The Yuba-Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by Pastor Don Fortner
of Danville, Kentucky. For information about how to
obtain a copy of this sermon, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. And now, here is Pastor Don Fortner. In Mark 11, verse 22, where our
Lord Jesus speaks to his disciples, to you and to me, and says, have
faith in God. Faith, true faith in God, is
that which distinguishes true believers from mere religious
men and women. Religious people have religious
exercises and religious practices, religious creeds and religious
customs. Believers are men and women who have faith in God. Let's read Mark chapter 11, verses
20 through 26 together. As we do, I want to call your
attention to three very important lessons that our Lord here teaches
us. but they are very important lessons
which are commonly overlooked by us. So listen carefully as
we go through this portion of scripture. Our happiness and
peace, as well as our usefulness to one another and to the cause
of Christ in this world, greatly depends on how well we learn
these three lessons. Here's the first one. Faith in
God is essential. Look at verse 20. Now in the
morning as they passed by, They saw the fig tree dried up from
the roots. And Peter, calling to remembrance,
kind of smart to remember what God does, try to bear in mind
the special providences of God. Peter, calling to remembrance,
saith unto him, Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursed
yesterday is withered away. And Jesus answering said unto
them, have faith in God. 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 when the master
said to Peter, have faith in God, he was reminding him and
us of the lesson taught in the barren fig tree. Peter seemed
a little surprised. He walked by, and as they walked
by, they saw that fig tree withered from its roots. And just yesterday,
it appeared to have all the signs and tapestry of life. It was
full of leaves, but it was barren. It had no fruit. And so the Lord
cursed the fig tree, and now the next day it's withered up.
The leaves are all gone. It's utterly dead. The Lord Jesus
here declares that all men shall likewise perish without true
faith in the Lord God. It is not just faith that's essential. All men have some kind of faith.
They have faith in themselves, they have faith in the world,
faith in their abilities, faith in the material things of this
world, or they have faith in Buddha or Allah or some stump
or something of the kind. That's not enough. It's not enough
that men have faith in their imaginations concerning God.
It is not enough that we have faith in our faith. We must have
true faith in the true and living God as he is revealed in Holy
Scripture. Otherwise, we're going to perish.
And our religion is like the religion that was represented
in this fig tree, all show, with no substance. All outward form
and all those things that impress men, but with no reality of life
within, and therefore no fruit unto God. We must believe God,
that's essential. We must believe God as He is
revealed in Holy Scripture, in the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I stress this, because most people
in our day, they have Bibles in their hands, they don't read
them much, but they've got them. They carry them to church, and once
in a while, preach or preach, and act like he's kindly preaching from
it. But they get a notion about God, and they get their silly
ideas about God. Somehow he's sort of like some
imaginary thing, a little better than us, but then again, a little
weaker than us. Somehow fickle and changeable.
Now, the God of Holy Scripture, He is God who is just and true
and must punish sin. He is God who sits upon the throne
of the universe and governs everything. Everything. Absolutely. Everything
that is, has been, or shall have to be, comes from Him, is brought
to pass by Him, and shall resound, redound to His glory when it's
over. It's going back to Him. The God of Holy Scripture is
God in the triunity of His persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And this true and living God is revealed in the person and
work of Jesus Christ by his substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf at Calvary. The Lord God has made himself
known to sinners by this work of Jesus Christ, the incarnate
God, in whom resides all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now believers must have faith
in God. And then believers are people
who live by faith. Live by faith in Jesus Christ,
who is God, our Savior. Jesus Christ is not just a man.
He's more than a man. He's the God-man. He's not just
a representative of God, an agent of God, a revelation of God.
He is God. That man who is our Savior is
himself God Almighty, or we have no Savior. It is written again
and again in Holy Scripture, the just shall live by faith. Now that's repeated throughout
the scriptures. The just shall live by faith. That does not mean the just shall
come to a position and a spot in time where they come to believe
on the Lord Jesus and then go on with their lives. Faith in
Christ is much more than a mere isolated act of life. Faith in
Christ is much more than just a creed, a confession of faith,
or a religious ceremony. Faith in Christ is not only that
event in life, when we come to believe on Him, but it is that
continual attitude of life by which believers walk before God,
trusting Jesus Christ. The just shall live by faith. The book of God never says he
that believed shall be saved. It says he that believeth on
the Son of God hath everlasting life. That is to say, buddy,
those who by God's grace at some point in time are given faith
and come to believe him and continue believing him and believing him
and believing him and believing him, they have eternal life.
