Message preached Sunday, October 9, 2016 from Mark 11:25-26
Theme: To forgive those who have trespassed against us is an indispensable condition of prayer.
I believe that a pastor ought to always be checking his own heart before God. I feel the need to do this on an ongoing basis—and especially when I take up my role of preaching from God’s word. I hope I will never have to stand before God for having preached to others while proving myself to be disqualified in my own conduct. And because I can often fool myself, I absolutely must make my appeal to the Holy Spirit—that He will reveal to me where my own life needs to be in conformity to the things that I preach.
I have felt this burden in a special way as we come to this morning’s passage in Mark 11. I have been praying over the past week that the Spirit of God show me where I might be disobeying the Lord’s words in this morning’s passage—and thus ruin my effectiveness both in ministry and in prayer.
And I’ll tell you straightforwardly; I am hoping that all of you who are here this morning—all of you who profess to love the Lord Jesus and to be His followers—will join me in making that same appeal to the Holy Spirit for a thorough searching of your own hearts.
In the light of this morning’s passage, our full experience of the blessing of God—and the effectiveness as a praying church—truly depends upon it.
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Our passage is found in Mark 11:20-26. You will, I hope, remember the context as we have been exploring it over the past few weeks. I have come to call it our Lord’s ‘fig tree discourse’.
It’s the story that began on our Lord’s second visit to the temple in Jerusalem on the week before He went to the cross. As He was coming to the city on the Monday after His first “Triumphant Entry” into the temple, He encountered a fig tree. It was lush and green and covered with leaves. It gave the outward appearance of bearing delicious figs. But our Lord, as He came to it very hungry, found that it was barren. He cursed this fig tree and said, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again”—or as it could better be translated—“unto the age”. The disciple’s heard these words and took note of them. And, when we studied the events of that second day’s visit, we considered how this was meant to be a symbolic picture of Israel of old—flourishing with the outward appearances of religion; but barren of true spiritual fruit before God.
And in our last time together, we considered the events that began on Tuesday of that week—on the third day’s visit of our Lord to the temple. Mark tells us in verses 20-21;
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away” (Mark 11:20-21).
And Peter’s amazement at Jesus’ authority was what prompted our Lord to began His ‘fig tree discourse’ to His disciples—a discourse that, as it turned out, was not about the spiritual barrenness of Israel; but rather, about prayer:
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (vv. 22-24).
Jesus began by stressing the powerful potential of our prayers when they are prayed in His name to God the Father with the right condition of heart. We talked about that last week; and I hope that you—like me—have been thinking much about what He says to us here. It’s truly remarkable to consider the unlimited potential of prayer prayed from the right condition of heart. Our Lord even intensifies the remarkable thing He says by affirming that “assuredly” it is so. Such prayers are as unlimited in their potential as our great God Himself.
But it’s then that Jesus teaches us about that necessary condition of heart. And it’s this that has been causing me to do a lot of soul searching this week. He went on to say—as it is found in the translation I’m using;
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses” (vv. 25-26).
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; did you know that the Bible teaches us that there are certain things that will hinder our prayers?
It’s true of course that, our heavenly Father is not under obligation to hear the prayers of those who are not rightly related to Him by faith in Christ. As it has often been said, the only prayer that God will acknowledge from an unbeliever is the prayer of confession of sin and of trust in the cross of Jesus for salvation. God certainly hears such prayers from repentant unbelievers; and all of us who are redeemed should be very glad that He does! But there are certain things that the Bible tells us hinder the prayers of even those who would qualify as redeemed children by faith—that is to say, professing believers in Christ!
The psalmist who wrote Psalm 66 was clearly a believer (in the Old Testament sense). It may have been a psalm written by King David—and if so, then no one would have been more of a genuine ‘Old Testament saint’ than he! And what he said in Psalm 66:18 would be true of all redeemed people in all ages:
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear (Psalm 66:18).
Holding on to unconfessed sin in my heart before God will prevent my prayers from being heard by Him in a favorable way. In a similar sense, having a covetous, materialistic attitude toward the things of this world will also hinder my prayers. Addressing Christians in James 4:2-3, Pastor James wrote;
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:2-4).
I speak particularly to my brothers in Christ. Did you know that as believing husbands, we can even hinder our prayers by failing to treat our own wives right? In 1 Peter 3:7, the apostle Peter wrote;
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).
So; just saying prayers as Christians, and offering our requests to God our Father on the basis of the fact that we are His children, does not necessarily mean that those prayers will be answered or even given a favorable hearing. Certain things in the life of a believer will hinder his or her prayers. And this morning, we consider our Lord’s words about one of those hindrances: an unforgiving attitude of heart. Harboring a grudge in our heart will hinder our prayers to God.
