Now you turn in your Bible again
to Mark chapter 11, and I do earnestly trust that the Lord will bless us together
as we consider these most, most vital issues of our day. The title of the message is taken
from Mark chapter 11 in verse 22. And Jesus answering saith
unto them, Have faith in God. Have faith. Doesn't say have
faith in faith. Have faith in mom, dad. Have
faith in God. Have faith in God. Now let me
remind you of the setting here. when the Lord tells the disciples
this glorious statement, have faith in God. Now you remember
from our message last week, the Lord was busy about His Father's
business. He was going about to accomplish
our salvation as the God-man mediator. And as He went to Jerusalem
that day to be our Passover, to accomplish our salvation,
you remember from last week in verse 12, on the morrow when
they would come from Bethany, He was hungry. He was hungry
as a real man. God manifests in the flesh but
a real man. And as he went about his work,
as he went about his business, he was hungry. And he came upon
this fig tree to enjoy some fruit from that tree and found that
it was barren. He found that it was nothing but leaves, and
it was fruitless. And the Lord immediately pronounced
a curse upon it, and it quickly, rather quickly, completely withered,
and was nothing, withered by the roots. Those whom the Lord
curses are cursed indeed. For we read in Jeremiah, Thus
saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, maketh flesh his power, whose heart
is departed from the Lord. That's a cursed man. The man
who trusts in himself. On the flip side, oh how blessed
are those that are blessed of the Lord. Blessed of the Lord. We read in Psalm 32, Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven. Oh, that's a blessed
man. Blessed are those whose sin is
covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute, will not charge to you your sin. Who shall anything to the charge
of God the left? There's no condemnation to those
in Christ Jesus. In the morning, it says in verse
20 in our text. Look right there. Mark 11 verse
20. And in the morning, as they passed
by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter,
calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Master, behold, the
fig tree which thou cursest is withered away. And the Lord answering
them said, Have faith in God. In the morning, when the disciples
came back to the city, they found the tree fit for nothing but
firewood, cursed by the word of God itself. Peter and the
disciples were astonished. The power of the Lord. The power of His words. Truly
never man spake like this man, for His words were with power.
And the Lord declared unto them, Have faith in God. Believe God. Now what can we
learn from these things, what lessons can we take home with
us as we hear the Lord of Glory teach His disciples? Now, He's
directly teaching them that this Word looks further than just
to them. These are the words and these
are the instructions of the Lord of Glory unto all of His people,
unto all of His disciples, unto you this day. unto you this day
is sent the word of the Lord." Now, here's three vital, most
important issues for us to consider today. First of all, faith in
God is essential. Is essential. We read in Hebrews
11, 6, without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith,
It is impossible to please God. And we can think of it this way.
Without the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's the object of
faith. Without the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot please God. We cannot approach God apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the first lesson. Secondly,
we'll talk about this. The prayer of faith is effectual. I want to believe, I want to
pray believing God. Don't you? He said you ask and
do not doubt. Pray believing God. The prayer
of faith is effectual. In James chapter 5 verse 16 declares
the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. The importance of Faith, the
importance of prayer, the privilege of prayer. What a privilege it
is that God has given us to take everything to Him in prayer.
And here's the third point. A forgiving heart is the fruit
and evidence of true saving faith. In verse 25 and verse 26. We
read in Luke chapter 6 verse 36, Be ye therefore merciful,
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you." Loving one another and forgiving one another. Now
let's go back and look at those three things. Are you interested? You with me? Got your ears open? Now listen, I've got a message
here for you. It'll be a blessing to you if
God is pleased to enable me to deliver it and pleased to give
you ears to hear it. Would you hear me? Let's ask
God to give us grace to hear Him this morning. Here's the
first thing. Faith in God is essential. Faith
in God is essential. It says that in verse 22, Our
Lord declared, Have faith in God Now this is not a peanut
God. This is not a pygmy God. This
is not the God of our imagination. He's talking about having faith
and believing and trusting and relying upon God who is God in
all things. Creation, providence, and salvation. Faith in God is essential to
our salvation. Now, two things on this first
point. True faith, the faith of God's elect, is that which
distinguishes true believers from just the mere religious
professor. True faith. True faith in God. Committed faith. Sold-out faith. Trusting Christ alone for all
of salvation. Now, Peter seemed shocked and
surprised by the fig tree that was cursed so soon and withered
to nothing. But our Lord is demonstrating
that all men shall likewise perish without the fruit of faith."
