."
Now who is speaking? You are speaking; that’s right! Don’t always wait for Jesus to speak. You say, "Lord, hurry up and tell the disease to leave." But now who is speaking? That’s right; it is you speaking. So what you say is very important! Don’t say negative things. You say, "This mountain is too big." This disease is pressing down on you like a mountain. At this time, what should you say? "In the name of Jesus, you, rise up and be thrown into the sea!" Is that making a declaration against the disease?
It says you just need to not doubt in your heart, which means after you say it, you believe this thing in your heart, and God will accomplish it according to what you say. Hallelujah! This is God’s way. Really, you can meditate on this verse well. You say, "Lord, I have many problems at home; this is my mountain." You say, "Lord, I am so worried." This is not what you should say. What should you say? "You, be uprooted and thrown into the sea!" This is the declaration you should make, and then God will accomplish it.
You make the declaration, and God will accomplish it. Isn’t that cool? So cool! You make the declaration, and God accomplishes it. Amen! That’s cool! I’m telling you this in Greek, telos, which means accomplished. You want to think, "How cool is that! So cool! So cool!" Because Jesus did it; it’s so cool! I just need to say it, and Jesus accomplishes it; that’s so cool! Amen! The meaning of telos is "accomplished"! What you say, you must believe that Jesus will accomplish it. This is to let you see the faith of Jesus. Then, use faith! Amen! You just need to believe that Jesus can do everything, and God can do things.
Some say, "Lord, I have no faith." Never look at yourself; never look at yourself. What you need to look at is Jesus. So last time we talked about, "If you can believe, all things are possible for those who believe." This belief refers to your belief that Jesus can do all things, and Jesus can accomplish it for you. But many times, Jesus said to the sick, "Your faith has saved you." Whose faith is this? Is this our own faith? Some say, "You are wrong." It’s okay; today I will explain the verses to help you recognize the faith of Jesus so that you can correctly use the faith of Jesus.
You recognize how great the faith of Jesus is, and Jesus takes that faith as yours. Think about how great Jesus' power is. When you think about it, you might think, "He can at most heal a cold; He can’t heal anything more serious." Some say, "He can heal my cancer." This is His faith. Then Jesus says, "According to your faith, it will be done for you." The more you recognize me, the more faith you draw from me; that is yours.
Our God is a generous and loving God. The more you recognize Him, the more He gives you. The more you recognize, the more you receive. He says, "This is yours!" All spiritual blessings in the kingdom of heaven belong to whom? They all belong to you. If you can recognize that they are all yours, Jesus says, "I give it all to you." It was originally meant to be given to you! So I often mention that the Bible mentions many blessings, many promises, and many good supplies, all of which are for whom? They are all for us. If they are not for us, why would God write them down? Don’t doubt it.
Now let’s look at what your faith is. Mark 10:52, let’s read together:
Jesus said, "Go! Your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Isn’t this Bartimaeus? Jesus said to Bartimaeus, "Your faith has healed you." Many times, we put Jesus aside. Do you have faith? If it’s a blind man, and you ask him, "Do you have faith?" He says, "I have been blind since birth; what faith do I have?" But Bartimaeus is different; where does his faith come from? It comes from Jesus.
Look at the small text below, verse 51:
Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Rabboni, I want to see."
Look at what this blind man believes. What does he believe? He believes Jesus can let him see. Does he believe in Jesus' faith? What he believes is: "You can let me see!" As long as you say to this mountain, "Be thrown into the sea," I will let it be thrown into the sea.
So Bartimaeus said, "Rabboni, I want to see." Jesus said, "You see now." So Jesus accomplished it according to this faith. Friends, suppose Jesus asked the blind man, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Give me a dollar." Would Jesus give it to him? You know? This is two different kinds of faith. If two blind men made such requests, is that wrong? It’s not wrong. You can’t say, "Why didn’t you ask Him to let you see?" The blind man said, "I don’t believe He can let me see." So it’s not that Jesus has no power. It’s that you believe Jesus has this power, and Jesus understands your faith as your faith. Amen!
