Mon/Tue - Jesus Teaches on Prayer & Rejection

Okay, let's open our Bibles in our study tonight to John chapter 12, where we have been for the last couple of weeks. Let's pick back up where we have left off. I hope you are sensing. I really do want us to grasp this that we are really on holy ground when we are in this period of our Lord's life. We're in the last week of our Lord's life, where within three, four days of the crucifixion. And please remember that Jesus knows exactly what's going to happen. Remember he has been warning his disciples all along. I will go to Jerusalem. I will be arrested. I will be killed by the religious leaders. He has told them exactly what's going to happen. He's even said in John 12, as we saw last week, I will be lifted up, indicating the man or by which he would die, the crucifixion. So he knows exactly what's going to happen. And yet within days of that happening, he is confidently, even as we will see hopefully tonight, if we make it that far authoritatively, teaching the Word of God, instructing his disciples, confronting the leaders of the nation. I mean, there's no shying away from what is lying before him. This is an amazing, I think, in the truest sense of the Word, awesome. Look at our Lord's life. It really is all inspiring to see the way He responds to everything that is swirling around Him. Let's just review a little bit. On Sunday, he made the triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. Then you remember what happened on Monday? Actually, we're still on Monday of our Lord's last week. So we haven't looked at a whole lot. Remember the first thing you did on the way into Jerusalem? What did he do? Fig tree, curse the fig tree. And remember that was not just a slap at a poor little innocent fig tree. It was an object lesson designed to reinforce everything he would teach that week in the temple about the rejection of the religious leaders in the nation of Israel and the judgment they would face. So he goes on into the temple and what does he do there on Monday? Okay, that actually that was on Sunday, wasn't it? That was on... No, no, no, I'm sorry, that's right, that was on Monday. I've got myself confused here. It was on Monday. Over through the money changers, tables and drove out the folks who were desecrating the Lord's house. And then as he is teaching in the temple, what happens? Who wants to see him? Some Greeks, some Gentiles, and this is where we left off last week that generates in our Lord's mind and thinking his death. He's thinking about his death and so he makes several statements about the purpose of his death. And then we have described for us in John 12 the responses to Jesus' words and that's where we are tonight. Jesus calls them to believe in verses 34 to 36. When he says you're not going to have the light among you long much longer, believe in the light while he is still here. And then there are several responses, couple responses that are indicated. The response of unbelief in verses 37 to 41. Remember we talked about the fact verse 37 says they would not believe in him. Verse 39 says for this reason they could not believe in him. God hardened those whose minds were set in that direction. And then in verses 42 through 46 we see the response of belief. Many didn't believe in him even among the Pharisees but they were unwilling to make it public. We had a great discussion about that last week about whether or not these people were actually saved. And I think we came to kind of a pretty good conclusion, a fairly good consensus last week, that these probably were people like Joseph Fefair, Nicodemus, people who were growing in their understanding of our Lord probably had made a genuine heart commitment. It took them a while to count the cost of what it would mean to come out with that publicly and by the time of the resurrection or excuse me the burial they did. And then others even in the book of Acts we saw last week. Now let's pick up in verse 47 the results of these responses. There's the response of unbelief, then the response of belief and Jesus says something about what is the result of those two responses. Verse 47 if anyone hears my words but does not keep them I do not judge that person where I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words. The very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day for I did not speak on my own but the father who sent me commanded me to say all that I've spoken. So the first response is or the first result of the response of unbelief is judgment. Okay if a person does not believe the response then is judgment and how will they be judged Jesus says what is it that will judge them? Come on gotta get going tonight. What is it that Jesus said will judge them? The father yes but he makes it even more specific than that the words he has spoken right so the very words that Jesus had spoken remember he's talking to the group of people who are going to stand before him and be judged because of their rejection of him specifically the religious leaders visual they'll be judged by the very words they've heard him teach. Now expand that a little bit more and the implication is the principle is that anyone who stands before God will be judged on the basis of God's word. Now Jesus is speaking specifically to religious leaders who have heard him teach clearly heard his