Without the fruit of faith, believing God, looking to and trusting
the Lord Jesus Christ. Without faith in the one and
only true, living, sovereign God and Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, there is no salvation in our hearts. Before God. Oh my friend, to believe Him.
To be have of God. Given grace to believe Him. Now
let me show you the importance of this. Turn to John chapter
3. John chapter 3. Oh, to believe
God. To believe His Word. To trust
the God-Man, the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter
3. We'll begin at verse 14. As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. He must die for our sin, He must
be crucified, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but should have everlasting life. For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, that the
world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Now stay in that same chapter
and notice verse 36. Verse 35 declares, The Father
loved the Son, and had given all things into his hand. He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. Turn over to John chapter 5 verse
24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
half everlasting life shall not come in condemnation, but is
passed from death unto life. Now everybody, everybody to some
degree or another has faith in something or someone. But saving
faith, the faith of God's elect, has the only one object as saving
faith. We look unto Him who is able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever lives to make intercession for us. Neither is there salvation
in any other. Saving faith declares with Peter,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. You see, this saving faith looks
to the living Lord God, who is God. We read this scripture in Hebrews
12, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Looking
where? Look to experience, look to your feelings. Feelings come
and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is
a word of God, nothing else is worth believing. Words written
by Martin Luther. No, we look unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Looking unto Jesus who is the
author and finisher of our faith. Titus 1 declares the faith of
God the elect does acknowledge the truth of salvation as it's
revealed in Christ Jesus. True saving faith acknowledges
the Lord Jesus Christ and loves the Lord Jesus Christ as everything
in salvation. Saving faith is not, now listen
to me, saving faith is not what you believe. But rather, saving
faith is in whom you trust. As we read in 2 Timothy 1.12,
the apostle declared, I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. It's looking to Christ, the Christ
of God, the true Messiah. Now, that's saving faith, looking
to Christ. Now here, someone illustrated
this word F-A-I-T-H. Faith. That's how we spell faith,
right? F-A-I-T-H. Now here's a good lesson for
the children sometime. F-A-I-T-H. What do those words stand for?
Now here's a good way to remember it. Forsaking all, I trust Him. You remember? Faith. Oh, how precious. You know, the
Word of God declares very few things that are precious. But
one of the things it does declare that is precious is precious
faith. We have obtained like precious
faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, to believe God. To believe Him. And find all
of salvation in Him. In Him. Here's the second thing. Believers are sinners saved by
grace who walk and live by faith. Because they've been regenerated
by the power of the gospel, they walk and live by faith. The Word
of God declares four times, the just shall live by faith. We
read that in Hebrews chapter 10. The just, those who are justified
in Christ Jesus, they live by faith. Faith is a substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We live by
faith. We walk by faith. 2 Corinthians
5, 7 declares, we walk by faith, not by sight. Walking by faith,
looking to Christ. Faith is that substance, the
expectation, the ground and confidence of things hoped for, the evidence,
the proof. Things not seen. Now listen to
this. Faith is not an isolated, actual
experience. Faith is a life of faith. A life
of faith. We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
day. Those who have been granted faith and given faith, for this
faith is a sovereign gift of God. You remember Ephesians 2,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself.
It's a gift of God, not of work that any man should boast. It's
the sovereign gift of God, but this saving faith is God-given,
God-wrought in our heart. We begin in faith, and my friend,
by His grace, we die believing God. It's the life of faith. We begin in faith, and we die
in faith. What we read just a moment ago
in Hebrews 11 verse 13, talking about our forefathers, Abraham,
Moses, Enoch, Abel, Jacob, Isaac, all those that are mentioned,
Moses, these all died in faith. The Word of God declares, for
we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast to the end. The life of faith is demonstrated
for us throughout the Bible and the lives of God's people, summarized
for us in that glorious chapter that we read a moment ago, Hebrews
chapter 11. The life of faith. Now here's
the second thing. You got the first one? Oh, the
essential. The essential of believing God. Believing God. Here's the second
thing. The prayer of faith is effectual. Now look back at the text. Mark
chapter 11, verse 23 and verse 24. The prayer of faith is effectual. Our Lord tells us the great power
of prayer, calling upon God in faith, believing Him, in verse
23 and 24. For verily, or truly, 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,
believing God, But shall believe that those things which he saith
shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore
I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe. Now can you pray without believing? They're inseparably linked together,
like faith and repentance. Faith and praying. Believe that
you receive them, and you shall have. what you ask for. Now,
what does these words mean to us? Now this is a statement, a proverb statement
about moving mountains, provivial. That is, in a figurative sense.
