THE POWER OF FAITH

Matthew 21:18-27
Key Verse: 21:21

    "Jesus replied, `I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not
     doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also
     you can say to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea,"
     and it will be done.'"

     In the last passage we learned that Jesus cleared the temple. Thus
he showed himself as the God of righteousness. Jesus' clearing the
temple was the starting point of challenging the power of sin and death
before his death on the cross and his glorious resurrection. These days
many people think, "God is love. So it is okay to enjoy sinful
pleasures; I can still go to heaven." But we must know that Jesus is
not only the God of mercy and compassion, Jesus is also the God of
righteousness. In today's passage Jesus teaches his disciples the power
of faith---faith that moves a mountain.  Without faith one cannot
overcome himself. But one who has faith in Jesus can overcome himself
and the world. May God give us spiritual understanding when we study
about the power of faith.

First, the fig tree withers (18-19). Look at verse 18. "Early in the
morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry." This
verse indicates that after clearing the temple as soon as he came into
Jerusalem, Jesus left the city and  went to Bethany. Jesus and his
twelve disciples could not stay in a motel in the city of Jerusalem
because they had no money. So he went to one of the satellite cities of
Jerusalem, Bethany, probably to the house of Mary and Martha. It is
obvious that Jesus and his disciples stayed in Bethany and the next
morning got up early and were on their way back to the so-called holy
city, Jerusalem. There is a strong impression that Jesus and his
disciples could not eat any meal the night before. The new day was
dawning, and they woke up and went into the city without eating.  Look
at verse 19. "Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found
nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, `May you never bear
fruit again!' Immediately the tree withered." It was early summer. The
fig tree had abundant leaves. It also looked very beautiful. Jesus came
nearer to the tree and saw that the tree had so many green leaves, but
it had no fruit.  Jesus was hungry and wanted some fruit from the tree.
But he found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you
never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. It was natural
not to expect fruit from the fig tree because it was not the harvest
time. Then why did Jesus curse the fig tree so that immediately the
tree withered? In this story we learn two spiritual lessons.

In the first place, a tree with abundant leaves and no fruit is
useless. Of course, it was not the season for fruit. Yet, Jesus cursed
the tree immediately. This event is associated with the religious
leaders in the temple. As we studied, the temple was the place for
God's flock to offer sacrifices and to receive the forgiveness of sins.
The temple was the spiritual center of Israel. The temple priests and
all the other Pharisees and teachers of the law were supposed to be
shepherds for God's flock. They looked good outwardly. They decorated
themselves with beautiful gowns and moustaches and beards. They looked
like fig trees with abundant and beautiful leaves, but no fruit. When
Jesus wanted some fruit for breakfast, the tree didn't have any fruit.
Likewise, the temple priests were very hypocritical and fruitless
people. Moreover, they were the inventors of evils and a bad influence
to God's flock who came to the temple to offer sacrifices. Jesus was
not happy with the hypocrisy of the temple priests and the other
religious leaders. Because of their hypocrisy, an innocent fig tree was
cursed. What, then, is hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is superficial worship of
God.  Hypocritical people pretend to worship God. But they are all very
selfish.  They say that they are Christians, but they don't believe in
God. They do not serve God. They serve only themselves and their
children. They are just like a fig tree with abundant and beautiful
leaves but no fruit on it. Men and women of hypocrisy will not be
blessed by God. They will be cursed by God as the fig tree was cursed.

In the second place, God made us to bear much fruit. Many people wonder
why they are existing. Many people do not know the meaning of their
lives.  Many people are men and women of vanity and the incarnation of
selfishness. But God made us with a clear purpose. It is to bear much
fruit for the glory of God. Genesis 1:28 says, "God blessed them and
said to them, ^Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and
over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" In this verse
there is the phrase, "Be fruitful." This phrase shows us God's purpose
for his creation of mankind.  This verse teaches us that God made us
the stewards of God's world.  Therefore, we must set our life direction
in bearing much fruit for the glory of God. You may think that
fruit-bearing means to produce many tomatoes and bananas. But the
Biblical meaning of it is that one must raise many godly people. How
can we raise many godly people? We must be God's servants who care for
God's flock of sheep. The best example is Jesus raising twelve
disciples. These twelve disciples were country bums; they were amply
earthbound and full of marriage problems and they were also men of
fantasy. They were bottom-class nobodies. But they all wanted to be the
President or the Prime Minister. After conversion, through Jesus' death
and resurrection, they became most fruitful people.