Bartimaeus doesn’t want anything else; he is not like the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, who only hopes someone will give him some money. But this blind man says, "I want to see." Amen! So we can say to Jesus, "Jesus, I want to be healthy! I want to be healthy!" You will definitely receive it. Let’s look at another person:
Mark 5:34 Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
Who is this daughter? The woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Jesus said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Is this her faith? Where does her faith come from? Look at what kind of faith she has.
In verse 28, she thought to herself, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Do you see what her faith is? She is not saying, "Lord, do I have faith?" She believes, "Lord Jesus, if I just touch your clothes, I will be healed."
Where is her focus? The mountain is very big, but as long as I touch His clothes, this mountain will disappear. This is the faith of this woman. So she squeezed through the crowd to touch Jesus' clothes, and instantly, her disease was healed. So Jesus said, "This is your faith; your faith that just touches the hem of the garment has healed you."
Many people do not have this woman’s faith. Amen! Let’s look at another person:
Matthew 8:13 Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.
Today, many people just say, "You need to have faith; you need to have faith; you need to have faith," but they do not introduce Jesus to him. Where does his faith come from? He looks and says, "Oh, I have no faith," and that’s it; he cannot receive. So a bunch of laws come in, saying you need to pray more, you need to get closer to God, you cannot love the world. Yes, I need to pray more, I need to get closer to God, I cannot love the world, I don’t want to make money. In the end, I become poorer and poorer, and eventually, I wither. Isn’t that troublesome? But let’s look at the faith of the centurion; what kind of faith does he have?
In verse 8, the centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed."
Hallelujah! What do you see? These three people have a common characteristic; they all believe: Jesus can! Amen! The faith of the centurion is truly great. In the Bible, there are two people who are clearly contrasted. One is Jairus. Jairus went to find Jesus and said, "My daughter is dying; you must come and lay your hands on her, and she will be healed."
Is this Jairus' faith? What does he want Jesus to do? He thinks, "You must lay your hands on her, and her illness will be healed." This is Jairus' faith. But the centurion had already happened before. Jairus thinks you must lay your hands on my daughter. Jesus was going to say, "I will go with you," but the centurion said, "You must not go. Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed." Hallelujah! Both are asking for healing, but these two people have completely different faith.
So we need to see the faith of Jesus. According to His faith, it will be accomplished for you. The best way to have faith is to know Jesus more. Recognize the power of Jesus, recognize the authority of Jesus, recognize how Jesus heals the sick. Many times, Jesus healed everyone with just one word. Just one word!
During this time, we have been sharing this content. Whether it is 2000 demons or one demon, Jesus only uses one word, and the demons come out. Amen! Today’s story is about the sick. The centurion believes: "Jesus, just say the word, and my servant will be healed." Remote healing; this is not the faith of the Jews but the faith of the Gentile centurion. Hallelujah!
So we should believe this way too! Even if we are here, at this moment, you pray for your family, "In the name of Jesus Christ, even though my family is thousands of miles away, I know that if I say it in the name of Jesus, his illness will be healed." If you believe this way, God will accomplish it. Isn’t that interesting? This is the faith of Jesus. You need to recognize such faith.
Just now, we also read that we should speak to the mountain, right? Then there is something particularly important to note: "If he does not doubt in his heart." The problem lies here. When do we lack faith? When we doubt. When do you doubt? When you are uncertain, right? When do you doubt? I have asked many people this question. I said, "The Bible says, ‘Say to that mountain, be uprooted and thrown into the sea; if he does not doubt in his heart, it will be done.’"
So what exactly blocks our faith?
Many people say our sins and various problems. Because the Bible says, "If you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you." Because He does not listen to the prayers of sinners. Is that really the case? This is the Old Testament.
The Bible does say He does not listen to the prayers of sinners. But what time is it now? It is the New Testament. Because when Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross, the problem of your sin has already been washed away by the precious blood of Jesus. You must believe this. Why did we start talking about "It is finished"? Because if you do not know that Jesus has accomplished it, you will doubt. Right?
