A Little Faith
Date: June 7, 2024
Bus ministry, Solidity Ministry, and has been a Sunday school teacher for years and years, amongst other things. Then he went to Madison Avenue Baptist Church under Pastor Clarence Sexton in Patterson, New Jersey, in the 1980s. There he served in the bus ministry, Solidity Ministry, Sunday school teacher, and on and on.
He served in Battlefield Baptist Church under Pastor Carl Skinner in Warrington, Virginia, in the 1990s and 2000s. He served in Sunday School and as a Sunday school teacher of a couples class that would sometimes faithfully run up in the 70s and 80s, and I’m sure big days of hundreds in Solon’s home.
He joined Rutherford County Baptist Church July 12th, 2017, and he has been a faithful soul winner. He’s worked the Prayer Station ministry where they set up prayer booths outside a Dollar General, whatnot, and they invite people to pray and tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s driven hours away to pick up a bus with us. He keeps the best attitude of faith amidst such opposition.
He’s a diabetic. He has a sore that’s infected on his foot. He lives alone in the camper—not totally alone; he’s got Buck, his dog, with him there. He has bladder cancer. He battles vertigo and many, many other things. I’ve seen him go through car wrecks, family problems, health problems, losing his most trusted, if you will, in some ways, friend—his dog, Sarah.
And through all that and much, much more—some things I could not say publicly—he’s just a faithful servant of the Lord with a great spirit and a great attitude. He’s a proud dad of two sons, a proud grandpa of six grandchildren, and a proud great-granddad to four great-grandchildren. We have some pictures. We like to show real quickly, just a little, no words, just pictures of Brother Warren.
I want you to see those. While you’re looking at those pictures, we’ll take just a moment to do that. Some of these are older. We had a hard time stealing them without him knowing about it. He’s like, “How’d you get those things there?” He’s mad at me. But he’s in the Navy, of course, we mentioned that already. That’s his new dog Buck right there.
And I’m with Warren. That’s when we had our missionary Ron Plot to Israel here with us in Sunday school. He was driving a Chevy for a lot. I stole that. He said, “Don’t show that to him,” but he’s a Ford man all the way. He drove my truck one time. I got a picture of it. I asked with some of his friends at a Bible conference—Shelton Smith and some of his friends at the Lord’s Conference.
And that’s the family there, with his family there. I know it’s a preacher. I was trying to figure that out. I’m not sure which one who. Recently, he was here on Wednesday night; he led a teenage boy to the Lord at church. A very good friend of his, Brother Kevin, helped me get some of these pictures and things together. The Sword of the Lord at a men’s conference.
That was this pastor for years, Brother Clarence Sexton, doing a great job over in Knoxville, Tennessee, seeing many souls saved and a great church, great work. I was thinking about Brother Warren. I thought about a point that I think rightly defines Brother Warren: so much opposition, and it just keeps going for the Lord. It’s been a great testimony to me. He really has. I know what he’s going through, and just a great attitude, a great spirit.
And I thought this poem just portrays him. This is Brother Warren in a hole, if you will. After I read that poem, we want to just give him applause. And then, Brother Warren, we have a gift for you after that. But this is the poem. It says:
“I’m a soldier, a prayer warrior in the army of my God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Holy Bible is my coat of conduct. Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I’ve been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity, tested by fire. I’m a volunteer in His army. I’m enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in His army at the rapture or die in His army. But I am faithful, capable, and dependable. If God needs me, I’m there. I’m not a baby. I don’t need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, pepped up. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, lure me. I’m not a wimp. I’m in my place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, building His kingdom. No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy, or give me handouts. I’m committed. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit. When Jesus called me into His army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I’m still out even. I will win. My God will supply all my needs. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. Devils cannot defeat me, people cannot disillusion me, weather cannot weary me, sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me, money cannot buy me, governments cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to a captain and then bring me back to rule this world with Him. I will not give up, I will not turn around. I’m a soldier, a prayer warrior in the army of God. I am marching and claiming victory.”
Would you give Brother Warren a hand? Brother Warren, would you come forward? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Come on up here. Yes, sir. Can you make it? Come on, brother. Okay. Amen. Can you make it, brother? Let’s go over here. Let me get your chair here, Brother Warren. Let me get your chair. Let’s do that. Brother Warren, you want to sit down right here? We’ll get your microphone. I want you to say a few words just a second here.
