Faith to go deeper
Spiritual Growth, The Keys • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewAddressing the perversity of the culture and recognizing the power of God available to us
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I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
Every passage has a key which unlocks its truth and glorifies Jesus as God the Son.
There is a “let down” in this passage. Peter, James and John go up on a mountain with Jesus. He is transfigured into his divine image. Moses and Elijah meet with him proving Jesus is the sum total of the Law and the prophets. One of the high moments in the New Testament.
As soon as they come down the mountain, they meet a commotion. A man approached Jesus and knelt down before him. “Lord, Have mercy on my son… he has seizures and suffers, he falls into the water and the fire. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
The issue here is this. The Messiah would have power to heal the sick.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Jesus The Messiah had the power to heal, thus, his disciples would have the power also. When they could not cast out the demon-diseased boy, they lost credibility. This meant the Jesus’ movement could lose credibility. If Jesus’ disciples cannot continue his ministry, what can they do?
They father’s description revealed the boy was possessed by a demon. You do not see much demonic possession in the Old Testament. Demons appeared more through the worship of idols. One place stands out. In Deuteronomy when Israel became carnal and lost their way before the Lord. Moses recalls...
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear.
I don’t know if Moses told a story of Israel in the past, or during the wilderness experience; but, Jeshurun was the name used for Israel when they became complacent.
The boy’s seizures reveal the demons attacked the boy’s brain. They boy had epilepsy. Epileptic seizures are the result of uncontrolled electrical disturbances in the brain. The effects upon the boy were serious. The demon penetrated the boy’s brain. It got into his thoughts, began twisting his mind, then he burrowed into the boy’s psyche. The man’s son formed at the mouth and became suicidal. The disciples used all their faith and knowledge but still, they could not address the problem. The sickness and possession was too deep for them.
Jesus delegated authority to the disciples in his absence. When Moses ascended the mountain, he left Aaron and Hur in charge of Israel.
He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”
. Notice what happened due to Moses’ short and beneficial absence.
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
The disciples were in charge while Jesus ascended the mountain Jesus’ absence. The disciples met a problem they could not solve, a sickness they could not heal and a demon they could not cast out. This is part of the message. When Jesus is not present, evil takes control.
The connection between students and their teachers.
The connection between students and their teachers.
Students should carry on in the absence of their teachers. Jesus stated this in a parable.
So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
Jesus’ servants should be carrying out the work of Christ as he sits in majesty. His disciples could not heal the boy. Jesus replied,
Matt. 17:17 ““You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.””
Why did Jesus call the crowd an unbelieving and perverse generation?
Why did Jesus call the crowd an unbelieving and perverse generation?
Jesus, this is a harsh thing to say to a father who came to your disciples appealing for his son’s healing. Jesus rebuked the entire generation. Jesus touched something deep within the crowd, their unbelief and depraved condition. Just like Jeshurun, when God’s people get fat on the world’s indulgences and become undisciplined and faithless, demons become stronger than we are.
Jesus rebuked the people and his disciples. He rebuked the people because they still did not believe the Messiah had come.
The boy was not the only one sick; the generation was sick and perverse.
Jesus came but none repented. The crowds stood back to watch what Jesus and his disciples would do for the boy instead of coming forward to ask, ‘What must we do to be saved.”
They did not recognize the kingdom had come.
Matthew 12:28 (NIV)
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The generation was unbelieving and perverse since they lost sight of God’s love for them.
There is no such thing as can’t.
There is no such thing as can’t.
We are surrounded by skyscrapers. We can send emails we can reach millions of people at the push of a button. There’s no such thing as can’t. The question is do we want to work for it. Do we have the faith to break through the circumstances.
In the great hall of faith, Heb. 11:33-34
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
I told you there is a key in every passage. What is the key message in the story?
HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO?
HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO?
Do you have the faith to go deeper?
Many people teach the dispensation of miracles has ended. They say all these things we do now are poor facsimiles of the first century church. The question that I have is this… Do you expect the stories alone to give us hope and faith in Jesus Christ for thousands of years? Or do we need more evidence in the power of God?
Jesus’ disciples did not recognize their own doubts.
Jesus’ disciples did not recognize their own doubts.
Matthew 17:19–20 (NIV)
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
In Mark’s version of this story, Jesus said, “This kind come out only by prayer.”
They did not go deep enough: They did not recognize the depth of the boys condition and what was required to exorcise the demon.
They did not realize they could have cast the demon out only if they had fasted and prayed.
DO WE HAVE THE FAITH TO GO DEEPER?
Some marriages need more than counseling; some addictions need more than a program; some problems need more than money; some hardships need more than sympathy.
We need not be bystanders to people’s needs. We need to be intercessors.
We blame others instead of engaging ourselves. God asked Moses, what is in your hand?”
We ignore the many expressions of God’s love. God is rich in mercy, are we?
We do not recognize the reality of the kingdom of heaven. Greater works shall...
Some demons are dispelled by a word; others require fasting and prayer.
Some demons are dispelled by a word; others require fasting and prayer.
Acts. 16:18 “She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.”
Some spiritual conditions require going deep into spiritual warfare on your knees through fasting and prayer.
2 Cor. 10:4 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
JAMES 5:13-15 “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.”
THERE ARE GREAT PROMISES OF FAITH IN THE BIBLE. I BELIEVE WE NEED TO GO DEEPER.