Murray.questions.9.10.11.Response

1. Questions Raised by Murray's Lesson 9
John R. Wible, Editor
Murray's Lessons 9, 10, and 11 raise some troubling questions which I will examine in this
and subsequent notes. At the outset, may I say that I have accurately reported what Rev.
Murray wrote and I believe that my additional explanations of what he said are true to his
words. I must confess, though to falling into two errors.
The first is accepting what he has written as "gospel" without more. For the most part,
Murray quotes the scripture and proceeds to opine citing scant authority.
The second error follows from the first, not pursuing the scripture in light of other scripture to
truly learn what I believe to be the full meaning.
It is axiomatic to understanding the Scriptures that where a passage is unambiguous, one
should take the plain words at their face value. However, where the words are or appear to
be ambiguous, further interpretation must be made.
What makes a passage ambiguous? There are any number of causes that might raise an
ambiguity, however, I submit that the cause here is where the words appear to contradict
other passages or long-held interpretations. In other words, one should not accept a shift in
personal doctrine without significant examination. That, I propose to do.
In Lesson 9, Murray quotes Matthew 9:37-38.
"Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Murray interprets this passage as holding, inter alia, that since Jesus tells the disciples that
they must pray for laborers to work the harvest of souls, His power is limited by the number of
laborers. God is ready, willing and able to send laborers, but He is awaiting the prayer of the
disciples to release them. This leads one to the conclusion that the coming of laborers
depends upon our prayer for the coming of laborers.
In scriptural interpretation, as in legal interpretation (I am, after all a lawyer and not a
theologian,) there is a method and there are rules. The "plain meaning" rule has already
been observed, supra. Next, one should apply the general rule of letting scripture interpret
itself. Again, there are several methods to accomplish this. In this passage, we should
consider first, the context, and second, we consider other passages on the subject and
seemingly inconsistent passages and attempt to harmonize all.
The Evangelist, Matthew gives us the story of Jesus' ministry beginning in Chapter 3 with
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2. Jesus' Baptism. Chapter 4 gives us Jesus' temptation and then the beginning of His ministry
proper. First, he calls His disciples and they all begin to minister in Galilee. In Chapter 5-7,
Jesus delivers the Sermon on the Mount. According to church tradition, this was soon after
calling the disciples and delivered from a hillside on the Galilean side of the Sea of Galilee.
Chapter 8 begins with Jesus who "coming down from the mountain," begins to heal the sick
(including Peter's Mother-in-Law) and to cast out demons in the Galilee. He and the disciples
go over to the "other side" of the Sea where Jesus first tells of the cost of discipleship when a
scribe asks to follow Him. Jesus tells the man that He must leave all immediately and follow
right then. As we will remember, this was too much for the man to bear so he went away. A
little later back on the Galilean side, Jesus calls Matthew who, unlike the scribe, does exactly
as Jesus bids him which is to walk immediately away from his table and follow.
Time passes finding Jesus going about healing and casting out demons. Verse 35 informs us
that Jesus went to "all their towns and cities." This brings us to the focal passage, vv. 36
which leads into vv. 37 and 38 as cited by Murray.
To give context, let's restate the passage from 36 to 38.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and
dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out
workers into His harvest.”
The passage tells us that Jesus first, having seen all the sick and having healed as many
as He could, "felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like
sheep without a shepherd." Then, the focus of the work begins to shift. Up until this time,
the principal actor was Jesus, Himself.
However, after all this, He talks with the disciples about doing the work. Immediately after this
event, comes Chapter 10 in which Jesus ". . . summoned His twelve disciples and gave them
authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every
kind of sickness." After the Chapter names them all, Jesus sends them out to the "lost
Children of Israel" to do exactly what He has done - "[h]eal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
the lepers, [and] cast out demons.]"
May I submit that in Murray's focal passage, Jesus is not intending to give a statement of a
deeply controversial theological truth but a simple command to go out and do good things. If
the disciples are to do the good things, they must first, themselves feel Jesus' compassion for
the people. They must likewise realize that the task is daunting - that they cannot do it alone,
even under the filling of the Holy Spirit and at Jesus' specific command. They must care
enough to get serious in pray for others to come help them.
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3. J.I. Packer in his famous work on The Sovereignty of God, recounts an incident in the early
career of Martin Luther. Luther had a friend in the priesthood who was like-minded with
Luther. After much prayer together, they agreed that Luther would go out into the field and
work and the friend would retire to the monastery to pray daily and fervently for Luther's
work. In the course of his prayers, Luther's friend had a dream. In the dream, he saw a field
"white unto harvest" and a lone figure of a man out in the field attempting to harvest. When
he awoke, he realized that it was Luther who was alone in the field. The Spirit then convicted
him that he should leave his prayers and go help Luther in the field.