Thank you for standing giving him an ovation. I appreciate that. That’s very appropriate, and I want you to see him now. This is his old preacher, Clarence Sexton. He’s just a great man of God. God used him so greatly for years and years. He has a Bible college. He’s done an amazing work in Knoxville, Tennessee. And they were buddies back in the day when the pastor of a smaller church in New Jersey and he and Brother Warren served together.
And we got a picture of him and Clarence Sexton together. One of the last things Clarence Sexton told Brother Warren—I think it’s signed in his Bible, I believe it is—and it just says two words: “Continue on.” And we have a picture with him and his old preacher in that moment, and the words “Continue on” for you right there.
And then we got a picture here of his new preacher, the young preacher. Amen. And the same poem, and we got that for you, too, Brother Warren. Amen, we love you, brother. Brother Warren, would you do this? Would you just quickly? We’ve got a service to go. He is a preacher, you know. You’ve got to be careful giving a microphone to a preacher, you know. Would you give your salvation testimony? How you got saved, and just maybe that time frame—where you got saved and what happened when you got saved—just that time frame only. Would you please, sir? In a short period of time? Okay, go back to 1975.
Coming up on Christmas, my wife told me she was leaving me because of my drinking and my browbeating. That devastated me. I couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from her, and I devised a way to do myself in.
One of my younger brothers—I have three brothers and two sisters—the next oldest brother, Johnny, and Michael came over to my house right before Christmas and wanted to use my amplifier because they were both in a band and wanted to practice their guitars using my amplifier. I had a really good one.
While they were there, my youngest brother, Michael, asked my wife if she could take him to the store to do Christmas shopping for the ladies in the family. My wife said yes, and so they left. This thing was just a setup to get me alone with Johnny.
Johnny started telling me about this guy that had come over to his house and talked to him about the Lord. He said, “He’s got the answer. He’s got the answer.” I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. He’s got the answer. My brother Johnny and I had talked about why we are here, where we are going, and all this kind of thing. That’s why he emphasized, “He’s got the answer. He’s got the answer. I want you to talk to him. I want you to talk to him.”
This was on a Saturday. He said, “I’ll get him to come over to my house on Monday night.” And he did. He called me and told me he was going to be there, so I went over. This guy walks in; he’s got a King James Bible in his hand. I said, “Oh, mercy, I’m in for it.” He sat down and started sharing the plan of salvation with me.
He got to a place where—I don’t know if you all remember the old Ford commercial where the light comes on—that’s what it was like with me. The light came on. David.
Man, I started really listening to him then. I was sitting there smoking my cigarette, but I was listening. At the end, he says, “Do you want to ask Jesus to be your personal Savior this evening?” I said, “I sure would.” I was in my brother’s house with his mother-in-law and his wife; they were all there.
He asked me if I wanted to get on the floor and pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart. I said, “Well, I don’t know how to pray.” He says, “Well, I’ll say the words and you follow them if you believe it in your heart.” I did that. Towards the end, I started sobbing so bad I couldn’t continue. I got up and sat back down on the sofa. My brother Johnny sits down beside me; he says, “No, no, no, no, you can’t do that. He didn’t tell you the right things. He hadn’t used the same scripture on me that he had used on him.” So he figured, “Well, he’s wrong. He can’t be telling you the right thing.” I said, “No, John, I got it. I got it.”
From that moment on, my life changed. If I knew there was a church service on Wednesday at Bethlehem Baptist Church, I’d have been there, but I didn’t find that out until the following Sunday. There was an evangelist that had pastored that church all these years; that was his last Sunday. Then Ben Sanders, a great man of God, took over after that, and I stayed with Ben Sanders until I went off to Bible college. Folks, let me tell you something—maybe it doesn’t really fit here, but I want to tell you anyway—I told my boys growing up, “Life’s highway has a lot of potholes in it.”
But when you hit that pothole, don’t stop and make a ditch out of it. Continue on. Continue, continue, continue. That’s our obligation as Christians: to continue through the good and the bad. I’ve seen both sides of it, and I tell you what, I like the good side. I like it here. I love the people here. When I’m not here, I’m miserable—worse than Buck. But I love you guys. I love this church. I love the direction this church is going. I’m glad for the leadership of this church, even though sometimes he pulls dirty little tricks on you and drives a Chevrolet, too. We won’t go there.
