Faithful Prayer and Forgiveness

Faithful Prayer and Forgiveness

Mark 11:12-25

January 15th, 2023

Reliance Fellowship

West Richland, WA

Greggory Deacon

1. Introduction/Context [Mark 11:1-11]

a. Last week we looked at the Triumphal Entry of Jesus.

i. Premeditated approach to the Temple

1. [v. 1-4] Jesus planned this. He knew about the Colt and how the disciples should go about preparing.

ii. Prophecy was Fulfilled

1. Zechariah 9:9 with the Colt. Jesus is going public with His ministry

iii. Praise Given

1. The people are singing praises to Jesus and declaring their allegiance to Him just as in Psalm 118.

b. The fascinating part was how Mark captures Jesus’ reaction.

i. [V.11] Jesus enters the temple, looks around, and leaves because it’s late.

ii. After this preparation, prophecy fulfilment and praise from the people, Jesus does the unexpected: He does nothing. That’s where we pick up our sermon text today.

2. Sermon Text

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

Scripture Continued Next Page v.20-25

20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

a. [Prepositional Statement] As we sit through this text this morning my hope is that we can see three things. Christ desires:

i. True Disciples that Function

ii. True Disciples that Repent from Failure

iii. True Disciples that Bear Fruit.

3. Prayer

a. Pray for our hearts to examine our brokenness as disciples and where we are useless in our faith.

b. Pray that God would graciously release us from these burdens as we pursue understanding of Jesus’ work at cleansing the temple.

c. Pray that we would be unified in our resolve as the community of believers to pray in faith, and to forgive one another.

4. True Disciples that Function

a. The Church functions with faithful prayer and forgiveness.

a. [V. 22-24] Faithful Prayer

i. Jesus is not saying that everything that you ask will be answered. He is saying that for those who have faith, rightly positioned towards God will have their prayers answered.

ii. Belief in God precedes and acknowledges that all things and all power comes from God.

b. [V. 25] Faithful forgiveness

i. This command is given so that we too may be forgiven by God.

Brick Illustration Next Page

b. [Illustration] Why do we hold onto things that don’t work or that have broken? Recently, I went to an old power drill I used to use only to remember that the motor was failing upon my first attempt. I had broken it years earlier, yet here I am, trying to use it even though it’s futile. I still have it, but I couldn’t tell you why. It doesn’t work! Why keep it?

The same goes for the time that Pastor Jacob, Pastor Adam, and I were cleaning out the storage area only to find a brick with a handle screwed into the side of it. Why on earth someone would do that is beyond me, but it makes it so much easier to hold the brick. I can carry it around without scuffing up my hands, I guess. However, because the brick has a handle on it now, it can’t even function as a brick properly! It’s not useful for any purpose, except maybe as a doorstop, but I kept it anyway. I thought I could use it as an ice breaker for the Youth Group or in this case, a sermon illustration.

The Youth are well versed in “the brick.” For our Youth white elephant party, I got another brick except this one had two handles on it! I guess it means I can carry it with two hands instead of one. It’s an upgrade.

Faithless prayer and forgive-less love do not function. They weigh us down. They’re like a broken drill or a brick with a handle. They’ll lead you to believe that they work, or they’ll just weigh you down and your burden will be greater.

c. [Application] If we believe in the Lord and in what He commands of us, we should see answered prayers. We should see our own forgiveness of others. Perhaps it isn’t as dramatic as commanding a mountain to be moved into the sea, but if our heart is set to believe the Lord Jesus, whatever we pray, will be answered. And if it’s answered in the way we didn’t expect or if it’s answered in the negative, we should still see God’s hand in shaping our hearts and desires to trust Jesus more deeply and not to depend on our own intuitions. Our intuitions are easily broken.

d. [Transition] We hold onto things that we break. We hold onto things that serve no purpose. Jesus knows this. He saw this when He entered the temple the previous day. But why give these commands to His disciples? Why faithful prayer and forgiveness?

True Disciples that Repent from Failure next page

5. True Disciples that Repent from Failure

a. Hunger

i. We’ve seen time and time again how the disciples failed to understand who Jesus is because of their hunger. [6:30-44] Feeding of 5,000, feeding of 4,000, forgetting to bring bread onto their boat.

ii. But this time Jesus uses His own hunger to show what will happen to those who do not repent from their failure and turn to Him.

b. Fig Tree Cursed [v. 12-14]

i. This is a precursor for the judgement placed on Israel and the false Temple worship.

ii. It doesn’t matter if the tree was in season or out of season. When Jesus is hungry for fruit, creation had better be ready to give it.

