Fire On Your Head

“…. the Jerusalem which is above is free….” -Gal. 4.26a

“For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his own works….” -Heb. 4.10

There is a sabbath rest which has been opened up to God’s people through the cross, and we need to resist all religious activity that flows from any other place. Even prayer itself is subject to lesser and unheavenly influences, for if our intercessions spring from our own emotions or minds, or are robotic and contrived, we are not likely touching the heart of God or pushing back the powers of darkness. We need to come into the prayers of Jesus Himself, not by striving, but by a radical surrender to His heart, and harmony with His mind. This is where the authority lies, which we shall see from a man who knew this reality in real life experience.

Thomas Haire was one of a remnant in history who was acquainted with the rarefied air of the heavenly Jerusalem, and his prayers moved things in spiritual places and shifted things on the earth in a manner that we know far too little of as the Church of modern America. We would do well to hear from this remarkable man.

He was a friend and co-intercessor with Leonard Ravenhill, and travelled with him in a manner much like Father Nash, who was Charles Finney’s “Epaphras” (Col. 4.12-14) during the great seasons of revival and awakening in the 19th century. Haire and Nash were both less known than the men they travelled with, but their labors were no less impactful, and only the Day of the Lord will tell how profoundly their obedience and love invaded history with the light of eternity.

A.W. Tozer was so impressed with Haire’s character and prayer life, that he wrote a booklet about his life even before Brother Haire went on to be with the Lord. I want to leave you with a few thoughts from this life-long intercessor, who happened also to be a professional plumber from Ireland. We can learn something from a man who spent over 50 years praying 4 hours a day, decades of which he went sleepless for 3 nights a week, giving himself over to Spirit-endued intercession on behalf of the Church, and a dying world that he loved so fervently.

I haven’t the time or space to note all of the elements of his devotion, which would challenge and encourage any open-hearted believer. You can find Tozer’s full account online if you search for it.

What hits my heart presently is that Thomas Haire, according to Tozer, was the kindest and most tranquil man that he had ever known, and though his devotion to prayer and intercession was marked with awesome intensity and depth, he was not a tense personality, as many who pursue revival seem to be. This marks him out as unique, I believe, for his sabbath peace was also combined with a remarkable authority and dominion in prayer that we have rarely seen in our day. Souls passed from darkness to light, many were healed physically, and God was glorified wonderfully on the wings of Thomas Haire’s prayers. Through all of the remarkable answers to prayer, revivals, and movings of God, he was also a very gentle and kind man, who could move from a ground-breaking season of intercession to making a child laugh through a humorous remark. He was rare indeed.

Tozer writes of Haire:

…. always he is relaxed and free from strain. He will not allow himself to get righteously upset about anything. ‘I lie near to the heart of God,’ he says, ‘and I fear nothing in the world.’

That he lies near to God’s heart is more than a passing notion to Tom. It is all very real and practical. ‘God opens His heart,’ he says, ‘and takes us in. In God all things are beneath our feet. All power is given to us and we share God’s almightiness.’ He has no confidence at all in mankind, but believes that God must be all in all. Not even our loftiest human desires or holiest prayers are acceptable to God. ‘The river flows from beneath the throne,’ he explains, ‘and its source is not of this world. So the source of our prayers must be Christ Himself hidden in our hearts.’

‘Too many of God’s people are straining for faith,’ says Tom, ‘and holding on hard trying to exercise it. This will never do at all. The flesh cannot believe no matter how hard it tries, and we only wear ourselves out with our human efforts. True faith is the gift of God to an obedient soul and comes of itself without effort. The source of faith is Christ in us. It is a fruit of the Spirit.’

(A.W. Tozer, Thomas Haire: The Praying Plumber of Lisburn; Rare Christian Books)

Of prayer, Tozer gives us more of Haire’s thoughts:

According to Tom, there is such a thing as strategic prayer, that is, prayer that takes into account what the devil is trying to accomplish and where he is working, and attacks him at that strategic point. ‘Don’t waste your time praying around the edges,’ he says. ‘Go for the devil direct. Pray him loose from souls. Weaken his hold on people by direct attack. Then your prayers will count and the work of God will get done.’