I’m glad for you people. I’m glad for this church. I’m glad most of all for my growth. So great salvation. The Lord has been so good to me. I can’t tell you how many times the Lord has really intervened, and I knew it. It could be nothing else but the Lord in the things He’s done for me. So folks, if you haven’t grabbed hold of it, grab hold of it. Stick with Him. He’s a great Savior, and I’m looking to be with Him forever and ever and ever in heaven. Remember this also: there’s a hot hell out there, filled with brimstone, where people that don’t know the Lord will spend eternity in their bodies, never to be consumed by that fire, with no hope of ever, ever, ever getting out of it. We’ve got an important job to do.
That’s what I’m praying for now: “Lord, give me my legs back. I can’t be sitting by and watching everything go by. I won’t be a part of it.” And I better quit because he’ll get on me.
Let me tell you something, we have a good preacher. We have a good preacher. I often compare him to other preachers, and I hope it exhorts him. I really do, because he is, he is, he is a great preacher. So, Pastor, thank you very much for what you’ve done here. I certainly wasn’t expecting it. And I’ve got some catching up to do with Kevin Daldiserie. That’s where you got this information. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Toy.
Wonderful in heaven. We get to see those. Go to Galatians chapter number two. Galatians chapter number two. Thank you so very much, ladies, for singing, doing a wonderful, wonderful job. I appreciate it very much. I thought the one on your left—my right—was very, very beautiful. I tell you what, I was listening; I promised you, but that one on your left was sure pretty to me. That’s my wife. Amen. Make sure you understand that.
Galatians 2. Once you find that, if you put a marker there, we’ll read there first. Then we will also be over in Matthew 17. Galatians 2 and Matthew 17 in God’s Word. I’m trying to move along because we’ve got a lot to cover in a short, short time—shorter than usual to cover it in. So please be patient with me on that. I’ll try to be. I’ve tried to plan for that, but it’s hard for a Baptist preacher to be short. We’ll just say it that way. Amen. Brother Bradley’s looking back; he’s smiling. There’s no way that guy’s going to be short. It’s just not going to happen. We’ll try. We’ll give it an effort. All right. Galatians 2 and Matthew 17.
If you’ve got those, would you please stand, if you’re able, just out of respect for the Word of God? Would you please stand? We try to show the Word of God all the respect we can; it deserves it. Galatians 2 and verse number 20. I believe this is Brother Warren’s favorite verse, maybe what you call his life’s verse. Galatians 2 and verse number 20. If you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal. The Bible there says, “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh”—notice this—“I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Now, would you look over in Matthew chapter 17? Keep your finger there; we’ll be back there later on in the message. Matthew 17 and verse number 20 is where we’re starting today. This is Jesus. A man had brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus’ apostles to cast the demon out. He was a wild man, crazy, and brought this boy to His apostles, and they tried to cast him out, but they could not. Jesus came down off the mound where He had been praying, and they brought the boy to Jesus, and Jesus cast the demon out.
The apostles said, “Now wait a second, why could we not cast him out? You could, but we couldn’t. What’s going on?” This is Jesus’ answer to them in verse number 20. Jesus said unto them, “Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, ‘Remove hence to yonder place,’ and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” However, this kind—I believe He was speaking there—of this kind of faith, I believe this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Would you go with me to prayer as we ask the Lord to speak to hearts this morning? Lord, we do come. We are hungry. Lord, we need You to work as only You can. Father, I yield myself to You. Lord, I know I’m really just a simple preacher, and I know those people here are much more intelligent than I. But, Father, would You take a simple preacher when You work through him with Your Word and Your Spirit, would You comfort, encourage, and give what’s needed? Lord, I do pray that there’s someone here that’s not saved would get saved today. Father, we’re asking You to do these things because we ask in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
A little over 22 years ago, God asked a very scared, young preacher to start a church. I knew it needed a lot of faith. I knew that. Now, I did not think I had enough faith. I still today don’t think I have enough faith, but I knew I needed faith. It was very necessary, very important. Faith—you’ve heard the old song, “Faith is the key that unlocks the door.” Some of you are saying, “Yeah, I remember that song back in the day.” Faith is so very, very important.
