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April 11, 2010 |
| The Power of Faith With Authority | ||
This lesson deals with acts of faith such as healing. One of the most commonly cited passages on acts of faith is this one from Mark 11.
Expect different opinions
22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."1
Some interpretations of this passage have Jesus speaking of spiritual mountains and spiritual goals, such as overcoming hurdles in our lives that seem as big as mountains. Others accept that Jesus was speaking literally but only to his disciples, the apostles. Therefore the words do not apply to us. This lesson presents the view, drawn from scripture and the works of two authors, that Jesus meant it literally and that the words still apply to us.
The first author, Kenneth E. Hagin, was a preacher and faith healer. "He was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and what was believed to be an incurable blood disease. He related that he was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 16."2 There he began to read the Bible verses like the one above and came to believe that they were intended to be taken literally and by faith he was healed. He went on from there to create a faith based ministry and authored many books.
The second author, Robert Heidler, was a preacher from a traditional church. After an unexpected in-filling of the Holy Spirit he became convinced that there was more to Christianity. He became involved in Charismatics and preaches, teaches, and writes on those themes.
The scriptural basis for this lesson comes from Matthew’s account of Peter walking on water for a short time in Mathew 14.
25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Traditional interpretation
These verses were chosen because they depict an act of faith, Peter walking on water, and in the process they show the elements of acting in faith:
1. Request
2. Authorization
3. Having faith
4. Continuing in faith
Each of these is covered in detail below.
These elements should not be thought of as a procedure to be followed step-by-step. As we will see further on in this study, having faith can come before authorization and thus serve as the request. Also authorization can come without a request. God is a loving, intelligent being, not a vending machine that will always give you what you want if you follow the correct procedure.
Without prior authorization or when acting outside of standing authorization, the process begins with a request for authorization to Jesus. Nothing can be done without his authorization. We have no power of our own.
Peter’s request, in verse 28, is "tell me to come to you on the water". It may sound more like a command, but it is a request – Jesus could have said no.
This is a complex topic and there is not complete agreement among the various teachers. There is agreement among the two authors covered here that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that each person receives on conversion to Christianity comes with limited authorization.
In Hagin’s experience, that authorization covers the believer primarily, with some limited coverage for the believer’s immediate family. Therefore, for example, healing would be available to the believer himself or herself. Heidler views it more as a seed that can grow as the believer becomes more used to understanding God’s will.
Here are the verses from the Gospels where Jesus speaks of giving and getting authority.
Matthew 10
1He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Two points here are interesting. They did not have this authority; they needed this authority. Being Jews, disciples, apostles or whatever else they might have been had not given them this authority. As we see in the Bible, those who try to cast out demons without authority can run into trouble.
Matthew 28
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Mark 3
14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons.
Mark 6
7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.
Luke 10
19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
John 10
17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
God does not authorize all requests. He authorizes requests that are according to his will and his plan.
2 Corinthians 12
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." […]
Both Hagin and Heidler emphasize having repented of your sins when acting in faith. At first glance, verse 25 from the Mark 11 passage quoted earlier and below seems oddly out of place. But it is not. It is emphasizing the importance of a solid relationship with God.
23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
Before we leave these verses, there are some parts worth emphasizing
1. Do not doubt but believe it will happen
2. It will be done for him [anyone] – we have no power of our own
3. Believe that you have received it
Both Hagin and Heidler assert that faith is required for the power of God to act. Without faith, nothing will happen.
Paul describes faith this way in Hebrews 11
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
In the context of this lesson, faith is being as confident that something will happen as though it has happened.
What follows is a selection of verses where Jesus refers to the faith that is needed for his power to act.
Matthew 9
22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";
In the above case we see where the blind men’s faith must be. They must believe that Jesus is able to heal them. Jesus does not ask if they believe that Jesus is God, nor that Jesus is the Messiah, though we know that some people he healed had realized that he was. Also note that faith and belief have the same meaning here. Jesus asks if they believe and then says "according to your faith".
Matthew 15
28Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
We see here that the faith of one person can bring healing to another, in this case a mother for her daughter.
Matthew 17
20He replied, "[…] I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 21
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
Best verse for associating physical (fig tree) with mountain
Mark 9
23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Luke 8
49While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher any more." 50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."
John 14
12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Acts 3
16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
Now we look at a few verses that deal with lack of faith.
Mark 6
1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Here we see that their lack of faith that he can do miracles makes it impossible for Him to perform any great miracles. What little faith they have is only sufficient for the healing of a few sick people.
Matthew 17
18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
20He replied, "Because you have so little faith […]."
Is this teaching us that greater faith is required for greater miracles?
As we see in the foundation scripture for this lesson, Peter at first has sufficient faith to walk on water, but on seeing the wind and probably the waves he became afraid and began to doubt. As a result his faith was diminished and he began to sink.
Satan has no interest in seeing works of faith succeed or continue. Hagin makes it very clear that, from the moment a believer chooses to act in faith, he will be assaulted by negative thoughts like "This won’t work", "This is crazy", and "If this doesn’t work you’ll be a failure". These are not the doubts that Jesus speaks of when he says "Why did you doubt?". These are the thoughts that lead to doubt, if you accept them. Reject them, and continue in faith.
Consider the case of Jairus from Luke 8 (verses in the section above). Jairus came to Jesus knowing that his daughter was near death. Then he was told that she has died. Now Jesus says "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed." What kind of thoughts can you imagine ran through his head? "No one can rise from the dead". "In all your life you’ve never seen anyone raised from the dead. Why would you expect that to change". Jairus must have come to make this request of Jesus because he had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed. He had also just heard the testimony of a woman whose bleeding disorder had just been healed. On this he was able to muster enough faith that his daughter would be healed.
After some of his miracles, Jesus says things like "sin no more" and "or else the demon will return". Satan would love to trick a person into believing a healing was temporary and thereby undoing the healing. For example, a man healed from a bad back might one day get a twinge in his back that reminds him of his old back problem. Forgetting that we all get back twinges some times, he might begin to fear and doubt.
A common theme to Jesus’ healing miracles is faith, whether it is the faith of the one healed, or friends, or family. It seems apparent that without faith in proportion to the miracle, there would have been no miracle.
There is also an indication that failing faith can reduce and even end a miracle.
The testimonies of these authors and many others of their first hand experiences make them out to be either outrageous liars, self deluded frauds or they are telling the truth. If they are telling the truth, Jesus is still healing as he did when he was on earth.
1. Experiencing the Spirit: Developing a Living Relationship With the Holy Spirit – Robert D. Heidler
2. Mountain Moving Faith – Kenneth E. Hagin
3. The Believer’s Authority – Kenneth E. Hagin
If you only have time to read one of these, the first one is the best. If you want to read one of Hagin’s books, you really need to read both.
1 Except where noted, all verses come from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Hagin quoting Kenneth Hagin, I Went to Hell and What Faith Is