Tom makes much of the believer’s authority in Christ. Over the protests of the cautious expositor, he appropriates Scripture that might be proved to belong to a future age. ‘God says we are kings and priests,’ he declares, ‘and what is a king without a kingdom? There is a sphere where we can have full dominion in prayer. Complete authority is ours. We only need to ask and we shall receive.’ If this were mere theory we might dismiss it as being simply an error in interpretation, but is has been proved in the fires of practical living. God has given to His praying servant great power to command, to demand, and the results have been and are many and unusual.

I dare say the kind of authority and dominion Mr. Haire spoke of is something scarcely touched in our generation. There have been many boasts of dominion, shouts of authority, and we have cranked up the music loud enough to move every soul in the building, but the heavens are not moved by sweat and noise. The depth of Christ’s character and the profound union with God that Tom Haire had come into were the foundations of his great authority in prayer.

Before Tozer convinced Haire that his story needed to be told for the sake of the Body, the old praying plumber resisted the idea. Not wanting to be popularized or tempted with fame, he replied in his own Irish way, “I don’t want to lose me power with God.” His secret life with God, formed through decades of engaging in prayer, was more precious to him than anything else in his life or ministry.

Do our self-promoting ministries know anything of such “power with God”? Are we guarding a deep and holy union with Christ that has been formed through years of concentrated prayer and worship, or are we being tossed to and fro by the latest teaching or movement? Have we neglected the primacy of secret prayer and leaned too hard into public efforts, expending energy, burning time, and building works that are mostly “wood, hay, and stubble”? Are we rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, or barely keeping our heads afloat, drinking in the spirit of the world and following Christian fads? Thomas Haire’s “power with God” is a quickening reminder of the possibilities of grace, the glories of communion with God, and the remarkable sabbath rest and authority that the Lord places upon a man when he is in harmony with Christ through the Spirit of prayer.

May the Lord raise up tender-hearted, fervent, holy, and hidden laborers again in our day. May we cast off any pursuit that causes us to lose our power with God. May we shake off all that stifles the Spirit of prayer. May we put first things first once and for all. May the same Spirit that rested on Thomas Haire, make His habitation amidst the Church at large, for the glory of Jesus!

“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:8-9, ESV)

I’ve been mystified and intrigued by this particular account in Scripture which always seemed at first glance to reward or at least commend the dishonest behavior on the part of the manager spoken of in the parable this passage comes from. Numerous commentaries I’ve consulted over the years–or just plain people I’ve asked their opinion on this–have all had conflicting and contradicting opinions.

As a manager who stewarded all the belongings of his master, this man implicitly would have had the power of attorney for his boss in being authorized to cancel debts owed to his master, and carry on the affairs in his name. It is impossible to not notice some Biblical principles that are laid out here in the concept of stewardship.

Jesus the Son said that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:17-19) by God the Father, and Christ has given the believing Christian His authority (Luke 10:18-20, Mark 16:15-20, 2 Peter 1:3-4), by filling us with the indwelling presence of His nature, His own Spirit–Who is no less God than the Father or God the Son are. We represent The Master to the world. His servants are enabled to carry out His will so that it may be done on earth as it is in heaven. We know from other similar parables Jesus taught, that all of us in the kingdom of God have been entrusted with talents that we’re going to have to give an account for (Matt 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-28). The manager in this parable is a servant, who after a likely significant amount of time, got fired after being found out for his dishonesty with the master’s assets. Specific details are lacking from the text, but that is the jist we’re given.

It’s the opinion of this writer, that the man probably had been doing this for a long time, perhaps his whole adult life and had no other backup job he could go do at his age. In the culture of his time, if you weren’t practically born into the laborious workforce, you weren’t physically up to the job because you’d not have been using your muscles to chop down trees or construct large edifices–hence his pondering ‘I’m not strong enough to dig‘ (verse 3)–indicates he probably had been doing something like stewardship and accounting for a significant amount of time prior. His physical body had only known the work of pushing pencils. Subsequently, after being the go-to person many of his master’s debtors would go to regarding their debts, he would naturally be ashamed to be seen begging on the street as well.

It should be noted, that although the details are mentioned briefly as to two of the people who he spoke to here, it might sometimes slip our notice that verse 5 says he summoned all of the master’s debtors one by one. The total debt he wiped clean from all of the master’s debtors totaled the equivalent of a year and a half’s worth of pay. He used his power of attorney–power of being able to represent and speak on behalf of the master as though he were the master himself regarding matters of money (interestingly enough, in the Spanish Bible, it says that the servant asked the first person “how much do you owe me“). He used his authority not only to shrink those peoples’ accounts significantly and cancel some of their debts, but to garner himself favor with each of them, and this is what the master was commending–not the dishonest and shrewd act itself, but the foresight this servant was operating with.

