Text – Mark 9: 28-29 (read vv. 14-29)
“And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16 And he asked the scribes, what question ye with them? 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, MASTER, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but IF thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:14-29 (KJV)
INTRODUCTION
Just like the Original Twelve Disciples Jesus chose, many of us spend time around Jesus without spending time WITH Jesus. We cannot help but be reminded of the times when the twelve Disciples could not accomplish some of the tasks that the Lord had them face; many of us read about them and simply count them as learning phases. But we need to be reminded that these men were given the accelerated course in ministry by the master teacher himself. . . Jesus!
As we read the scriptures and see what Jesus was doing in the presence of the twelve, we see so many lessons Jesus was teaching them. Jesus was not only teaching them, but He is also teaching us. Let us take note of this incident with a man man who has a child who is possessed by a foul spirit. When the father of the child brought him to the disciples Jesus, they could not cast this spirit out of the child.
However, to the man’s credit, he did not give up. When the man had an opportunity to bring his son to the master of the disciples . . . he did. Not only did the man get his desire for his son satisfied, we also get to observe and learn some valuable lessons in this encounter.
POINTS (Lessons) –
- “MASTER, but IF thou canst do anything. . .” – In verse 17 the father of the child referred to Jesus as MASTER. Yet, in verse 22 he shows his desperation and unbelief (expound)
- “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” – The father states that he does believe, but in light of his experiences with his son and the inability of the disciples being able to cast the spirit out of his son, we see where he also states that he needs help overcoming his doubts (expound).
- “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” – We see that Jesus not only identifies the spirit that has entered the boy, Jesus also casts the spirit out and forbade to enter into him again (expound).
- “The spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead” – Take note that the scriptures clearly states that the spirit cried out as it left the boy, and it did not go out quietly or without incident for it had the boy convulsing. Also when it left the boy, it appears that the boy was dead (expound).
CONCLUSION –
We know that Jesus was teaching and reinforcing the faith of all of those who were there, but it was what happened with His disciples that brings us to our subject for today:
“YOU GOTTA SPEND TIME WITH JESUS!”
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Jesus is giving the disciples a preview of one of the most important lessons that Paul would share with us later:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. . .” Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
When Jesus told them that it takes prayer and fasting to cast that type of spirit out of the boy, it wasn’t because that was an exceptional spirit, but Jesus knew that the disciples were taking for granted their association with Jesus and thought that they could just cast a spirit out of someone without the aid of the LORD.
This is a lesson that all believers on the Lord Jesus Christ need to understand and remember; the Lord has given us the power and authority to cast these spirits out of people, but we cannot do it without first having the discipline to consult with the LORD first; we do not know if the LORD is using that person or not, because the LORD has allowed lying spirits to do HIS work before (we see in 2 Chronicles 18:22; 1 Kings 22:21) for example.
The important thing for us to know is that if we want to be in the center of the LORD’S will for us, we ought to always to stay in communication with the LORD!