1. How much more for you and I?

c. Temple Cleansing [v. 15-19]

i. This is seen in the next scene where Jesus cleans the temple.

1. Overturns tables

2. Contrasts a house of prayer with a den of robbers.

ii. Why is He doing this?

1. Limiting access to Gentiles (house of prayer for “all nations”)

2. Commodifying worship

a. Selling Sacrifices to travelers.

3. This is the wrong function of the temple!

d. Fig Tree Withered [v. 20-21]

i. The disciples now see what happened to the fig tree after it was cursed. It was finished. Nothing else was left to ever bear fruit again.

ii. This is what happened to the Temple.

1. Soon it would be destroyed in 70 A.D. further fulfilling the meaning of this passage. No worship would happen here. Its roots were withered.

e. God’s Judgement

i. The temple is the fig tree.

ii. We see what happens when True Disciples do not perform their Function. They fail.

f. [Application] As True Disciples, we repent when we fail. How true is it when a brother or sister takes something that is supposed to be for God and corrupts it for their own self-interest. Why not confess that sin, and believe again that God will provide for you as He tells you He will in Matthew 6? [Matthew 6:19-24]. Your anxiousness for this world will corrupt your discipleship.

Pastor failure illustration next page

g. [Illustration] I’ve known the stories of pastors who have done this. In a church I was a member in for a brief time the newly installed pastor told me the history of the previous pastor. He had taken from the church’s finances, had an affair with the secretary while his wife had stage 4 cancer (twice), and even after being excommunicated had been found to be dealing drugs after a man overdosed at his home. No one is exempt.

h. [Transition]The root will wither in all of us who do not repent from our failure and begin bearing fruit for God.

6. Convictional Response: True Disciples Bear Fruit

a. What does this mean for Reliance Fellowship? In a world that worships and commodifies everything, what can the Christian expect from themselves, the church, and the Lord to pray faithfully and forgive?

b. Ourselves

i. When you pray, are they trivial prayers only? I don’t want to dismiss your aunt who is sick with cancer, but you too will pass away one day, unless the Lord returns. The intercession of our health is good, but don’t pray for health while neglecting prayer for the Spirit.

ii. Without a bone of legalism in my mind, I encourage you to spend your first and last moments of the day in prayer. Treat your toothbrush as an object of remembrance or an Ebenezer stone to remind you to pray in that moment. Don’t let the mundane capitalize on your faith but capitalize on the mundane to promote your faith in prayer.

iii. When I say the words “forgive him” or “forgive her,” who is the first person who comes to your mind? I wouldn’t treat that lightly. In whatever means you can, pursue that person fully in forgiveness, even if it is at your expense.

c. Church

i. Pray for one another! Not just in your small groups but in your homes as you fellowship with one another. The church is more expansive than this building yet:

1. It is also no less than our corporate gathering. Pray with us here. In this regular Sunday gathering and don’t neglect it.

ii. And when you gather, seek out the one you need reconciling to; especially if they are here. Even if it’s a minor offense, if it pricks your conscience, it needs addressed and if it hasn’t been addressed, please refrain from communion, and seek counsel from one of us: a trusted brother or sister in Christ.

d. The Lord

i. [Matthew 6:5-13] What greater example can there be of prayer in faith than the example given to us by the Lord Jesus?

ii. [Matthew 6:14-15] And what greater need for forgiveness?

Conclusion last page

7. Conclusion

a. A True Disciple will function with faithful prayer and forgiveness. As we close our time together this morning, examine your fruit! In your discipleship as member of the community of believers, do you function more as a brick with a handle, being weighed down and weighing others down, or are you a supporting brick resting on the foundation of Jesus Christ to build up His church? Let’s pray.

8. Prayer

a. Pray that we would find our faith in the Lord Jesus. That our prayers would to be trivial but would rest in faith that Jesus’ will accomplish what He wills through us.

b. Pray that we would be pricked in our consciences to forgive those who have wronged us. That we would be intentionally seeking reconciliation even at our expense.

c. That we would be found faithful. That God would give us regular habits with Him to prevent us from failing in faith and to give us repentance where we have fallen.