Sermon:  Tell It to the Mountain     back to main sermon page

by Chris Cumming

Intro:  In Mark 10:32 we pick up the story of Jesus Christ returning with the disciples to Jerusalem for the last time.  We were approaching the time of the crucifixion.

At the beginning of Chapter 11, we see Jesus entering into Jerusalem.  Verse 1 says…

And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples. 

He tells them to find a tied up colt and to bring it to Him.  He then enters into the city as many spread their garments and branches of trees (palms) and put them in His path saying, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

We pick up the story in verse 11 of chapter 11:
 

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

In verses 15-19 we read of Jesus entering into the Temple and seeing the moneychangers and sending them from the House of Prayer.  Then in verse 20 we read…
 

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.  Now verse 22…
 

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

…And here begins a most profound lesson from our Lord and Master Jesus Christ that today continues to rock His church at its very foundation with its truth and admonition and profound encouragement.

The lesson is stated in the four verses that follow…
 

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.

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.

Today we are going to immerse ourselves into this Lesson, as I encourage all of us to HAVE FAITH IN GOD.  There is so much in these 4 verses that it can scarcely be contained in one sermon.

Therefore I will touch briefly on some of the elements contained herein with a special focus on the five-word phrase in verse 24 that follows “when ye pray”, “believe that ye receive them.”

How does one do that?  The meaning here is that you are to believe that you have ALREADY received them…those things you have asked for.  If it is an item, we are to act as if it is already in our possession.  If it is an action, we are to act as if it has already taken place.

Let us immerse ourselves into these scriptures and glean their deep meaning for us in having Faith in God.

First let us read verses 22-24 from a couple of other translations.  First from the Living Bible:
 

22 In reply Jesus said to the disciples, "If you only have faith in God-this is the absolute truth-you can say to this Mount of Olives, 'Rise up and fall into the Mediterranean,' and your command will be obeyed. All that's required is that you really believe and have no doubt! 24 Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you have it; it's yours!

From the Revised Standard Version:
 

22 And Jesus answered 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 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.

Now let us look at some specific elements of the text.  This is where we immerse ourselves into the Word of God.  For this, keep your Bible open here to Mark 11:22.

Verse 22 – “Have Faith in God”
 

Verse 22. [Have faith in God] Literally, "Have the faith of God." This may mean, have strong faith, or have confidence in God; a strong belief that he is able to accomplish things that appear most difficult with infinite ease, as the fig-tree was made to wither away by a word. –Barnes’ Notes

The meaning here is profound.  Our faith must transcend the idea of God giving us a measure of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit by having us see the situation through God’s eyes and mind.  This is how you “Have the Faith of God”.  Your confidence must approach the confidence He has.  After all, God, through Christ is our example.  We are to be like Christ and like God.  This is what Jesus is saying in verse 22.

Another commentary says…

Mark 11:22

[Have faith in God.] Echete (NT:2192) pistin (NT:4102) Theou (NT:2316) is a mere Hebraism: have the faith of God, i.e. have strong faith, or the strongest faith. –Adam Clark
 

Jesus is uttering this admonition in the strongest terms the Greek language will allow.  “…The Strongest Faith.”

Verse 23 – Casting the Mountain into the Sea.

from the Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary…

Here is the lesson now. From the nature of the case supposed---that they might wish a mountain removed and cast into the sea,-- a thing far removed from anything which they could be thought actually to desire-it is plain that not physical but moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom were in the Redeemer's view, and that what He designed to teach was the great lesson, that no obstacle should be able to stand before a confiding faith in God.

The commentary is stating that more than actually moving physical mountains, Jesus is talking about moral obstacles to our progress in the Salvation Process.  After all, this is a guidebook to the Salvation Process.  Jesus uses the mountain as a physical image of insurmountable obstacles or trials. 

What are our greatest obstacles in the Salvation Process?  This is easy…SIN.  Sin can seem like an insurmountable obstacle, but with the faith of God, we can cast our sins into the abyss of the sea.  I will show this to you graphically later.