Make Friends For Yourselves By Unrighteous Wealth

‘I say unto you‘ usually indicates Jesus is speaking to the listeners. He’s making a point specifically, and so since He’s telling us something directly, it’s best to listen and understand! Therefore, as odd as this particular verse seems, it can’t be ignored, but the context we’ve just been exploring sheds light on it.

All of mankind is indebted to The Master. For all intents and purposes, none of us are able to approach God the Father except we be forgiven of our sins by Him, which is what Christ’s work on the cross was intended to do–and did accomplish–but only for those who choose to receive it and accept it. Because God has chosen to use fallen, but redeemed members of mankind in order to accomplish His purposes in the earth, we are then like the servant in this parable in that we are wretched and dishonest at heart until our prior debt to Christ has been canceled through faith in Christ coupled with repentance. Once we are born again into the kingdom of God, we’re then His servants, and His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20) in this world, carrying out His will on the earth. It is in this regard the parable is speaking to the disciples and followers, bearing in mind His audience was both his disciples and the pharisees who were listening (verses 1, 14).

God wouldn’t tell us the children of darkness are wiser than us, without going into detail as to how we can be wiser than they. Verses 8-9 of this chapter contain the application that is being set forth throughout the story shared in the verses prior to it. Jesus gave parables so that He could put something into our spirits to have a spiritual application made understandable to our mental faculties, in order to penetrate our spirits with it. Therefore this phrase or verse is like the punchline, or the point He has been making with this illustration.

How are the children of this world wiser than the children of the kingdom of God?

This man had tremendous foresight, and knew to do something with the ‘power of attorney’ he had to cancel significant portions of peoples’ debts, in order that when he no longer was this Master’s servant, he would have many people who might receive him into their homes when he needed somewhere to go, because they were now indebted to him, the manager, with gratitude for what he had done for them. Jesus called this manager wise, because he used this power he was given–to serve and prepare for his final end. Jesus is teaching here, that the world is better at thinking long term for their lives in terms of unrighteous wealth in just this earthly temporary realm, than we are about eternal righteous power in money. When I look at how Hollywood can make $200 million dollar budget movies just for us to be entertained by, but churches using bake-offs and garage sales to fund the spreading of the Gospel, I tend to agree.

However, Jesus said all that in the parable about the natural, in order to make His point in the spiritual. He is saying to make friends to ourselves using not specifically the money itself, but the power that it’s in it. The persons in this parable all had debts they owed, and one way this servant made friends to himself, was using what they needed–freedom [from their debts]–and made them ingratiated towards himself. Jesus is telling us to do the same thing.

Steve, this sounds like name it and claim it, blab it and grab it to me. I’m surprised you of all people would take any time to post something like this or imply that’s what a Scripture is teaching.

You would be right about how this sounds…until you read the phrase “so that when it fails” or depending on the translation “when you fail, they may receive you into eternal dwellings” (KJV). Most prosperity and faith teachers I’ve heard of don’t have the word ‘fail’ in their vocabulary, so hear me about where I’m going with this:

God would represent the master, and the servant, as–already stated–would be us. Unbelievers–the sons of the world–are indebted to the Father and as His ambassadors, we represent Him and mete out his judgments and authority, and cancel peoples’ debts with His name as we proclaim the Gospel and sinners get saved. When we proclaim liberty to the captives. When we lay our hands on the sick and set them free, using the power of the Master that is in us, to see them healed. When we cast devils out of people and set them free. To them who have been forgiven much, they also love much (Luke 7:47) The slave, and debtors in this parable, are those of us bound by sin and held captive by the afflictions the Master has given the Christian believer authority to set people free of.

When we carry out this authority, and proclaim the Gospel to people and they get saved; or when we do some amazing act of generosity towards someone in a manner that they could never repay us for such as giving to the poor, and the light of God in us shines through in a way that makes an impact on them so as to remove their blinders that they would be open to receiving Christ; or when we lay hands on them or a loved one and see them healed of terminal disease–all these examples leading to them having an encounter with the living God and putting their trust in Him, and being set free from their debts owed but paid for on the cross of Christ at Calvary–these pave the way for them to one day receive us into the eternally heavenly dwelling when we too get there.

