AUGMENTE NOUS LA FOI

CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION

SUNDAY DEC 15TH 2024

Sermon By Pastor Marc Simeon

AUGMENTE-NOUS LA FOI

Tout est possible à celui qui croit

Mr 9:17-24 Et un homme de la foule lui répondit: Maître, j’ai amené auprès de toi mon fils, qui est possédé d’un esprit muet.

 18 En quelque lieu qu’il le saisisse, il le jette par terre; l’enfant écume, grince des dents, et devient tout raide. J’ai prié tes disciples de chasser l’esprit, et ils n’ont pas pu.

 19 Race incrédule, leur dit Jésus, jusques à quand serai-je avec vous? jusques à quand vous supporterai-je? Amenez-le-moi. On le lui amena.

20 Et aussitôt que l’enfant vit Jésus, l’esprit l’agita avec violence; il tomba par terre, et se roulait en écumant.

 21 Jésus demanda au père: Combien y a-t-il de temps que cela lui arrive? Depuis son enfance, répondit-il.

 22 Et souvent l’esprit l’a jeté dans le feu et dans l’eau pour le faire périr. Mais, si tu peux quelque chose, viens à notre secours, aie compassion de nous.

 23 Jésus lui dit: Si tu peux!… Tout est possible à celui qui croit.

 24 Aussitôt le père de l’enfant s’écria: Je crois! viens au secours de mon incrédulité!

Lu 17:5-6 Les apôtres dirent au Seigneur: Augmente-nous la foi.

6 Et le Seigneur dit: Si vous aviez de la foi comme un grain de sénevé, vous diriez à ce sycomore: Déracine-toi, et plante-toi dans la mer; et il vous obéirait.

INTRODUCTION

• Aux Etats-Unis, on comprend l’importance d’avoir un bon crédit.
• Avec un bon crédit on n’a pas besoin d’avoir de monnaie en main pour faire n’importe quelle sorte de transaction financière.
• On peut acheter sa voiture préférée avec un bon crédit sans avoir de monnaie en main.
• On peut entreprendre des voyages coûteux avec un bon crédit.
• On peut acheter sa maison préférée avec un bon crédit.
• On peut faire des commandes en ligne avec un bon crédit.
• Si le crédit est aussi primordial pour vivre dans notre temps, donc, pourquoi que peu de gens possèdent un bon crédit ?
• La question est plutôt, que faire pour avoir un bon crédit ?
  • Buying on credit
  • On time payment
  • Borrowing money from banks.
  • Borrowing your own money.
  • Increase your credit transactions.
• The credit system operates out of the wisdom of this world. Good can be made to look like bad and bad to look like good.
• The Bible says that the borrower is the slave to the person from whom he borrows the money.

Pr 22:7 ¶ Le riche domine sur les pauvres, Et celui qui emprunte est l’esclave de celui qui prête. (LSV)

7 ¶ The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender. (NKJV)

• People should be encouraged to wait until they can afford something, but the wisdom of this world says “you have to have it now”.
• Saving should be encouraged.
• Paying off all your debts should be encouraged.
• Buying cash should be encouraged.
• Living within your means should be encouraged.
• Self-control in your spending habits should be championed.
• It already gets to the point where they start refusing you to make certain transactions with upfront moneys, or your bank cards.
• Now, let’s make the contrast on how one needs faith to operate in the spiritual world.

THE NECESSITY OF FAITH TO RELATE TO GOD

• As Christians, we need faith to relate to God in all our endeavors.
• By faith we believe that the world was created by God.
• By faith we believe that Christ came in this world, took a bodily form, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay for the penalty of our sins, rose again on the third day, and now seating at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf.
• By faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
• By faith we believe that we will one day leave this earth to be permanently in the presence of God in heaven.
• Apart from salvation, we also need faith in God for all our spiritual transactions.
• Jesus declared that if we had the smallest amount of faith, we could work out wonders in this world.

Lu 17:5-6 Les apôtres dirent au Seigneur: Augmente-nous la foi.

6 Et le Seigneur dit: Si vous aviez de la foi comme un grain de sénevé, vous diriez à ce sycomore: Déracine-toi, et plante-toi dans la mer; et il vous obéirait.

• If faith is so important, then why are we so depleted of it ?
• It is because we walk by sight and not by faith
• We rely too much on our wisdom
• We rely too much on our limited strength.
• We lack faith because we fail to understand the magnitude of God.

Job 36:26 Dieu est grand, mais sa grandeur nous échappe, Le nombre de ses années est impénétrable. (LSV)

 26 “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered. (NKJV)

• We lack faith because we fail to understand the power of prayer.
• Jas 5:16 Confessez donc vos péchés les uns aux autres, et priez les uns pour les autres, afin que vous soyez guéris. La prière fervente du juste a une grande efficace. (LSV)
• 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJV)
• We lack faith because we fail to understand the power of the spoken word.
• We lack faith because we fail to understand our authority as children of God.