     God showed us how to bear good fruit. After the Fall, God had to
decide to save the world or completely demolish it. God, in his great
love decided to save the world. He looked around the whole world to
find a man whom he could raise to be a blessing to fallen mankind. God
found one person whose name was Abraham. He was seventy-five years old.
God told him, "You will be great and you will be a blessing" (Ge 12:2).
Primarily, God wants us to be great and to be a blessing. God never
wants us to be petty and be a burden to others. God cared for Abraham
for twenty-five years until he became the ancestor of faith. When
Abraham grew, God tested him to offer his one and only son Isaac as a
burnt offering on the Mount of Moriah. He immediately responded to
God's request. Abraham took Isaac and was ready to make him a burnt
offering on the altar. At the moment Abraham reached out his hand and
took a knife to slay his son Isaac, the Lord called out to him from
heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do
anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not
withheld from me your son, your only son" (Ge 22:11-12). When God took
care of him for twenty-five years, Abraham became a good fruit to God,
for he was ready to offer his one and only son as a burnt offering.
Hebrews 11:8-10 summarize Abraham's life of faith as follows: "By faith
Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his
inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was
going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger
in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who
were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to
the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Abraham
didn't bear much fruit in numbers in his time. He had only one sheep,
his nephew Lot. Lot was like a cultural Christian. His cultural life of
faith was not blessed, but ended in tragedy. But Abraham's influence
has borne much fruit. So we say that we are all descendants of Abraham
(Jn 8:33). In this way God showed us how to bear good fruit.

     You know Moses. He was a Hebrew, the son of a slave under the
Egyptian Empire. At that time the people of Israel so increased that
the Egyptian king was threatened by the Hebrew people. So he ordered
that all Hebrew baby boys be drowned. Moses was born in such a fateful
situation.  When he began to cry loudly his mother made a basket coated
with pitch and threw him in the river. But the daughter of King Pharaoh
of Egypt found a cute boy in a basket. He was picked up by the
princess, the daughter of King Pharaoh. He could have possibly
succeeded King Pharaoh. But he chose to be mistreated along with the
people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short
time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value
than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward
(Heb 11:25-26). These days many young people want to believe in Jesus
in order to have life direction and purpose of life. They also want to
have a value system and want to do something good. But they cannot
overcome their desire for sinful pleasure. So they cannot commit their
lives to God. They say, "Well, from next year I will be a good
Christian." But they procrastinate one year after another until they
become seventy years old. As a result, they are like sixteen-year-old
teenagers in their mentality and philosophy, especially in their
behavior. But Moses, by faith, chose to be a child of God rather than
becoming Pharaoh's successor, King of Egypt. Later God made him a good
shepherd for his chosen people, the Israelites. They numbered 600,000
in the wilderness after exodus. Moses was probably the most fruitful
shepherd in history.

     Fruit-bearing is not easy. It is a life-giving ministry. There was
an international Romeo. Wherever he went, many Juliets followed him.
When he lived as an international Romeo, he was powerless and could not
maintain his school studies. So he dropped out of his Ph.D. program and
became a girls' high school teacher. But he was converted through
one-to-one Bible study. And through Bible study he learned the
compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He also could find his clear life
direction to go back to school and finish his Ph.D. Now he is no more
an international Romeo, but a good shepherd, who is internationally
famous. Of course, he could not become a good shepherd like Jesus all
by himself. Behind him was a shepherd who took care of him from the
beginning to the end, until he became a shepherd at the international
level. In fact, there are many who were once international Romeos in
UBF. They were converted through one-to-one Bible study and for the
glory of God they studied hard; many obtained Ph.D.s and became Ph.D.
shepherds in America.