claims and they'll be judged by those very words but everyone will be judged by the word of God and when he talks about his father in verse 49 he's talking about that's the authority that's the authority I had to say those words came from my father came from God the father so the first response is the response to a result is is the result of unbelief which is judgment then the result of belief in verse 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life the father spoken of in verse 49 the father's command leads to eternal life so whatever I say is just what the father has told me to say so when one by implication receives the word that Jesus spoke that the father gave him by his authority when one receives that word then the result is eternal life so unbelief results in judgment belief results in eternal life okay those are the results of the two responses that Jesus has encountered by his teaching in the temple now the interesting question arises and I've got it for you there in your notes did Jesus ever meet with the Greeks I mean that's what really kicked this whole thing off wasn't it the Greeks desire to meet with him to see him in the sense of a more personal interaction with him kind of an interview we'd like to sit down talk with him did he ever do that there's one little hint that he might have although we're not told for sure if you look back at verse 36 after he had spoken to them about you're not going to have the light much longer with you verse 36 into the verse says when he had finished speaking Jesus left and hid himself from them now he will have some other things to say later in the chapter as we've already seen so could it be that Jesus pulled himself away from the people he was interacting with the religious leaders and actually did meet with the Greeks at some other place even there in the temple area and then come back into the temple I don't know but that's the only hint we have that might give us a clue that he did indeed meet with them that would have been interesting to hear again we can't say that dogmatically okay any questions about this encounter that indicates that brings forth from Jesus this description explanation of his death any question about John 12 here okay that's all the scriptures record about Monday about our Lord's dealings with people on Monday he leaves the city goes back out to Bethany to spend the night and then we pick up the account in Mark's gospel Mark chapter 11 on Tuesday morning Tuesday morning of our Lord's passion week Mark chapter 11 verse 20 if you go back to verse 19 you find the mention of leaving the city on Monday evening when evening came Jesus and his disciples went out of the city now verse 20 in the morning as they went along they saw the fig tree withered from the roots Peter remembered and said to Jesus rabbi look the fig tree you cursed has withered so this is Peter's comment about the fig tree on your notes now it's for us it seems like wow this is quite amazing that Peter would remember this it's been like three weeks ago that we saw that happen but remember it was just the day before in actual unfolding of the events that that this happened and so Monday morning he cursed the fig tree Tuesday morning as they're walking into the city Peter looks over and sees that this fig tree is absolutely withered I mean it's dead obviously dead from the appearance it's shriveled up and obviously dead and that's amazing that that would happen in a space of 24 hours but it just demonstrates again the object lesson that this is a curse a judgment that is irreversible on on Israel so Peter is shocked that the tree would already be in that kind of condition now Jesus from that does some teaching about prayer and this these verses have created quite a firestorm of controversy and even a theological position that we'll talk about just a little bit here verse 22 have faith in God Jesus answered truly I tell you if anyone says to this mountain go throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen it will be done for them therefore I tell you whatever you ask in prayer believe that you have received it and it will be yours okay now Jesus is speaking to his disciples they're on their way into Jerusalem Peter has made this come in about the fig tree so he's talking to the the disciples as they're walking into Jerusalem this is not to the crowds this is to his disciples now this this teaching about prayer and faith has generated a whole movement and it's based in part on these verses it is sometimes referred to as the name it and claim it movement if I pray about anything if I have enough faith if I have faith in God then whatever I ask it will be given to me okay let's process that a little bit what does that mean that means God is our slave that particular interpretation of it okay that he's obligated okay if Jesus is saying whatever you want I mean prayer is just a blank check whatever you want if you have faith you write in whatever you want and God will give it he's obligated to isn't that what Jesus is saying no okay okay it's an important point varies made I hope you heard it and I want to hang on to that as we move through this discussion because that's I think part of the part of the conclusion very is talking about would it would be against the character of God to grant something that was against his characters because