Trust God (Part B)

Faith, even though small, it is what the potential that is within it that makes the difference. Faith does not have to be big, it has to be life producing. It has to get the believer from one port to another port, from one harbor to another harbor, or from one battlefield to another.

To heaven. That's what faith has to do, that's what it does. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in 1 John chapter 5.

He'll begin there and then continue in Mark 11. Here he is with his message called, Trust God. 1 John chapter 5 verse 4, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

That's what he says. John was there when Jesus gave this teaching. John was there when he was persecuted, when John was persecuted and put on the Isle of Patmos and other persecutions that he experienced. John was there when word came that they killed James, his brother, with the sword.

He's dead. He knows something about facing immovable obstacles. God is saying here in Christ, faith gets the job done.

It's very easy to understand. It's very painful to live out because of time. You notice he doesn't say how fast he can move that mountain? If you have faith, without doubting, you can say to that mountain, be uprooted and move to the sea, but he doesn't tell you it might take 10 years.

He doesn't say it'd be instantly. We read it that way because we want it that way, but faith, even though small, it is what the potential that is within it that makes the difference. Faith does not have to be big.

It has to be life producing. It has to get the believer from one port to another port, from one harbor to another harbor, or from one battlefield to heaven. That's what faith has to do. That's what it does. And so when Jesus gave his parable, he got faith like a mustard seed.

It's not about being big. It's about having life. That seed produces life.

That's what a seed does. He says here, again in verse 23, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Who would be dumb enough to say anything? I could have anything I want. I could have all the twizzlers I want if I just have faith. Prayer has rules.

Surprise. Who gets to say a mountain can be removed, this one or that one, and where it is to be moved to? Who has that say so? You think God or the universe is going to entrust anybody with that?

I mean, Daniel wasn't entrusted with that. Joseph, and we'll come to them in a moment. Is it you or is it someone else or is it God? Who decides what immovable objects get moved, when they get moved, and where they get moved to and why? Only faith can answer it.

Okay. Who owns my faith? Is it me? Is it God? Who owns my faith? This is important.

I need to know ownership. It disturbed King David that the Ark of the Covenant, the presence, the visible presence of God, not the visible or the visage of God, not the face of God, but his presence was symbolized with the Ark of the Covenant. And it bugged David. We got it to Jerusalem.

It's under a tent. I'm living in this palace as king, and this is not right. So he says this to the prophet Nathan, that he wants to do something about this. Here's what Nathan said. Then Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in your heart, for Yahweh is with you.

Well, there's some truth in that. Nathan was going to get corrected. That night, Nathan came back to David. It was that night God came to Nathan and said, listen, you goofed. He didn't say it like that.

He's too gentle. But David could not build a house of God. First Chronicles chapter 17 verse 4. Go tell my servant David, thus says Yahweh, you shall not build me a house to dwell in.

But it was not an abrupt no. God took so much care explaining his reasons to David, much love and promise. He said, David, I'm going to build you a house.

I'm going to take care of you. And it's put in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. It's spread out a little bit to get more of the story. And as you read it, you see, look at that. God was so gentle with David and Nathan. But David, couldn't he not say back to Nathan, well, it was my idea.

I came up with this plan to build a house for God. How can he say no to me? It's not his idea. But he could not. David would never say such a silly thing. Because he knew his faith belonged to God.

He writes about this. Psalm 16, oh my soul, you have said to Yahweh, you are my Lord. My goodness is nothing apart from you. David is saying anything good in me? Like Jerusalem, all the springs are found in Yahweh.

He is the source of life and relief. So Hebrews 12, to looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That's ownership. The author owns it. In fact, we have all these copyright laws to demonstrate that the author owns it.

Unless you be guilty of infringement. True faith is the property of God. And so Paul says, be diligent to show yourself approved unto God. A worker who does not need to be ashamed, but works hard.

Be aggressive when it comes to hard work. And so we see the power in these verses that say to us throughout the scripture, your faith belongs to God. Before you go moving, shoving mountains out of the way, understand this faith that is to get that job done is not yours.

You are part of the process, but it's not yours. His word is such a lamp, but it is, the lamp is not the flame. We're not sorcerers is what I'm saying. Psalm 119, through your precepts, I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. He said through your teachings, through the rules you set out for me, the precepts, the rules, I get understanding. And he says, I hate every false way, because those false ways hurt people.

That's why. You find a pretentious or a false Christian, one that is pretending to be one, you know somebody's going to get hurt. I've said this before, as a child watching war movies, whenever the bad guys, usually the Nazi troops, whenever they dressed up like the good guys, you knew one of your favorite actors were going to get killed in the movie. And it is that, that is the truth in life, it's a parallel there. When Satan dresses up like a believer, somebody's going to get hurt. So we look to have discernment, otherwise who needs discernment? Why does God give discernment?