How are you impacting people?

Therefore, we’re given a mandate for the proper way of using the power that’s in money, for eternal purposes. One day, all of heaven and earth will have passed away, and there will be no more currency being exchange between men. There will be no more buying and selling, indebtedness or borrowing. No more stock market crashes and fluctuating commodity prices. Those who will have gone on to eternal life will be there and those who didn’t accept Christ and put their trust in Him, eternal damnation. And when our earthly bodies have passed away, and all the elements of this natural realm have been dissolved and nothing remains but the eternal, we will be ready to enter the eternal dwellings. Those that you’ve had an impact on, using the proper use of money and the power in it, will have people there waiting for you when you get there, to thank you for having led them to Christ or seen them set free from their unforgivable debts towards Him. It is these people who are ‘they’ who are going to receive you into eternal dwellings.

In closing, let me challenge you with your eyes towards eternity: how are you using your money, resources, and your gifts, calling and talents to store up treasures for yourselves in eternity? Will there be people to receive you into the eternal dwellings for the impact you’ve helped have in getting them there? Will there be people in eternity who will thank you not necessarily because you led them to Christ, but because you wisely stewarded into places, people, ministries and causes who did in ways you weren’t able to yourself?

If so, you are just as much a part of that, by using and stewarding the power of money, your resources, and your talents and enablings God’s endowed you with for the use of the Gospel in evangelism or other manners–in appropriate kingdom ways–for the glory of eternal God.

The secret of fasting is denying yourself something you need to survive in this realm to partake of something you need to survive in the spiritual realm. Eating of that realm gives you the substance of that realm. Then you will be able to dish out here, what you have tasted of there. If you are able to resist eating, something that is essential to life; then you will be able to resist anything that the enemy temps you with.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let Us  make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creepy thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Here we see the creation and the call of man. Man was created in a supernatural state, and from this supernatural state of being man was to subdue the earth. Read verses 28-30 and you will see further that all creation was given by God to the authority of man, the only one created in His image.

Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Then the Lord commanded the man, saying “From any tree in the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

They were created in God’s presence, and  already in a supernatural state. They were called to fast the knowledge of the world. They were to live entirely off the words of God, the knowledge that comes from Him of how to cultivate the garden they were given to keep.

In verses 3:1-6 we see their reaction to His commandment.  The serpent came and tempted them to disobey God by simply eating of the knowledge of this life. They gave in to the desire for food…

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

This was the beginning, the first age of man. And for Adam and Eve, this is all they knew. The wisdom of God was to retain the state in which they were created, living from God alone. The goal of the enemy was to get them to taste of the wisdom of the age, causing them to fall into a state of spiritual death and relinquishing their authority on the earth to the evil one. He tricked them into looking away from God and at themselves. (ref. Matthew 16:23) The temptations here are often repeated throughout Scripture and commonly referred to as: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” When we respond as they did, looking to ourselves–our own understanding-to try to accomplish something–then it is a work of the flesh. It corrupts our perspective of living off the words of God–the supernatural state of being–to acting in accordance with the age.

Genesis 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called out to him “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself.”

After they tasted they could see just how devastating it was. They no longer saw themselves in a supernatural state, covered in the presence of God. They now saw themselves with merely natural eyes, realizing they were naked. Their scenario is remarkably opposite of ours. They were initially supernatural, and we natural. They forsook the command of God to eat to the world. We are to forsake to the world to eat of the command of God. Now they were naked and their sins were exposed. The knowledge of the world had entered their hearts. Suddenly, they had to be sought out by God. The entire state of being, their entire world had been flipped up-side-down!

Genesis 3:21-22 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said. “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he may stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”-

No longer can man enter into God’s presence without a sacrifice being made.  In verses 23-24, God kicks man out of the garden of Eden. Why? Because God did not want man to be stuck in this state forever. He wanted to restore Him to his original state so he could fulfill what he was called to do. (ref. Eph 3:9-12) The discipline of expulsion from the garden was mercy so man would not give in again and eat of the tree of life, living forever in a fallen state.