     Why do we have to bear much fruit? It is because God made us to
bear much fruit. John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you to go and bear fruit^fruit that will last." Many
people think they chose God; so if they want, they can just abandon
God. But they are wrong. We did not choose God, but God chose us and
appointed us to bear much fruit. Last week there was a tragic event in
which two students shot and killed twelve students and a teacher in a
high school in Colorado.  We must be responsible for them. We should
have sent many one-to-one Bible teachers to Colorado earlier so that
this would not have happened.  Let's pray that we may send many workers
to Colorado.

Second, mountain-moving faith (20-22). Look at verse 20. "When the
disciples saw this, they were amazed. `How did the fig tree wither so
quickly?' they asked." The disciples of Jesus saw this event and were
greatly amazed and said, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" When
Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree all the abundant and beautiful
leaves dried up immediately. Finally the tree was dried up. His
disciples wondered how Jesus could have such a mighty power that with a
word he dried up such a huge fig tree immediately. They really envied
the power of Jesus. Their hearts' desire was to have mighty power like
Jesus and do something great. Sometimes they wanted to perform
miraculous signs and wonders before the large crowd of people. But all
they could do was just hang around Jesus and eat and sleep, snoring in
chorus. They set the alarm clock to wake up early and have early
morning prayer. But they never made it. They turned off the alarm
clock. Sometimes they threw the alarm clock out the window. They wanted
to be powerful men. But they were totally powerless, and were lazy men.
As a result, they were useless disciples. It was because they lacked
one thing. Look at verse 21. "Jesus replied, `I tell you the truth, if
you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to
the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, "Go, throw
yourself into the sea," and it will be done.'" Jesus knew they were
lazy and useless. But Jesus taught them that if they have faith they
can move a mountain and throw it into the sea. In other words, if they
have faith, they can have a mountain-moving power. Practically
speaking, to such powerless disciples this was a totally impossible
teaching of Jesus. These days we see so many Christians who want be
good Christians, pleasing to God. So many Christians want to live for
the glory of God and be a blessing to others, not a burden. Their
wishes are good, but their wishes are not fulfilled at all. Rather,
they despair and they don't esteem themselves as Christians. This
happens because they want to be good Christians by their own moral
strength. What is the meaning of having faith in God? In a children's
hymn there is the phrase, "We are weak, but he is strong." In other
words, we must know that we are weak, but God is strong.  We must have
faith in God and continue to pray that we can do something great. Then
God does it for us. Faith is believing God's power to answer our
prayer. So verse 22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer." Faith is prayer. We cannot do anything. But
when we have faith in God and continue to pray,  God answers our
prayers. For example, Chicago UBF wanted to pioneer the Soviet Union in
1985. One of us went to the Soviet Union as a tourist and spied out the
land. The Soviet Union was still behind the Iron Curtain. But we prayed
that we may pioneer the Soviet Union with the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It looked totally impossible at that time. But we believed in
God that he would pioneer the Soviet Union through us in ten years.
From that time on, one of us sang "Moscow Nights" more than 500 times.
From that time on, we ate Russian bread and drank Russian tea during
the break every Friday night at our Leaders' Meeting. Many of us
thought it was nonsense. It was because the Iron Curtain was too strong
to break. It was because we were afraid of the cruelty of the Russian
KGB. But God soon opened the door through Russian President Gorbachev
and we could pioneer Moscow State University, which was known to be
number one among universities in the world.  Now we have around three
hundred Russian shepherds and sheep in Moscow and other chapters in
Russia. We also have ninety-eight missionaries in Russia. When we
thought about pioneering Russia, it seemed impossible. But many of us
have been to the Moscow conferences and have seen with our own eyes
that our Russian UBF is growing slowly and steadily. Faith produces
miracles. But fear paralyzes man's heart.