we asked it in faith okay that has to be taken into account gotta be according to his will okay hang on to that thought as well any other thoughts or responses to what Jesus is saying here okay okay so Gene what you're suggesting I think it's a good suggestion is that Jesus is assuming that our hearts are gonna be pure that if we're in prayer if we're trusting God that this is not gonna be some oh wow I got a blank check here I get whatever I want it's not that motivation okay what it's an interesting observation and that's that's something that I'm gonna have to say right off I don't know it's hard to tell from this passage whether this is limited to the apostles I wanted you to see that he's speaking to the apostles obviously we know the apostles had miraculous powers sign gifts the Bible calls them that are not operative today and maybe this is tied to that but I'm not sure he was restricting it to the apostles hard to say for sure it's a good good suggestion though it is a bold statement I mean taking it face value it's a bold statement if anyone says to this mountain go throw yourself into the seed does not doubt in their heart but believe what they say will happen it will be done for them I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you've received it will be yours I mean it does it's a very strong statement about about what yes okay yeah I think there's something to that Holly that it's tied into the object lesson he's just demonstrated it has to do with asking within the purpose of God I think that's a part of the answer must be for the good of God's kingdom yeah when when yeah Steve go ahead okay yes if we're praying for his will then that obviously is going to fit with with his kingdom purpose his best for us yes and what's what's best for his kingdom yeah okay let me make this distinction if I could which I think is one of the major errors of the the name it and claim it movement the the word of faith movement is what it's called by the proper proper term there is a distinction between having faith in God and having faith in my faith or having faith in my prayer and what I think a lot of people take this to me is that if I have faith in terms of if I have enough faith I can get whatever I want I can get whatever I ask and the emphasis then becomes on me getting what I ask which I want to get to in a moment violates another part of scripture but there's a great difference between having faith in God and having faith in my prayers and or faith in my faith if if what I believe this to be saying is if I have enough faith I can get whatever I pray for then really my confidence is in how much faith I have right because that's what determines whether or not I get what I get or I ask for so really my faith my confidence is in my faith if it is the simple act of praying that will guarantee and obligate God to give me what I then really my faith is in my prayers what what really is faith in God what is confidence in God what does that look like when I pray pardon me okay good Kelly letting him be in control accepting his will regardless of what the answer is because again we have confidence in him right to do what is right I think I think the key yeah Tommy go ahead they did try to cast a demon out of a young man at the foot of of Mount Herman and he said without faith this kind does not go out except by faith and he didn't he didn't talk about enough faith or a certain amount of faith he just said by faith okay I think one of the things it's important to see and I don't want to minimize what this verse is saying this is a strong statement about faith in prayer and trusting God but it is faith in God and if I understand the scriptures correctly faith in God means that we have confidence in him his character his purpose his will who he is his knowledge his omniscience so when I pray I'm gonna trust God to do what is best according to his purpose and his will now does that mean that sometimes the answer will be no to what I've asked I think it does so what Jesus is saying here is a strong statement about faith we must have faith when we pray but we must have faith in God and that means we trust him to do what is right now the other thing I would say that I think kind of balances this verse if this were the only verse about answered prayer in the Bible then you know I'd probably be stronger maybe lean toward the word of faith movement not really but I would lean lean a little bit that way maybe an inch but there are lots of other verses on what stipulates answers to prayer first of all Psalm 66 18 if I regard an equity in my heart the Lord will not hear me right so if I have uncomfessed sin in my heart God's not gonna hear me no matter how much faith I have right so you've got a balanced scripture with scripture this is not a blank check promise that says okay if I have faith I can get whatever I want you know I can pray for something and have great faith but at the same time be covering sin in my life that I'm not dealing with and Bible says in that situation God won't even hear me much less grant my request okay then the Bible also says John 157 if we abide in him and his words abide in us then we can ask what we will be given to us there's another qualifier I need to be abiding in him and his word needs to be abiding in me the word abiding needs to be at home in to be welcomed