Those whose religion is traced back to yesterday. Whose religion
is altogether in things yesterday. Whose religion is a historical
thing. Their faith is not the faith of God's elect. Believers
are men and women who live by faith. Initially, our faith in
Christ is simply the matter of trusting Christ alone as our
Lord and Savior. That is, we look to Him as helpless,
guilty sinners. We come to Him acknowledging
that we are guilty before God and helpless in ourselves to
change ourselves. Utterly incapable of putting away our sins. Utterly
incapable of making ourselves righteous. Utterly incapable
of giving ourselves life. We come to Him and we trust Him.
Jesus Christ. We trust Him for all wisdom before
God, because we don't have any. We trust Him as our righteousness
before God, because we can't perform any. We trust Him as
our sanctification. He alone can make us holy in
the presence and sight of God Almighty. He alone can give us
a holy nature and present us wholly unblameable and unreprovable
in the last day. And we trust Him alone as our
redemption. He alone paid the price for the
atonement of our sins. He alone delivered us from the
bondage of sin and corruption and death, and He alone shall
raise us up in resurrection glory. So we look to Christ. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption, everything is
in Him. But faith is more than that. True faith is trusting
Christ to save me, but it's also trusting Christ to rule me, protect
me, provide for me. to do all things needful for
me, according to his own infinite wisdom, goodness, and grace for
all time and eternity. It's more than trusting him for
me. It's trusting him, period. We pray with earnestness, I hope,
for one another, for our sons and daughters in this assembly,
many of whom are yet without faith in Christ. But let us never,
never, never get the notion in our heads that somehow these
things are not also matters of faith. We trust Christ our God
and Savior to do what is right, even with our dearest kin and
our most prized, prized relationships. And he does what's right. It's
what faith is. Faith is trusting Him. It's not,
it's not picking out this, I'll trust Him here, but now here,
I'll take care of that. I'll trust Him there, but over
here, I'm going to have to have somebody else to lean on. Oh,
no. No, no. Faith in Christ is trust in Christ. Now, I realize
that no man, no woman has perfect faith. There's no such thing
as a human being walking on this earth who believes in his heart
without a doubt. There's not such a thing. Not
you, not me, not anybody else. Not while we walk on this earth.
But believers grow in faith, trusting the Son of God. If we
would know the true meaning and the true value of faith, we ought
to read often and study with great care the 11th chapter of
Hebrews. I was reading this just a little
while ago before anybody else came over. The scripture tells
us that by faith the elders obtained a good report. The report we
have of men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The report we have
of Enoch who walked with God. The report we have of our faithful
patriarch Job. The report we have of Abel who
offered a more noble sacrifice than Cain. They all obtained
a good report by faith. They lived by faith. They walked
in faith. They died in faith. By it they
obtained a good report. The scripture tells us that he
that cometh to God, he that cometh to God, I would now come to him. He that
cometh to God, not he who comes, or he who has come, but he that
cometh continually, cometh to God, must believe that he is,
and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Now our Lord in this passage of scripture used a proverbial
saying in the 24th verse to describe the great power of faith. He
tells us that if a man says to 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. Now understand, this
is a proverbial saying. This proverbial statement, the
Apostle Paul said, if I had faith so that I could remove mountains
and have not love, it profits me nothing. So it's a proverbial
statement. But this proverbial statement about removing mountains
must be interpreted with caution and sobriety, particularly in
this day of religious nuts. These health, wealth, prosperity
folks, you know, they they've been taught by the preachers
they listen to, especially on radio and so forth. They they
watch them on TV and these preachers tell them now. Now, now, if you
want a million dollars, if you want a million dollars, If you
want to heal, heal your bank account, heal your marriage,
and heal your body. You want everything just going rosy and
hunky-dory. If that's what you want, just
believe God. And in order to show that you
believe God, send me all your money and he'll give you some more.
Now, that is not what our Lord is talking about here. Nothing
could be further from the teaching of Holy Scripture. Our Lord's
statement is not a blanket promise that God will do anything we
take a notion for Him to do, so long as we have enough faith,
so long as we believe perfectly, without a doubt in our hearts.
