Transcript

Prayer and Faith

Matthew 17:14-21
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith

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The past few weeks have been a study in contrasts. From the predicted suffering of Jesus to the glory that will follow after His resurrection. Then from the promised suffering of His disciples to the glory they too will receive because of their union with Christ. We have no problem with the glory part. It's the suffering part that naturally brings trouble to our hearts.

I'm sure the disciples, people just like us, felt this way too. So to reassure these men, Jesus gave them a brief foretaste of His glory. We call it the Transfiguration. It was about the glory of Jesus Christ, specifically His majesty and supremacy, even when compared to two leading figures (Moses and Elijah) who represented the Old Covenant. At first the Lord's fearful presence sent Peter, James and John to their faces and then His tender presence helped then stand firm once again.

Yet as these men were basking in this "mountaintop experience," everything instantly returned to normal. They would still have to descend the mountain to the sufferings of this fallen world on the plains. Today's lesson is about the reality of living as a Christian in a sin cursed world. It is about dealing with frustration and despair. It is about the Lord challenging us to grow in our faith. It is about the certainty of pain and the only true solution that is found in Jesus Christ.

1. THE PLEADING OF A FATHER

The first of three points I've entitled: "The Pleading of a Father"

As Jesus and the three descended from the mountain, they came to the nine other disciples left behind and apparently several other individuals. It was a pitiful site and sharp contrast from what they just experienced. Immediately Jesus is approached by a man. Verses 14-15, "When they came to the crowd a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.'"

The setting is self-explanatory. We've seen this before. Chapter 15, verse 22, "And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.'" Mother-daughter there. Father-son here. A demon-possessed child whereby a parent begs the Lord for help.

Your situation may be different, but I trust in your life there have been times when all you could do is turn to God. Therefore I need to insert at this time a biblical pattern we see when rightly approaching the Lord. What we do not see is a half-hearted, irreverential attitude spewing a canned formula of words. Rather we see Jesus approached with the utmost respect. We read, "Falling on his knees" and addressing Him as "Lord." Both of these acknowledge a spirit of veneration and desperation. We see an understanding of His sovereignty and a belief that Jesus is able to help in a way He deems best. We see humility. And we see a pleading not for what one deserves, but rather an appeal to our Lord's mercy.

This man's son was in bad shape. In verse 15 we hear the father say, "For he often falls into the fire and often into the water." Our son, Shane, needs some heavy supervision, but we are dealing with nothing like this! Mark in his narrative adds additional words from the father: "It slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out" (Mk. 9:18). Luke records the father also having said: "[The] spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves" (Lk. 9:39). Apart from some decent parental care, it is wonder this kid is still alive!

Obviously the father had repeatedly sought the Lord's help. In verse 16 he says, "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." So the father this time went directly to the Source Himself. His delegates failed, but the father still had faith in Jesus.

It is interesting that the disciples couldn't cure the boy because we learned back in chapter 10 that the disciples were given "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness" (Mt. 10:1; cf. 10:8). And already in their ministry they had proven successful in these endeavors (Lk. 10:17). So what happened here? Why did they fail? No doubt they were confused. I imagine they pulled everything from their little bag of tricks: Maybe they tried special formulas and laid hands on the boy and employed a variety of vocal pitches…and nothing worked! Again, why did they fail when this promise had been given to them by the Lord? We'll answer that question later, but for now let's look at the immediate response of our Lord. I'm calling the second point, "The Perversion of the Faithless."

2. THE PERVERSION OF THE FAITHLESS

The disciples were unable to cure the boy and for some reason that really touched a nerve with the Lord. Look what Jesus said in verse 17, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."

Two words of description: "Unbelieving" - not taking God's promises and believing them. The disciples were given the special ability to perform these actions and they failed to do it. "Perverted" - they were twisted and distorted in their thinking. They were failing to act as God intends.

