“And when the disciples saw it,
they marveled, saying,
“How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
So Jesus answered and said to them,
“Assuredly, I say to you,
if you have faith and do not doubt,
you will not only do what was done to the fig tree,
but also if you say to this mountain,
‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’
it will be done.
And whatever things you ask in prayer,
believing, you will receive.””
(Matthew 21:20 – 22)
There are three important points here:
- Assuredly, I say to you
- Faith
- Do not doubt
The second has a lot to do with the first
And the third has everything to do with us
The first few lines of this passage
Concerns the reaction of the Disciples
To what they SAW happen to the Fig Tree
They “marveled”
They were amazed
Possibly in shock, too
So they asked Jesus for an explanation…
“Assuredly, I say to you”
Is what Jesus starts by saying
Now let’s stop for a moment
And think about this…
We know that Jesus ALWAYS spoke the Truth
So when He starts by saying “Assuredly”
What He is about to say MUST be very important
It is nearly like He is saying:
“To be sure, to be sure”
A double positive
Or, “Listen, this is VERY important”
What Jesus said was ALWAYS important
But Jesus WANTS the Disciples
To understand what He is
About to tell them…
So He then says this:
“if you have faith and do not doubt,”
Which is point two and point three
As I said above…
“IF you have FAITH”
Faith in WHAT?
Or perhaps better stated:
Faith in WHOM?
Jesus was telling the Disciples
That if they HAD faith in Him (Jesus)
Then…
And for us today…
There is no difference
We need to have faith in Jesus
Jesus has just affirmed that
He is telling the Truth
He is saying something very significant
And if WE will have faith in Him
Not simply in Jesus
But because we KNOW that He IS
The Truth (the Way and The Life)
(John 14:6)
Then…
Now before we get to WHAT
Follows the “Then…”
Let us first consider my third point…
“Do not doubt”
And this, sad to say
Is where most people
LOSE it…
We do have Faith…
We KNOW that we have Faith in Jesus…
We BELIEVE…
BUT we also have DOUBT
Now some may say:
“So what,
My faith should be strong enough”
But unfortunately, NOT so
Let me explain, with a picture
A Landrover is a powerful vehicle
Which has wonderful pulling power
If you tow a caravan using a Landrover
The Landrover will quite easily
Pull the caravan behind it
As far as my “picture” is concerned
The Landrover is “Faith”
And the caravan is the “Fig Tree”
Or indeed the “mountain”
That Jesus referred to
The problem is that for us…
There is a second Landrover
That is also towing the caravan
But in the OPPOSITE direction
As a result…
The caravan does NOT move
There are TWO equally powerful Landrovers
Pulling in opposite directions
And the final position of the caravan
Is exactly where it started…
This second Landrover is “DOUBT”
YES, we believe…
And YES, we have faith…
BUT…
What if…it doesn’t work…?
And all our past experiences
Or other people’s experiences
FLOOD our minds
And we DOUBT…
“It probably won’t work FOR ME…”
“It didn’t work for Aunt Susie
And she died…”
(Or whoever you think of)
You see
If you have faith in Jesus
And you do not doubt
THEN…
“whatever things you ask in prayer,
believing, you will receive”
(Matthew 21:22)
The KEY to your having success…
Is NOT about having Faith
Or having MORE Faith
But the KEY
Is NOT having any DOUBT…
And dealing with the DOUBT
Is everything I have been writing about
In all my Devotionals
In all my preaching
And teaching
It is what alancapper.com is all about
Because it is WHY reading the Bible
Is so important
Since that is HOW you
Build yourself up in your
Most holy Faith
When you have read
And have gotten to KNOW Jesus
To the point where you
Know, that you know, that you know
That He IS who He says He is
And that you are IN Him
And He is IN you
Then you will have LESS doubt
To the point where you will
Start to SEE things happen
In and through your own life
Just like Jesus did…
When He spoke to a Fig Tree
And cursed it for not having any fruit
And it withered
And DIED…