In fact, Jesus did this: He had two blind men come to Him. They wanted to be healed of their blindness. Imagine that—two blind men coming to Jesus. They wanted to be healed of their blindness. This is what Jesus said. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 9:29: “Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you.” And Jesus touched and healed them according to your faith. Five times Jesus said this. This is Jesus, God in flesh. Five times Jesus said this in the New Testament: “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” The importance of faith, for God in flesh to say, “Thy faith hath made thee whole”—not one time, but five times in Scripture—your faith. The faith. God is moved by faith.
There was a mother that brought her demon-possessed girl to Jesus, and Jesus cast a demon out. Jesus said this in Matthew 15:28: “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt.” And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
How many know the story of the palsy man, the man that could not walk? He was on a bed, probably would have been his deathbed. Remember his friends? His friends grabbed that man and carried him in that bed, and they went over to where Jesus was. Jesus was in a house or somewhere preaching, but it was so full in there they couldn’t get this man in the bed inside the house. So they went up to the rooftop—that happened all the way back in Bible times. They went up on the rooftop and tore a hole.
Can you imagine those people down there in the midst of the house where Jesus was preaching, and they’re there, and the roof starts coming apart? They’re like, “Oh, what’s going on?” They tear this roof apart, and then these men lower this sick man—probably on his deathbed—down right in front of Jesus.
This is what Jesus said about that. I’ll read it for you, Mark chapter 2, verse number 5: “When Jesus saw their faith…” As the Bible points out, when He saw their faith, He said, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” A while later on, He heals the man. But the thing the Bible makes you know is that He saw their faith. Friend, faith is such a key thing. Faith is the thing that moves mountains. That verse, Matthew 17:20, we just read it.
He couldn’t cast the demon out. Why? Because of your unbelief. For if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, “Remove hence to yonder place,” and it shall remove. I think there, of course, He’s speaking of a literal mountain, but more than just that, I think He’s talking about your mountain of problems. You have a mountain in front of you, and you’ve got mountains of problems. Maybe it’s cancer, maybe it’s finances, maybe it’s relationships. But you have mountains of problems, and He says, “Hey, if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you say this mountain, remove it to yonder place,” and it shall remove. Then He says, “And nothing”—it’s amazing to me—“nothing shall be impossible unto you.” That’s what God says in His Word.
Faith—the importance of faith, and how we must have faith. In fact, you can’t please God. Hebrews 11:6: There’s a Bible verse that says, “Without faith, it is impossible.” It’s completely impossible to please God without faith.
When you talk about going to heaven, people try a lot of things, a lot of crazy things sometimes, to get to heaven. In our area, in our old society, so often people try to be real good to get to heaven. They’re so kind and loving and forgiving, and they do everything they can to be good enough to go to heaven. Sometimes they join a church, get baptized, and do all these religious things trying to earn their way to heaven. But the Bible says without faith it is impossible. It’s not hard; the Bible says it’s impossible to please Him with faith. These people trying everything to earn their way to heaven will never do it because there must be faith.
In fact, the Bible tells us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” It’s when I take my faith—my little bitty grain of a mustard seed of faith—and I place it on Jesus Christ. That’s when I get saved. That’s when my eternal destiny changes. I’m not going to burn forever like Brother Warren was talking about; now I’m going to heaven. It’s a matter of faith when I put all of my faith on Jesus Christ. Faith—the importance of faith—it’s so vital.
If someone had asked me, “Do you have faith enough to start a church?” I think I said, “I kind of doubt it, friend, I really don’t.” But it encourages me when I read that verse, Matthew 17:20, when He says, “Faith as a grain of a mustard seed.” Just a grain of a mustard seed. I didn’t have any mustard seed. In fact, they say the mustard seed that they used in Bible land over in Israel is smaller than the mustard seed we have in our area.
How many of you have ever seen a mustard seed we have in our area? Some of you have gardens. I didn’t have any left over. I had some old seeds in one of my sheds. These are seeds from cucumbers; they’re bigger than a mustard seed. But that was the best I could do after the Lord told me what to preach. That’s all I had for Him. I don’t know, maybe there are 20 seeds in there—cucumber seeds. But the Bible says if you have… Faith is a grain; it doesn’t say grains. It says “grain of a mustard seed.” If I had a grain of a mustard seed, I would not be able to hold it like that. There are just 20 of them right there in that bag. Much smaller than that, the Bible says the mustard seed. The Bible explains in other places the significance of a mustard seed: how small it is. It can grow. We won’t cover that aspect this morning, but it can grow. That’s significant. If you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you can tell that mountain to remove, and it’ll remove. That’s what God says. I don’t think God’s lying; it’s His Word.