Placed in context, the cited passage is a microcosm of that story. Jesus wants His disciples
to get serious in prayer and then go to work. We could and perhaps should leave the
passage at that point as it may well be the case that our chosen venue, a Sunday School
class is not the place to argue the burning theological issue but is rather a place to merely
hear the command to get serious in prayer and then go to work.
However, having said that, your Editor would make a few observations to address, if not to
satisfy or answer the question that was raised namely, "Will God's work be done if the
disciples, or if we, don't respond to the Spirit's bidding to pray for a thing?" Murray answers
emphatically, "Yes."
A bit of background is necessary to see why Murray so quickly answers in the affirmative.
Murray was a missionary sent to South Africa by the Dutch Reformed Church in the late 19th
Century (Murray died in 1928.) He was born , raised, and educated in Scotland. He received
his theological training at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands (thus the Dutch Reform
connection.)
About a century before Murray, the Dutch Reformed Church went through the "Arminian
Controversy." Jacobus Arminius, A Dutch Reformed theologian, began to teach a doctrine
that held as a tenet that even though God offered salvation to all and had as His Divine will
that all should come to Him, man was possessed of "free will" whereby he could reject God's
call and thus be damned by his own failure to accept God's salvific call.
The Church argued over this doctrine and eventually rejected it, publishing the results of the
Synod of Dordt that was a statement on the subject. Since that time, the teaching of the
Dutch Reformed Church was in line with that of John Calvin holding that before the
"foundation of the Earth," God elected those whom He would save and did not elect the rest.
This is the Doctrine of Election. Murray then, by "birth" and by training was a Calvinist.
The majority of Christendom would argue that it is without question that God is sovereign and
his will cannot ultimately be thwarted. The Open Bible in its commentary gives no less than
86 verses so proclaiming, not the least of which are Job 42:2, Romans 9:18, and Philippians
2:13.
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4. However, now there arises the deeper theological questions concerning the seeming conflict
here between God's sovereignty and the disciples and our free will. How do they work
together? Do they work together? Can we take the easy way out and say this is a mystery
that we cannot understand?
Over the course of my Sunday School teaching career, I have often cited William Barclay as
a great Biblical scholar, writer, and teacher. I would point out, however, that Barclay, though
basically a Scots Presbyterian was also a bit skeptical of the Trinity and held to "universal
salvation of all souls." Never the less, of Matthew 9:37-38, William Barclay in his commentary
on Matthew, in agreement with Murray says the following.
But here also is one of the great Christian truths and one of the supreme
Christian challenges. That harvest will never be reaped unless there are
reapers to reap it. It is one of the blazing truths of Christian faith and life that
Jesus Christ needs men. When he was upon this earth, his voice could reach
so few. He was never outside Palestine, and there was a world which was
waiting. He still wants men to hear the good news of the gospel, but they will
never hear unless other men will tell them. He wants all men to hear the good
news; but they will never hear it unless there are those who are prepared to
cross the seas and the mountains and bring the good news to them.
J. I. Packer, in Chapter 8 of his work cited supra. on The Sovereignty of God, states that
the concepts of divine sovereignty and human free will are basically irreconcilable. He
calls this an example of an "antimony," that is two thoughts that reach completely opposite
conclusions but which are both, nevertheless completely logical and true.
In defense of his assertion, Professor Packer records an interesting entry in a Mr. Charles
Simeon's diary noting a conversation between Mr. Simeon and John Wesley, founder of
Methodism and perhaps the most famous of the advocates for the afore-mentioned Arminian
school of thought. The entry is dated December 20, 1784 (the date is given in Wesley’s
Journal):
“Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called
a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to
begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions… Pray, Sir, do
you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought
of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?”
“Yes,” says the veteran, “I do indeed.”
“And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do;
and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?”
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5. “Yes, solely through Christ.”
“But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to
save yourself afterwards by your own works?”
“No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.”
“Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some
way or other to keep yourself by your own power?” “No.”
“What, then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as
an infant in its mother’s arms?”
“Yes, altogether.”
“And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His
heavenly kingdom?”
“Yes, I have no hope but in Him.”
“Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism;
this is my election, my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all
that I hold, and as I hold it. And therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms
and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those
things wherein we agree.” (Horae Homileticae, Preface: I.xvii f)
Packer, an Anglican Calvinist, is not without his critics, especially on his thought that God's
sovereignty and man's "free will" constitute an antinomy. Among them is the current author,
scholar and Bible teacher, John Piper who cites the venerable Jonathan Edwards as being in
agreement with him on this subject. Piper describes his theology as Baptist-Calvinist.
