Go to Mark 11, please, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, Mark 11 and 2 Timothy 1.

In Mark 11, Jesus had spoken to the fig tree, and it dried up when he spoke to it from the roots up.

And it took a while for the outside extremities of the tree to change, the leaves.

But they did.

I know that's the way faith works.

Things happen in the realm you can't see first.

And then they show up in the realm you can't see first and then they show up in the realm you can see but just because you don't see anything

it doesn't mean that it didn't happen

if you'd have been standing there when Jesus spoke to the tree

and you could have examined it carefully

and then walked away and even hours, you'd have thought nothing happened.

But it did.

It did.

And when they saw it later that he had affected the outside and the tree was withered away,

Jesus took that as an opportunity to teach them about faith.

Now, if this is only something that he could do, there wouldn't have been anything to

teach them about, or us.

You know, when Peter had said, Lord, look there, that tree you spoke to, it's dried up.

Then Jesus would have said, yeah, boys, don't try this yourself.

Now, I'm the son of God, and my word carries weight, and I can do that.

But don't you be trying that?

And the way some people preach and talk, that's what he should have said.

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