HOW TO DEVELOPE YOUR
FAITH
Explore
the Bible Lesson #02 for January, 2010
SCRIPTURE TEXTS:
Background
Texts: Mark 7:1 through 8:33
Focal
Texts: mark 8:11-13, 16-21, 27-33
INTRODUCTION:
Since it is God’s plan for our lives as Christians that we grow in
faith, it behooves us to study ways in which we can accomplish this process.
Too many believers fail to grow their faith after they trust Christ. The
reasons for this are as varied as the individuals. Some become discouraged
because they see that others do not have the enthusiasm or “first
love” as they should. So
they come to accept spiritual stagnation as the norm for Christian lives.
Others grow cold because they fall
back into old habits they had before they became believers. Others fail to grow
because they are in a church or “Sunday School” class that does not promote
spiritual growth. Faith needs to be challenged in order for it to grow.
In order for our faith to grow, there
must be a continuing process of learning spiritual truths. There is much deep
truth in the scriptures, but the Word of God must be studied for those truths
to become a part of our faith.. Paul mentions this in 2nd Timothy 2:15:
“Study to show thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth.” 2nd Timothy 2:15 [1][1]
Notice that in order to demonstrate
that we are approved by God we need to study the Word! Not that we are not
approved, but so that others will not know. They will not know unless we study
and continue to grow in the faith.. This is important for it directly bears on
our testimony. So then, in our texts today we will look at some of the
processes of growing our faith.
In our background texts today we see a
growing controversy between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities. They
had many rules and regulations that they thought were all important. This was
the “oral law” which they believed had been passed down from Moses. However,
those rules were actually interpretations that various rabbis had developed
over the last four centuries before Christ. There was no real basis in
scripture for many of them. They had very minute and detailed rules about
almost every aspect of daily life. They taught that these rules were necessary
in order to please God. But in teaching this they forgot to honor the real laws
of compassion and love for others. Their lives were dedicated to keeping a long
list of strict rules even when they harmed and neglected the needs of others.
Jesus did several things which
challenged the assumptions of these strict Pharisees. The Pharisees questioned
Him about the fact that His disciples ate without going through the ritual
washings which they proscribed. Jesus pointed out that it is not what enters a
person’s mouth which makes them spiritually unclean, but what resides in a
person’s heart.
He also healed a Gentile woman’s
little girl. This was strictly against the ideas of those religious
authorities. They would never even consider having anything to do with the
problems of a Gentile. (Except, they would of course, deal with the Gentile
political leaders; when it resulted in monetary gain for them!)
Now let us look at our lesson texts as
we seek to understand some principles for spiritual growth. Faith is like a
plant; if it fails to grow it soon withers and becomes unfruitful.
I.) LITTLE HOPE: Mark 8:11-13
“11 And
the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign
from heaven, tempting him.
12 And he sighed deeply in his
spirit, and saith, ‘Why doth this generation seek
after a sign? ‘Verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this
generation.’
13
And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed
to the other side.”
These Pharisees sought a “sign” that Jesus
was a person who had authority to do the things He did. However they had
already seen many signs in His healing of the sick. They were not satisfied
with this. They only did this to tempt Him into doing something which they
could use against Him. They had already made up their minds about Him; they
just sought public proof that He was violating their rules. God does not
“perform” for people on demand. He is sovereign and it is up to Him when He
performs miracles or any other act according to His will. When we demand that
God do something, we are violating the compact between ourselves and a
Sovereign Lord. He does not dance to our tunes. He is the source of all good
and He is the judge of all needs.
When people demand that God act
according to their desires, they are placing themselves in a situation of
little hope because they are placing their own will above the will of God. God
always acts according to His own will not ours. He knows best what we need and
He answers our prayers when it is for our ultimate good. When we ask Him for
some favor in Jesus’ name: then that means that we are asking according to His
will and plan for us. To ask in Jesus’ name means that we know that God will
answer what is both best for us and also in accordance with His will. Asking in
the name of Christ is agreeing that we want our request to be done in the
authority which Jesus possesses based upon His work on our behalf.
Notice that Jesus then left the
presence of those Pharisees. He got into a boat and crossed over to the other
side of the Sea of Galilee. The obvious purpose was to get away from them for a
time, as the Eastern side of the Sea of Galilee was mostly a Gentile area in
those times. That alone would have been repugnant to these “holier than thou”
Pharisees. I imagine He had enough of their pretension of righteousness. They prided themselves on their righteousness
while at the same time not having any understanding of what true righteousness
was all about. Their ideas were the obedience to a long list of rules and
regulations with absolutely no compassion or love being present in their
actions. In fact many of their rules were specifically designed to avoid
helping others.
II.) SOME HOPE: Mark 8:16-21
“Mk
8:16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying,
‘[It is] because we have no bread.’
17 And when Jesus knew [it], he
saith unto them, ‘Why reason ye, because ye
have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet
hardened?
18 ‘Having
eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?
19 ‘When
I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments
took ye up?’ They say unto him, ‘Twelve.’
20 ‘And
when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye
up?’ And they said, ‘Seven.’
21
And he said unto them, ‘How
is it that ye do not understand?’ ”
Sadly, the disciples were like us- they
soon forgot Jesus’ miracles. Do we remember all the times God has provided for us?
I know that often times I have worried about something while forgetting all the
watchcare He had given me in the past. The scene here in this passage is this:
When Jesus had entered the boat to go
to the other side of the sea, He told the disciples to beware of the “Leaven
of the Pharisees”. (See Verses 14-15.) They
took the word “leaven” literally as meaning leavened bread. They thought He was
talking about the fact that they had brought no bread with them as they crossed
over to the other side of the sea. Jesus was talking about the evil that the
Pharisees preached rather than leavened bread. Leaven in scripture always
stands for corruption and evil. Just as leavening spreads through a lump of
dough through the process of fermentation, so too does evil spread through the
lives of people and also through institutions such as a church. This always has
to be guarded against.