So we can figure out what's going on spiritually. We can look beyond what's in front of our eyeballs and see through the eyes of faith. Luke's gospel, listen to this, because false ways lead to destruction, we get that.

And there are many who go in by it. The true way through faith goes to heaven. And Christ again, the center of the lesson is this tree is destroyed because it made a promise it couldn't keep as emblematic of Israel.

I don't want you to be this way. If you're a Christian, you need to live like one, at least pursue it. And by faith, you will be the last man standing in heaven after earth. Luke's gospel chapter 16, this is Lazarus the beggar, the dogs licked his sores, but he was a righteous man. How did he get that way? The Bible doesn't tell us.

It could be a whole bunch of things. He could have had a disaster, a catastrophe in his life, he could have become a drunk, who knows what happened to Lazarus. Something happened, but one thing that did not happen is he did not go to hell. Luke chapter 16 verse 22, so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

You see that stark contrast? One carried by the angels, the other buried, just put in the dirt. Profound lesson for us to trust God. You want the pastor to come up and say, you know why you don't get the things you want and you don't get them? Because you don't have enough faith. Well, I'm not saying that. That's just too easy.

It's too easy to blame a person. We're at war in this life. There are forces that are contesting every single step we try to make forward for the king. We're not supposed to be surprised by these things. I'm shocked sometimes when Christians see evil getting away with evil. That's what evil does.

If it wasn't getting away with evil, there'd be no evil. Our response is to be just that. What is our response?

How are we going to do? Well, I'm going to preach anyway. Verse 24, therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. I repeat, prayer has rules.

He most certainly is not saying you ask anything and you'll just get it. But that's what he said. But that's not what he means. Keep the context to the context of all scripture and reality and how Christ conducted himself. And the next verse has one of those rules.

I'll just give you an example. He says, if you don't forgive, then you won't be forgiven. Don't expect your prayers to be answered. That's a rule that belongs to prayer. This statement in verse 24 subsumes that the sovereignty of God is embraced by the believer. Like in Gethsemane, when Jesus Christ said, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will.

What you want. What he is also saying here in verse 24 is that there is no limit to the power of a faithful prayer if it be God's will. However, if it is God's will and no one prays it, will it get done? And many times no. Negligence.

How can it get done? I mean, you go to find a church where God wants to work but nobody's letting him work. Behold, I stand outside, I'm knocking on the door because I want to get inside and do stuff through this church. But I can't.

And because I can't, I'm nauseated. There's a church at Laodicea. He tells the church of Sardis, you've got leaves, you've got no fruit. You have a name that you're alive but you're dead.

He says to the church at Ephesus, you've got all these things going on. They're good things. But you lost your love for me. There are people in the world that reject me. They do things too.

Why are you acting like them? Those seven letters of seven churches are quite profound. He tells the pastor of that church to the angel of the church. That's the pastor. There's not some angelic being. That's the messenger of the church. Because it rolls from the pulpit out. That's how God set it up. It doesn't exclude you. It doesn't devalue your devotional time, your service. It includes you but it sets rules for us. He says if you don't get this right, I'm going to take your lampstand.

That will leave you in darkness. And you don't want that. And so, coming back to Jesus when he says, therefore I say to you, which is built on so many other things, this means that there's so much power available in prayer and we know it's true. And because you don't see your prayers answered instantly doesn't mean the war is not taking place. Hebrews 11, 39, all these having obtained good testimony through faith.

That's what I want. When I finally leave this life, I want to have left this life with a good testimony through faith. And then he says, all these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise. They died before they saw their mountains moved, some of them. But ultimately, they saw them all move when they got to heaven. So we get the impression that moving a mountain, again, will not take seconds.

If we don't doubt, it's a long ride whether we doubt or not. It took Joseph years, it took David years to escape those immovable problems in their lives. Meanwhile, God was doing invaluable work in the lives of others. For example, Joseph's brothers, they weren't ready. I mean, these guys were cold. They sold their own brother. Some of them wanted to just kill him just because they didn't like, you know, his words because he was a little naive. Hey, I had a dream.

I'm better than all of you. I mean, who's that? Well, let's kill him for that. By the time those men get to him years later, a decade later, more, he has to vet them. He has to see if these guys have changed or not. And he goes through some painstaking stuff to get to that conclusion. But God had been working in them through their guilt. How many times did they get up out of their tent and walk out and say, man, I just, we shouldn't have done that. You never know what God is doing in the lives of others. What's he supposed to do?

Give us a list and then update it? We trust God. That's what we do because it makes destruction from judgment not necessary. And there are rules, as I've mentioned, and don't forget, I would strongly suggest you don't forget, there are those that have problems with the church that has rules. Therefore, they're going to have problems with faith too. You can't get away from them. Rules exist to counter bad ideas, bad people, sin, all sorts of junk.

And everybody has them. And it's remarkable how many people want to see you drop your rules while they keep their rules. Well, it doesn't work that way. And if it doesn't, they get upset.

