Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

What difference does faith make? Let me be more specific. What difference does faith make in your life? What difference does faith really make in your life? George Gallup is coming back with a number of encouraging statistics one hand, and that is that it seems that across our nation, there’s a growing interest in the christian church. People are attending Bible studies as they never have before, attending the church in numbers that are unparalleled. And so there seems, on the one hand, to be very encouraging signs. However, if we look at those who are going to church and attending these Bible studies, something is amiss. And George Gallup has begun to see that many of the people today who are getting involved in churches, Bible studies, various ministries of the church, that they are doing it contingent on this question, how does it make me feel?

How does it make me feel now, the part that’s troublesome to that is that they are also finding that people who are going to church now are saying they are going to church. Why? Because it makes me feel better. People are attending prayer meetings in numbers that are far beyond the last decade. And when they ask, why do you attend these prayer meetings? They say, because it makes me feel better. It helps me to cope with my life. Those people who are serving, they’re finding also that many of those people are there primarily because of the benefit that they are receiving from the activity. And it just so happens that at this time in the life of our nation, the church seems to be supplying something that people need.

Now, you and I are living in what has been referred to as the me generation. As long as it is helping me, then I’ll join you. As long as you are going to help me solve a problem that I have, then I’ll be part of your activity. But I also want you to understand that if that activity no longer satisfies me, then I used to go to prayer meeting, but it no longer meets my need, so I don’t go anymore. I used to go to church every Sunday, but you know how things are. It stopped meeting my need, and so I don’t go with the same routine that I used to. And underlying this understanding of the church and prayer and service seems to be creeping into the church of Jesus Christ.

The basic supposition that as long as the church is meeting my need, I’ll be part of it. And perhaps it would be more fitting for us to pray. My father, which art in heaven, hallowed be my name, my kingdom come, my will be done in earth, as I hope it will be in heaven. If there is something that seems to be missing from the present scene of the evangelical church, it is the understanding that the God whom we worship is a giving God. God did not come into this world to figure out what he could get from this world, but he came to send his son that he might give to this world. And so that great text that Jesus Christ came into the world that you and I might know we have eternal life. And why did he come?

Because he was a gift, the gift of God. If you and I would reflect on everything that you and I have, your possessions, ultimately, where have they come from? Can you claim 100% of the responsibility for all of the possessions that you have? What about your health? Can you claim 100% of the responsibility for the situation that you find yourself in related to your health? What about your job? Is everything about your job simply related to your effort? And so, if you put in 100%, you’ll get back 100%? Or do you find that even in your work, there are mysterious things happening and things happen that you can’t explain, and you may be working in a situation that you had not planned to be in, and God is at work.

It is God who has set the context for your life and for mine, the health that you and I would enjoy, any prosperity that we would enjoy, any of the blessing that we would enjoy. We must come to the conclusion as christians that it is God who has given to us that we might have any of the blessings that we would enjoy. And yet I’m afraid that this idea of God being a giving God and that christians are called upon primarily to be giving rather than people who are concerned about getting, is rapidly disappearing from the church, and it certainly is disappearing from our culture. Several weeks ago, we had some people to our home to see a 1930s movie called a tale of two Cities, based upon the book by Charles Dickens.

If you read a tale of two Cities, you will find that it is nothing less than a christian sermon. And Charles Dickens, who every evening read to his children from the scripture. In that book, a tale of two Cities, it’s painted around the French Revolution. And the hero, the tragic hero, is Charles Darnay. And if you remember, early on, Charles Darner meets a young woman and he falls in love with her. But as circumstances in the providence of God would intervene on their relationship, he would never marry her. Instead that she would announce that she is to be married to another. And so, Charles Darner loved, but he lost and for the rest of his life, every time that he would look upon this woman or hear her name, he would remember her with affection.

And he had promised that he would give his very life for her if ever the circumstances arose. And if you have read the book or seen the film. In the 1930s, there was a text. A text that was continually before the eyes of Charles Darner. As he would walk down the street and he would look across the river, he would see in his mind’s eye these words, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. He would see that text on the side of a house. He would walk into a room, and that text, in his mind’s eye, would be imprinted on a wall as the providence of God would bring circumstances into play.

Charles Darner had to make a decision as the husband of the one whom he loved but lost was placed in the bastille. And Charles Darner knew that his life would be taken. And so, he agonized. Shall I go to the Bastille? Shall I change places with this man? And he decides, I will. And he exchanges places with the man who is married to his love. Charles Darner is taken to the guillotine. And upon that day, he gives his life. And at the close of the film, the camera pulls back from the scene of the gallows where he has just given his life. And it pulls back ever further until you see the crowd. And then it pulls back until you see the marketplace.

And it pulls back until you are looking over the city of Paris and there, emblazoned on the skies, the closing of the film. These words, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And the movie ends. Recently, a remake of that film occurred. I have not seen it, the remake. But I have heard that the remake of the film makes no reference to God. It makes no reference to Jesus Christ. It makes no reference to the text that holds the entire book together, that I am the resurrection and the life, as Darner would give his life at the end of that film. What is left upon the sky of Paris? Nothing. And the film ends in despair. Does faith make a difference? I believe it makes every difference in the world.

It makes a difference upon the way that you understand your family. It makes a difference on the way that you understand your money. It makes a difference upon the way you understand your time. It makes a difference on the way you understand the purpose for your life. Faith makes a difference. The context of our text today taken from Matthew 14. If you would look at Matthew 13 to paint the picture of this text, we find that Jesus is very concerned to instruct his disciples, that it makes a great difference where you place your faith. And he is so concerned about the placement of your faith that he likens it to a number of very small things. In Matthew 13, he likens our faith to a little seed.

