Untitled Sermon (3)

Name it and claim it? Or not?? Sermon

For years, in my Christian walk. I have had a few doctrines that I have heard preached, not from our church, but others. That are really hard to decern how to approach them.

But honestly, I think often we just don’t touch the hard topics. Because they are difficult.

One of these hard topics revolves around the Word of Faith theology. And if we read the scripture that they use to affirm their positions. It can be difficult to debate.

There are several verses that are used. But I think the number one passage that they use is Mark 11:22-25

And the ultimate question I want to ask is how correct are the people who teach kind of that Word of Faith theology.

And I also recognize, that within the whole Word of Faith camp, there's different sub camps.

I'm talking about the stuff that we who aren't in the camp, we tend to see promoted online. That's what I'm sort of trying to address.

If you are sitting here and really have no idea what I’m talking about. Some of the types of teachers I’m talking about are mostly found on the mainstream Christian TV channels. This is really a growing problem. Especially with the more financially challenged countries. Everyone loves to hear that God will give them what they want though.

At any rate, lets read Mark 11, starting at verse 21, where Peter sees the fig tree that Jesus has cursed and it's withered.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

And then this verse, which actually we should pay more attention to because it's even a more broad thing than what was in verse 23.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Lets read verse 24 again

 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

What ever we desire, we pray, we believe that we will receive it, and we will have it.

This sounds good to me……

This is the word of God. This is what it says. So it must be true. Right?

The answer is yes. But, like any scripture. We must weight this against the totality of God’s Word. We can’t simply take this one passage and build a full doctrine around it. Like so many teachers out there would like to do.

We must also consider who this is written to, when it was written, and the surrounding scriptures.

How do we apply this scripture to our lives

Before I start. I want to say, that yes. I 100% believe in the power of prayer. Which is what this scripture is referencing. The main theme that Jesus is teaching.

It is not meant for landscaping. How to move mountains. But speaks of the amazing power of God that we have access to through prayer, coupled with faith.

So, lets dig into the scripture. And find some relevant information to help us digest this.

In doing research on this scripture, I ran into a lot of different idea’s and way that people are looking at this. Some are wanting to connect the verse of casting the mountain into the sea, as a reference to the temple. And how the church’s prayers would be answered through the destruction of the temple. And, they use this to explain away the difficult scripture that follows in verse 24.

But I don’t think this is the right approach.

I believe that this is a broad statement. Speaking about the immense power of God. And that the language of the mountain being cast into the sea, is used as an example of God’s great power.

Others like to assume the will of God.

They will draw a line in the sand when it comes to things like, asking God for a race car. Or a billion dollars.

But they assume that it is God’s will we should always prosper in our jobs, relationships, finances, and always be in good health.

And you just have to believe God. Believe that God's giving you the things. And of course he will because God's will is just assumed.

And suffering then, what's implied is that suffering that you go through, especially health-wise, especially if you're sick, especially if you're ill, it's a lack of faith on your part or it's some sort of spiritual battle that you're going through or you're being attacked and you need to pray and just have more faith.

And then it might be related to sin in your life. But those are the only issues. It's never because it's God's will.

That's how they tend to use it. So that Jesus, when he says, anything you ask for believing, it's pretty much a blank check for prosperity, at least in some sense.

Maybe not super rich prosperity, but at least some measure of prosperity. That's what it ends up being about.

So, how do we approach this?

First, we're going to deal with Mark 11. We're going to look at this in context. Then we're going to expand out to the rest of the gospel of Mark.

And we'll see, especially Mark 14, there is a needed... counterpoint, a passage that is meant to provide the needed response to this bold teaching on prayer.

And we're going to get there in Mark 14, and then we're going to also expand into other areas of the New Testament.

Let's talk though about this passage in Mark. How do people interpret it? There are those who I mentioned, who would say that this mountain, the concept of it being this mountain, you can say to this mountain, be moved and cast into the sea, that it's about the temple specifically.

It's just about the Jerusalem temple. And there is a case that can be made for this. Let me offer some of those points. Jesus is predicting the destruction of the temple in Mark 11 to 13.

Much of this scripture is about the Jews, how they reject Jesus, and the destruction of the temple that comes as a result.

Also, the temple is on a mountain, right? Like, the temple mount. It's on a mountain. That also helps us suggest that maybe this temple refers to that.

So, some would offer. That this whole passage refers to the destruction of the temple. And the prayers of the faithful would cause that mountain to be cast into the sea. Also, implicating that this passage can not be used as a basis for today’s Christian.

There are some problems with this idea. There is no fact or other reference in the Bible that would suggest that this is a good conclusion. No where else does Jesus speak of the temple being thrown into the sea. And the fact is, it never was. But it was torn down.

