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Sermon: Tell It to the Mountain printer-friendly MP4 The video from Tyler presentation of this sermon MP3-2019
by Chris Cumming 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. 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. 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.
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.” 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. 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 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. (episode where the disciples could
not cast out a demon) 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. 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 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 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 … 2] literally withdrawing themselves from it. 3] reflexively—by knee-jerk reaction withdrawing from it. 4] opposing the concept of having
Godly faith. me (may); a primary particle of
qualified negation.
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”.
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. 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 … –then, armed with these elements, be
in total [long-term] commitment to having the same faith as God has by
entrusting ourselves to Christ.
Verse 24 – “Believe that ye receive
them” [or believe that you already have them.] A present tense imperative [command
or instruction], calling for persistent, continuing faith.
~Wycliffe
Notice a commentary… 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.
Verse 24 – “…and ye shall have
them.”
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?
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 but 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.
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." 2] Justification for an action or a belief. 3] Something that provides assurance
or confirmation; a guarantee or proof.
Now we still have two verses to
cover in this profound message Jesus had for his disciples. 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.
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
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. 1 Corinthians 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 (Matthew 17:20—mustard seed verse,) as the highest kind of faith;
and Paul here had this fact doubtless in his eye.
–Barnes' Notes
Base Requirement: Immerse yourself
into the Word of God. 1] Say it—with the strongest faith,
conviction, boldness.
"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.
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we
have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 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.
Now I want to leave you with an end-of-the-sermon “zinger”.
Go back to verse 23 again and read
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: 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.
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. 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.
Believe these words and God forbid there be any doubt. And when others see your faithfulness and ask you how they can overcome insurmountable obstacles like you, say to them… “TELL IT TO THE MOUNTAIN” |
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