Must be interpreted in a figurative sense, not in a literal sense,
so we don't walk up to some mountain and say, mountain be moved. That's
not what he's saying here. It's not in a literal sense,
but in a figurative sense. And these words must be used
cautiously and soberly in this religious day in which we live,
because there are many nuts out there saying, well, you don't
want to be rich, and you don't want, well, Go play the lottery. Ask God to give you a million
dollars. Believe Him, He'll give it to you. That's nonsense. That's
not what He's talking about here. He's not teaching us that anything
we want, we just ask, and it'll be given to us. It's not a blanket
promise, and it's not a blank check. Covering all things, as
long as we have enough faith, we'll receive them. Because we're
so wicked, we'll ask for things that we don't need. What is being taught here is
that true faith in our great God and Savior enables believers
to overcome great difficulties, accomplish great things, triumph
over great enemies through faith in Christ. It's not that faith
is so strong, it's that faith lays hold upon God who is Almighty. Praying has to do with the revealed
will of God for the confirmation of the gospel and the glory of
His will to the eternal good of His people. True prayer is
not... Now listen to me. A lot of people
have the wrong idea here. They think if they can get enough
people, sign enough letters, send out all them chain letters,
they think if they can gang up on God that somehow they're going
to change His will. Oh no. Prayer is not about our
will Prayer is about His will. True prayer is not changing,
trying to change God's will, but rather submitting to God's
will. Not seeking what we want, but
rather seeking what our Lord has promised and purposed in
His Word and given to us through Christ Jesus. Now I want to pray
that way. The expectation of faith is nothing
is impossible with God. or too hard for God, our Savior. Our Lord taught us to pray in
that model prayer in Matthew 6. He taught us to pray, Lord,
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. I want to pray
that way, don't you? And pray believing God. The old
preacher in England, Charles Spurgeon, said this, the limit
of prayer is the will of God. are guides as to that limit,
or the promises of God, and faith which we are given to believe
God. I'd make good on that if you'll
find 1 John. 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. Pray believing
God. Believing His word. Believing
His promise. 1 John chapter 5. Turn over there. Look at verse 4, 1 John 5, 4.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Now look in the same chapter,
1 John 5, look at verse 11. And this is the record that God
has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
He that believeth the Son hath life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Now watch this carefully. Read
this carefully. Mark it. Underline it. And this
is the confidence that we have in Him. That if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that
we desire of Him. Ask according to His will and
believe His word. I want to pray that way. I want
us to learn to pray that way. Praying, believing God. Now we have examples of this
all through the Word of God about believers living by faith and
praying that way. Praying as they live by faith.
We read a moment ago, Abraham believed God and went out. He
believed God. Praying that God would reveal
unto him his will, his way, his gospel, his truth. We read in
Romans 4, 3, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness. How about Noah? Noah built an ark. Boy, that's
a mountain. Move that one. You know what
it says? Noah believed God. Being moved
with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house. He believed
God and acted on God's word, God's will, and God's promise.
How about Moses? Moses believed God, forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured at seeing
Him who was invisible, walking by faith, not by sight. He believed
God. How about old Saul of Tarsus? The Apostle Paul forsook his
entire religious heritage, turned his back on his religious tradition,
counted all dung and ruin that he might win Christ, counted
everything lost for Christ that he might win Christ and be found
in Him. That's a life of faith. That's
praying, believing God. Now I ask you these questions.
Do you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Boy, I do. I do. Do you want to be strong
in faith, giving glory to God? Ask God to give us a new saving
faith. That God may cause that faith
to grow. Now let me show you this scripture.
You say, well, should we ask for that? Well, let's see. Turn
over here to Luke 17. Should we ask the Lord to, Lord,
help us? Lord, save us? Lord, increase
our faith? Should we pray that way? Oh,
absolutely. Find Luke 17. Notice verse 3, Take heed to
yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and
if he repents, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee
seven times in a day, seven times in a day, and seven times in
a day, turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive
him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Lord, increase our
faith, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had
faith, As a grain of mustard seed ye might say unto this mountain,
this sycamore tree, be plucked thou by the roots, and be thou
planted in the sea, and it will obey you." Faith removes obstacles
and roadblocks. Faith believes God. Lord, help us to pray that way.
