SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/28/2023 8:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Principle”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
21:20-22
Message of the verses: “20 And seeing this,
the disciples marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at
once?" 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you,
if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the
fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the
sea,’ it shall happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you
shall receive.’”
I have mentioned that I will be quoting from John
MacArthur’s sermon on what he entitles “The Principle” from verses 20-22 in
this and probably in the next SD as well as it is very long.
“The
first principle, we could say, is the obvious truth that profession without
reality is cursed. That was something they must have learned from this, that it
doesn’t do any good to profess to be religious if there’s no fruit. That’s a profound
lesson. And while it is a national illustration in the parable, it certainly
has individual implications. And I warn you that if you’re life is a life of
leaves without fruit, you are cursed and doomed just like the nation Israel
was. God’s going to judge the religious. God is going to damn to eternal hell
those people who have had a show of religion without the truth. That is the
first principle.
“And
so, if you are living a lie, if you are masquerading as one who is religious,
but there’s no fruit in your life, you’re damned; you’re cursed. But there’s a
lesson that He wants to give to His disciples. There’s a principle that they
need, too. And so, He takes this illustration, and He turns it to a spiritual
principle for them. And the principle I want you to see because He points it
out is in verses 21 and 22. “Jesus answered and said unto them” – now He turns
to His disciples - “‘Verily’” – and this is here for emphasis, to affirm the
certainty of what He said - “‘I say to you, if you have faith and doubt not,
you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if shall say
to this mountain, “Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,” it shall be
done.’” Stop there.
“You
say, “Well, that doesn’t seem to be connected with the lesson. Well, it isn’t
really connected with the lesson of the parable, but it’s connected with their
response to the lesson. Their response to the lesson’s in verse 20. They were
amazed. “And they marveled” – it says in verse 20. “How soon is the fig tree
withered away,” they said. Boy, how fast that thing died. What power. Right?
That’s what they’re saying. What power. I mean He cursed that thing, and I was
dead. What power.
“So,
He says to them, “Let me tell you something, men. If you have faith and don’t
doubt, you’ll not only be able to do things like that, but you could say to
this mountain” – and that would no doubt refer to the Mount of Olives – “‘Be
cast into the sea’” – and the sea that was on the backside of that would have
been the Dead Sea, 4,000 feet down – “You could say to this mountain, ‘Dump
yourself into that sea,’ and it would be done.”
“Now,
obviously that’s not literal; that’s a picture of power. I don’t know if you
know it, but in Jewish literature, a rooter up of mountains was a metaphor for
a great spiritual leader. It’s in the Babylonian Talmud that they call the
great rabbis “rooter up of mountains.” In other words, people who could remove
great obstacles, people who could solve great problems, people who express
great power. Rooting up mountains became a metaphor for dealing with
difficulty, dealing with impossible situations.
“And
the Lord is saying, “Look, I want you to know that You have this power. And
this power’s available to you through faith. If you would believe and not
doubt, you can see God’s power.” It’s like – recorded in the Gospel of John in
the upper room, when the Lord said to them, “Greater works shall these – than
these shall you do, because I go to My Father.” In other words, there’s great
power available.
“John
14, He says, “Whatever you ask in My name, I’ll do it.” And in verse 22, He
sums it up by saying, “All things whatever you shall ask in prayer believing
you shall receive.” This is a tremendous thing.
“They’re
saying, “Lord, what power. You wish that tree dead, and it was dead.”
“And
He says, “You’ve got the same power available. You’ve got the same power.” And
He turns it into a lesson about prayer for them, that you can see the same
power working if you believe.
“Now,
let me tell you what He means by this. Faith is not faith in nothing, and faith
is not faith in things that you think ought to be, and faith is not faith in
you or your ideas or your dreams or your ambitions. Faith is placing your
confidence in God. All right?
“So,
when it says “if you have faith,” it doesn’t mean nebulous, “Well, I believe in
believing. Well, I believe, because I believe.” Faith is placing confidence in
something you know that is true. It is believing in God as God has revealed
Himself.
“So
to say, “If you have faith and doubt not,” is to say that God is able and will
do what He says He will do, then you can see it done. Okay? In other words, the
faith that we must have in prayer is not faith in our ideas. It’s not saying,
“Well, you know, I’d like to have that, and if I have enough faith, I’ll get
it.” No, no, no. That’s that ridiculous stuff that you hear being propagated
today, “Well, if you have enough faith, you can have everything.”
“I
heard about a pastor yesterday who claimed a whole piece of property for his
church. And he told his people, “If you have the faith to do it and just claim
it, it’s positive confession faith. You claim it; it’s yours.” And he claimed
it, and it fell through. And this is his whole message constantly to his
people. So, how is he going to recover from that? So he says, “Well, we had one
guy on our board that didn’t have the faith, and he blew the whole thing.”
“That
isn’t what He’s talking about. Having faith is trusting in the revelation of
God. In other words, if I know that something is consistent with God’s mind, if
I know it is consistent with His will, if I know it is consistent with His
purpose, if I know it is consistent with His desire, then I believe that, and I
can see that come to pass. It is faith in God as God is and God as God has
revealed Himself to be.
“And
how is that appropriated? Verse 22 – by prayer. Our faith is activated in
petition. Petition. “And as we ask in prayer, believing, we receive.” Oh, not
that we may consume it on our lusts, because James 4:3 says we won’t get those kind of things. Not
because it’s our will, but because 1 John 5:14 and 15 says it has to be His will. Not because we ask in our
name, because John 14:13 and 14 says it has to be in Christ’s name.”
I
really don’t want to get too many words on a single SD so I will stop here and
do the rest of it on my next SD.
6/28/2023 8:30 AM
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