He uses this image at a different time in Matthew 17… 

(episode where the disciples could not cast out a demon)

Matt 17:20---keep your place in Mark 11

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Oh Oh…did I just find a biblical contradiction?  After all, we just pointed out that Mark 11:22 that it is speaking about the “strongest faith”.  This verse seems to be saying that our faith need only be as the smallest seed in the world, a mustard seed.  What gives?  Notice the commentary…

Matt 17:20

[As a grain of mustard-seed] The mustard-seed was the smallest of all seeds. It has been supposed by some, therefore, that he meant to say, If you have the smallest or feeblest faith that is genuine, you can do all things. The mustard-seed produced the largest of all herbs. It has been supposed by others, therefore, to mean, If you have increasing, expanding, enlarged faith, growing and strengthening from small beginnings, you can perform the most difficult undertaking. There is a principle of vitality in the grain of seed stretching forward to great results, which illustrates the nature of faith. Your faith should be like that. This is probably the true meaning.

[Ye shall say unto this mountain ...] Probably he pointed to a mountain near, to assure them that if they had such faith they might accomplish the most difficult undertakings-things that at first would appear impossible.

(from Barnes' Notes)
 
Verse 23 – “…and shall not doubt”
 

This is the counter phrase to “Have faith in God” in verse 22. It consists of two key words, “not” and “doubt” and as you are about to see, they carry the same strength and depth as “Have faith in God”…”the strongest faith”.  Notice this from Strong’s Concordance

NT:1252---Doubt

diakrino (dee-ak-ree'-no); to separate thoroughly, i.e. (literally and reflexively) to withdraw from, or (by implication) oppose; figuratively, to discriminate (by implication, decide), or (reflexively) hesitate:

Now key this to the meaning of “Have faith in God” as the strongest kind of faith---the faith that God, Himself has.  If one doubts this kind of faith, he or she is …

1] separating themselves from it thoroughly.

2] literally withdrawing themselves from it.

3] reflexively—by knee-jerk reaction withdrawing from it.

4] opposing the concept of having Godly faith.
5] reflexively hesitating from this most powerful faith.

This is the strongest kind of doubt.  Jesus is saying to have the strongest kind of faith and not to have this strongest kind of doubt.  One cannot exist in us if we have any part of the other.  He confirms this with the word “not” as in “and shall not doubt”.

NT:3361 --- not

me (may); a primary particle of qualified negation. 

Rather than being a root word or holding one of the primary meanings, this particular word “not” is special and carries specific, strong meaning.  Some of the uses of the word are to say…

1] any but that.         Anything but that kind of doubt.

2] God forbid + never.  God forbid that we ever consider this kind of doubt.

3] un-taken.   Nothing about this word “doubt” is taken into our minds.

4] without.  As in we have God’s faith “without” any of the elements of the word “doubt”.

Side note:  The word “not” is used 2,063 times in the New Testament and has 37 separate and distinct meanings.  Jesus chose this one well.

We are to fill our being with the same faith God has and forbid any aspect of this strong word doubt.  The two are totally separate.  We have only the faith of God in our heart.

Verse 23 – “but shall believe”

As if we did not have enough contrast and meaning between, “Have faith in God” and “shall not doubt”, Jesus adds this phrase…”but shall believe”.  Is He merely repeating Himself for emphasis OR is there a deeper message here; another element that will insure we get to this place of actually having the same faith as God?  Again, we go to the Greek…
 

Now if you are familiar with the study of language, lots of words derive or originate from other words.  To get the full impact of what Jesus is saying in this phrase, “shall believe”, we have to look at a string of 3 words, each one meaning “believe”, but each one having its own special meaning and the three combined to show what Jesus is saying.

The phrase “shall believe” is Strong’s word 4100.  It derives from word 4102 and that word originates in the primary verb, word 3982.  I will start with this primary verb, “believe” and come forward to what you read here in verse 23.

