If you read “Word of Faith–the First” (https://theoldpreacher.com/?p=3763&preview=true), you know that now we want to untwist the text. Here it is as Mark wrote it . . .
In the morning (Tuesday on the same road to Jerusalem as the day before), as they (Jesus and his disciples) went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Let’s take Jesus’ words in bite-size pieces to understand the remarkable promise of verse 24.
“Have faith in God.” Peter marvels at the Jesus-cursed, now withered, fig tree. Why at that moment does Jesus encourage the disciples to trust God? Because, as we saw last time, the fig tree-cursing prefigures God’s judgment on Israel. It marks the leveling of everything these Jewish disciples have believed in. Also, because in three days Jesus, whom they now follow and believe to be the Messiah, will be crucified, and the disciples’ dreams will die. And, because in a few weeks the risen Christ Jesus will send these men to preach the good news of the kingdom in a violent, hostile world. Finally, God’s kingdom will come, not in obvious power (as expected), but quietly in meekness. Virtually everything will be shaken as that fig tree has withered. With all that in mind, Jesus encourages to have faith in God!
Here Jesus addresses us. Following Jesus hasn’t brought heaven to earth. In fact, in some ways following Jesus has added to this fallen world’s harshness. Fig trees have unexpectedly withered. Traditional structures have been shaken. Christian persecution increases. To us, also, Jesus urges, “Have faith in God.”
“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” I hear my old college friend winding up a “twist that text” performance. ” . . . believes that what he says will happen” begs for a “name-it-and-claim-it” routine. We gotta believe it will happen and please, please, don’t let a negative word of doubt sneak into your heart or escape your lips!
“Mountain”, of course, represents an impossible obstacle, an overwhelming and immovable weight. But we can tell it to go jump in the lake and if we believe what we say will happen, it will. I admit Jesus’ words made me think, “Hold positive thoughts! Envision you have what you asked for! This is name-it-and-claim-it “theology”! Now, however, I realize I wasn’t thinking right. The question isn’t, “Is Jesus teaching name-it-and-claim-it stuff?” The question is, “How can I have such undoubting faith?”
Before trying to answer, notice the parallelism as Jesus emphasizes the same “pure” faith twice in slightly differently words . . .
“If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea . . . ‘”
” . . . whatever you ask for in prayer . . . “
” . . . and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen . . . ”
” . . . believe that you have received it . . . “
” . . . it will be done for him.”
” . . . it will be yours.”
Jesus isn’t teaching mind-control; he’s calling for undoubting faith! Nor is Jesus urging, “Believe I can do it!”; he’s insisting, “Believe I will do it!” Again, then, the question is, “How can I have such undoubting faith?”
I know only two ways.
One, by the Holy Spirit impressing on us that he will do whatever it is we’ve asked. I think this may have happened to me twice. “May have” because on both occasions I was so desperate for God to act, my “faith” may have been my subjective desires and not the Holy Spirit’s objective gift of faith. There is such a gift (1 Corinthians 12:9a). And I think the Holy Spirit gifted me with that undoubting assurance. The “jury” is still out, because God hasn’t fully answered either prayer yet.
Two, by God’s promises and will revealed in his Word. Objection: But my Bible doesn’t say, “Take this job!” or “Buy this house!” That’s true. (I’m pretty convinced that, while God wants us to pray about significant choices, many he leaves to our being-sanctified mind.) But my Bible does contain many promises from God and many revelations of his will. They are objective. They are black-and-white. I can open my Bible and point to ” . . . seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33) and “remind” Jesus of his promise. And by his grace undoubtingly believe he will do the adding.
Out of many, many more, here is one more example. I hesitate to cite it because, when I’m cynical, I think this is God’s “fine print at the bottom” that covers every unanswered prayer. (“Well, you didn’t get what you wanted because God knows that wasn’t best for you!”) But in my better moments, I know this is God’s true and wonderful promise: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Of that promise, John Piper says, “This is the greatest and most far-reaching of all the promises in the Bible. The effect it has on prayer is tremendous. It means that when our specific requests are denied, God is preparing something better for us. He never stops working for the best interests of his children. And therefore, in every prayer we pray we can have complete and undoubting confidence in this, ‘God will give me what is best for me in response to my prayer.’ Don’t ever doubt that.”
* * * * *
Text-twisters bend Jesus’ “whatever” into a materialistic promise for more goodies. The context reveals their ignorance. It’s a promise for all the “whatevers” we need as we follow Jesus in this anti-Jesus world.
Text-twisters also bend Jesus’ undoubting faith into positive thinking or mind-control. Only God can give undoubting faith—sometimes by the Holy Spirit’s impression, but always by the promises of his Word.
So: no back-aching twists, no pretzels, no knots. Just the straight, stunning word of faith-promise from Jesus who is all we need.
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