Sin is rebellion against God. It acts like a double-edged sword cutting us off from God's grace. One side of this sword says "no" to God. This is pride. The other says, "Yes" to Satan, which is lust, the desire for that which is forbidden. Though we do not have time to discuss the doctrine of sin, you can read of the 7 worst sins in Proverbs 6:16-19-. And no, adultery and drunkeness are not among them. But there is one sin that could easily embody them all, and that is the mental attitude sin of unforgiveness.
And it is unforgiveness which we conclude with in our study of Mark 11:23, verses 25 and 26. Unforgiveness is a subtle, insidious destroyer of the spiritual life. It is a sin we so easily justify even to the point of not considering it a sin at all.
When we are hurt, deserved or undeserved, our pride raises its ugly head. This is the carnal mind's natural response. We become defensive, bitter, and angry. We want to get back and hurt the one who hurt us. We do this in several ways: we lie about them, slander their character, devise evil against them, committing evil upon them even to the degree of murder. Unforgiveness, if it finds a home in our hearts, becomes an insurmountable obstacle towards the spiritual life. It stops us dead in our tracks. That which God so mercifully gave to us, forgiveness through the cross, we, in our pride and arrogance, refuse to give to others. Unforgiveness must be dealt with and removed. We must forgive and go forward. Yes, seek justice through legal means if you have been wronged, but not revenge.
A revengeful spirit allows those who hurt us to continue to do so by robbing us of our spiritual life through an unforgiving attitude. Our spiritual life is worth far more than harboring unforgiveness toward someone.
Jesus is saying in verse 25, that if you come before God and have anything against someone for a wrong done to you, forgive him. Why? It is imperative you not lose your spiritual life. And most important, if God forgave you for all your sins committed against Him, how much more should you forgive someone who has done you wrong, but to a much smaller degree.
And in verse 26, we learn that if we fail to forgive as God forgave us, we will lose our spiritual life and fall from grace into the Sphere of Carnality. This sphere mirrors the Sphere of Evil, a cosmic system which is in enmity toward God. Anyone who has a carnal mind is said to be an adulteress. Here God's Word:
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God, James 4:4
So we have Christ's warning about the dangers of harboring unforgiveness. If you have unforgiveness towards someone, deal with this mountain immediately. Confess this sin according to 1 John 1:9, so that God may remove this hinderance to your spiritual life. With the hinderance removed, your spiritual life is restored. You are then said to be in God's will, a prerequiste for asking God for His blessing.
Therefore, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted to you.
And what would God have us ask for? Eternal life? No, God gave us that at the moment of belief. The baptism of the Holy Spirit? No, God sealed us with that at the point of our belief. Health and prosperity? No, that has already been promised to the Sphere of Faith resident who walks upon the Path of Righteousness.
So what should we therefore ask for ourselves? First, let us redeem our time by seeking God first. Let us praise Him for His faithfulness, thank Him for His promises, and worship Him by living the spiritual life. With these priorities established in our hearts, let us therefore ask Him for:
His Wisdom, James 1:5
His intimate counsel, Ps. 25:14
His private explanations, Mk. 4:34
That which God would have us seek above all else is HIMSELF. He reveals Himself in intimate terms through scripture. And by spending time in His Word in the Sphere of Faith, we will come to know Him in a personal way. In so doing, our trust mounts up as a stairway to heaven. And there we find the wealth and prosperity of contentment of the soul, 3 John 2.
Believer, nothing is more valuable and precious than your spiritual life. It begins with faith in and focus upon Christ. It continues with perseverance. It results in mature and balanced thinking, which gives us poise: a confidence in God and the courage to keep on the path of righteousness for the sake of our blessed Savior, Christ Jesus. It is to this individual who has the capacity of soul to receive and hold all God desires to lavish upon him.
|
|