Now, friend, let me just say this: That was so encouraging to me to realize I don’t have to have this great big faith because I didn’t, and I still don’t. Sometimes, I think over the years, my faith is smaller than it was then. You’ve got that youthful faith, and sometimes you just get older. I don’t think my faith is necessarily strong now. Just hold that thought for a second there. Let’s talk about it. We’ve got three things we’ll talk about. Here’s the second. We’ll praise the Lord; we’re getting closer to lunch all the time. Amen. Now, let’s talk about this aspect of faith. This is very, very important: what or who or where you put your faith in.
Now, let’s talk about salvation for a moment. “Well, you just believe in God.” Frank, can I say something here? It’s more than that. The devils believe. If you study that out, the devils believe there is one God. The devils believe and tremble, but the devils are not going to heaven; they’re going to hell.
Friend, if you study that, the Bible is always very specific about who to believe in as far as your salvation. How many of you know John 3:16? You know John 3:16? If you do, wave your head out there. You know John 3:16? Good, good, good. Here it is. Here it is. Say it out loud. I’m going to say it real slow, so hang with me, all right? Here we go. Say it. Here we go: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him…” That “Him” is not talking about God. That “Him” is talking about… For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, who shall believe in Him." You see how clear the Bible is? Who do we believe in for salvation? Finish it up. I’m sorry. I apologize. I stopped in the middle of the verse. “So whosoever believeth in Him…” Here we go. “…should not perish, but have everlasting life.” You see how clear the Bible is? That’s John 3:16. The last verse of that chapter, John 3:36, says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” That’s why the world sometimes doesn’t mind talking about God or a higher power, but when they start talking about Jesus, that’s when things begin to fly.
Jesus. Over in Acts 16, this man went to the preachers Paul and Silas and said, “What must I do to be saved?” They very clearly, very definitely described who to believe and who to put your faith in: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” and your household. That’s why Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” A couple of verses before that says, “The Lord Jesus Christ”—that’s the name He’s speaking of in Acts 4:12.
So it’s very vital for your salvation that when you take all your belief and place it all on Jesus Christ and what He did on the Cross of Calvary to save you—don’t add your works, no. The Bible says about Abraham in Genesis 15:6, “And he believed the Lord, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” He didn’t work for the Lord. He didn’t get baptized. He believed; he put his faith on Jesus, the coming Messiah. That’s how you are saved.
I’m just talking about this thing. It’s so important where you put your faith. I heard a story of a man way up north where winter had been there for a while. By the way, as cold as it is down here, anybody want to agree that it’s not as cold as up north? Amen. Amen. Mrs. Dunia’s mom is from Chicago. She says, “I don’t know about all that there,” you know. She’s back in the back. But there was a man way up north, and it had been winter for a while, and there was a lake nearby. He thought, “Well, maybe it’s frozen enough where I can walk out on the lake.” But he was scared to death. He had tiny little bitty faith in the lake.
Scared. Now, the honest truth is, it had been winter for a long time, and it had frozen solid. That water had gotten so cold the top of it was over a foot thick—I mean, just very thick ice. The honest truth is, you probably could have driven a Mack truck on it and been fine. But he was worried. He had a little bit of faith, but it was in some real thick ice.
He walked out there, scared and nervous, thinking, “I’m going to fall through this.” But it was fine. A little bitty faith, but he put it on the right thing, and he was fine. Months later, it had warmed up pretty good, but in his mind, he thought, “Man, I don’t know if I can trust that lake. Many a time I’ve been on that lake. That thing is solid through and through; it’s good. I mean, I’m good.” He did not realize the temperature of the water had warmed up, but the sun had been shining down for days and days and days. Now, he had great big faith, but he had great big faith in the wrong thing. It was thin ice. He thought it was a foot thick, but it was very thin ice.
The man went out there all cocky: “I’m fine! Look at this! Man, I’m fine!” He wasn’t fine. One of those steps came down, and crack, crack, crack began to happen. He went deep-sea fishing all of a sudden—ice fishing. It is very crucial where you put your faith. People today are putting their faith in the news. They’re putting their faith in Google and Siri and what so-and-so said, and some professor said, Frank. I just say this: the most solid thing you can put your faith in is that book right there.