so I am in fellowship with him and his word is welcomed which means I'm obedient to it desiring to fulfill his word that's another qualifier okay I will I will receive answers to prayer if that is true in my life first John 514 somebody mentioned this earlier if we ask anything according to his will then we have whatever we ask that's a third qualifier it also has to be according to his will his purpose for his glory to accomplish what he wants to accomplish okay so I I can pray with all the faith in the world but if it's not according to God's will it's not gonna be I'm not gonna get what I'm asking you see there's more than one qualifier there's there's also a fourth one in James chapter 4 Paul says you fight war and so forth because you do not ask God he says then in the next verse James says you do ask and you don't have because you ask a miss in order that you may consume it upon your lusts your desires in other words your motive is purely selfish so I can ask with all the faith in the world but if my motive is selfish James says that prayer will not be answered so what I'm saying is this this verse has to be balanced out with all the others on prayer there are a number of qualifiers prayer must fit those qualifiers all of them including faith for me to receive answers to prayer this is one of the qualifiers it's not the only one I also have to have sin confessed be praying in line with the will of God with unselfish motives and his word welcomed in my heart obedient to his word and fellowship with him okay then if I'm if all of that is is in the right place and dialed in right then my prayers are going to tend to be more in line with God's purpose and will and pleasing to him anyway yes those prayers are answered okay because they're dangerous verses yes John if they are taken by themselves and this you build a whole theology on this one passage that's why it's so important to understand how to interpret the Bible one of the main principles of Bible interpretation is that the Bible interprets itself in other words you you compare scripture with scripture and that's what we just did by talking about the other qualifiers for prayer that should be added to this one it's not just faith it is those other things as well but taken by itself this passage kind of ripped out of its context the whole greater context of the Bible has led some into error and again I want to minimize the importance of faith that is important in Jesus as highlighting that and stressing that here and indicating the great things that faith in God can accomplish but only if it is in the will of God and we're in right fellowship with God and we don't have sin in our hearts and we're not asking for selfish motives all those other qualifiers fit to they're just as much the word of God as this is you see one of the problems that this no I'm saying that wrong this passage has not generated the problems misunderstanding of this passage has generated some people to lose confidence in God because they prayed and prayed and cried out to God and with all the faith they knew that they could have and did not get what they asked for and that has created disillusionment with God on the part of people and it's unfortunate because it is that's that's not what this passage is saying it is not saying we get whatever we ask no matter what it is no matter what the motive is no matter whether we're in fellowship with God or not if we just have faith it's not saying that and remember that our prayers in line with God's will are the ones that are answered and sometimes those are the hardest ones to get the answers know to when we feel like our motives are pure we trust God for this it's not any sin in my life as far as I know and I'm asking God and God says no well we have to remember if I really have faith when I pray it means that I have faith in God and I trust him even though I can't understand the answer and for some reason his will was was otherwise he allowed something he he sent something that I may not be able to understand but eternity will sort that out and that's where you have to land what exactly good example Paul's prayer second Corinthians 12 about the thorn in the flesh evidently a physical ailment of some kind he asked God three times to take it away and I don't think that was you know three times in five minutes Lord would you take it away Lord would take it away you know I think these are three times when Paul came to the Lord earnestly seeking for God to remove that from him God all every time said no do you think Paul prayed had it dialed in right you know with these other things I would think so I think he prayed with faith and with uncompressed with with no sin uncompressed and those other things but it was not the will of God that's a great example and it was obviously God's will and purpose to manifest his strength through Paul's physical weakness that's what the answer God gave him was you imagine what would happen to these things yeah right yeah that people could go crazy with that if it if he'd gotten a yes answer on the third try after not the first two I mean any number of directions you could go with that maybe God was testing him about persistence in prayer I mean there's you know yeah or maybe we all have to ask three times you know you go a lot of different crazy directions with that and there's an