Now, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we are a praying church. One of the things that I love about our church family is that we spend a lot of our time together in prayer. We even have a reputation before others of being a praying church. But I want those prayers to be heard by the Father in an unhindered way, don’t you? I want our prayers to be effective; and that God would look upon our prayers with favor, and graciously bless our prayers with an answer. And I want our own individual prayer lives to be effective as well.
So then; let’s carefully heed our Lord’s words in this morning’s passage. As He teaches us here, to forgive those who have trespassed against us is an indispensable condition of prayer. Let’s let Him search our hearts on this matter, and clear away anything that may keep Him from blessing our prayers.
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Let’s begin by considering what our Lord says about …
1. THE OCCASION OF OUR PRAYERS.
In verse 25, our Lord says; “And whenever you stand praying …”
There are three things to notice in those words. First is the ‘who’—“you” in the plural; and that’s the twelve apostles. They are the foundational followers of Jesus; and when Jesus speaks to them, He speaks through them to all of us. Second is the ‘when’; and He speaks of all possible occasions when He says “whenever”. And third is the ‘what’; and that’s “whenever you stand praying”—bringing your petitions before God in an attitude of worship.
I think it’s interesting that He says, “whenever you stand praying …” I’m sure you’ll agree with me that our Father is not as concerned with the posture of our body in prayer as He is with the attitude of our hearts. There are people described in the Bible as praying while standing, or while sitting, or while kneeling, or while lying with their face on the ground. There’s even a whole chapter in the Bible that tells of a man praying while in the belly of a great fish—and I can’t even imagine what posture that must have required! But in the Bible, there’s a special sense of things that is involved in prayer offered while “standing”.
In the Old Testament, we’re told of how Solomon dedicated the temple he had built to God through prayer; and the people worshiped and prayed in a very formal way while standing before the temple. Many times in the Bible, it seems that prayer is offered before God in a formal and public manner—often in connection with the temple—while standing. And I wonder if what our Lord is meaning by this is that He is concerned with the condition of our hearts even in the kind of prayer that is prayed in a very formal, very serious, very public, very worshipful way. And if that’s the case, He is speaking about the highest kind of prayer in such a way as to be concerned about all occasions of our prayer—including the less formal, less public kinds of prayer.
There’s a story that Jesus told that makes me think this is so. It’s found in Luke 18.
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).
Dear brothers and sisters; let’s just make sure that we know that our Lord can see and perceive everything that is in our hearts when we pray—whenever we pray! Even when we pray in the formal kind of way in the house of worship; even when other people hear our prayers, and—if I may say it this way—think very highly of our spiritual condition at the hearing of our prayers, God sees what’s really in our hearts. Men only look on the outward appearance; but God looks on what’s inside.
May it be that the condition of our heart is always pleasing in His sight on every occasion when we pray!
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And then, consider what Jesus says specifically about …
2. THE CONDITION OF OUR HEARTS.
When speaking of whenever it may be that we pray—even standing and praying formally—Jesus says, “if you have anything against anyone …” Again, look at the details. He speaks in a universal way about whatever grudge we might have; “if you have anything …” And He speaks in a universal way about whoever that grudge might be directed against; “against anyone …”
We sometimes put conditions on things; as if it would ordinarily be wrong to hold a grudge; but that it is completely understandable in the case of ‘so-and-so’—someone who is actually universally recognized as a very bad person by everyone else anyway—because of that horrible thing they did to me personally. Jesus, as it turns out, allows no such exception to the rule.
In the Sermon on The Mount, the Lord Jesus showed us how seriously He means for us to take this. In Matthew 5:23-24, He says;
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24).
Think of that! If we are right in the middle of a very serious moment of worship—whether putting an offering in the offering plate, or taking communion, or hearing a sermon or engaged in serious prayer in the house of God; if, in the midst of doing so, we remember that we’re not right with someone and that we’re holding a grudge against them in our hearts, we’re to leave what we’re doing and go immediately to make it right. It doesn’t matter what it is—or who it is!
God is very concerned about the condition of our hearts in this matter of forgiveness. And I say this with all seriousness: If anyone here today is now feeling the the conviction of the Holy Spirit that they need to go out the door of God’s house this morning and make a phone call, the rest of us will understand! Do as your Lord commands!
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Now; the question might come up of what kind of situation it is that we’re talking about. And I think there’s a couple of ways to look at this.