It seems like an easy way to explain away a difficult passage.

I think that although difficult, it is applicable to our lives today.

In 1 Corinthians 13  

 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

Paul was obviously very familiar with the words of Jesus in Mark.

Here Paul uses the same idea of having the faith to remove mountains in much the same way we find that Jesus used it.

As an example of a strong faith, that in turn gives us access to God in a way that produces real results.

It’s a general truth about prayer. There is no way this passage can be tied to the destruction of the temple.

In ancient texts, they would often use the term “moving mountains” when refering to someone that spoke with great power. For example “The rabbi spoke with such power, that even the mountians moved”.

It’s a euphemism for the naturally impossible, or things that were feats that would be impossible for humans to do.

This is to show that it is God doing the great work through the prayer, and not the man.

The point of miracles is never to give glory to the person saying the prayer, but rather to God, who is doing the great work.

In Luke 17:6 we find another passage similar. Except now Jesus is speaking about a tree

6 “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.”

Again, a promise from Jesus. That faith produces great miracles through prayer.

The point being, it’s not about the mountain, or the tree. But about praying coupled with faith. And God doing the work. All glory going to Him.

And this is consistent in the Gospel of Mark in general. Jesus heals the paralytic. That's impossible and Jesus does it. Jesus heals the blind. That's only God can heal the blind and he does it.

And this is kind of a big deal in the first century context that he heals a blind man in particular.

In Mark 10, 25 through 27, he says that it's impossible for a rich man to get saved. Right? It's humanly impossible. But with God, all things are possible. That's the whole idea is that there's things we can't do that God can do.

And the teaching in Mark 11 is you can access those things through prayer by believing. Prayer accesses the power of God. You need faith. You must believe. That's what God wants on your part.

And part of this is beautiful because it means that prayer is relational. We think of faith as being like a work we have to perform. I have to believe. I just make myself believe.

But when we think of faith as a personal trust in God and his power and his goodness, you realize prayer is all about relationship.

And that is where we should “spin our wheels” and not on some of the stuff we see from other places. So, prayer is all about faith. Salvation itself is also all about faith.

Galatians 3.2-5, it shows that not only is salvation by faith, but prayer and miracles come by faith.

2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

It's not about how perfectly convinced you are. It's about you not earning it. So here, Galatians 3, 5.

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

You just believe. So, miracles, God doing wonderful, powerful things in your life, healing you of your sickness, answering prayer and moving mountains, so to speak.

These things come by you just believing. And, the emphasis on believing is you didn't work for it. You didn't earn it. You didn't do anything.  

Faith is weak. We often think faith is strong. Faith is powerful. Faith is this big giant deal that you're doing. But actually, I think in scripture, the emphasis is kind of the opposite.

The emphasis is that your faith is weak. That's why Jesus only asks for faith the size of a mustard seed. You could say the tree be removed and cast into the sea.

Why does he make your faith so small?

Because you just need to know that your faith is not you earning it. It's not you stirring it up. You're not pulling up some kind of supernatural power within you.

You're just trusting God. It's just faith is weak. Faith is you doing nothing except believing God and God doing everything. And that's how miracles are accessed.

It's about prayer. It's about your relationship with God. And it's about the nature of the church. And it's about suffering and pain and how that relates to our prayer life.

I would suggest to you that the whole prayer thing that Jesus is telling the disciples, it was not true prior to the cross.

It was true post-cross. And this is why he inserts this passage in the middle of talking about the destruction of the temple.

The destruction of the temple changes prayer from, pray to the temple, and the temple is your access to God, to Jesus is your access to God, You just pray straight to God.

It's moving from the old covenant to the new covenant. It's moving from the shadow to the reality. This is that pivotal shift.

The Jews in the first century would have understood this better. Their entire faith and access to God revolved around the temple.

Rabbi Eliezer said, quoting the Talmud, “Since the day the temple was destroyed, a wall of iron divides between Israel and their father in heaven.”

This is something we miss. The people of Israel understood at the time that the destruction of the temple was devastating to all their theology, to their access to God.

The Christians, the Messianic Jews, they knew that Jesus provided the new access to God, full and complete access to God.

In John 4:20, the woman at the well asked Jesus where should we worship?

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God wasn't ending prayer when he destroyed the temple. Here's the point. He was making a new and better way to pray through Christ. You pray in his name. And Jesus talks about this a lot of times in the Bible.

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But can we take the promise and expand it out so that it is about everything?

And the only issue is me believing.?

My belief is the only issue and then I will have miraculous prayers answered with a “yes.”

And I think that that is also a mistake. We'll come to there as we journey through the text. So what is the connection with the temple? I am acknowledging there is a connection.