example in the Old Testament too right when Elijah was praying for rain and he said he served six times six times he asked God seventh time the rain started coming well does that mean you have to pray seven times for everything obviously not that that's not the point of that passage but people do take those kind of crazy turns with God's word well that that example that Jesus gave about the widow who was persistent with the judge is another illustration about prayer and it Jesus said it was designed to teach us to be persistent in prayer not faint not give up and so the parable has one point one lesson to it and that is don't give up don't give up praying don't quit praying if if a judge who is unjust will cave into the pestering of a woman then as Jesus says in the end of the parable God who loves you you know who is your father surely he will hear his children don't give up don't give up and as as we all know there are many reasons for God's delays in answering prayer we shouldn't give up too quickly yes Kelly good point good point but one of the reasons for God's delays can be to develop character in us and if we are impatient and there probably one or two other people in here that are impatient as well I would say one or two or three on each row maybe sometimes God's delays are to develop maturity and patience and teach us yeah yeah yeah exactly sometimes God does answer not in the form we recognize it at first for sure a lot of a lot of mystery in prayer anyway and this is one of those passages that can be misunderstood but there's a lot of mystery to how God works in answer to prayer some things we do not understand what the scriptures clearly teaches we also understand as best we can and and I hope we've come to a balanced view of this passage in light of what all the scripture teaches on the subject of prayer that's what I think you have to do with a passage like this one other thing that we we need to mention about prayer that Jesus teaches about his prayer and forgiveness he teaches also about prayer and forgiveness in verses 25 and 26 and when you stand praying if you hold anything against anyone forgive them so that your father in heaven may forgive you your sins in verse 26 if you have the King James version that is in there it's not in the NIV it's one of those things you have a question about that go back and listen to all the CDs on the doctrine of the Bible when we talked about the transmission of the text and and so forth but basically that verse is repeated in other places in the scriptures like in Mark in Matthew 6 if you do not forgive others then God will not forgive you but the basic teaching here is we also are to forgive people if we hold anything against anyone then God's not going to forgive us so what Jesus is teaching basically is another qualifier like the others we talked about a few minutes ago is a forgiving spirit if you pray and do not have a forgiving spirit then your prayers will not be answered now do we merit do we earn God's favor and blessing by forgiving other people no that's not the point the point is if you have a forgiving spirit that demonstrates a heart that is sensitive to God a heart that is obedient to God the kind of heart that is in line with the will of God that is not selfish when you pray that fits in with those other qualifiers it demonstrates that you are in the position that God wants you to be in spiritually to be successful in praying if you're holding something against someone it shows your heart is not right with God and so Jesus says you got to take care of that issue and you're dealing with prayer no exactly the spirit of forgiveness must be there in our part not holding a grudge or bitterness or resentment towards someone yeah okay so Jesus teaching about prayer all right that's this is Tuesday morning they're still going into the city of Jerusalem when they get into the city of Jerusalem three of the gospels talk about what happens in Jesus teaching in the temple you can see the passages there Jesus warns about rejection of him Matthew 21 Mark 11 and Luke 20 we're going to be in Matthew's gospel and let's get at least get started we've got about 10 minutes left so let's get started in Matthew 21 where the first thing we find is the confrontation of the chief priests and elders okay Matthew 21 let's pick it up in verse 23 you can see verse 21 to 22 is exactly what we just or Matthew's count of what we've just seen with the prayer now verse 23 Jesus entered the temple courts okay so they've made their way to Jerusalem they go into the temple courts and while he was teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him by what authority are you doing these things they asked and who gave you this authority now we are ready to enter into on this Tuesday of our Lord's life an amazing series of confrontations with the religious leaders and they come boom boom boom boom just like that one right after another the first thing happens when Jesus starts teaching is is these chief priests and elders of the people spiritual leaders come to him say by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority okay now they are they are upset because Jesus basically has taken control of the temple the day before he has driven out the money changers and stopped the traffic through the temple and made a bold declaration about this being