In once case, we might think of someone who has done something to offend us or hurt us or wound us in some way. Perhaps they did something horribly unspeakable to us. And it may be that we have communicated to them the hurt that they did to us—only to have them brush us off and tell us to ‘go jump in a lake’. It might be that we have even followed it up, as our Lord commands, by taking two or three others with us—only to have it ignored; and then, as He further commands, by telling it to the church—only to have the guilty person ignore the church. I say this with, I hope, due care; but I think in such a case—after we have legitimately done all we can to get that person to admit the wrong they did to us—we need to leave it. Personally, I don’t think it would be right to say we ‘forgive’ them in the normal sense; because they did not ask for forgiveness and have actually rejected our appeal. Instead, in a cautionary sense, we make a decision before God to refuse to hold on to a grudge against them. We don’t necessarily let the person go; but we let the situation go—leaving it in the hand of God to perhaps, in due time, convict their heart and move them to come back to us to make things right. I don’t believe God wants us to come to Him in prayer with our hearts burning with bitterness because of such a thing.
But in another case, we might think of someone who has done something to offend us or hurt us or wound us in some way—perhaps in a very horrible and damaging way; and who then comes later, with sincere and genuine repentance in their hearts, to ask for our forgiveness. It may be that they could never restore the damage that they did to us; and it may even be that their manner of asking our forgiveness is less than perfect.
I believe that’s when we come next to …
3. THE COMMAND OF OUR LORD.
And it’s summed up in two words: “forgive him …”
The Greek word that is here translated ‘forgive’ is an interesting one. It means to to “send away” or “dismiss”; and, in this figurative sense, to forgive is to tell someone, “You may go free. I no longer hold this matter against you. I ‘dismiss’ you from it; and I will no longer use it as leverage against you.”
That, by the way, helps us to understand what ‘unforgiveness’ is. When I choose to withhold forgiveness from someone who genuinely seeks my forgiveness, I’m choosing to retain the offense in such a way as to use it as leverage against that person in some way. And when I obey Jesus’ command to ‘forgive’, I am basically recognizing that I have no right to have that kind of control over them, and am releasing any perceived leverage I might be able to use against them—setting them free before God who has sent His Son to redeem us from all sin.
Now; how often should I do this? Because of what Jesus Christ has done for me—dying on the cross for the full payment of all my sins, and forgiving me of all the debt I owe to God the Father for all the offenses I have committed against Him—I am now obligated to forgive whoever seeks my forgiveness EVERY TIME THEY SEEK IT.
You might remember that Jesus told a story about that too. In Matthew 18, we’re told;
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matthew 18:21).
I suspect Peter thought that was a pretty outstanding number of ‘forgivenesses’ to be willing to offer! Seven!
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt” (vv. 22-27).
That’s a picture of you and me before God, isn’t it? Jesus went on, however, to say;
“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (vv. 28-35).
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The immeasurable debt of sin that God has forgiven us obligates us to forgive everyone who asks our forgiveness—every time they ask.
And this leads us, finally, to consider what our Lord says about …
4. THE NECESSITY OF OUR OBEDIENCE.
Jesus tells us that, whenever we stand and pray, we must forgive whoever we have anything against; “that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” The translation that I am using has verse 26; and it may be that the translation you’re reading from only has verse 26 in a footnote. That’s because not all of the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament contain it. But even if it isn’t an authentic part of the text, what it says is nevertheless very true:
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses” (v. 26).
Most likely, those words were drawn from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on The Mount in Matthew 6. You of course remember those great words, when Jesus taught us to pray;
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
I have a good friend from many years ago. She was a relatively new Christian at the time; and when she read those words in the Bible, she didn’t like them. It’s horrible to say; but she told me that she actually got a pen, crossed them out, and rewrote them to say, “And help us to forgive the debts of others, as you have forgiven our debts.” But God rebuked her heart for daring to change His word. She went back later, and crossed out what she wrote, and wrote it back the way our Lord said it. He means it the way He said it.
We don’t like to think that God would withhold His forgiveness from us if we withhold it from others. But that, in fact, is what our heavenly Father will do. Later on Jesus—knowing that we, just like my friend, would struggle with what He said in His great prayer—took special pains to explain it in verses 14-15;
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (vv. 14-15).
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I don’t believe that our Father will ever ‘withhold forgiveness’ from us in the sense that He takes away our salvation. Never would He do that to His children! But just as even dear children are out of sorts with a good earthly father when they do not obey him, we too will be out of sorts with our heavenly Father if we do not forgive each other for every offense—just as He has so graciously forgiven us for every one of our trespasses against Him.
We especially don’t what to be out of sorts with our good Father when we come to Him in prayer; do we? He has placed the greatest power imaginable in our hands through our prayers to Him; but our Lord Jesus has warned us that He will not hear our prayers if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts toward others. Holding such grudges will hinder our prayers from being heard. That may be why some of us feel as if God does not hear our prayers. It may even become a root of bitterness in the midst of the congregation that drags everyone else down.
Please, dear brothers and sisters; ask God to show you if there is anything that you need to make right with someone else. Ask Him to show you if there is any trace of unforgiveness in your heart—any grudge that you are holding. Ask Him to show you if there is anything that is hindering your prayers.
Please obey our Lord who said;
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”