Jesus scolded them for their short
memory. They were concerned about earthly things having already forgotten how
He had provided for the hunger of thousands.
I fear that we often act the same way
in our service for the Lord. We get so concerned about the logistics of
providing for our physical needs that we forget that God has no limitations to
anything which is within His will and plan. He can and will provide when His
people trust Him and use the resources He provides in ways that are within His
revealed will. Just today I read where Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback
Church, said that his church had been in the hole financially about $900,000.00
at the end of the year. However after an appeal to his members more that $2
million dollars came in to wipe out the debt. God can supple!
In rebuking the disciples for their
hardness of heart, Jesus cited two examples of how He had provided more than
was needed in feeding the multitudes on two occasions.
Two in scripture is the number of
testimony or witness. In the law it took two or more witnesses before someone
could be convicted of a wrong. In instance after instance God give two or more
witnesses to every truth, to every command, and to every requirement. This is
how “scripture interprets scripture”.
Every truth in the Word of God is found in more than one place, thus proving that
God wishes us to know and obey that principle or command. Jesus asked them the
question- “How is it that ye do not understand?”
And today, how is it that we often do not understand that He stands
ready to provide what we need in order to do the work which He has commanded us
to do? There is hope for tomorrow, for God stands ready to provide all the
resources to those who are willing to do as He asks. This is the true ground in
which our faith can grow, for there are infinite resources at our disposal, if
we truly are ready to serve Him. Are we ready for our faith to grow?
III.) MORE HOPE: Mark 8:27-33
“27 And
Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by
the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them,
‘Whom do men say that I am?’
28 And they answered, ‘John the
Baptist: but some [say], Elias; and others, one of the prophets.’
29 And he saith unto them,
‘But whom say ye that I am?’ And
Peter answereth and saith unto him, ‘Thou art the Christ.’
30 And he charged them that they
should tell no man of him.
31 And he began to teach them,
that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and
[of] the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise
again.
32 And he spake that saying
openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33 But
when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying,
‘Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that
be of God, but the things that be of men.’ ”
In
the previous passages Jesus had demonstrated to them that He had power to
provide for their physical needs. But now, He begins to talk of the greater
provision, the provision for spiritual needs. They did not understand this
either, for their minds were still focused upon the normal conflicts of this
world. While it is true that when we seek to serve Him according to His
leading, we can count on the fact that He can and will provide the physical
means for us do such tasks. However there is a higher plain that needs to come
into play. We need spiritual resources even more than we need physical
provision. That source of spiritual power is a direct result of Jesus’
sacrifice upon the cross. All spiritual blessing and power, indeed even the physical
provision He supplies also flows from that sacrifice. It is the basis of all
blessings. Paul said it like this in Ephesians 1:3-
“3
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ...”
Therefore
there is a solid basis for our faith to grow and to come to rely upon His
power. He has paid the price on Calvary for all our needs both physical and
spiritual when we place ourselves in His hands and rely upon Him for provision.
He will keep us and provide for us if we are walking in His will and serving
Him as He has called us.
This does
not mean that He will give us everything that we desire. But He will give
according to the needs of the ministry which we have been led to do in His
name. Like the disciples, our vision is often limited. We do not always see
what He wants us to do. But that too has been provided for. We are to wait upon
His leading, not passively, but with prayer and supplication combined with study
of His Word. When we do these things He will in His own time reveal to us what
He has for us to do and also how we may do it.
Therefore
the conclusion is that there is much hope for our faith to grow in strength and
in endurance. Faith will be tested. The disciples were tested in their faith as
Jesus came to the time of His sacrifice. They failed at some points, but when
they saw Him arisen and full of power they grew into full grown witnesses of
His power and presence in their lives.
Contrast the
fearful disciples at His trial and death with the power of their witness
publicly just 50 days later at Pentecost! They had “received power ... after the Holy
Spirit came upon them” (paraphrasing
Acts 1:8)
While it is
not God’s purpose today to send down tongues of fire and have us speak in
foreign languages, but He does give the power of the Spirit to our witness as
we follow His will. But first we must be willing to submit wholly to His will
for our lives, just as they forsook all they had and followed Him even unto
death for many of them.
CONCLUSION: (Full Hope)
If we refuse to open our hearts and minds
to His leading, we will never have the power or provision to do the work which
we are called by Him to do. But the power is there. Just as an electrical
socket has power waiting in it to operate any tool that is plugged into it, so
too is God’s power and provision awaiting our action. That action is total
surrender to Him as our Lord and Master. When we allow Him all the rooms in our
heart, when we open our whole selves to His direction, then He will lead us to
a task which He wishes us to perform. But the closing off rooms in our hearts
and our lives to His direction will lead to powerlessness and a drifting
through our lives without proper direction. He is not just Lord over a portion
of our lives, He is Lord of all.
This is our
challenge- will we allow our faith to grow by complete trust in Him, or will
our doubts and fears limit our growth? Just as our muscles need exercise in
order to develop more strength, so too does faith require exercise in order to
grow.
One of our
old Hymns has these words for its repeated theme:
(Verse 4) “I'm
so glad I learned to trust him, Precious Jesus , Savior, friend;
And I know
that He is with me, Will be with me to the end.”
(Chorus) “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I
proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus,
Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!” [2][2]
May He
continue to lead us to trust Him more and more so that we might become more
powerful instruments in His hands to advance the Kingdom.
For: “He
is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2nd
Peter 3:9)
Prayerfully Submitted:
Joe Forbus
01-05-2010