The fact is, as I said earlier, no man has that kind of perfect
faith. Well, what is our Lord telling us? He's telling us that
true faith in God enables those who believe God. to overcome
great obstacles, accomplish great things, and triumph in great
difficulties. Child of God, in your woe, in
your heartache, in your trouble, in your misery, in the trials
and temptations you have, You don't need more pills to
keep you calmed down. You don't need something to pep
you up. You don't need some pagan psychiatrist
to tell you, you know, your problems back yonder the way your mama
and daddy treated you when you were six years old. I'll tell you what
you need. You need to have faith in God. Believe God. Believe. Oh God help me to honor
him by believing him. Believe God. A preacher, you
mean that'll move this mountain? Oh yeah, that'll move this mountain. One way or the other, that'll
move this mountain. You mean that'll get us over
this hurdle? Oh yeah, one way or the other, one way or the
other. You mean that'll overcome this difficulty? I guarantee
it. Believe God and the mountain
shall be leveled before you. Do you want to grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you want to be strong
and valiant for him in this world? Do you desire to grow in spiritual
maturity, believe in God? If you do, pray for more faith. I think we could do no better
in our prayers, in seeking anything from God, than to pray that God
would give us greater hope, greater faith, and greater love. We can
do no better. Pray that God will give you more
faith. Nurture the faith God has given you. Jealously guard
it and nurture it with the bread of life in the house of God.
Water it with prayer and exercise it. And I'll tell you how to
exercise it. By consecration to Christ. No, you're not going to turn
me aside. No, no, you're not going to keep
me from what I know is right. No, no, you're not going to keep
me from the worship of God and the house of God and the family
of God. No, no, I'm going to give myself
to Christ alone. And as you consecrate yourself
continually to God, exercise in faith, thus the believer by
God's grace grows in faith, in grace and in the knowledge of
Christ. Blessed are those who rest the whole weight of all
things upon their covenant, faithful God and Father. There is no possibility
of a more peaceful, more happy, more blessed life than a life
of faith in God. He that believeth, the scripture
says, shall not make haste. ever get in a position where
that you're just pressed. I've got to do something. I've
got to do something. The best thing is not to do anything. No. No, he that believeth shall
not make haste. I can't tell you how many times
as a pastor and preacher, both here and other places around
the world, people come to me and say, you've got to do something.
No. The best thing to do is just
wait. The best thing to do is just sit back and wait. Believe
God. He'll take care of it. You'll
take care of it. And He always has, one way or the other. He
that believeth shall not make haste. Now then, secondly, look
at verse 24. Faith, true faith in God is essential. Secondly, the prayer of faith
is effectual. Therefore, our Lord is now referring
to exactly what He's been talking about. Therefore, I say unto
you, what things soever you desire when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you shall have them. Now again, I remind you
that prayer is not a blank check waiting for you to fill in the
amount, whatever it is you want. That's not what I was talking
about here. I know that carnal minds think that way, but prayer
is primarily a spiritual exercise. It primarily concerns spiritual
matters. It is not something that is carnal. It is not about carnal matters.
I do not suggest that prayer has nothing to do with carnal
things, not at all. It has everything to do with
carnal things, both our health, and our bank accounts, and our
food on our table, and our relationships. It has everything to do with
everything carnal. But for the believer, his carnal
things are spiritual things. because the believer has turned
his carnal things over to the dominion of Christ. That makes
him spiritual. So that all that concerns me,
whether we're talking about my physical health, or we're talking
about my daily bread, or we're talking about my relationship
with my wife, or we're talking about my daughter and son-in-law
or this grandchild that's coming, all that concerns me is spiritual,
and we turn it over to the Son of God. So when our Lord tells
us here that when we pray in faith, We shall have whatever
it is that we desire from God. He is simply reinforcing what
he taught in Matthew chapter 6. I want you to turn there for
a minute. Matthew chapter 6. Here in verses 9 through 13,
our Lord gives us the model prayer. He teaches us how to pray. I don't pretend to know a great
deal about prayer. I've got all kinds of books on
prayer. I've read a lot of books on prayer. And Frankly, most
what I've read on prayer doesn't say much about prayer. It says
a whole lot about introspection and self-righteousness, doesn't
say much about prayer. But essentially, these are the things for which
believers pray. In all our petitions before God,
these are the things we want with all relations, in all our
carnal things. Whether you're talking about
my health or yours, whether you're talking about my safety or yours,
you pray for me as I We get on that plane, Shelby and I get
on that plane Thursday morning, you all be praying for us, praying for
God to give us safety. But there's a catch, there's a catch. You
pray for God's blessings on the ministry, but there's a catch.
We pray that God will cause His word to prosper, but there's
a catch. We pray that God will save our sons and daughters,
but there's a catch, there's a catch. You take your wife or
your husband to the doctor and you find out that they've got
cancer. And the doctor says, about over,
they're gonna die. And you come home and you plead
with God, have mercy. But there's a catch, there's
a catch. Because something else overrules all those petitions.