It’s very crucial what you’re putting your faith on. Now, help me out. We talk about faith. It’s very important that we have faith. It’s the key that unlocks the door. You just have to have faith as a grain of mustard seed, but it’s also very important where you put your faith. Now let’s get this last thing in here. We’re going to go home. Amen. We’re going to go out to eat, for some of us there, wherever you go. Look over in Galatians 2:20. You’re there. Galatians 2:20.
Let’s get this last thought in here, our third point. Galatians 2 and verse number 20 of God’s Word. Galatians 2 and verse number 20. Let’s read it again, would you please? Here we go: “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh”—here it is—“I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Help me out. Whose faith is that? Who is the Son of God? So whose faith is it? You’re right. Now, Apostle Paul, through the inspiration of God, he said, “Look, I’ve grown; I’ve learned a little bit here. The life which I now live in the flesh”—that’s talking about down here, not in heaven yet—“I live by the faith of the Son of God.”
Now look, here’s the thing. I’m just trying to put it out real clear here, because we’ve got to go pretty soon. If you take your little bit of faith and you put it in Jesus, He’s got all the faith you need. It’s great big faith. Then you’ll have faith for every battle, every problem, every face. You see, you don’t have to be all that because Jesus is all that. We live and we breathe and we move by Jesus Christ; it all goes back to Jesus Christ.
Take this illustration. Say that Brother Marlin, Brother Kevin Cooper, and a guy that goes golfing with us sometime, Brother Jason, are going to go golfing. Brother Kevin, you’re not going to like this part. I’m on Brother Marlin’s team. Brother Kevin says, “It ain’t fair, man, it ain’t fair!” When we’re playing basketball against each other, I’m going to say, “Brother Kevin, we’re going to beat your socks off! We’re going to tear you up!” Brother Kevin says, “Who are you relying on to tear me up, Pastor?” I’m going to say, “That man back there.” He golfs; he’s golfed since he was in the crib. He’s good. I’m not good. If we were to use my ball one time between Marlin and me, I’d be happy. I’m not good at golf. But I would not be putting my faith in me.
I’d be taking my little bit of golfing skill and getting out on the golf course, but my faith would be directed over there to get the job done. In the Christian life, when you take your little bit of faith, don’t go around bragging, “I got great faith, look at me!” No, you say, “I’ve got a little bit of faith, but I put it in Jesus Christ, and I’m learning to live by the faith of the Son of God.” Amen. He’s got all the faith you need or that you ever need for your life. He’s got it all. Your little faith in His great big faith, friend—that’s when great things happen.
That’s what Jesus meant in John 14:12, when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in Me”—that’s Jesus—“the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto My Father.” Notice: you believe in Jesus. It’s all about believing in Jesus for everything, even for the faith that you need to be and to do what God wants you to do.
Now, I’ve got a muzzleloader, friend. Let me say something before I bring it out: It has not been shot in years. There’s no gunpowder in it. There’s no bullet in it. There’s nothing like that in it, all right, so don’t freak out on me, if you will. It is an old gun. The last time I hunted with it was years ago, and it’s one of these old ones that’s very finicky. If you don’t have it super clean and everything just right, it won’t fire. I had a deer in my sights and I fired. This little bit of cap went off here—it doesn’t hurt anything—but the gun didn’t fire off because it was so moist, and the deer literally poked its tongue out at me and ran off. That’s the last day I hunted with this gun. I said, “Forget that old muzzleloader, man. Never used it again.”
Here’s the thing about this old muzzleloader: You cock it. There’s nothing in there. You cock it, and then these little caps, all right? Some of you men, maybe some of you ladies, I don’t know, you might have used one of these. You take this little cap—at least I got your attention now; man, three people just woke up. Can you even see it? It almost looks like a BB. Can you see that? Maybe the little brass. It’s just a little bitty old thing. Some of you men know, if I put it there, it’s going to roll off. But it’s a little bitty cap. You put this little bitty cap—I’m not going to do it—but you put this little bitty cap right on this little bitty chamber right here. All right. You put that little bit of cap there. When it goes off, a lot of you men know, it’s about like a firecracker in noise, maybe not even a small firecracker. No big deal. But it’ll set a little spark down this chamber if it’s cleaned really, really good. And we’ve already—I haven’t—but if you’re hunting or whatever, you’ve already put a bunch of powder down there, gunpowder down in there. Then you’ll put a bullet, a big old slug, 50 caliber slug, and you pack it in there real tight. When that spark goes through that little chamber and it goes into the big barrel there, there’s a little bit of firecracker sound, and when that spark hits the powder in there, it’s like a firecracker goes off, and then just a split second later, a cannon goes off. If you don’t have your shoulder braced real good and ready, your shoulder will be dislocated after it goes off, and the deer will be poking its tongue out at you again, because you can’t move.
