“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).
Dr. Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, conducted a groundbreaking study that revealed something simple but profound. She discovered that people generally have two mindsets: fixed and growth. A fixed mindset believes your abilities, intelligence, and potential are set in stone: “I’m either good at this or I’m not.” When a person with this mindset experiences failure? That’s the end of the story. They quit. However, a growth mindset sees things differently. It says, “I may not be there yet, but I can learn, improve, grow, and succeed.” People with this mindset view failure as growth. It’s just one step closer to success. In her studies, students with a growth mindset tackled harder problems, took more risks, and ultimately achieved far more, not because they had more ability, but because they believed progress was possible. Isn’t that what faith does? Faith says, “Even if I’ve failed before, I can try again.” Faith says, “God’s not done with me yet.” Faith says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The growth mindset isn’t just good psychology; it’s a spiritual parallel. When we trust God’s power instead of our own limits, we start stepping into places we never thought we could go, and the mountains in front of us start to move (https://www.newstartdiscipleship.com/post/34-sermon-illustrations-on-faith).
Friends, God wants us to have rugged, roaring trust in Him and in His word. The plans and purposes of God for His people are not for the timid, fearful, and cowardly. They are for those who are willing to receive the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, reject the corrupting worldly beliefs and sin-satisfying practices of the ungodly, practice the sanctifying spiritual disciplines, and risk all to brave the path that God calls them to take. Obeying Jesus means overcoming fear, arrogance, pride, laziness, and mediocrity and embracing humility, love, holiness, and zeal with faith and holy action. Only in this way do our lives in this sinful world and our trust in our righteous Lord and Savior build into us faith that is strong, healthy, hardy, vigorous, and enduring.
Little faith is fine when we first enter into a saving relationship with Jesus. However, just like anything else that has a little beginning, faith is expected to grow large. Corn grows from a little sprout sticking through the ground into a seven-foot stalk. Infants grow into adults. Puppies grow into adult breeds. Baby Christians grow into mature followers of Christ. On two occasions, Jesus was surprised by the great faith of individuals. The first was when the Roman centurion approached and asked Him to heal his servant. The second occasion was when the Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her demon possessed daughter.
The Bible is full of examples of great faith. Moses, as an old man, wandering the desert, heard God’s voice and call through a burning bush to march into Egypt, face the powerful Pharoah, and demand that he set God’s people free. Moses answered God’s call with fearless faith. David, as a mere teenage shepherd, faced a giant Philistine warrior in battle whom no warrior in Israel’s army had the courage to face. David killed his and God’s enemy with unusual, mighty faith in God. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a lion’s den and a fiery furnace, respectively, as punishment for their steadfast, unwavering, unflinching faith in God and emerged to be used by God in great ways to accomplish His will and purpose.
Joseph, as an older youth, suffered betrayal at the hands of his brother, faced false and criminal accusations from a king’s wife, and endured repeated prison incarcerations with great faith in God to become the second in command in Egypt and the one through whom God would save His people from sure starvation and death. John the Baptist courageously faced a Roman emperor and condemned the sexual sin he carried on with his brother’s wife. He endured prison and departed this world for God’s presence with fearless faith, when that Roman king had him violently beheaded.
Jesus, as God in the flesh, with great faith in God the Father, suffered unbelievable pain from physical abuse, beating, and scourging from Roman soldiers, shameful torture of crucifixion from the betrayal of Israel’s religious leaders, and the judicious wrath of God poured out upon Him, while He hung on the cross, even though He had never sinned. Why? In order to purchase redemption and forgiveness for every one of us who will turn from sin, believe in Him, and surrender to Him as Lord. Furthermore, all of Jesus’ apostles bravely carried the saving gospel to the world, winning lost souls to faith in Jesus, establishing churches, and extending God’s kingdom, and they faced death at the hands of God’s enemies with their trust in Jesus firmly established and their eyes on heaven securely fixed.
God’s goal for His church, according to Ephesians 4:12-13, is “the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” According to Romans 8:29, God’s goal for every Christian is “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” So, then, the goal of the Christian life is to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ so that we become obedient followers with great faith and Christ’s character, whom God can use to accomplish mighty things for His sake and heaven’s glory in the likeness of the faithful heroes of the Bible and even Jesus Himself.
William Carey, the father of modern missions, lived from 1761 to 1834. In 1792, he and a few friends met in Kettering, England, and formed the Baptist Missionary Society. The next year, Carey and his family bravely, courageously, and fearlessly set sail for India, where he served Jesus Christ in the winning of lost people to salvation and planting Christian churches for over forty years. William Carey lived by a stunning resolve that outlived him: “expect great things from God—attempt great things for God” (https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/baptists-attempting-great-things-for-god).
Ordinariness will suffocate you, suck desire out of you, and steal every ounce of ambition from you. Therefore, you must allow God to move you out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. Walk away from an insatiable hunger for the things of this world and take up a burden for the will and works of God. Surrender to Christ and embrace the God-called life. With Jesus as your living Lord, leader, and guide, make your plans big. The great preacher, C. T. Studd, a British missionary, served Jesus in China, India, and Africa, until his death in 1931. Sometime before he left this world for Paradise to be with Jesus, he penned this unforgettable, soul-stirring poem for the people of God and posterity:
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His judgment seat;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill,
Living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Oh, let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last, I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say, “‘twas worth it all”;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee. (https://bibleapologetics.org/c-t-studd-a-poem-to-meditate-on/)
Friends, remember the promise from Jesus in John 14:12: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” Jesus cannot do these great works in fearful, distracted, lazy, selfish, mediocre, sin-obsessed people. We must rise up, gear up, faith up, and face up to the fact, as C.T. Studd did, that we have only one life, and it will soon be past, and only what we do for Christ will last. Finally, we must step out in Christ’s boldness and power, as William Carey did. We must expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God.
Will you?