the believer who learns to exercise the God-kind of faith can expect to reap a good harvest!
In Mark chapter 11, we find the most illuminating words
Jesus ever spokeon the subject of faith.
MARK 11:22
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them,
HAVE FAITH IN GOD.
The original Greek words here read, "Have the faithofGod."
So if this is the faith of god, then this must be "the God-kind of faith."
In the next verse, Jesus describes that kind of faith:
MARK 11:23
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass;
he shall have whatsoever he saith.
This is the law of faith. It's a law of God. It never changes. And whoever
puts it into practice gets results! In the natural realm there are laws-for
instance, the law of gravity. But you don't have to be saved for the law of gravity
to work for you. Some Christians don't realize spiritual laws exist, but they do.
For example, there's a law of sowing and reaping. Regarding this law, people
usually think about someone stealing, lying, or committing adultery, and reaping
what they sow. Or they emphasize sowing and reaping in relation to money:'
"...whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). And both of
these ways of thinking are absolutely right. But there is another side to the law
of sowing and reaping. You not only sow and reap deeds and money, you also
sow and reap words. Did you ever stop to think that when you sow words, you
reap a harvest from the words you sow?
Mark 11:23 says,"... whosoever shall SAY...and shall not doubt in his heart, but
shall believe [believe what?] that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass;
he shall have whatsoever he saith." Here is where many fine, marvelous, wonderful
Christian folks miss it. When they don't get results, they begin crying and saying, " I
believe in the Holy Ghost! I believe the Bible is so!" But this verse of Scripture says
nothing about just believing in God or the Holy Ghost or the Bible. It says, "...
believe that THOSE THINGS WHICH HE SAITH shall come to pass..."
Nothice that Jesus gives only two qualifications in Mark 11:23 for the God-kind
of faith to work for someone. Number one, he must believe in his heart: "...
whoever shall say...and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe...." (In this
that those things which he saith shall come to pass...." "Those things which he saith"
are words, aren't they? He must believe in his heart, and he must believe that his words
will come to pass. I don't know about you, but I like to prove things.
The Bible says, "...In the mouth of two or three witness shall every word be established"
(2 Cor. 13:1). We just finished reading one witness. If we can find one or two more,
then it's established...or proven. Let's look at just one Bible story I read from.
MARK 5:25-33
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and was nothing bettered,
but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his
garment.
28 FOR SHWE SAID, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt
in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue [the Greek word is
"dunamis," which is most often translated power] had gone out of him, turned
him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, thou seest the multitude thronging thee,
and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came
and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
Now notice verse 34.
MARK 5:34
34 And he [Jesus] said unto her, Daughter, THY FAITH hath made thee
whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plaque.
So many times people miss entirely what the Word of God says. They'll say,
"Isn't that wonderful? Jesus is the Son of God [and, of course, He is]. He went
around healing everyone to demonstrate His power. And He healed that woman."
...All that you have today and all that you are today is a result of what you
believe and said yesterday.
No, the Bible says her faith healed her. Jesus said, "Daughter, THY FAITH hath
made thee whole...." Jesus' faith? No! The apostles' faith? No! Her faith made
her whole!
Now let's read verses 28 and 34 together. Remember our original text:
"...whosoever shall say...and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he
saith" (Mark 11:23).
MARK 5:28,34
28 For she SAID, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole....
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith made thee whole;
go in peace, and be of thy plaque.
What she said was her faith speaking, wasn't it? And what did she recieve?
Exactly what she believed and said!
Here is another concrete example of Mark 11:23 at work. This time it's from
the Book of Numbers. It is our third witness that we will have what we believe
in our hearts and say with our mouths. Israel came out of Egypt to Kadesh-
Barnea and sent twelve spies into the land of (Canaan. And the Word of God
tells us that ten brought back an evil report and two brought back a good report.
NUMBERS 13:25-32
25 And they [the twelve spies] returned from searching of the land after forty days,
26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congergation
of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought
back word unto them, and unto all the congergation, and shewed them the fruit
of the land.
27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentestus,
and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are
walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak [the giants] there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites,
and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and
by the coast of Jordan.
30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and
possess it: for we are well able to overcome it.
Faith always has a good report: doubt always has an evil report
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the
people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report....