Something else overrules all those concerns. Something else
is more important than gratifying my lust, keeping my wife here
or keeping you here. Something more important than
me simply having what it is I want in this life. Our Lord said in
verse 9 of Matthew 6, After this manner, therefore, pray ye. This
is how you ought to pray. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Number one catch. Number one
catch. I just caught Jenny's eye peeking
around, looking at me. Prayed for you for a long time.
Still do. Praying for her. All I ever sought
from God for her and now seek for your daughter. All it is. Number one, let God's name be
honored. That's more important than your soul. You understand
that? That's more important than my
soul. Father, sanctify your name. Get honor to your name. Number
two, thy kingdom come. What is it we want? We want the
honor of God's name and we want the building of his kingdom.
That's just another way of saying, Lord, save your people. Rakes
often prays, save your little sheep. That's exactly what this
is. Lord, build your kingdom. Catch number three, thy will
be done. Not my will, thy will be done. Number four, give us this day
our daily bread. That is, Lord, give me what I
need. Just give me what I need. That's all. Give me what I need. Nothing more, nothing less. And
that's what he'll give you. Number five, and forgive us our
debts. Forgive us our sins. Oh, God. Forgive my sin. How could I even imagine asking
for any more? Number six, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. That is, keep us, protect us
in your hand of mercy and grace. Number seven, get praise to yourself
for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Lord, now this is what
I'm asking. When I call on you, allow me. in this world to give
praise to you and everything. To honor you and everything.
That's it. Now thirdly, in verses 25 and 26, our Savior
teaches us that a forgiving spirit is the fruit of true faith. When you stand praying, forgive. If you have ought against any,
that your Father also, which is in heaven, may forgive you
your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither
will your Father, which is in heaven, forgive your trespasses.
Now, the connecting link between the necessity of faith and the
spirit of forgiveness is prayer. First, our Lord taught us that
faith is essential both to life and to prayer. And here he teaches
us that we do not have true faith and we cannot truly pray, never
have and never will, if we have not been given by the spirit
of grace, a forgiving spirit. He is not teaching us that by
our forgiving one another, we merit and earn God's forgiveness.
Oh no, nothing could be further from the truth. What he is telling
us is that the one thing that matters in all aspects of worship
and prayer, the one fruit of grace and faith without which
we cannot worship, without which we cannot pray, is brotherly
love, which is manifest by spirit of forgiveness. Let me see if
I can illustrate this for you. Oh, I guess 26, 27 years ago. One of my best friends, a man
who had been so useful to me and in my life was visiting in
our home and lookout. He was a deacon in the church
where I was ordained. And he and the pastor had a falling
out over a cotton picking lawnmower. I mean, they worked together.
They worked here. Two or three men worked between
them and pastor worked down there. work together. And here are two men
in the same church claiming to believe the gospel of God's grace
who weren't speaking to each other. When they wanted something,
I wanted them to say, you tell him. Like two little kids. You
tell him. And he was in my home one day.
He and his wife had come to spend the weekend, and I said to him
in conversation, you're going to have to put this behind you.
You're going to have to forgive and forget. It doesn't matter
who's wrong. It doesn't matter who's wrong. You have to forgive
this man, or you can't worship God. And it's still true. You know,
the man's never spoken to me again since either. He and his
wife left about 10 minutes later. And frankly, I'm so concerned. I've never heard from him since.
Never. You can't worship God if you
don't forgive. You can't do it. The nearest approach we can make
to being like Christ in this world is to bear injuries and
forgive one another. That's the nearest we can come
to being like Christ. God's free forgiveness of our sins is the
highest privilege and greatest joy we can enjoy in this world
and our only title to the world to come. Let us therefore be
merciful, kind and forgiving. in the few days we have here
where forgiveness is needed. I'm not going to need your forgiveness
over yonder, but I need a bunch of it here. And I ask you to
give it. And I ask you to pray, God, give
me grace to bear and forgive and bear and forgive as well
for Christ's sake. Amen. You have just heard a sermon
by Pastor Don Fortner of Danville, Kentucky. For a copy of this
message, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. This is Pastor Rick Warta of
the Yuba-Sutter Grace Church. Each Sunday we meet at 11 a.m. in the Yuba County Library located
on the corner of 2nd and C Street in downtown Marysville. We pray
that God would be pleased to make himself known to you in
the gospel of his son.