Matthew 13:53-58
You Must Believe to Receive
By Matthew 13, we suppose that Jesus is well into His ministry. By
that time, He would have traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem and many
regions round about. He would be well known for His miracles and
teaching in all of that area.
But \\#54\\ says that Jesus came to His own country. That would
be the area where Jesus was reared, Nazareth and the area west and
south of Galilee. There, Jesus ran into some problems. Those who
thought they knew Jesus best, believed in Him the least.
1. \\#54\\ "they were astonished"
2. They could not comprehend "where" Jesus got His wisdom and
power.
3. \\#55-56\\ They could only associate Jesus with His
earthly family.
4. \\#56\\ "they were offended in Him" - That means that they
were insulted and displeased with Jesus.
\\#58\\ The Holy Ghost wrote into the Scriptures two important
statements:
1. Jesus did not do many mighty works there. That is sad for
no doubt there were many people who needed miracles but
they did not receive them.
2. The reason why Jesus did not do many mighty miracles is
given. It was because of their unbelief.
That means it is possible that, in Nazareth people did not even
bother coming to Jesus because they did not believe Jesus could
help them. How sad. Lame people stayed lame. Deaf people stayed
deaf. Mute people stayed mute. Crippled people stayed crippled.
Those with tuberculous, leprosy, dropsy, pneumonia, bad hearts,
bowed bones, poor circulation, arthritic pain, and all other
diseases stayed that way because they did not believe enough to
come to Jesus.
Hence, the title of the message, "You must believe to receive." Three
thoughts this morning.
I. You must believe to receive.
A. That is the essence of what this and many other Bible verses
are telling us.
1. The people of Nazareth did not receive healing, help, or
even the presence of Jesus for every long because they
would not believe.
2. However, it is not just these people whose faith determined
what they could or could not receive.
3. The Bible gives us many examples.
B. Examples:
1. In Matthew 17, Jesus’ disciples attempted to cast a
demon out of a boy, but could not. Jesus rebuked them
and cast the demon out. The disciples wanted to know
why they could not.
Matt 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus
apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your
unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall
be impossible unto you.
2. In Matthew 9, two blind men came asking for their
sight. Jesus offered them healing but only in as much
as they believed.
Matt 9:28 …Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye
that I am able to do this? They said unto him,
Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According
to your faith be it unto you.
3. Earlier in that same chapter, a sick woman came to be
healed and was without asking Jesus for the healing or
Jesus even seeing her. Jesus credited the healing to
her faith.
Matt 9:22 …Daughter, be of good comfort; thy
faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was
made whole from that hour.
C. On and on the Bible goes illustrating that faith is an
essential requirement to receive from God.
D. The writer of Hebrews put it succinctly.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible
to please him:
E. You cannot please God if you will not believe.
1. The people of Nazareth did not believe and so they did
not receive from God. That was their loss.
2. Soon their lack of faith would remove Jesus from their
presence all together,
3. No one can be right with God who does not have faith.
F. Let’s go a step further.
II. You must believe with a Biblical faith to receive.
A. You cannot believe whatever you like whenever you want and
expect to receive from God.
B. Faith is the key to receiving from God.
1. A key unlocks a door.
2. Behind the door are valuables but without the key, you
cannot get to them.
3. The key to God’s treasures and blessing is faith.
4. However, not every key will unlock every door.
a. Neither will believing whatever you wish gain you God’s
treasures.
b. As you must have the correct key to unlock the correct
door so you must have the correct faith to gain God’s
treasures.
C. What can a Biblical faith gain me?
1. Salvation is available to those with a Biblical faith.
a. Those who do not believe that Jesus is God; that He
came into this world to live a sinless life; that He
died, was buried, and rose on the third day, that He
will save you if you ask—these people cannot be
saved. No, not ever!
b. Unbelief is one of the unforgivable sins! There is no
forgiveness without it.
c. But you must keep your faith Biblical.
(1) The Bible teaches that believing is not the only
the only essential element for salvation.
(2) One must also surrender themselves to Christ.
(3) Jesus does not seek to be your Savior only. He
seeks also to be your Lord.
(4) Too many religious people live sinful lives and
think that because they believe Jesus is God they
will go to heaven.
(5) They will not!
