Faith and Grace (Part 2)

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  Yesterday we looked at both faith and grace.  Let’s do the same today.  After Jesus raised Jairus’ little daughter back to life He left Jairus’ house and two blind men followed Him.  The blind men were determined to get their breakthrough and they followed Jesus shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”  Jesus seemingly ignored the men and He traveled to the home He planned on spending the night in.  These blind men were relentless and they followed Jesus into the home.  Once Jesus saw them in the home He asked, “Do you believe I can make you see?”  They replied, “Yes, Lord, we do.”  Jesus then touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.”  Their eyes were opened and they could see!

It is clear that the two blind men exhibited faith and Jesus responded to their faith.  However, the next miracle was purely grace.  As soon as the blind men left a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus.  Unlike the two blind men, Jesus did not ask the man to speak – one of the reasons why is because he could not – and Jesus did not put the man through any tests of faith.  When Jesus was presented with the man He immediately cast the demon out.  As soon as the demon was gone the man began to speak.

The people were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed.  But therein lies the problem.  The people were appreciating the work of God through Jesus, but they were also acknowledging the fact that miracles had not been happening through the Pharisees or Sadducees.  The religious leadership of the time had a lot of rhetoric, but they did not have any power.  They did not display any real manifestations of God and the true needs of people were not being met.  Once they began to be exposed, they fired back.  The Pharisees were not sure what to say, but they knew they needed to act fast.  Jesus was supernaturally meeting the needs of people.  The dead were made to live, the blind could see, the mute could talk.  What could they say?  The Pharisees chose to say, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”  This was a ridiculous accusation.  They wanted to attribute the acts of God to satan.  Why?  Because they did not have anything else to say and they were losing people faster than they could count.  Jesus said, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.  If satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11:17,18).

So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1.  There is nothing too hard for God.  Being blind or mute, having Cancer or AIDS, etc., are big problems, but not bigger than God.  There is nothing God cannot do!
2.  God always goes to the root of the issue.  In this case the root was a demon, so He dealt with that.  In other cases the root may be an unresolved pain, or unforgiveness, or etc.; whatever it is, God wants to deal with the root of your issue.  Let Him.
3.  Sometimes God looks for faith, sometimes He just moves by grace.  Thank God for honoring your faith when you have it and for giving you grace when you don’t!
4.  A divided Kingdom cannot stand.  Unity brings strength, division brings weakness.  Satan divided Eve from Adam and he uses the same tactic today.  The Pharisees could have embraced Jesus, but instead they alienated themselves from Him.  Satan will always attempt to bring division in the body of Christ.
5.  There will always be nay-sayers who attempt to discredit what you are doing.  Jesus did not give them much attention and neither should you.  Pray for them and move on!  They cannot stop what God is doing in your life!  Their poison can’t stop your purpose!

Closing Confession:  Father, I understand that You can meet every need in my life.  I come to You and declare by faith that my every need is met.  There is nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken in my life.  I am whole and healed!  I seek to live by faith and I thank You for honoring my faith when I have it.  I also thank You for extending me grace when my faith is weak.  And Father, I understand a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.  I speak unity over my family, my relationships, my local church body, and the universal Body of Christ.  Greatness is too great of a task for one person.  I am not in this alone.  I am connected to brothers and sisters in the Body and together we are stronger than we are apart!  I face this day with the strength of unity and the encouragement of a great cloud of witnesses!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen!