Lecture 2
When Empowered Disciples Are Powerless, Why?
Another example of how important faith is, and the debilitating effect of not having faith, can be found in the experience that nine of the disciples of Jesus Christ had when they could not heal a boy that had issues with seizures.
This account that is found in Matthew chapter 17 shows that the disciples were trying everything that they could to heal this boy but they were unable to do so.
This was embarrassing for them because Jesus had given them the power to heal all manners of sicknesses and deliver people from demonic oppression in His name earlier. (See Matthew 10:1-10; Mark 3:13-19; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6 )
They knew that they could because they did it before. In this particular instance, not one of the nine disciples was able to deliver the boy from the oppression that bound him. When the father of the boy saw Jesus coming towards them, he ran up to Jesus and asked for help.
Read Matthew 17:14-21
What did Jesus say was the reason His disciples were not able to perform healing on the epileptic boy? Take the poll below to share your answer.
Only one answer is correct.
They did not have the faith that was necessary to set free, heal and deliver in this instance.
Today, we are quick to be offended if someone was to say to us that we did not believe. (Unbelief means there is no belief.)
We prefer to use the term “lack” of faith to imply that there is faith, just not a lot of faith. This falsely implies that there is a middle ground, or a halfway mark. But Jesus was clear when He said that they could not heal the boy “because of their unbelief”.
According to Matthew 17:20, how much faith is needed to move a mountain?
Jesus made it clear that there is no middle ground. Either you have faith or you do not. With that being said, let’s take a moment and look closer at this situation that the nine disciples found themselves in because it was different from the first one we discussed regarding the Israelites going into Canaan.
Since we already read Matthew’s account of the event, now read what Mark says about what happened.
- In this situation, they were not going in to take back something that was stolen from them, or to take possession of something that was said to be theirs.
- In this situation, they were standing against a demonic attack that was happening to this young boy.
- In this situation, they needed to defend the boy by standing in the gap and resisting the attack of the demon on that boy so that he could be set free, healed, and delivered from the oppression of that demonic spirit. In this particular case, they needed faith that could withstand.
It is possible to have faith in some things, and not have faith in other things. This is where the response of the young man’s father stands out to me when Jesus exposed unbelief as being a problem that prevented the healing of the man’s son.
The father said to Jesus, “I have faith, but where I lack give me more.”
Did you catch that?
We can ask for more faith.
Read Jude 1:20
What do we need to build up?
This is important because we don’t want to be caught unprepared in any given instance.
We just discussed that when we talked about having our feet shod. That garment was all about being prepared.
Read Matthew 25:1-13
Why is it important to be prepared?
We need to increase our faith building and storing it up, making sure we have reserves of it so that we can be ready when Jesus comes. We don’t want to be caught unprepared like the five foolish virgins who did not have extra oil for their lamps and had to leave and go purchase some oil which caused them to not be ready when the bridegroom arrived.
Questions Answered
Now, I don’t want to leave the discussion of this particular piece of the armor of God without revealing to you why the nine disciples were not able to deliver this young man although they had been given the authority to do so in the name of Jesus much earlier, and were successful on previous other occasions.
This was an issue that I raised to the Lord before knowing that I would present this in a class setting. This was something that troubled my heart because I see it happening today and I did not want that to be true in my case.
I will never forget how I received the amazing answer after having pressed for understanding for several days.
One particular Sunday, while singing about the goodness of the Lord, while preparing myself for the day’s events, it was dropped in my spirit that the reason that the nine disciples were powerless was that they were operating out of their strength.
It hit me like an explosion in my spirit causing me to drop to my knees right where I was (in the bathroom) and begin crying out to the Lord and praising the Lord. That is when I heard the voice of the LORD say, “The Power Is MINE!”
I will never forget the experience surrounding my receiving the answer, nor what happened afterward which I will save for another book. But, what I will share is the confirmation of what I heard.
Please view the video that the Lord allowed me to record after I received the answer and the reminder of Whom the power belongs to. Please remember that I had absolutely no idea that I would be sharing this video in a classroom setting, nor that I would be presenting a class of any sort. I had absolutely no clue, at that time, about the gravity of what I was being given.
Powerless No More
Always Remember, Never Forget
The mighty works that we do are because of the Lord working with us. The power belongs to Jesus, not us.
Mark 16:17-20 New King James Version
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
It is important that we daily get into the presence of the Lord to be filled and equipped for the day. Jesus sits high and is lifted above us all. Nothing is hidden from his sight. So, when we take the time to get into His presence, He equips us with what we need for the day because He knows what we need for that particular day. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end.
Therefore, when we do not daily present ourselves to the Lord for instruction and direction we put ourselves in the position of “running out of gas” so to speak.
We won’t be equipped with what we need. We might try operating on old knowledge and it might work for a little while, but after a while, there will be nothing but fumes which is why I likened it to “running out of gas”.
When we position ourselves in the presence of the Lord daily we won’t have those problems because God is a good God and the supplier of all of our needs. He promises that we will never lack in any area when we make Him our trust and refuge. We must never forget that Jesus backs up our faith. The power belongs to Jesus.
What did Jesus say it was that healed us?
Please Proceed to Module 5 Lecture 3
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