NT:3982---believe by being convinced

peitho (pi'-tho); a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); reflexively assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty):

NT:4102---believe by persuasion of and total reliance on Christ

pistis (pis'-tis); persuasion or moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; ---constancy in such profession or steadiness in Gospel truth.

NT:4100---believe by total commitment

pisteuo (pist-yoo'-o); to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), to entrust one's spiritual well-being to Christ):

So Jesus is saying in this one phrase, “but shall believe” that …
–we are to have the same faith as God by being fully convinced of these words of Jesus in Mark 11 to an inward certainty.
–we are to be fully persuaded by these words of Jesus and put total reliance on Him.

–then, armed with these elements, be in total [long-term] commitment to having the same faith as God has by entrusting ourselves to Christ.
 
Christ is our example.  HE HAS THE SAME FAITH AS HIS FATHER.  We are to have that same faith.

Verse 24 – “Believe that ye receive them” [or believe that you already have them.]

“Believe” ---Same word 4100 from verse 23-total commitment

A present tense imperative [command or instruction], calling for persistent, continuing faith.  –Wycliffe

“Ye receive”
NT:2983 lambano (lam-ban'-o); to get hold of   (picture this in your mind)

KJV - receive,  take (away, up), accept, + be amazed.

Notice a commentary…

Mark 11:24

Receive. Superior manuscript evidence favors the aorist tense [expressing action] - you did receive. In other words, we are to keep on believing that God has already given us our request. –Wycliffe

This is one of the most intriguing parts of this whole passage.  Jesus is giving us strong encouragement, if not an outright command to totally commit to what He is saying here.  He wants us to receive the things we desire BEFORE He even gives them to us.  That is, He wants us to mentally, emotionally and spiritually “take hold” of the item or action before we see it physically. 

The two words, “Ye receive” even show us what our attitude is to be.  The words carry with it the instruction to “accept” the item and then to “be AMAZED.”  One has to have the same faith as God, the Father to reflexively have this attitude and response.

Verse 24 – “…and ye shall have them.”

This is the promise of the verse.  This is God’s side of the agreement, if we do ours.  As we all know, one can boldly claim any promise of God.

Isn’t it interesting that the Work of God in this modern age began with what we read here?  How many remember the healing of Loma Armstrong in the months after Herbert Armstrong began proving the Sabbath?

A man and wife came to pray with Loma and Herbert Armstrong.  First, the man read through several scriptures on Faith.  Perchance did he read to him from Mark 11?  I am almost sure he did.  Let me quote the Autobiography:

By this time I had become sufficiently familiar with the Bible to recognize every passage he read -- only I had never thought of these Biblical statements and promises and admonitions in this particular light before.

As these answers continued coming from the Bible, I began to understand, and to BELIEVE -- and I knew the same assurance was forming in Mrs. Armstrong's mind.

…then you read…

This man actually dared to talk directly to God, and to tell God what He had PROMISED to do! He quoted the promises of God to heal. He applied them to my wife. He literally held God to what he had promised! It was not because we, as mortal humans, deserved what he asked, but through the merits of Jesus Christ, and according to God's great mercy.

He merely claimed God's PROMISE to heal. He asked God to heal her completely, from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.

"You have promised," he said to God, "and you have given us the right to hold you to your promise to heal by the power of your mighty Holy Spirit. I hold you to that promise! We expect to have the answer!"

Never had I heard anyone talk like that to God!  (end quote)
 

I cannot help be see that this modern-day Work of God began in this most profound message, encouragement and commanding truth of God.  This very Work of God was founded on the precept that we have the very Faith of God and not one molecule of doubt.