Yet according to Jesus, the attitude of the disciples was symbolic of the entire generation - unbelief and perverted thinking, a problem from the beginning of time when Adam and Eve doubted the truthfulness of God's Word. And it continues in our society today. Humanity is marked by a tendency toward unbelief. God's truth is revealed but humans have approached it with doubt and distortion and in some cases willful neglect.

As Jesus said elsewhere, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18:8). Think about it, how many people are there out there today who really have faith, who really believe what the Word of God teaches? Today we don't judge morality based on the Scriptures, we judge it by feeling and popular opinion. We don't honor the Lord as a country. Rather we have found it better that the name of Jesus Christ not be spoken in polite conversations. How many people are really living for Him and not themselves? How many people are really committed to doing what the Bible says? Moreover, how many people even know what the Bible says? All of it is a vote of no confidence in the living God. We do not trust Him. We have jettisoned the Bible in practice. We rely on what we think is best. And as a result, our society is more perverted than ever. No wonder the Bible calls Christians to: "Prove [themselves] to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [they] appear as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15).

So there is Jesus. What a situation immediately after the Transfiguration He finds Himself in. A begging father. A crazed son. A doubting crowd. Gloating adversaries (Mk. 9:14). And impotent disciples. Helplessness. Faithlessness. Sin. Perversion.

Our Lord's response: "How long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?" (Mt. 17:17). What a window into God's heart. You clearly sense the disappointment and grief. You clearly sense the display of righteous anger. You also get the feeling that He just wanted to go to Jerusalem right away get on with His atonement and return to glory. I would never deny the patience of God, but there is no doubt based upon this text about how our Lord feels with faithless and spiritually immature people.

So the child is brought to Jesus (Mt. 17:17) and verse 18 informs us that "Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. In this pathetic display of faith we are left with no doubt about our Lord's power over illness and demonic forces. Luke in his account adds, "And they were all amazed at the greatness of God" (Lk. 9:43).

3. THE POWER OF FAITH

That takes us to our final point, the main point of this message which I am calling, "The Power of Faith."

Verse 19, "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not drive it out?'" They try everything and the demon stays. Jesus speaks a few words and the demon leaves instantly. This troubled the disciples. This troubled Jesus even more. So they asked for it and Jesus gladly provides the reason. Verse 20, "Because of the littleness of your faith."

Lesson one:

"Without faith it is impossible to please [God]" (Heb. 11:6). I want to believe that the disciples began to view ministry as "old hat." Doubtful they were outright rebellious, but I think they got to a point where they were just cranking it out. They had spiritual responsibilities, but they lost sight of Whom they were ultimately serving.

We fall into this trap so easily. We know God expects us to serve in the body. So we analyze our giftedness and interest and seek to find a place where we can minister.

Let's pretend it is teaching the children. At first we are excited about the new opportunity. All we can think about is pleasing the Lord. We pray faithfully about the lesson and study and prepare to the best of our ability. We are nervous but our entire trust is in the Lord knowing that He will give us the knowledge and confidence to succeed. We care for biblical precision because we know we are speaking on behalf of Christ. We seek to be a living example of all that we teach. Our concern is focused on God's glory and the spiritual growth of these precious little ones.

Then something changes. The newness wears off and we realize this is work. Other interests begin to demand our time and attention. We become comfortable which causes us to pray less and prepare less. We become overconfident and trust more in our own strength and wisdom to complete the task. We start to complain about the lack of encouragement we receive and start to think the children are there to serve our egos. We are still showing up. We are still teaching. But our ministry has become a matter of routine that has completely eliminated the Lord from the process. We are just doing it. We are no longer operating on the basis of faith.

When the Lord rebuked His men for their lack of faith, I believe the gift of miracles given to them whereby they might glorify the Lord had possibly become nothing more than a magic show. They lost a sense of God's awesomeness. They were conducting business as usual.

Lesson two:

They had little faith because they did not trust in the promises of God. Unlike us on this one, these disciples were given a promise that they would be able to cast out demons in a unique way. If God had said this to them why didn't they believe it? Maybe their request was not heeded because they did not believe the promise?

