“And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” (Luke 17:6) Ever met anyone that has done that, ever met anyone who has cast a mountain into the sea, a tree, who has ever walked on water? I’ll make it a little easier for you, have you ever met anyone who has gone into a house of God when the entertainment is at its peak, when the Bingo game is at full swing, and cast out all of those people, broke their items of entertainment? No? Alright, how about this one, who do you know who has stood right in front of a Roman Catholic priest and told them that all that they preach is a sin, an offense to God, or to a Mormon, a Jehovah’s Witness. Anyone? I’m going to guess that so far, the answer is no to all these questions, yet Christ said Himself that we can do all things through Him, (Phil. 4:13) that if we ask anything in His name, it would be done. (John 14:14)
Here is where many have been taught to believe some parts of the Scriptures, and others, well, let’s just call them analogies shall we. Since Peter walked on water, but that was a one-time deal, and besides, Jesus was right there. Let’s see, he asked first, (Matt. 14:28) right, and we are supposed to ask first, right? Did you ever wonder why Peter would want to walk on water in the first place? Most folks think about how he started to sink, how the Lord was there to save him, “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matt. 14:31) They miss the part where they both walked on water back to the boat, sat right down and went on their way, one of them dry, one of them partially wet.
To believe means to have faith, with faith you can move mountains and trees and anything else, you can walk on water, you can stand against religious hypocrisy, you can have confidence. So, why don’t most Christians, why are the majority of them fearful, with no strength, no convictions, except at certain times, like on Sunday morning in the church building, when they are emboldened, usually only in an emotional context, because there are other like-minded individuals surrounding them.
Think about that sentence, other weak-willed, scared, frightened, emotion-based “Christians.”
My friends, confidence in Christ will get you kicked out of most churches today, being filled with the Holy Spirit will not make you any friends. Most who profess His name will not even point out the sins in others, no matter how blatant, at least not to their face, behind their back and to other “like minded” individuals, you bet, no problem, but as for the confidence in the “average” Christian today? Forget about it.
Why would you expect them to be able to move mountains when most will not even mention or stand up against the blatant sin by one in their own congregation, why do you think they congregate together, to worship, or to feel better about themselves, to feel a sense of camaraderie? Why doesn’t the pastor speak up when these issues and matters are clear to all? Because he wants his paycheck, he doesn’t want to have to look for another job, why does not one in the congregation speak out, in the middle of the Sunday sermon, when all other options mentioned in Matthew 18:15-17 have been exhausted, and nothing has been done? Because they are like-minded, but that mind is not the mind of Christ, (1 Cor. 2:16) it is one of love without rebuke, it is a false love of silence, not reproof and correction.
I believe in many churches the inverse of 1 John 2:19 is true today, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” Only some, a very few, went out because it sickened them to be like-minded with hypocrites. “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4)