Addressing Packer directly, Piper states:
Therefore moral inability and moral necessity on the one hand and human accountability on
the other are not an antinomy. Their unity is not contrary to reason or to the common moral
experience of mankind. Therefore, in order to see how God's sovereignty and man's
responsibility perfectly cohere, one need only realize that the way God works in the world is
not by imposing natural necessity on men and then holding them accountable for what they
can't do even though they will to do it. But rather God so disposes all things (Ephesians 2:11)
so that in accordance with moral necessity all men make only those choices ordained by God
from all eternity.
Others certainly may disagree with me on this statement, but I do not disagree with Rev.
Murray's and Prof. Barclay's statement that unless the disciples pray for the laborers, the
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6. laborers will not be released. Neither do I disagree that each person has the God-given
ability to make a choice to do or not to do a thing.
In my earlier reaching days, I would have said that God's will would be done, only the
unfaithful disciples would have deprived themselves of the blessing of participating in the
work. I have been persuaded otherwise. It is my belief that God's will must be done,
otherwise He is not sovereign. God does not have alternate wills, a "Plan B" if you would so
call it. It is my belief that the disciples are not bound by "fate" to do or not do the thing, they
may choose and if they choose not to obey God, they will, indeed have deprived themselves
of the blessing of being a co-laborer with God. However, God foreknows their choice and His
will is to be done without alteration. Whether these two ideas constitute an antinomy as
Packer says or are not, in fact theologically inconsistent at all as John Piper says, I express
not opinion and will leave it to the theologians. I say this because the outcome from a
practical sense is the same.
Hopefully having, if not answered the question, at least having addressed it, may I submit
that perhaps the best closing words on the subject are those of Charles Simeon.
“Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is
my election, my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold,
and as I hold it. And therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to
be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we
agree.”
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7. Questions Raised By Murray's Lesson 10
(For my caveat on addressing these questions, please see my note the Questions Raised
Murray's Lesson 9.)
In Murray's Lesson 10 addressing Mark 10:51, Murray states that for God to answer our
prayers, they must be definite. The question is whether God can or will answer our
prayer if it is not definite?
There are exceptions, but this would be my general rule. May I submit that the answer
is generally, "Yes." If our prayer is not specific, God does not honor it.
It goes without saying that God "can" do as He wills for He is sovereign. However that's not
the real question which is, "Will He?" Murray cites Mark only Mark 10:51. Let's take the
whole passage in context.
46 Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and
a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by
the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and
say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be
quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to
him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” 50 Throwing aside his cloak, he
jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you
want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my
sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he
regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Murray states, in summary that Jesus wanted to hear from the man not only the general
petition for mercy but the specific thing that he wanted. The same hold true for us, Jesus will
not grant our request until we verbalize the specifics. Prayer must not be vague and
indefinite, it must be specific. There are several reasons for this.
1. We must truly want this. Murray states that giving of our time is the first test. Are we
willing to invest time into it? If not, maybe what we are asking is a wish and not a need. If we
truly want it, we will take the time necessary to formulate a specific request. Generally, the
lack of specificity indicates that we have not really thought about the issue very much. If that
is so, then it's not that important to us. Logically, if it's not that important to us, we likewise
haven't formulated the belief that the prayer Will be answered. One foundational tenet for
having prayer answered is the unshakable belief or faith that it Will be answered.
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8. 2. Murray tells us that further, the time we put in helps us to examine whether our request
is according to God's Word and will. Another tenet of answered prayer is that the prayer is
according to God's Word and plan.
As to the forgiveness of sin, the prayer, "Lord, forgive us our sins," doesn't indicate that we
even have a CLUE as to what sin to which we are referring, let alone whether we have
repented of the sin. For God to forgive sin, we must first repent of the sin. Peter tells the
crowd in the great sermon on the Day of Pentecost, "Therefore repent and return, so that
your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord."Acts 3:19.
I would beg to add one more thought on the subject. Let us remember Who and what prayer
is about. Prayer is about God. It is not about us, neither is it about the thing asked. It is our
opportunity to be with God and to work with Him on a particular project suggested by the
prayer request. For the same reasons stated above, if we haven't taken the time to formulate
a prayer specifically, then we have not spent time with God and have have failed in our
principal mission in prayer. God does not honor that.
Neither is it appropriate to cite the Lord's Prayer as an example of indefinite prayer, because
the Lord's Prayer is a template, not a specific prayer. See earlier notes on the nature of the
Lord's Prayer.