Our faith is in the promises of God. That means two things. One, we don't put words into God's mouth and expect Him to give us things that He has never promised. I'm not saying He doesn't answer the prayer for healing and a spouse and a new church building. We should pray for these things, but if He chooses not to grant the request we should not be mad at God as if He failed. God is not a divine Santa Claus obligated to grant our every whim. He sometimes answers "no" and has wise and loving reasons for doing so. And two, we do trust and claim for ourselves the things that God has promised in the Scriptures. I know God will build His church (Mt. 16:18). I know God will care for His church (Rev. 1:12-13). I know that God will equip us for spiritual service (2 Ti. 2:21; 3:17; Heb. 13:20-21). I know that God will work all things together for good (Rom. 8:28). I know that God will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). I know that we have every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3). I know that our salvation is secure with Him (1 Jn. 5:13). We must pray expecting God to fulfill His promises.

Maybe it was because Jesus was often with them in the past. Maybe being on their own and away from the big three of Peter, James and John left the other nine guys a bit faithless. And I can promise you from experience the moment faith stops; doubt, despair and worry will soon fill the void. Faith is easy when there are no waves, but faith is tested the moment the seas become turbulent when there appears to be no human way out of the situation. Those are the times more than ever where we must know the promises of God and walk by faith and not by sight.

Case in point, the disciples. Enjoying the boat ride with Jesus. Wind starts blowing and some water splashes over the bow and they freak-out! Matthew 8:26, "He said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?'" (cf. Mt. 14:31). Just witnessed Jesus miraculously feeding thousands they now realize they have no bread and freak-out! Matthew 16:8, "But Jesus, aware of this, said, 'You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?'" (cf. Mt. 6:30).

Lesson three:

Good faith understands that we are powerless on our own. Good faith is marked by going to God. Good faith therefore is evidenced by a life of persevering prayer.

Could it be that possibly these disciples asked once, saw no response and simply gave up? Beloved, all that we want and need will not necessarily come the first time we ask. Little faith does not know how to persist in prayer. God often tests us in this matter. Will we keep praying? Will we allow Him to work on our hearts during the process? Do we have that kind of faith? You say, "My faith is not strong enough to keep praying." Here's the irony, persevering prayer is one of the greatest ways to strengthen your faith.

"We'll," you ask, "If all that you have said is bad faith, how much of the good faith do I really need?" The answer is found in verse 20: "For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Even a little good faith is effective because that little faith is in a great God. And if we stay with the mustard seed analogy little faith should grow as we mature in Christ to great faith (cf. Mt. 13:31).

With just a little good faith those disciples would have been successful. Moving mountains is not to be taken literally. In that day the saying was proverbial for accomplishing something of very great difficulty (Isa. 40:4; 49:11; 54:10; 1 Cor. 13:2). Later in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Mt. 21:21-22).

Based upon the promises of God, we have the ability to do incredible things through faith (cf. Phil. 4:13). And the chain that links our faith to receiving God's promises is as we just heard the discipline of prayer. Verse 21, "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Though it is debated by scholars as to whether or not Jesus said these words (or they were added later by a scribe since they are not found in the earliest manuscripts), we have no doubt that Jesus did emphasize prayer. I know that from Mark's account of this story where he recorded Jesus of having said, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer." And whether the word "fasting" was said by Jesus at this time is inconsequential because prayer and fasting are linked thought the Scriptures as the means to unlock the great working of God. A Christian or a church that is not devoted to prayer and fasting has no reason to expect, as we learned today, spiritual mountains to be moved or the Lord's pleasure to be received.

I believe the Lord will allow our ministries to be status quo for only so long. We may stop revering Him, but He never stops revering Himself. He wants us to know Him and His promises and seek Him through unwavering and persevering prayer and forever thirst to be used by Him in greater ways. He wants our faith to grow and He wants to satisfy the deepest desires of our heart. Prayer is not just about getting stuff. It is about Him getting our hearts.

Maybe you even know where you need to go, but are unaware of how to take the first step. May I suggest the immediate cry from the young boy's father recorded in Mark's account: "I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mk. 9:24).