2. Peace is available to those with a Biblical faith.
a. God offers many gifts to us by faith.
b. Peace is just one. Power, purpose, God’s presence,
and provision are some others.
c. But you cannot have any of them if you do not believe.
d. But again, faith is not the only thing element needed
to gain these treasures.
e. There must also be obedience.
(1) You cannot expect God to give you peace at night
if you are not going to follow His blueprints
for life during the day.
(2) You cannot expect things like a good marriage, a
good reputation, a clear conscious, obedient
children, and a fulfilled life if you are not
going to obey your Master.
(3) It would be counter-productive for God to give
you all of those things while you are living a
disobedient life, would it not?
f. But faith is in there.
g. You must believe if you are to receive peace.
3. Guidance is available to those with a Biblical faith.
a. God promises to lead those who believe.
(1) God will open up the Bible and make it real for
you.
(2) He even promises to open doors and change
circumstances for them.
b. But you cannot expect God to speak to you, to guide
and direct you, if you do not have faith that He
will.
(1) Some people wonder why they cannot understand the
Bible. Could it be because they do not believe
the Bible?
(2) Still, some who do not believe the Bible, some who
even hate God, think they do understand the
Bible.
(a) They see it as a book full of errors and
contradictions.
(b) The problem is not in the Bible.
(c) It is in them.
(d) You cannot understand the Bible until you
first believe the Bible.
4. This is just a short list but I hope you get the point.
You must believe with a Biblical faith to receive.
III. You must believe regardless to receive.
A. You must believe even when you do not feel worthy.
1. Quite often people who doubt their salvation, do so
because they feel unworthy of it.
2. What they fail to understand is that no one is worthy of
the gifts God gives.
3. God gives His gifts for two reasons:
a. Because He is good.
b. Because we believe.
4. God never grants anything to mankind because he is worthy,
but God does grant things to us because we believe He
will.
a. That is how important faith is.
b. As I have said, it is the key that unlocks the door to
God’s treasures.
5. Do not let that feeling of worthiness cause you to doubt
in God’s love, His generosity, His forgiveness, His
goodness, His salvation, or any of the many other gifts
that God offers to you.
B. You must believe even when you’re not seeing the results you
desire.
1. Learn a lesson - The world we live in is not where the
battles are fought. Battles are fought in the spiritual
world.
a. The spirit world is where God lives. The Bible says
God is a Spirit.
b. The spirit world is the eternal world.
c. The spirit world is where all of us will eventually
end. The saved and the lost will spend eternity in
either heaven or hell, in glorified bodies which live
in both the physical and the spiritual worlds.
2. The more the Holy Spirit is working in might and power,
more feeble the human world is revealed to be.
a. Example - The Bible says of Jesus’ sacrifice on the
cross, that Jesus made this sacrifice by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God….
b. From the spiritual viewpoint, there has never been a
greater act of power than the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ!
(1) It saved us from sin.
(2) It cleanses us.
(3) It changes us.
c. Yet, the same event viewed from a human world, looked
as though there was no power there at all!
(1) A traitor betrayed Jesus.
(2) The religious rulers arrested Jesus.
(3) Wicked bought witnesses lied about Jesus.
(4) People laughed at Jesus.
(5) Soldiers beat and humiliated Jesus.
(6) In the end, Jesus died.
3. When it seemed from a human standpoint that things were
the most feeble, God through the Holy Ghost did His
most powerful work!
a. Some of the greatest Psalms were written when things
looked so desperate.
b. David stood before a giant with nothing but a little
sling and a big faith.
c. Noah labored for 120 years on a boat in a rainless
world.
d. Moses stood between an army and a sea with a rod in
his hand and God at his back.
e. Paul and Silas sat in a dank prison with open wounds
on their back and song praises to Jesus.
4. Don’t just believe when things are going wrong, believe
especially when things are going wrong! That might well
be the time when God is going His greatest work in your
world!
C. You must believe even you think God has failed you.
1. I have walked with God for a long time and many have been
the times when I thought God failed me. It took me some
time to realize the truth. God has never failed me. It
was I that failed Him.
2. Get this truth. God never fails.
There are many lessons being taught in this passage, but I see one
in particular. You must believe to receive. Do you believe?
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