     The disciples of Jesus saw that the fig tree was cursed and
immediately dried up. Their surprise was at the immediate
drying-up of the fig tree. They wondered how it could happen. But Jesus
told them to have faith in God, then they could do the same thing. The
disciples finally learned faith through Jesus' death and resurrection
and they conquered the world. Right after Jesus' ascension, there were
around 120 members who were praying in an upper room. They believed
that Jesus would come back to them very soon. They believed that they
could conquer the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They could not
see Jesus' coming back to them with their eyes. But they spread all
over the world. There is a legendary story that once the doubter,
Thomas, went to India and evangelized Indian people. Thomas might have
said, "Eat meat, fellow Indians, and work hard for the glory of God.
Have faith in God and bear much fruit." It is tearful to hear the story
of Peter and Paul's coming to Rome in the hope of evangelizing the
whole world through Roman military roads. It is said that Peter was
crucified upside-down during the time of shepherding the flock of God's
sheep there. We don't know how Paul died in the name of Jesus.  But it
is obvious that he was martyred. Martyrdom sounds very fearsome.  But
to those early Christians who had faith in Jesus, martyrdom was honor
to them for the glory of God. They were happy to die anytime as
martyrs.  At that time the Roman Empire was the world power; it was
very immoral and violent. But humanly weak people of God conquered the
Roman Empire and made it a Christian nation.

     We must have faith in God that moves a mountain. When we think
about American history, God intended to make this nation a shepherd
nation for the whole world. But we find that this country does not have
a clear identity as a Christian nation, while Muslim people have a
clear identity that they are Muslim people. We must have faith in God
and pray persistently so that this nation may restore school prayer and
Bible study.  And as a result, this country may claim that America is a
Christian nation, established as a shepherd nation for all the nations.
Christian history records that America once sent one million
missionaries to the whole world. They were men and women of faith and
they were men and women of God. But these days America sends mostly
temporary missionaries to foreign lands, and many Christian tourists
are counted as missionaries. By this way of counting, America is number
one in sending missionaries. But in reality, it is not true. We must
pray that we may again raise many who have faith in God and send
another one million missionaries at the beginning of the 21st century.
Why do you look surprised when I say we will send another one million
missionaries? Don't be surprised. If one has faith in God, he can even
grab a mountain and throw it into the sea. So we are.

Third, Jesus made the Pharisees speechless (23-27). The Pharisees also
envied Jesus' almighty power and performance of miraculous signs before
many people. They wondered how he could be so powerful. The religious
leaders should have believed in Jesus as the Son of God who came to
this world to save men from their sins. But they did not believe. Out
of their jealousy they wanted to kill Jesus. So they asked, "By what
authority are you doing these things?" "These things" mainly implied
clearing the temple. In this way they wanted to trap Jesus and put him
in jail. But Jesus did not answer their question. Rather Jesus told
them, "If you first answer my question, I will answer your question."
Jesus' question was very simple. In verse 25 he asked, "John's
baptism^where did it come from?  Was it from heaven, or from men?" The
religious leaders were greatly frustrated to give him a proper answer.
It was because if they said his baptism was from heaven then Jesus
would say, "Why didn't you believe him?" If they answered, "His baptism
was from men," they were afraid of people rioting and stoning them
because the people believed that John was a prophet, a man from God. So
they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then Jesus said, "Neither will I
tell you by what authority I am doing these things" (27). There are
many who doubt Jesus' authority.  There are many who think that
marriage by faith in Jesus is doubtful. They are just like the
religious leaders who wanted to trap Jesus by their tricky questions
and put him in prison. This part tells us that the religious leaders
were a necessary evil, existing to destroy the Son of God.

     In this passage we learn that we must ask God to give us faith in
Jesus more than anything else. These days many people ask in their
prayers for many worldly things. But we must pray that we may have
faith in Jesus. May God grant you faith that moves mountains. May God
make you a blessing when you have faith.