In verses 22-24 we have been looking at specific phrases all the way through.  Right now I want to read a commentary that speaks to the whole three-verse passage.  This from the Matthew Henry commentary

Christ teacheth them from hence to pray in faith (v. 22); Have faith in God. They admired the power of Christ's word of command; "Why," said Christ, "a lively active faith would put as great a power into your prayers, v. 23, 24. Whosoever shall say to this mountain, this mount of Olives, Be removed, and be cast into the sea; if he has but any word of God, general or particular, to build his faith upon, and if he shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith, according to the warrant he has from what God hath said, shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith." Through the strength and power of God in Christ, the greatest difficulty shall be got over, and the thing shall be effected. And therefore (v. 24), "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye shall receive them; nay, believe that ye do receive them, and he that has power to give them, saith, Ye shall have them. I say unto you, Ye shall, v. 24. Verily I say unto you, Ye shall," v. 23.

Let me repeat a sentence from that commentary: “, but shall believe that those things which he saith, according to the warrant he has from what God hath said, shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith."

What is a “warrant from God?”

1] Authorization or certification; sanction, as given by a superior.  “sanction” here means authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid.

2] Justification for an action or a belief.

3] Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof.

Do you see the absolute and highest level of faith AND promise being uttered here by Christ.  When we pray for something, we have a “warrant” from Almighty God…Authorization, approval, justification and a guarantee that WE HAVE IT…ALREADY.

The other day I ordered something over the Internet and they sent me a confirmation of the transaction.  The item I desired and ordered was ALREADY MINE.  This is the way God thinks and it is the way we are to think and pray and do.

Now we still have two verses to cover in this profound message Jesus had for his disciples.

In the first 3 verses [22-24], Jesus has told us that we must have the very faith of God---absolutely convicted and convinced in our faith, knowing that whatever we ask is already there by “warrant or guarantee of God” BUT THEN He puts a major condition on everything.  Of all the things He could require of us [besides having absolutely no doubt], He speaks to a requirement of Forgiveness of ANYBODY we have aught against.  Notice verses 25 and 26:

Mark 11:25-26

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.

We have actually two requirements here…repentance and forgiveness.  We must repent of our sins and we must forgive anyone we are having a problem with or who might be against us. 

David was a man after God’s own heart because he was a repentant man.  He also had the unshakable faith of God as we will see shortly.  What David had above all things was Relationship with Almighty God. 

This whole passage is about praying—contact and relationship with God.  To have the same faith as God the Father, we must be in close relationship with Him.  Verses 25 and 26 are the Deal Breaker…the things that would make having His faith impossible.  Our sins must be forgiven and we must forgive those against us and who we do not especially like.  Notice the commentary…

Mark 11:25-26---breaking into the long commentary

The point here is that a disciple cannot pray effectively if an unforgiving spirit has broken his fellowship with God.

(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary)

Isn’t this interesting…we cannot overcome great obstacles, such as sin and cast them into the sea unless we forgive those we are at odds with.

Side point here: Verses 25 and 26 use the word “trespass” and many think this to only mean sin but it also means “fault”, “offence” and “unintentional error”.  We often have aught against our brother because of his or her faults, offences or errors.  This is primarily what we are forgiving our brothers and sisters in the faith for.  We rarely know or actually see their sins.

Now I want to go back for a moment to the Matthew Henry Commentary on verses 22-24 for something I did not read, because it relates directly to this forgiving of our brothers and therefore allowing us the guarantee from God to have whatsoever we desire and having that same faith as God.

To that faith of miracles which the apostles and first preachers of the gospel were endued with, which did wonders in things natural, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out devils; these were, in effect, the removing of mountains. The apostles speak of a faith which would do that, and yet might be found where holy love was not, 1 Cor 13:2 and therefore be void.

1 Cor 13:2

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.

Now notice the commentary on this…
 

1 Cor 13:2

[And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains] Though I should have the highest kind of faith. This is referred to by the Saviour (Matt 17:20—mustard seed verse,) as the highest kind of faith; and Paul here had this fact doubtless in his eye. –Barnes' Notes

This verse confirms it.  Even if it were so possible for us to have this power to remove mountains into the sea…that is, to have the same faith as God, the Father, it would mean nothing without love…compassion…forgiveness and being at peace with your brother.  INDEED, if you are having aught with your brother…cast that stuff into the sea.