I tell you, any other prayer is useless. Pray believing God. Live believing God. Looking to Christ. Now here's
the third lesson. And don't miss this. Don't miss it. I want you to
hear this. In verses 25 and verse 26. The
third thing. A forgiving spirit and a loving
spirit is a fruit and evidence of true saving faith. The fruit
of it. The evidence of it. In Luke chapter
11, or excuse me, Mark chapter 11, verse 25. And when you stand praying, forgive. Forgive. For 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 here's a vital lesson for
us. Now get this first of all, what it's not saying. What it's
not saying. The Lord is not teaching us that
the cause and condition of our being forgiven is based upon
our forgiving others. That's not the lesson. Boy, if
that were true, then remission of sin would be by what we do
instead of by the blood atonement of Christ. It's by Christ alone
that our sin is purged. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, He sat down at God's right hand. But here's a vital
issue. Now here's a vital lesson for us to meditate upon. If we
have not learned this lesson to love and forgive one another,
we have not yet experienced the mercy and forgiveness of the
love of God in our heart. Those who have been freely forgiven
are willing and ready to forgive others. It is impossible to pray,
Lord, forgive me my sin, when you won't forgive the sin of
others against you. Now, do you remember this scripture? Turn over here, if you will.
Let's find this and read it. Galatians, I want you to find
Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. And then I'll read this to you
from Galatians chapter 6. You find Galatians chapter 5.
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fall, ye which are spiritual,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself,
lest ye also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so honor the law of Christ. Honor the gospel of Christ. Now
you have Galatians chapter 5. Look at verse 13, For brethren,
you have been called unto liberty, only use not your liberty for
occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all
the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. Love, love one another. Now,
listen to this. Turn back to the text. We have
no right to beg for mercy if we refuse to show mercy to others. Our Lord declared, Be ye merciful,
even as your Father also is merciful. Our Lord taught us to pray in
Matthew 6.12, Forgive us our sins as we forgive others that
sin against us. We have absolutely no right to
think that we have experienced this love of God in our heart
if we do not manifest this love to others around us. I can make good on that. Turn to 1 John chapter 4 this
time. 1 John chapter 4. This is a walk. and life of the
believer. It's a walk of faith, it's a
walk believing God, and it's a walk in love one to another. We read in 1 John chapter 4,
verse 2. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. Everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through Him, here in His
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, sent His Son
to be the sacrifice for our sin. Beloved, if God so loved us, it doesn't matter if we love
one another. That's not what it says. We ought also to love
one another. Verse 20. Verse 19, We love him
because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God and
hate his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
This commandment we have from him, that he who loveth God loveth
his brother also. We only deceive ourselves with
a delusion If we think we have the Spirit of God in our heart,
and the love of God should have brought in our heart, if we harbor
ill feelings, cherish resentment, and deny forgiveness to others,
it's evident we don't know the true and living God. That's just
the fact. Those who love God and believe
God are generous. Loving, kind, forgiving one another. Those who believe the grace of
God manifest that grace of God in their life. They are gracious
people. You say, well how important is
this love? Get a hold of this. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
13. How vital is this love? How important is this love? Faith,
hope, and love The greatest of these is love. Believing God,
praying believing God, and then loving God by loving one another. 1 Corinthians, here's the vital
lesson. 1 Corinthians 13, covet earnestly
the best gift, yet I show you a more excellent way. Now look
at verse 1, chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongue
of men of angels, and of angels, and have not love, I'm to become
a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Now watch this. And though
I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge, though I have all faith so I could remove mountains,
and have not love, I'm nothing. You can't separate this. If you believe God, you love
God and you love one another. If you believe Him, Though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to
be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love
suffereth long and is kind, love envieth not, vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up, not arrogant and proud, does not behave itself
rudely, unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked,
but thinketh no evil. Love is not suspicious. Rejoice is not an iniquity. But
love rejoices in the truth. Love beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never
fails. This love of God in our heart. May God give us grace to lay
hold on this lesson. And let us love not in word only,
but in deed and in truth. Indeed and in truth by this shall
all men know that you're my disciples That you love one another that
you love one another Okay