Conclusion. For the above and forgoing reasons, I submit that as a general rule, our prayers
must be specific for God to honor them.
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9. Questions Raised By Murray's Lesson 11
Murray's Lesson 11 raises some pivotal issues and questions:
Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have
received them, and they will be granted you. Mark 11:24
1 Is this really and literally true?
2 Are there any qualifiers?
3 What does the whole counsel of Scripture say on this question?
4 If there are scriptures that seem to add qualifiers, how do we make these two
passages harmonize?
Question number 1 is basically the most interesting issue in prayer spawning every
response from the "name it and claim it gospel" to a very weak faithless, hopeless
watered down true gospel of prayer.
Much of what I wrote in the note Questions raised in Lesson 9 applies here.
Murray quotes Mark 11:24. "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask,
believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." Mark 11: 24, NASB. He
goes on to say that this is literally true and that we should be careful on adding qualifiers to
definite words uttered by the Lord. While I agree with that, I would reiterate that in scriptural
interpretation, one must take the "whole counsel" of scripture.
We turn to the expanded passage itself for help. In Mark 11, Jesus has made His triumphal
entry into Jerusalem to inaugurate Holy Week. He cursed the unfruitful fig tree. He cleanses
the temple giving Him the opportunity to teach there for an apparently significant amount of
time. As they are leaving town, they pass the accursed fig tree. Peter takes note that the tree
has now withered and died and He is taken aback remarking to Jesus about the condition of
the fig tree. That brings us to the focal passage, Mark 11:24. "Therefore I say to you, all
things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be
granted you." Mark 11: 24, NASB.
This great pronouncement is preceded by the following statement made by the Lord in the
course of the dialogue.
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10. . . . Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up
and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says
is going to happen, it will be granted him." Mark 11:22-23.
Barclay in his Daily Bible Study, Mark comments on the statement concerning the mountain,
that such was a common allusion used by way of hyperbole. The passage itself places some
qualifiers on the "all things."
1 You must pray for it. We've already discussed what all goes with prayer. Prayer
must be the prayer of faith and belief. It must be in accord with the word of God
and it must be in accord with the will of God. If it fails these tests, it is not true
prayer, it is a mere rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star," with about an
equal efficacy.
2 The passage indicates that the prayer must be offered in "belief." We have already
discussed what is entailed in "believing" in the answer to Questions on Lesson
number 9.
3 You must believe that you have received them. "Have" refers to the thing already
being accounted as done in Heaven, merely awaiting the playing out on Earth. The
inference that Jesus desires for the disciples to make is that He is all powerful - he
is Lord over nature, IE, the fig tree. If they meet requirements 1-3, they, likewise
are seized of this power and may ask for a thing to be done, "on Earth as it is in
Heaven." See Matthew 6:10.
The internal evidence of the passage gives no indication that it is a blanket "name it and
claim" it general permission slip.
Considering now the external evidence. What does the rest of scripture say about
requirements for “believing” and "taking" prayer?
• Matthew 7:7, "ask, seek, knock" indicates that we must be persistent in prayer.
Luke 6:12 indicates that Jesus often prayed all night.
• Matthew 17:21, "prayer and fasting" indicates that we must be really, really serious
about it to the extent that it overtakes normal functions of life. )Mark 9:29, the
parallel account leaves out "fasting."
• John 16:23 adds that prayer must be "in Jesus name." Volumes could be written
about the meaning of that. Suffice it to say that the short version is that we must
recognize that it is only through Jesus' sacrifice that we have access to the
Father, thus Jesus figuratively, if not literally, brings ours prayers to the Father.
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11. That being so, the thing asked must be within the will, plan and Word of the
Father.
• Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:18 that prayer must be "in the Spirit." Like, "in Jesus'
Name," that would take a lot of ink to explain.
• Prayer should be offered in Joy. Philippians 1:4.
• Likewise, prayer should be offered in an attitude of thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2.
• James tells us that before we can pray, we must be "righteous." James 5:16.
What else has our Lord indicated about prayer? I cite us to the prayer in the Garden of
Gethsemane recorded in Matthew 26:36, et seq. and Mark 14:32, et seq. in which He
prays in faith that the Father would remove the cup of wrath from Him and save Him from
the cross. However, He places the qualifier on it: "never the less, not my will but Thine be
done." We must always read that into a prayer.
Similarly, in John 17:1, Jesus, in the "High Priestly Prayer" recognizes that everything must
be done to glorify the Father. No other purpose is worthy.
Conclusion. While what our Lord says in Murray's quoted passage is absolutely, literally,
and completely true, the statement must be taken in context, giving import to each word and
read within the whole counsel of scripture
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