Frankly, I use this as an illustration. You take your little bit of faith—your little bit of mustard seed and a little firecracker, if you will—and you place it in Jesus. He’s got all the faith you need. Your little bitty firecracker goes over and ignites Jesus’ faith, and that’s when it’s like a cannon. You can shoot, and you’re going to shoot and make a hole in the side of the devil, even. Not by your great works or even your great faith. You make a great mark by Jesus’ great faith. You just have a little bitty seed of faith.
Here’s the thing that’s encouraging to me: I can do that. I don’t have all this great big faith. I think, “Man, where did my faith go?” I don’t have to have great big faith. I just have to put my little bit of faith in a great big Jesus faith, and He’s got all the faith for every problem, every issue, every mountain. Whatever tomorrow holds, Pastor—what if one of the reports comes back, it’s cancer? What if I get COVID? What if I lose my job? Whatever you face, you say, “I don’t have faith for that stuff anymore. I ran out of faith years ago.” It doesn’t matter. Jesus did not run out of faith. That’s why you can be confident. You take your little bit of faith and put it in His great big faith, and He’s got it for every problem you will ever face. Jesus has got it all. All to Him I owe. For every problem you ever face, He’s got it.
Not only that, but friend, for the mountains, Jesus has mountain-moving faith. You say, “Preacher, I can’t win over that sin. I don’t have the faith to do it anymore.” You know, the Bible says, “Likewise, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Christ Jesus our Lord.” I don’t have the faith to recommend I’m dead to this anymore. That’s right. Jesus has got that faith. You put your little faith in Jesus’ great big faith, and the cannon goes off. For whatever Jesus has called you to do—to be a good parent, to be a good spouse, friends, to raise good, godly kids, or maybe you’ve got a wayward child and to pray them back into the fold, if you will—that takes a lot of faith, but Jesus has got it. If you can just muster up your little mustard seed of faith, I’m bringing it over there to say, “I’m going to put my faith in You, Jesus; You’ve got all the faith I need.” That’s what you’re saying. “The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.”
Here’s a wonderful thing about it: “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Oh, friend, you said, “Did you have enough faith to start a church?” Nah. But Jesus did. All I had to do was take my little bit of faith and put it in His great big faith. Hey, almost done. What’s the mountain in your life? What’s the mountain in your life?
Man, Preacher, I don’t have much faith. I’ve been trying to battle that thing for forty years—forever. I’m just about worn out over that thing. Okay, you got a little bit of faith? That’s what you said. Faith is a grain of a mustard seed.
But man, we need faith. It’s crucial. How great is our faith? “I got great faith.” That’s right. Jesus has great faith. So you, like Paul, said, “Hey, I’m going to live by the faith of the Son of God.” You take that little bit of faith and place it in His great big faith, and mountains move. Cannons go off.
Have you ever thought about the most undoable, impossible thing for a sinner like you and me? How many out there? How many out there? You say, “Truth be known, I’m a sinner. I’ve thought something, said something, done something wrong. I’m a sinner.” How many out there? You’re a sinner out there? All right. The rest of you raise your hand because you’re sinning by not raising your hand. We’re all sinners. All of us ask, “How in the world can a sinner go to heaven?”
It just doesn’t seem right. God knows everything. How could that be? Well, friend, you take your little bitty seed of faith: “Jesus, I believe You died, rose again. I believe You are my way to heaven.” Boy, you doubt His Word. Why, that is—that’s too easy! I’ve heard this at another church. I don’t know if I believe enough. All these thoughts go through your head.
Friend, as far as getting into heaven, you muster up whatever faith you have, and you take that little bit of faith and put it in Jesus Christ. Cannons go off. Lives get changed. Eternal destiny changes. And you live not by your great faith.
Original File: A Little Faith - Pastor Paul Chisgar 11142021