We see that when you have faith in God, you will not doubt. Many times, after you pray, you are very certain that God has healed you. Isn’t that not doubting? When will you doubt? You prayed, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I have been healed." After standing up, you think, "Oh, will it work?" Yes, that is doubt. How do you solve this problem?
Some say, "Then tell me, is it enough to pray once? Or should I keep praying?" In the past, someone heard my sermon in 2014 and then listened to my sermon in 2015. He said, "There is a question I am confused about. You said in 2014 that praying once is enough, but in 2015 you said to keep praying." Isn’t this contradictory? These two are not contradictory. Why?
You see, if you pray once and know that this matter has been accomplished, you do not need to pray again or worry about it. Just like Hannah, she asked God for a son. After she stood up, her face was smiling. Is that right? At that moment, this matter had already been accomplished. Do you need to come back tomorrow or the day after? Because she knew God had accomplished it for her. A year later, she indeed gave birth to Samuel.
The Bible also says you should keep praying. Why is that? Because you have doubts in your heart. So these two do not conflict. If you pray and feel that God has accomplished it, you do not need to pray again. If you pray and no longer worry, you do not need to pray again. If you pray and still worry, then you should keep praying until you have faith. Just now we said that the best way is not to have doubts. Where does a heart that does not doubt come from? Recognizing the power of Jesus. And? Recognizing that Jesus is willing to love you this way, willing to help you this way. That is enough. Amen!
When do we doubt? When you look at yourself. Right? You think, "Oh, Lord, I have been so weak lately; will my prayer work? I scolded my daughter this morning; will my prayer work? Oh, I cursed someone; will you listen to my prayer?" You see, these various problems are looking at yourself. Do you still have faith? In fact, this is a problem we often make. In this situation, it will make you doubt. So looking at your own behavior is the law.
Let’s look at the correct answer in the Bible. Romans 4:14, "For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless."
Amen! Now do you know? What is the destructive power of your faith? The law! The more you understand the law, the less faith you have. Amen! Brothers and sisters, this is very important. So you need to know Jesus more, not the law. The more you understand the law, the less faith you have. Because the Bible says, "If those who depend on the law can receive even a little inheritance from God, then faith means nothing."
We have been emphasizing faith, right? So do not wander under the law. After you wander, you will not receive God’s promises and blessings. Because faith means nothing, and the promise is worthless.
A few days ago, my wife called her mother, who has asthma. Many people in her family have died from this. Her mother said, "I believe in Jesus too, but why am I not healed?" My wife said, "Mom, just pray, in the name of Jesus, let Jesus heal your asthma." Do you know what her mother said? She said, "No. My disease is very serious; can Jesus heal it? No." If you believe this way, even if Jesus can, He cannot. Right? If you believe Jesus can, even if it seems impossible, Jesus can. Hallelujah.
If you feel you are under the law, you will not have faith in God. Because you feel it is impossible; my behavior is not good enough, I am not diligent enough, I am not holy enough, I am not glorious enough. So I cannot. You are looking at yourself, and your faith is gone. But when you return to Jesus, why does Jesus heal you today? Because He loves you. Is His love conditional? No conditions. So the purpose of recognizing the faith of Jesus is here. The Son of God is full of power, full of authority, but He is willing to treat you this way. It is not about what you have done, but about believing in Him. He just wants you to believe in Him, and that is enough. Amen!
Last time we had a question that was not explained; today I will explain it in detail here. Last time we said, "If you can believe, all things are possible for those who believe." We are not saying this person does not believe in Jesus. For example, regarding my mother-in-law’s issue, she believes in Jesus; she can enter the kingdom of heaven; she is saved.
Brothers and sisters, our life and eternal life should not be mixed together. Entering the kingdom of heaven and life are two different things. You believe Jesus died for your sins, died on the cross, and rose from the dead three days later; you are in the kingdom of heaven. But if you do not believe in Him in other matters, you are still saved; it’s just that you cannot see God’s glory in those matters. So Jesus said, "Your faith has saved you." If you can believe, you will see the glory of God. But in this matter, you need to believe in me; it does not mean he cannot be saved.
