TCH MINI-STUDY 55
HE SHALL HAVE WHATSOEVER HE SAITH
The scriptures instruct us, Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and
into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with
the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 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. And
Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it (Mark 11:11-14). A few verses
later, we read, And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance
saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith
in God. 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 (Mark
11:20-23).
Many believers in Christ have interpreted verse 13 to mean that the believer who desires a mountain [a towering obstacle,
problem, or need] to be eliminated from their lives, and shall not doubt in their heart but believe that those things he or she says
rearding the mountain shall come to pass, he or she shall have whatsoever he or she says. On the surface, this interpretation seems
reasonable, if not attractive, but there is a problem – a major problem, in fact. The problem is that many believers speak all kinds
of things to their mountains, and those things do not ever happen or appear. The mountain is never removed and cast into the sea,
so to speak, and the believer in Christ never receives what he or she spoke in faith to their mountain. Over and over again in the
church, the words spoken by the believer to his or her mountain does not match the reality of what happens [or doesn't happen]. How
could this be? What went wrong? Why do the words many believers speak to their mountains not come to pass? One possible explanation
is that verse 23 has been misinterpreted by individual believers, Christian pastors and teachers, mainly because verse 23 is not studied
in context. Then the error spreads when pastors and teachers teach this error to members of their church, who in turn pass it on the
others they know and interact with.
In order to properly interpret our subject verse, we must examine the context of verse 23
beginning in Mark 11:11-14). Coming from Bethany, the Lord, with His twelve disciples, saw a fig tree which had no fruit, only leaves.
The Lord spoke to the fig tree, cursing it, saying no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever, and the Lord's disciples heard what
the Lord said to the fig tree. The next morning, the Lord and His disciples passed by the fig tree, and the fig tree had dried up
from the roots, just as the Lord had said. Peter saw the fig tree which had dried up, and with apparent surprise and unbelief, saidMaster, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. Jesus then instructed Peter, have faith in God. The major point
of verses 11-14 is that what the Lord says will come to pass. His words will always be fulfilled, accomplished, and come to pass.
When God speaks, things happen. What Christ and God the Father desire of believers is that they believe that the words, without any
doubt, that Christ speaks will come to pass. As you know, this belief is what Christ refers to as faith. The Lord specifically instructed
the apostle Peter to have faith in God, and having faith in God means that the believer should know and understand that the words
God speaks will always come to pass, without exception.
If we are looking for a biblical definition of faith, we find it in the
book of Matthew. Jesus gives us the definition of faith: And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion,
beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word [message
or instruction from Christ] only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I
say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard
it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel (Matthew
8:5-10). In this parable, Jesus encountered a Roman centurion whose servant was sick of the palsy, and was feeling tortured with pain
and torment. The centurion asked Jesus to come and heal the servant, and Jesus agreed to do so, but the centurion humbly responded
that he was not worthy to have Jesus enter his home. Understanding the concept of authority, and knowing that Jesus had authority
to speak, the centurion then asked the Lord to just speak a word of healing, and he knew his servant would be healed. It was not necessary
that Jesus come to the centurion's house. Jesus responded with the phrase, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. In
the context of these verses, Jesus says that a person has great faith when he or she understands that Jesus has spiritual authority,
and believes that the words spoken by Jesus [God] will come to pass, whatever those words might be.
In order to better understand
our subject verses, some changes in capitalization are helpful. After the Lord cursed the fig tree, and His disciples heard the words
of the Lord and saw, to their surprise, that His words had come to pass and the tree had died from its' roots, the Lord added one
more word of instruction to His disciples. He responded, For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain [need,
desire], Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea [that is, dealt with in some way]; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he [He, that is, God] saith shall come to pass; he [the believer in Christ] shall have whatsoeverhe [He, that is, God] saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye [the believer] desire, when ye [the believer] pray [and
receive an answer from God], believe that ye receive them, and ye [the believer] shall have them [not because the believer has spoken
the words, but because we are repeating the words that God has spoken in answer to our prayer need] (Mark 11:23-24).
This concept
might be easier to understand if we reverse the verses. First, we have a significant need [a mountain], second, we pray about our
need and seek God's answer, third, we receive God's answer to our prayer, fourth, we speak God's answer to our mountain, and fifth,
we see that our words come to pass regarding our mountain. We must realize that we see our words come true regarding our mountain,
not because we spoke our own words, but because we spoke God's words regarding our mountain. Again, it is always God's words which
are true and come to pass, not our own, unless we have repeated God's words. When we have a mountain of desire or need in our life,
and we seek the Lord for His guidance, and he speaks a word to us and gives us an answer, it is our responsibility to absolutely believe,
that is, have faith in, that what God says is true and will come to pass.
Why is it important that we believe – because, in the
spiritual realm, God's words spoken by the Holy Spirit through Christ are full of supernatural power and are always true and fulfilled.
God is God. We can trust what He says, and with experience, it becomes easier and easier to believe, because over and over again,
we see that God's words did come to pass. He never fails, and neither do Hs words. We are reminded of the prophetic words of Isaiah:For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word [Hebrew, dabar, refers to the speaking and operation
of God's Holy Spirit, not the bible] be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper iin the thing whereto I sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11). It is imperative, though, that when we
pray, we must seek God's will. John reminds us, this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to
his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
him (1 John 5:14-15).
Speaking to the nation of Israel, Moses differentiated the words spoken by man coming from man versus the
words spoken by man coming from God: I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words
in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken
unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my
name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if
thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD,if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:18-22). Again, the teaching is that when we speak the words God has spoken, those
words come to pass, not because we spoke them, but because God has spoken the words.
We are even taught from the very beginning
of the scriptures that we are to have faith in God, faith that God's words will always come to pass. In Genesis, during the creation,
for example, what God spoke came to pass: ...the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light,
that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:2-5). Next, God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw
the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:3-4). Early on, the words spoken by God came to
pass. Next, God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made
the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day (Genesis 1:6-8). Also, God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the
earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose
seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day (Genesis 1:11-13).
In our last example, we read, And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give
light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule
the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over
the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning
were the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). We could continue with this illustration, but the point is made: what God says comes to pass,
and it is our responsibility to believe that His words are true and will come to pass, in His own timing and to fulfill His own will.
This action on our part is called faith. AMEN.