There is limitless strength in these verses.  Jesus is using the strongest terms He can find.  He is asking for absolute strength to be applied through the power of the Holy Spirit.  That same strength will need to be applied to your prayers, meditation and internalization of this great truth from our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As I stated earlier, the Work of God in this modern age began with these verses.  Isn’t it interesting that Jesus saved this profound message for the disciples just before He died and they started their Work?

Now we get down to it…HOW DO I ATTAIN THE SAME FAITH GOD, THE FATHER HAS?
 

Base Requirement:  Immerse yourself into the Word of God.

I have given whole sermons on this one base requirement.  The Word of God is the mind of God.  Mark 11:22-26 is all about having the very same faith as God, the Father.  That is one aspect or element of His mind.  That faith is clearly expounded and exampled in the Word of God.

So immerse yourself in the Word of God and develop the mind of God.

Action Steps:

Say it --- Believe it --- Cast out all doubt --- Forgive
 

1] Say it—with the strongest faith, conviction, boldness.

Let us focus on this word “boldness” for a second.  Notice the Bible dictionary definition…

"Confidence," "fearlessness,” This was one of the results of discipleship.  It was a necessary qualification for the work assigned them. They were not only subject to violent persecutions, but also were the constant subject of ridicule and contempt.  [sometimes from within].  Notice some verses…

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:29

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Acts 4:31

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Eph 3:12

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

The man that healed Mrs. Armstrong gave thanks for the healing BEFORE it took place.  He was “living” this lesson of Jesus Christ.  He was bold.

2] Believe it --- This is a process that will take countless hours of meditation--- an ongoing process of meditation.  You are going to have to put yourself into the mind of God
 

Prayer is when we are talking to God.  Meditation is, essentially when He is “talking” to us…imparting wisdom, knowledge, truth and understanding.  It is in meditation that we will attain this highest level of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

3] Cast out all doubt—displace it with the mind of God.

4] Forgive – Be at peace with everyone.  Avoid strife.
 

Now I want to leave you with an end-of-the-sermon “zinger”.

Go back to verse 23 again and read

That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt.

As with most Greek and Hebrews words, there are meanings and then renderings or how the word is translated or used in a sentence.

NT:142---------Be thou removed

airo (ah'-ee-ro); a primary root; to lift up; by implication, to take up or away; figuratively, to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind), specially, to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Hebraism [compare NT:5375] to expiate sin:

This shows in its meaning that “be thou removed” is speaking to the expiating or atoning of sin.  Notice the linkage of this meaning to Micah 7 beginning in verse 18…

Mic 7:18-19

18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Now get this, as I go through the renderings of airo (ah'-ee-ro):

KJV - away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

So imagine for a moment that the mountain in front of you had a mind and could talk.  Don’t you think it would declare its authority and validity simply because it was there and had been there since the beginning of time?  Yet by the boldness of your speaking to the mountain and saying to it, “be thou removed” it begins to doubt the purpose of its own existence.  So much so that it actually pulls up roots and jumps into the ocean.

Isn’t this what happened when David met Goliath in the Shephelah or valley between the two armies?  David is the epitome of Mark 11: 22-26.   He had unshakeable faith in God, even when he was young.  When He finds out about Goliath standing in the Shephelah and speaking against God and Israel, he shouts, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  He then RUNS to the Shephelah and faces his “insurmountable mountain” and says, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts!” He then slays him with one shot of a sling.  Then what happens?

1 Sam 17:51

 And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.  One commentary says they were panic-stricken.  Another says they were terrified.  David had filled them with doubt.  Israel then routs them, despite the fact the Philistines had the better army with armor and iron weapons.

So there you have it.  Have the same faith as God the Father.

Come before the throne of God in boldness, being totally convinced of these words of Jesus Christ.

Believe these words and God forbid there be any doubt.