Lesson Three.
II. The Operation Of Faith.
This is going to be a rather detailed teaching so I trust
you will review this lesson a great deal before making a judgment
call. We are going to examine what Jesus taught on faith. I
will begin by quoting an entire passage related to the topic of
faith based upon His disciples interests.
Mark 11:22-24
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 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.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when
ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Something that needs to be pointed out is what happen just
prior to this teaching on faith. So let me quote this passage in
order to offer a complete picture of why our Lord's disciples
wanted their faith increased.
Mark 11:12-14
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was
hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if
haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he
found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee
hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Continuing the same story but skipping a few verses.
Mark 11:19-21
19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.
20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree
dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master,
behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Upon reading these two passages, it seems clear to me that
faith works in a spiritual element or environment or what I
sometimes refer to as a spiritual envelope. A fish, for example,
does fine in the water but out of water, he is short lived. A
bird is well protected when flying but ground him, or take away
his trees, phone wires, fences, or roof tops, and he suddenly
becomes prey. Likewise, the law of gravity is the element in
which we, as human beings, function normally. Increase that law
dramatically, or remove it all together, and we suddenly find
ourselves unable to function at all because we are out of our
element. Two people, therefore, can stand several feet apart, and
toss a ball back and forth to each other, thereby defying gravity.
If they separate a little too far away, the ball drops short of
its intended goal because the two people have stretched their
operating element beyond limits. I tend to think of faith in
these terms. It operates within the law of God, that is, faith
defies the natural law of man. Unbelief is the result. Trying to
implement faith outside of God's law, reduces faith to human
terms. that decreases faith to what we would call confidence and
confidence is a poor substitute for effective working faith. to
expand upon this idea, just think of Heaven. That is a complete,
unadulterated, element where faith works every single time without
fail. Why? Because it is a glorified state of being. Our
unregenerate minds and our fleshy environments will no longer
exist. Only Heaven will be our environment. Faith will never
have to be spoke in the glory Land. the question then becomes,
how do we use faith within the natural realm when it only works in
the spiritual element for which it was designed? The answer is
found within Mark 11:22-24 where Jesus is literally teaching His
disciples the element in which faith operates. It is so clear,
you will be frustrated with yourself for not seeing it in the
first place on your own. Don't feel bad because when I saw it, I
felt silly, too. In the next lesson, we are going to begin
looking at what Jesus taught and how it applies.
end Of Lesson Three.
|