my father's house it was designed to be a house of prayer you've turned it into a dinner phase okay he's showing his authority he comes into the temple and starts teaching people in the temple again that's supposed to be the priests job and supposed to be the the elders job the rabbis job and so basically they're asking what right do you have to do this you don't have any authority to teach here basically because you didn't go to our schools you didn't graduate with our degrees you weren't taught by our rabbis you don't have any authority to do this okay they're trying to stop him in that way because Jesus basically has taken control of the temple it is an amazing head-to-head confrontation and Jesus answers it in the most unusual and brilliant way what I like to think of these next few confrontations as is Jesus is in a boxing match with the Pharisees religious leaders elders she priests all that religious group and he is throwing punches at them that are landing okay notice the first punch he throws where are you verse 24 Jesus replied I will also ask you one question if you answer me I will tell you by what authority I'm doing these things John's baptism where did it come from was it from heaven or of human origin he asked them a question they could not answer you know why because either way they answered they'd be in trouble look at the next verse or in the middle of that verse verse 25 they disgusted among themselves and said okay can you just see this you know Jesus is teaching they confront him publicly he he throws this punch if you will this this first salvo at them and they gather off in a little huddle okay we got to think this one over we got to talk this one over before we go about back out for the next play we got to huddle up on this one if we say from heaven he will ask then why didn't you believe him but if we say of human origin we were afraid of the people for they all hold that John was a prophet Jesus put them in a position where they couldn't answer the question he say was he just playing games with them no not at all we'll see in a moment what is point is look at it verse 27 so they answered Jesus we don't know then he said neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things now the question was all right John's baptism was it from God or was it from men okay they can't answer that question because either answer is going to get him in trouble one way or the other what Jesus basically is saying I'm not going to tell you about what authority I'm doing this basically he is saying I don't need your permission okay I'm coming here in the same authority that John did I mean they knew how Jesus would answer that question Jesus would answer that question John's baptism was from heaven it was of divine origin and had divine authority it had God's authority and I'm coming the same way I don't owe you an answer I don't have to tell you what authority but you know you know okay basically he is claiming his authority by his father to be in the temple and teaching and doing what he's doing and I think the the chief priests and the elders by this time are on the ropes but Jesus doesn't give them any breathing space he follows up that initial blow with three quick stories we're only going to be able to introduce them tonight he launches into three stories back to back while these leaders are still reeling from the first punch and so it's like a left jab a right hook and an upper cut all right one right after another when they're against the ropes already and they are going to get infuriated with him what he does but what he will do and there's a purpose behind this Jesus is going to once and for all unmask their hypocrisy their unfaithfulness to God and his word and their rejection of him and so these three stories are going to come in form of strong warnings about okay you have rejected me this is what happens and he's really gonna have him staggering by the time it gets done okay we don't have time to get into them there's three stories the story the two sons the story of the tenant farmers and the story of the wedding banquet and we'll start into those next week but I want you to get a feel for what's happening here this is high drama this is really tense stuff here when Jesus is face to face with these people who want so much to killing and Jesus is facing them down it's incredible our Lord's courage strength in the face of imminent death knowing the shadow of the cross is already falling across him and yet he does not back off one bit it's an amazing display of godly boldness and courage that our Lord displays we'll get to it next week okay let's pray Father we thank you for the boldness and courage of our Savior Lord he was certainly meek gentle toward needy people but when the time came to boldly confront those who had rejected God's word and rejected God's son he did not spare any punches he was very bold in his denunciation of their twisting of your word and your purpose misleading of your people so Father help us to learn not only from the meekness and gentleness of Christ but also from his boldness when it is time to take a stand for your truth and not to back down Father thank you for the authority of our Lord and the authority that you give him may we recognize that authority still resides in your word may we be unashamed of your word we ask in Jesus name amen