F is for faith and forgiveness
Gospel of Mark: Jesus a life to serve • Sermon • Submitted
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· 88 viewsImportant teaching on prayer where faith and forgiveness work together
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Forging forward
Forging forward
OK, staying with some “F’s” today, we are forging forward. Today looking at Faith, the object of our faith, the words of faith, the working of faith, the stumbling block of faith as related to prayer and forgiveness.
Forging forward from
Sunday, an entrance fit for the King (Mk11:1-11)
Monday, cleansing so not to be hindered in worship (Mk11:12-19)
Tuesday, that is where we are today and lets see what we learn from our passage as Jesus forges forward toward the cross.
there is a playbook that leads to faith, faith that leads to action, action entails prayer, prayers that can be hindered by unforgiveness, so may we look at our passage today and see what we can learn.
20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”
22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
A general observation.
Prayers must be offered up in faith (Mk11:23)
Prayers must be offered in expectation of answer (Mk11:24)
Prayers must be offered in love, which here means forgiveness (Mk11:25-26)
I want to focus on (vv.22-26) but can make a point or two of the other verses first.
The they, the apostles, passing by notice the fig tree is withered from the roots up. The Jewish roots were withering up because they were not of faith but of works, Jesus cursed the works (traditions) which replaced faith. Roots were the hidden part, we too can dry up on the inside if we are not of faith of working faith, not working for faith but from faith. We cannot wither if we are active in faith and our faith is coupled with prayers of faith.
Peter takes notice of the withered cursed fig tree, we too can notice when something that was alive and well at one time that no longer is. When things are not as they were. Our walk can become like that too can’t it? it can wither up. In this case it was drastic it was overnight this happen, but oftentimes the withering can take a period of time if we allow it to happen, so stay active in faith, stay active in prayer.
Object of faith
Object of faith
Faith is not subjective, it is objective and our object of faith is Jesus, and Jesus points out the object of faith in the passage (Mk11:22; Jn14:1)
Mk11:22
22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.
Jesus says this too
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
Our prayers must be offered up in faith, not subjective, but objective in God and in Jesus Christ. This is often not done or is abused believing everything in prayer is literal, or teaching about prayer is literal, or not taking all the different teachings on prayer and putting them together.
Working of faith
Working of faith
So there is an object of faith in prayer, then there is the working of faith in prayer.
Working faith is spoken (Mk11:23; Isa40:4; Isa49:11; Mt21:21-22)
23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
Interesting fact, maybe you know, maybe not, that the term “take up this mountain” was a common Jewish term, Jewish metaphor for doing what seems impossible. Here are some scriptures to consider
4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
and then there is
11 “I will make all My mountains a road, And My highways will be raised up.
So you can see these are both metaphorical sayings not literal sayings.
Now here is another
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
There is one of the Parallel passages of our story today, notice (v.22)
Working faith is believed (Mk11:24)
24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
God wants to give good gifts, wants to answer prayers when we ask with Godly motives (Mt7:11; Jm4:3; 1Jn5:14; Php4:19; Rom8:32; MK14:36)
11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
We ask in prayer, prayer that is from faith to the one who is the object of our faith.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
We have it answered when we ask with the right motives
and add to that
14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Right motives, not our motives, but His, for His will to be done.
By faith we ask, ask with right motives for His will knowing by faith He hears and will meet our needs
19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
We know God works all things for the good, but look at this verse
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Hey, the “anything” is anything in accordance to God’s will, not just anything we want.
Following Jesus prayer of faith, surrender to the Fathers will for then there is
Power of faith (v.24)
Power of faith (v.24)
The power of faith in action is prayer. And then walking in the truth of God’s Word.
24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
And then know it is not about God’s ability for He is able, nothing has changed there at all.
36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”
It is about God’s will.
Power in faithful prayer when we lack some faith, we can pray asking for help.
Pray while studying, hearing God’s Word (Rom10:17)
Want to grow faith, grow in the word
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Pray asking for increased faith (Mk9:24; Lk17:5)
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
Admit your unbelief asking for increased belief (faith)
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Ask for increased faith!
Pray without doubt with expectation (Jm1:6-7)
Pray with the faith that you have with expectation
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
We need the faith of a mustard seed and from there God can do anything.
While faith is vital in prayer, so is a heart of forgiveness
Forgiveness and prayer
Forgiveness and prayer
As you pray, forgive, for there is freedom in forgiveness, but it is also a command to obey too as Jesus has taught time and time again.
25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
What are we to do (v.25)?
What are the results if we do or do not do (v.26)?
We have some time today so let’s look at some forgiveness passages
In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt5:7; Mt6:12-15)
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
mercy is a form of forgiveness is it not?
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Forgiveness that is innumerable (Mt18:21-22)
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
In parables (Mt18:23-25)
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
In the sermon on the plain (Lk6:37)
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
In teaching about prayer (Lk11:4)
4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
In teaching to forgive (Lk17:3-4)
3 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
Forgiving heart passages, forgiving spirit
Jesus on the cross (Lk23:34)
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
Stephen when being stoned (Act7:59-60)
59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.
Paul when abandoned (2Tim4:16)
16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.
Developing a forgiving Spirit
By focusing on God’s love (Rom5:8; 1Jn4:10-11)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
and then
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
By remembering Christ’s willingness and forgiveness (1Jn3:16; Lk23:34)
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
We lay down our lives by our prayers in faith with a heart of forgiveness.
May we be people of faith, forgiveness
Faith: believing and asking in accordance to God’s will, and know that God does not answer the doubters (Jm1:6-8)
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Forgiveness: Unless we forgive, God will not forgive (1Pt3:12)
Faithful prayers have fantastic
aithful prayers have fantastic \\\\\\
12 “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears attend to their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
May we know and apply when it comes to faith and forgiveness, it is a challenge, but it is eternally worth it.
(Prayer)