In today’s text, Dr. Evans continued his series of sermons on the benefits emerging from a growing, relational knowledge of God, discussing the benefit of “spiritual authority.” Dr. Evans directed our attention to the Apostle Peter’s surprised response to a fig tree that the disciples had passed on their journey into Jerusalem as he remarked, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered” (Mark 11:20). Earlier, in Mark 11:12-14, Jesus had inspected the same fig tree for fruit. When he found nothing but leaves, he had cursed the tree saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (Mark 11:14). Peter’s surprise indicated an implied question to Jesus regarding how this tree withered so quickly. Jesus responded by explaining to the disciples that the disciples could also demonstrate this type of spiritual authority—an authority that, even more than causing fig trees to wither, could move mountains into the sea (Mark 11:23). Dr. Evans suggested that three key principles contained in Jesus’ response to his surprised disciples can help us learn how to exercise spiritual authority over our own “mountains,” aiding us in overcoming obstacles that seem impassable in our own spiritual lives.
1. Spiritual authority is rooted in the knowledge of God. Jesus’ specific response to Peter’s surprise was a command to “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). In other words, the power that Peter observed in the withering of the tree flowed from a single power source, God. Dr. Evans noted that authority simply means the right to use an already existing power, but the key is to know how to access that power source. Throughout His life, Jesus had modeled to the disciples how His own power and authority flowed out of His intimate relationship with God as His Father. If the disciples were to exercise the authority to move mountains, they must first know the God having the power to move the mountains. Dr. Evans observed that the believer’s lack of spiritual authority can often originate from a lack of intimacy with the Source of all authority.
2. Spiritual authority is activated by the believer’s response of faith. Dr. Evans defined “faith” as not only the content of what we believe, but the action taken, based upon who God reveals Himself to be. As we believers come to know God more intimately through prayer and study of Scripture, we can confidently respond in faith to whatever spiritual struggles (the mountains) we are facing. Faith is the word for the action of exercising spiritual authority. If we are to pray with spiritual authority, asking for “all things” and “believing that we have received them” (Mark 11:24), we must first appropriate in faith what God has already done. Dr. Evans observed that when speaking to unbelievers, we will often encourage them to come to faith by assuring them that God has already paid the price for their sins and has accomplished all that is needed to be reconciled to Him. What we often forget is that this is no less true for the believer: God has already given us all that we need for every spiritual struggle we may face (2 Peter 1:3).
3. Spiritual authority can be diminished by the presence of sin in the life of the believer. Jesus ended his response to Peter by warning the disciples that their spiritual authority in prayer would be compromised by a lack of forgiveness in their lives: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions” (11:26). Dr. Evans suggested that the presence of sin not confessed is often the root cause of a lack of power and spiritual authority in the life of the believer. In this situation, Jesus challenges us to remember that the particular sin of begrudging forgiveness to those who have sinned against us will block the flow of forgiveness for our own sins: “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mark 11:26).
In closing, Dr. Evans warned that Jesus’ charge to the disciples to understand that their prayers could have the spiritual authority to move mountains should not be understood as a step toward the excesses of a “name it and claim it” theology. Our spiritual authority in prayer is derived from the authority that God grants; we should neither ask nor expect to receive things that God has not explicitly authorized. We must remember that even as Jesus gave the disciples the promise of authority to move mountains, he was living out his final days in obedience to the Father under the shadow of his soon coming death on a cross. Dr. Evans also warned that Jesus’ promise should likewise challenge us in the opposite extreme of going through life without experiencing the supernatural intervention of God in our lives. As we grow deeper in our knowledge of God, who He is and what He has done, we will be emboldened in our faith as we receive spiritual authority to scale our seemingly impassable mountains.