Now what was evil about their report? Everyone knows if they'd come back curssing or
telling vulgar jokes or lying about one another, that would have been evil. All they did
was come back talking doubt. The Bible calls that evil. Unfortunately, the church is
often full of doubt peddlers who always have an evil report.
NUMBERS 13:32,33
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the
children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land
that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of
a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Now hold verse 33 in your mind, and let's go to Numbers 14:9, where Joshua joins
Caleb in speaking to the children of Israel:
NUMBERS 14:9
9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they
are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and THE LORD IS WITH US:
fear them not.
Caleb and Joshua brought back a good report. Faith always has a godd report;
doubt always has an evil report. What is the difference between the ten spies and
the two? The ten were walking by sight. Returned to chapter 13 and look at verses
32 and 33:...all the people that we SAW in it [the land] are men of a great stature.
And there we SAW the giants, the sons of Anak...and we were in our own SIGHT as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their SIGHT." They were going by what they saw.
Caleb and Joshua wer going by what God said. God had already told them, "I give you
the land" (NUM. 13:2). He told them before they went in that it was a land flowing
with milk and honey (Lev. 20:24), and that it "...drinketh water of the rain of heaven"
(Deut. 11:11). They had Bible proof. Caleb and Joshua wer going by what God said,
giants or no giants. They were not walking by what they saw. They were walking by faith!
Notice Caleb said, "Let's go up at once and possess the land. We're well able" (Num. 13:30).
Why were they able? "Because the Lord is with us," Caleb said. They were able to possess
the land, not because they were so great or so big, but because the Lord was with them.
But the others said, "We're not able to overcome the land." The ten spies measured themselves
against the problem they faced, and the problem was bigger than they were. But Caleb and
Joshua measured the problem against GOD! If you put yourself next to whatever problem
you face, you may look like a grasshopper. But if you put the problem beside God, it isn't
as big as a grasshopper-or even an ant! Caleb and Joshua had said, "God is with us."
And God is with all of us who are born again!
Now remember our original text: "...he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark 11:23). What
did the ten spies get? Exactly what they said! Israel accepted the majority report-the report
of the ten spies-which was tantamount to saying, "We cannot overcome the land." And
what did Israel get? Exactly what they said! They wandered in the wilderness until every
male twenty years of age and older died. They believed they couldn't, they said, "We can't,"
and that is what that unbelieving bunch got.
But what did Caleb and Joshua get? Exactly what they said: "We are well able to overcome
the land. Let's go up and possess it!" That other bunch held Joshua and Caleb back for
forty years, but they finally got in! And Joshua became the leader! Then Caleb, at
eighty-five years of age, came to Joshua and said, "Give me this mountain!" (Joshua 14:12).
Do you know many eighty-five-year-olds who are climbing mountains and killing giants?
Caleb still had the same testimony-the same confession-at eighty-five as he did at forty.
He still said the same thing: "I'm well able to take the mountain!" And he was just as
strong a man at eighty-five as he was at forty.
We ought to think in line with God's Word and depend onHim to help us get the job done.
Thank God, we can trust in Him and His Word. Now as long as you don't believe that
"whatsoever" means you, you can't put Mark 11:23 to work in a positive way-to your
benefit. The law of faith is working for people all the time, unbeknownst to them.
"Whosoever shall say...and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have..." Have what? Whatever God's
will is? No, it says, "...he shall have WHATSOEVER HE SAITH." Some Christians, bless
their hearts, stumble over this. They say, "If something is God's will, then He'll do it. I
know He will." No, He won't. The Bible says God is "...not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Since it's God's will that everyone
be saved, then why doesn't He go ahead and save everyone? But He's already done His part!
You see, we have something to do with it. We must believe God's Word and put it into
pratice for ourselves. We must act on it. That's why James said, "...be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, decieving your own selves" (James 1:22). If you're a hearer of the Word
and not a doer, he said, you have decieved yourself. There are two qualifications for the
God-kind of faith Jesus described in Mark 11:23 that will produce results in our lives: 1) we must
believe in our hearts, and 2) we must believe that what we say will come to pass. Let's keep
that working for us on the positive side. We're going to reap from the words we sow. If we're
not satisfied with the results we've been getting, then let's change what we believe in our
hearts and say with our mouths to line up with God's Word. Then we'll have God's results!
We ought to think in line with God's Word and depend on
Him to help get the job done.
written by;Kenneth E. Hagin
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