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Author
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Topic: THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
That's right. The Good News has branched-out into many denominations and many doctrines, including some false doctrines and even cults.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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WildB
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Member # 2917
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posted
MH said "Nowhere in here do I hear what you are implying 'b'. It clearly is an illustration of something that starts with the smallest of size, which grows into something that can be appreciated."
The Roman C Church is an example.
Stop your sillyness.
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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Michael Harrison
Advanced Member
Member # 6801
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posted
What a wonderful post Carol.
In the passages immediately preceeding the mustard seed illustration, it is apparent that the Kingdom, which is the Love of God, was being challenged.
Luk 13:18 "Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
Luk 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it."
Nowhere in here do I hear what you are implying 'b'. It clearly is an illustration of something that starts with the smallest of size, which grows into something that can be appreciated. This is the parable of the talents under a different shade of green. That is all!!!
Then it says:
Luk 13:21 "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
Leaven, in this case is not at all bad. The illustration indicates how that those who hear the truth, and believe, will increase just from hearing the words of a few who represent the leaven. In other words, when someone is preaching the truth, others will latch on and give rise to something wonderful as a result. That is why the Kingdom of Heaven is like 'leaven' put into a measure of meal. The meal will increase overall. This is not a negative throwback to leaven. It is a positive illustration.
But here in Mark:
Mar 4:32 "But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it."
This plainly illustrates that the tree is something good, that grows wonderfully large, to the extent that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it, which is a good thing. It indicates that it grows large, which is desirable, and has the added benefit that others are shielded by it. Now, the birds may represent the tares. I don't know. I know that it says that they benefit, and that means that the 'big' tree is better than the scrub. Don't be a scrub.
Posts: 3273 | From: Charlotte N.C. | Registered: Sep 2007
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
The lesson of the mustard seed is taught in Mark 4:30-32. It is immediately followed by a practical lesson.
Mark 4:35 - 41 (NLT)
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. 38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” 39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
He had been teaching His disciples the Word and now He would give them a practical test to see how much they had really learned. After all, the hearing of God’s Word is intended to produce faith (Rom. 10:17); and faith must always be tested. It is not enough for us merely to learn a lesson or be able to repeat a teaching. We must also be able to practice that lesson by faith, and that is one reason why God permits trials to come to our lives.
Did Jesus know that the storm was coming? Of course He did! The storm was a part of that day’s curriculum. It would help the disciples understand a lesson that they did not even know they needed to learn: Jesus can be trusted in the storms of life. (Wiersbe)
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (I John 5:4).
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
In spite of the sins and weaknesses of the church, the message has been carried to other nations; and one day, saints from every nation shall worship before His throne (Rev. 5:9).
But the growth of the seed is only one part of the story; we must also account for the birds in the branches. In the Parable of the Sower and Soils, the birds stood for Satan , who snatches the seed (Mark 4:15). If we are to be consistent in our interpretation , we must take this into consideration, for both parables were taught on the same day. The growth of the kingdom will not result in the conversion of the world. In fact, some of the growth will give opportunity for Satan to get in and go to work! There was Judas in the disciple band, and Ananias and Sapphira were in fellowship with the Jerusalem church (Acts 5:1-11). Simon Magus was part of the church in Samaria (Acts 8:1-24), and Satan’s ministers boldly invaded the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 11:13-15). (Wiersbe)
There are also trials to test our faith...
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WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Harrison:
![[clap2]](graemlins/clap2.gif) What a blessed sermon! "Faith" is the noun, and "Belief" is the verb. Faith is the noun because "faith is not of ourselves," Eph 2:8~9. But belief is where we, as dead seeds having fallen to the ground, are germinated unto what is known as being 'born again' by nature of the same. Being born again is represented by the "Tree" in which the birds of the air can lodge. This very tree is symbolic of the Kingdom of Heaven which is within us, which grows from a tiny seed, unto this great tree, which is simply the results, the very fruit, of faith in Him.
If there is no tree, there is no Kingdom of Heaven within the one.
Luk 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The Birds of The Air
Mark 4:3-4,13-15 (NIV) "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up."... Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them."
Mark 4:13 (Phi) ... "Do you really not understand this parable? Then how are you going to understand all the other parables?"
Mark 4:30-32 (NIV) Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and become the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
Luke 13:19 (NIV) It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew, and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.
# These parables give us insight to the nature of the God's kingdom and its painful growing process. Notice that in the seed parable, three out of the four examples are HOW THINGS GO WRONG. So why do we flinch at the warnings and truth revealed in the other parables? (Explaining away of the "leaven" parable is probably the most grievous example of this.) Mustard
# Mustard seeds normally grow into narrow shrubs, and are familiar as weeds that grow along the roadside. But what is described here is an monstrosity: It's gotten way too big! It's become a spreading tree. So big, in fact, that the birds of the air can comfortably lodge in it! And Jesus told us who the birds are: the agents of Satan. (While a specific bird like a dove or sparrow may be used to represent the Holy Spirit or the disciple, birds "of the air" in general often represent demons in Scripture.)
Jer 15:3 (NIV) "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the Lord, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy."
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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Michael Harrison
Advanced Member
Member # 6801
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posted
What a blessed sermon! "Faith" is the noun, and "Belief" is the verb. Faith is the noun because "faith is not of ourselves," Eph 2:8~9. But belief is where we, as dead seeds having fallen to the ground, are germinated unto what is known as being 'born again' by nature of the same. Being born again is represented by the "Tree" in which the birds of the air can lodge. This very tree is symbolic of the Kingdom of Heaven which is within us, which grows from a tiny seed, unto this great tree, which is simply the results, the very fruit, of faith in Him.
If there is no tree, there is no Kingdom of Heaven within the one.
Luk 17:21 "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
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oneinchrist
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posted
......and it is important that if we do believe that Jesus is the Son of God that we heed to His Words and pay strict attention to His warnings.
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, Hear Him!"
With love in Christ, Daniel
Posts: 1389 | From: Wind Lake, WI | Registered: May 2007
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
WildB you always post good things!
Our victory is a result of faith, and we grow in faith as we grow in love. The more you love someone, the easier it is to trust him. The more our love for Christ is perfected, the more our faith in Christ is perfected too; because faith and love mature together.
The word overcome is a favorite with John; he uses it in 1 John 2:13-14 with reference to overcoming the devil. He uses it seven times in Revelation to describe believers and the blessings they receive (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). He is not describing a special class of believers. Rather, he is using the word overcomer as a name for the true Christian. Because we have been born of God, we are overcomers.
(Wiersbe)
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WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
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posted
by Cornelius R. Stam
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (I John 5:4).
There are many who look upon faith as an abstract sort of thing. Some suppose faith is merely looking on the bright side of things; to others it is will-power; still others confuse it with a person's view-point.
In the Bible, faith is simply believing God. "Faith" is the noun and "believe" the verb. This is seen in Rom. 4:5, where the Apostle Paul declares:
"To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
The above passage from I John 5 also makes this plain, when seen in its context:
"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
"Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God" (Vers. 4,5).
It is, then, the believer in Christ, and only the believer in Christ, who can overcome the world. Unbelievers are swept away by the attractions and the pretentions of this world- system, but the believer in Christ need not be.
St. Paul declared by divine inspiration that unbelievers follow "the course of this world," directed by Satan, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2).
We do not mean to imply that believers are not often tempted to follow "the course of this world." Indeed the world would sometimes entice or intimidate us, but "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
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That is all.....
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