He says that seed is cast to one, it is cast, and a bird comes and snatches it away. He says that is Satan to another. The seed is placed on stony ground. That seed quickly withers because it takes no root. There’s a third seed that Jesus talks about and that is placed among thorns. And as time would go by the weeds of this world, the concerns of this life would strangle the very life out of that seed. None of those three seeds are the picture of a Christian. It is the fourth seed. The fourth seed that Jesus says fell upon good soil. And when it fell upon good soil, what was the result of that faith in the life of a person? He says the difference was that those for whom the soil was good, they were able to produce thirtyfold.

Some were able to produce 60-fold, others one hundredfold. And so, they became very fruitful. But also, the context of the feeding of the 5000. In the Book of Matthew, we find that there is also, according to Matthew 1330, there are two seeds that are growing within the church of Christ. One is the seed of the tear, which is actually a weed. The other is the true seed wheat. They look exactly the same. The only problem is that one of those seeds is totally unfruitful. It only produces more weeds. The other produces greater grain. And in the end, Jesus says that they will first gather together the tears, and they will bind them in bundles and they will burn them, but they will gather the wheat into the barn.

Then Jesus compares faith in the kingdom of God to a small seed, a mustard seed, in verse 31. And he says that this mustard seed eventually, which is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown, that little seed is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree. And then he compares it in verse 44 to a great treasure which is hidden in a field. And what happens when a person finds this treasure? He says that they will give up everything. They will sell it all so that they can go back and retrieve the treasure. And then he compares it to a pearl of great price, a pearl that when it is found, a man will sell all that he has that he might possess that precious pearl.

It’s against that background in the book of Matthew that we come to the feeding of the 5000, we see that Jesus is speaking with a large group of people. His disciples understand that his ministry has been very fruitful that day. There’s only one problem. We’re getting close to dinner time and Jesus, there are 5000 people, 5000 men. There’s also women and children. And what are we going to do to feed this crowd? And so, the suggestion is made that the meeting should be broken up and everyone should go back into the village and just simply buy themselves dinner. Jesus had compassion on them and he said, no, they do not need to go away. You give them something to eat and so they look and what do they find? Five loaves and two fish.

Come on, what are we going to do with five loaves and two fish? We are certainly never going to feed this crowd. When it was all over and Jesus took that meagre offering and held it up to the Lord and he asked for the blessing of the Lord. When it was all over, we read in scripture that twelve baskets were left over and that group of 5000 men, besides the women and children were fed. Does God do things like that today? I was reading recently about a man whose wife was out shopping. And while she was out, he called the Salvation army and he said, I have something I want to give you. Would you send a truck over? So, the Salvation army came by. Driver says, what do you want us to take away? He said, I want you to take everything. Everything.

Take everything. I want you to take all the furniture. I want you to take all the clothes. I want you to take everything off the walls, all the curtains. I want you to go in the attic. I want you to go in the basement. You take everything. Everything. And so, his wife came home. She walked into the house and she said, what happened? He said, I called the Salvation army and I asked them to take away everything. Everything. It’s all gone. She said, well, why didn’t you just write out a check and just give them something from our account? He said, I did write out a check. How much did you write it out for? Everything. It’s all gone. Whatever happened to that man? Did he die in poverty? Is he in a welfare line today? You may know him.

His name is Pat Robertson. The ministry that he watches over receives some $230,000,000 a year. He gave everything. Hudson Taylor gave everything to become a missionary. When he went to medical school, he started this way. One day he decided, I’m going to give everything I have to the Lord. And so, he announced, everything I have is the Lord’s and it all disappeared. But he said, that day I ate, and that day the Lord took care of me. And what do you do on the second day? Everything that had been given to him on the first day, he then gave to the Lord on the second day. And Hudson Taylor did that for years, every day, giving away everything that he had. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation army, was asked, in the later years of his life, you’ve had a tremendous impact.

All of Europe, America has felt the consequence of your ministry. Why did this happen? And William Booth said, God has had all there is of William Booth to give. As a congregation. You and I are at a point. We’re at a very important point. We are at a critical point. And what we have are five loaves and two fish. And God is asking us, how much faith do we have? And will there be a Princeton Presbyterian church in one year from now, five years from now, 20 years from now, 50 years from now? I believe we’re at a very critical moment in the life of our church. And we have seen God’s blessing in untold ways in past months and years, for which we give God all of the thanks and all of the praise.

I also believe that unless we are willing to give to the Lord that which is his. And you say, well, that’s easy for you to say. You’re just trying to persuade us that we should give more. Well, I’ve thought long and hard about this and have decided that all that my wife and I have, as far as earthly goods, whatever they might be, a house, little bit of savings, all of that is the Lord’s, and all of it he is to use as he sees fit in the furtherance of his church, in the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, I don’t have a lot, but what I do have has been placed in envelopes in small amounts. But what it represents is all that we have as far as savings.

And I’m going to ask the ushers to come forward, and I would like to put this in your care, to do with as you like until the date that is specified in each envelope. Now, the amounts are different, and I am not going to suggest to you what you should do with this. I am only going to suggest to you that we are told in scripture that as that seed in faith was used by the Lord, that he was able to take that and he was able to multiply it thirtyfold, 60-fold, in some cases even 100-fold.

And I would ask even now that these fish and loaves, which when we look at the task in front of us as a church and the things that remain yet to be done, that you would take this, that you would pray about it, that you would consider ways that I might entrust to you all of my earthly goods, that you might use them to the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I would ask now that we would have a word of prayer, and we would ask for the Lord’s blessing. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we come before you now with five loaves and two fish. And we would look at what remains yet to be done. And Father, we would ask for your blessing.

We would ask that you would cause us to see that faith truly makes a difference. We do this in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries post office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries post office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you, and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rone’s web development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.