So do not mix the law and grace together, making faith become worthless. Amen! You believe in Jesus; He died for you and rose for you; you are a saved person. What you need to do now is to believe in the power of Jesus in every matter of life. This is difficult. It is easy for us to believe in Jesus to enter the kingdom of heaven. The problem is difficult in life; in every matter, we can rely on Jesus’ words like the centurion. Jesus said, "If you believe in me this way, I will let you see such faith." Hallelujah.
So you must believe. Believe, and do not do anything. Do not return to the law to do anything. Because no matter what you do, you cannot please God. You just need to believe in Him, and He will be pleased with you. Because you are the beloved son of God, He is willing to accomplish everything for you. These past few days, I have been thinking about this issue. My son is now eight months old and just started to call me "Dad," and he does not say it very clearly.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever thought about this? Even if he does not say it clearly, do I love him? Sometimes I can’t even understand what he is saying, but I am very happy. Why? Because he is my son. If our neighbor’s little boy comes to me every day and says, "You are just like my dad; you are so great, so tall, so rich..." Do you know? Even if he says a thousand sentences, does that count as effective as my child’s unclear "Dad"? You know what I think when I hear the neighbor’s child say so much? He has an agenda. Isn’t it?
Brothers and sisters, do not pursue what is under the law. What is under the law is a servant. A servant relies on his own behavior. He kneels down very devoutly and says, "Look, I have done so much today; you should give me something to eat!" But a son is different. You are sons. You know? Even if your prayer is not standard, you must always remember you are a son. Even if you say a word wrong, miss a sentence, or do not express clearly, but you know, "I am praying for this," that is enough. Amen! You say, "I cannot pray like others." It doesn’t matter; if you are an eight-month-old child, saying one word, "Dad!" is enough for the Father to accomplish everything.
Amen! You will know why Jesus loves you so much and is willing to accomplish everything for you because you are the most beloved son of the Father. Let us pray together, no matter what your problems are, now declare them, and praise our God. Hand over the things that worry you, the things you are concerned about, to Jesus. You need to know He is your loving Lord. When you praise your difficulties, now declare to your difficulties, let Jesus win.
Raise your hands! No matter how small your faith is now, it doesn’t matter. When you raise your hands, Jesus will hold your hand. No matter how difficult you feel, tell Jesus! He can solve your problems. Tell Jesus! He is your loving Lord. Maybe you don’t pray very well, but it doesn’t matter; the Father knows your heart’s desires. Open your mouth and pray to Him!
In the name of Jesus, remove all your worries now! In the name of Jesus, remove the disease in your heart! In the name of Jesus, command the disease in your body to leave! In the name of Jesus, curse all diseases to leave! They no longer have the right to stay. Because you correctly recognize yourself, they no longer have the right because you know you are the beloved son of God. The Holy Spirit is in you; the Holy Spirit lives in you; you will be healed! Right now, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are healed! Place your hand on your afflicted area, and in the name of Jesus, command the disease to leave! You are healed! You are healed! Come and praise Him! Praise Jesus! His power is already upon you! It is already upon you! It is accomplished! Telos! Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!
“Father, we thank and praise you! Indeed, we need to recognize your faith. Yes, when we recognize your faith, we rest in your faith. Because we know, we truly know, it is we who make the declaration, and God will accomplish it for me. It is not my ability; it is your ability; it is your ability that fills me; it is your health that fills me; it is your abundance that fills me. Therefore, all worries, all burdens, and all diseases must leave me now.
Because I know you love me so much; you do not look at how I behave because when you saved me, my behavior was not good. But today, as I rest in you, I take root downwards to know Jesus, I can bear fruit upwards, and I will become a supply for many. Just like that fig tree full of figs, many people around me will be changed because they see the God I believe in, and their lives will change. Thank you, Jesus! You love me so much; I can only offer my thanks to you! May all glory be to you! In the name of Lord Jesus, I pray! Amen!”