But let's go back to this, if you ask for it, you get it, kind of thought. What about Noah and Moses and Samuel and Job and Daniel? Could they get anything they wanted just because, did they lack faith? God held these men in such high esteem that after their deaths, God told other prophets to use their names to tell the people how special their prayers were, but how limited their prayers were. Jeremiah chapter 15 verse 1, then Yahweh said to me, and you can't challenge Jeremiah, I mean this was an extraordinary prophet, Yahweh said to me, even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my mind would not be favorable toward this people.

Cast them out of my sight and let them go forth. God is saying those powerful men of prayer, Moses and Samuel, you know Samuel, powerful men of prayer. God says even if they prayed with all the faith they had, my will would not be to answer their prayer.

So what do we get out of that? We get just that, that when we pray, it's God's will, not ours. No matter how much we insist or demand, we can't name it and claim it, which is a hellish thought.

How dare you go to God and say I named it, give it up. I'll smack you across your mouth to stop you from making such foolish prayers. This is the difference between praying and saying God I believe you, nevertheless your will be done. Verse 14 of Ezekiel 14, now Ezekiel gets his turn to name some warriors of the faith, even if these men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, the city, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness says the Lord God. God is saying those men are righteous and by their prayers they would be delivered, but their prayer would be limited to themselves. Abraham exhibited this when he prayed for Sodom. God listened to God, went and tolerated him, which is such a lesson. God is saying I don't mind talking to you in prayer.

I don't mind going back and I don't mind you laying it out for me. But in the end, the terms will be set and I will set them. Abraham did not set the terms. He thought he was making progress. God knew where this was going. God drew a line at ten. Okay, fine, enough of this. Ten, find ten, I'll spare the city.

He couldn't find ten. God knew that. So he ended the conversation before Abraham got to five. I mean, it's a lot of wisdom in that.

It's a great lesson in that. God, God, you're not going to out move him. This is the big part of what we're saying. God has a personality, a character. It is him we're after. It is Jesus Christ the person, not the words, the person. You can take my Bible away, just don't take Jesus from me.

You see what I mean? He's everything. Of course, we use the Bible to learn him. Christ who we're after, in prayer, we're after him. Lord, what do you want? And he doesn't always open the sky up and say, I would like this.

I don't know if he is baritone or not, but Ezekiel again, chapter 14, verse 20, it's repeated, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it as I live, says Yahweh God, or the Lord Yahweh, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness. It's profound. There is a big part of the meaning about prayer and its power through faith.

The rules, of course, the metaphors are critical for getting us to understand the victories that will come our way. The fact that you're sitting listening to God's word is evidence that God answers prayer. And if we stop looking to change the landscape by moving mountains, focus on being faithful to the death and finding the will of God, which is really what Christ is saying, find that will of God and line up with it. Righteousness comes through faith. Righteousness is the adjusted life to God, to his truth.

There are many truths. If you buy a bicycle that comes with a manual of how to build it, that's truth according to building the bicycle, but there's the truth of God, the spiritual truths. So you get into a car that's not yours and you're going to drive this car and the seat is not right.

You have to adjust the seat. That's what righteousness does. It adjusts itself so that it can be led by God.

It can be used by God. Righteousness is the life adjusted to God as found in the scripture. And if faith, which comes with righteousness, if it is valued by God as being such a big thing, as Jesus says, have faith in God, trust God, it's valued by the believer, if that is true, then it becomes by default, you could say instantly, automatically, by default, faith becomes a high-valued target for Satan. Why is it that many, many Christians are more problematic in church and in life than many unbelievers?

Why is that? I mean, I used to be a shop steward on large construction sites with many men that were, they were rank pagans and heathens, yet they were easier to manage many times than Christians. You could go up to them, you could reason with them. Not every time. I mean, there were those that were just, you know, looking for a fight. And there are Christians like that. Why is this? Well, one is we expect more from Christians, but we fail to remember Christians are also sinners, saved by grace, but sinners.

They're defective. The other is they are prized targets of Satan, Satan messing with them. They remain Christians, they can remain useful, but it's still getting messed with on spiritual matters more than the world.

And so it's not a large faith we're looking for, but it's a living faith. And this is again the only destructive miracle of Christ targeting this faithless tree, this fruitless tree. It was a big deal to Jesus. It was a big deal to Peter. It's a big deal to God, and it's a big deal to our spiritual enemy. And it's a big deal to a serious believer.

It is a very big deal. So a serious believer can look at that verse and say, I don't understand it. I don't understand what's being said here because I can't prove this in my life. But I have enough of you, Lord Jesus, to trust you. You don't have to answer this for me. I'd like you to, because I'd like to know everything. I'd like to be smarter than everybody else, too, I should add. Is there anybody else who wants to be dumber than everybody else? Please raise your hand. All right, a little sleepy. Let's speed it up.

This destructive act incidentally was on the way to a reconstructive act. This is his last week on earth. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.