Pr 18:21 ¶ La mort et la vie sont au pouvoir de la langue; Quiconque l’aime en mangera les fruits. (LSV)

 21 ¶ Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. (NKJV)

• We lack faith because we do not grasp how unfailing the promises of God are to His dear children.
• We often accept the lies of the enemy instead of the revealed truth from God.
• We lack faith because we allow doubt which is the enemy of faith to settle in us.

Jas 1:6-7 Mais qu’il la demande avec foi, sans douter; car celui qui doute est semblable au flot de la mer, agité par le vent et poussé de côté et d’autre.

 7 Qu’un tel homme ne s’imagine pas qu’il recevra quelque chose du Seigneur:

 8 c’est un homme irrésolu, inconstant dans toutes ses voies.

The presence of sin in our lives can also deplete our reserve of faith.

• We lack faith because we don’t fully surrender our lives and our wills to God.
• Isa 59:1 ¶ Non, la main de l’Éternel n’est pas trop courte pour sauver, Ni son oreille trop dure pour entendre.

THE DIFFERENCE THAT FAITH CAN MAKE IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER

Heb 11:6 Or sans la foi il est impossible de lui être agréable; car il faut que celui qui s’approche de Dieu croie que Dieu existe, et qu’il est le rémunérateur de ceux qui le cherchent. (LSV)

 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (NKJV)

• What if we could believe in God the right way?
• What if our spiritual eyes could pop open?
• What if we could trust God like a little child trust His parents?
• What if we were able to start taking a little leap of faith like Peter who started walking on water?
• What if like Paul we could embrace an attitude of “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”? Php 4:13
• What if we could trust God like the three young Hebrews before they were thrown in the fiery furnace?
• What if we could trust God like Daniel before he was thrown in the lion’s den?
• What if we would be willing to pack everything we own to an unknown destination by God’s command like Abraham?
• What if we would be willing to march to Egypt and ask Pharaoh to let God’s people go just with only a staff in our hands like Moses?
• What if we were willing to march around a fortified city like Jericho seven times in expectation that God would bring the walls down like Joshua?
• What if we were willing to bet on God like Elijah that He would consume both the altar and the sacrifice with his own fire when we call on Him?
• What if we were willing to touch Jesus’ clothes in expectation that we would be healed like the woman with the issues of blood?
• What if we were so bold to ask the sun and the moon to stand still until further notice from us like Joshua?
• What if we were willing to declare that there would be no more rain in the land until we say so like the great prophet Elijah?

THE JOURNEY OF FAITH BEGINS FROM WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW

• We still have a lot to learn in this journey of faith.
• We need a lot of faith to succeed and strive in our walk with God.
• We need to ask God to increase our supply of faith.
• We need to address some of the doctrinal errors that we’ve inherited  from our denominations and from our mentors, that say that all the happenings in one’s life are according to God’s will.
• If we should accept the fact that everything is God’s will, then what do we need faith for?
• Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Heb 11:1 ¶ Or la foi est une ferme assurance des choses qu’on espère, une démonstration de celles qu’on ne voit pas. (LSV)

 1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

• When we inquire for more faith from God, we are asking to understand Him more.
• There is such a thing as the operational faith of God
• The faith of God rests upon his own omnipotence and His own glory.
• Our faith rests upon the unlimited power of God and not upon our own selves.
• We are asking God to shut our ears to the voices of doubt and unbelief that the devil is constantly casting in our minds.

CONCLUSION

• It is obvious that this whole generation of believers is suffering from a great lack of faith, which explains why the message of the salvation is being so hindered
• Our payer must be identical to that of the Apostles.
• Lu 17:5 Les apôtres dirent au Seigneur: Augmente-nous la foi.
• Faith is a practice, the more you live by faith, the more you understand God, and the more you want to live by faith.
• A person with a strong faith in God is most feared by the devil.
• A person with a strong faith in God is not afraid even when the supplies of life get thin.
• A person with a strong faith in God can brave all the storms of life with a positive attitude.
• He is able to say like Paul:

Php 4:13 Je puis tout par celui qui me fortifie. (LSV)

 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (NKJV)

Amen!

124 FCD – La foi fait tomber sous nos yeux

1.

La foi fait tomber sous nos yeux Les plus fortes murailles ;

La foi nous rend victorieux Et gagne les batailles. (bis)

2.

La foi nous ouvre les trésors De la toute-puissance ;

Les plus faibles deviennent forts Sous sa sainte influence. (bis)

3.

Protégés par ce bouclier, Nous n’avons nulle crainte.

Qui soit en Dieu se confier Du mal brave l’atteinte. (bis)

4.

Que n’ont pas souffert les héros Dont nous suivons la trace !

Que de dangers, que de travaux, Mais quelle sainte audace ! (bis)

5.

Quand la foi vit au fond de cœur Et nourrit l’espérance,

On est, par l’amour de Sauveur, Joyeux dans la souffrance. (bis)