Man forsook God, eating from a tree the knowledge of this life. He hid himself because he was naked, exposed in his sin. What did Jesus do? He forsook the world, eating only the words of the Father, hanging on a tree He sacrificed Himself so man could again come freely into God’s presence. And, just as man hid from God, God hid from Jesus, which caused Jesus to declare “My God, My God, ‘Why have You forsaken me?’ “ (ref. Mt 27:45) Jesus undid everything that was lost in the garden, understading this will shed more light on His life and ministry.

Luke 4:1 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. In one sense; the garden was the condition of man before the fall and the wilderness was the condition of man after the fall. So here we go; satan comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness the same way he tempted man in the garden.

Luke 4:2b-4 …And He ate nothing in those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written. ‘Man shall not live on bread alone [but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God  (Mt 4:4b).]‘

Satan shows up and tries to interrupt Jesus, who is fasting-eating of heaven. He tempts Him to eat of this life. Jesus declared that man lives on the word of God. He chose the better way. When God was speaking to man in the garden, those “words” were the very food given to sustain his spiritual life.

Luke 4:5-13 The devil continued to tempt Him, but Jesus was able to resist the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (as some say). His obedience and denial of the wisdom of the age caused Him to overcome the age. (ref. Phil 2:5-7) We must resist the food-the wisdom of this world, and live off the Word of God.

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout all the surrounding district.

Now we see the emergence of someone who is able to fulfill the call of God in the earth! The earth subdued Adam with its temptations. Now Jesus fufills Adam’s call and subdues the earth with God’s Word.

Jesus went into the desert full of the Spirit, and He came out in the power of the Spirit. It is one thing to be full of the Spirit, and it is another to walk in the power of the Spirit. The secret is to desire something more; to eat of the things of heaven, not just the things of this life. Jesus, in John 4:32, told His disciples that He had“Food to eat they did not know about.” This is the food we must want. To eat anything that comes from the Father’s mouth, even the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. (ref. Matthew 15:27)

What is with the manna in the wilderness? God was teaching a nation to rely on Him and break their mental bondage to Egypt.

Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.

Overcoming-eating of the hidden manna. It’s not just being in the Church, but the point is to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Hearing what God is saying in this life will reap the reward of overcoming and make us able to eat of the hidden manna.

Luke 4:16-21 Jesus went into a synagogue and read from Isaiah this famous passage…

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

Jesus had eaten of heaven which brought actuality to His statement. Its is one thing to teach the word and it is another thing to be the word, to show that it is alive in you. He was not just teaching Scripture, He was fulfilling it. This is when the Spirit moves, when we eat of heaven we become living fulfillments of the word. Start eating of heaven and living for eternity here and now, and that hidden manna will become His Word fufilled in your mouth.

To listen to a sermon of this message, click here.   Scroll down to the sermon player and select; The Hidden Manna.

A common reason I’ve heard that justifies not believing for miracles or divine healing, is the idea that “God wills some to be sick” or there’s some “divine purpose” behind someone’s disease or infirmity.

“I prayed, and the sickness never went away, so I guess it’s God’s will for me to be sick.”

Whatever it is people choose to believe affects what they will seek God for and how they will live their spiritual lives. Beliefs can produce total victory or total defeat–the choice is always up to us as to if we will believe God at His Word or not.

Allow me to take a whole entry to show you a SCRIPTURAL example of God’s will being done despite what the circumstances initially showed. But hold on tight, because as usual, I’m going to make sure to challenge commonly held assumptions while doing so.

The texts for our consideration are found in Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43a. Each account details the time when a man brought his epileptic boy to the disciples and they were unable to heal him.

To glean from and paraphrase using all three accounts, the situation goes something like this: Jesus comes down from the mountain after His transfiguration. Mark records that the disciples were in a relatively heated argument or as the Greek literally means a “joint investigation”. In other words, the scribes and the disciples were trying to figure out how come the disciples were unable to cast the demon out of this man’s boy.

It should be noted before going any further, that in Matthew 10, and Luke 9:1-6 Jesus had already sent out the disciples in His name to preach and heal and cast out demons—and demonstrate the kingdom of the One who sent them in His name. So the disciples have already been endued with authority to do such things, such as the case here with his man’s son, only now they are unable to for some reason. And at this point chronologically in each Gospel account this is recorded in, they’ve already done such deliverances and healings themselves, through the power of God in them. They are experienced on some level and have seen results already, so the question that comes up is why no result this time?

Two spiritual matters are brought to light in this story, and usually only one of the two is focused on: this passage is usually shown to teach how certain demons can only be cast out of people by prayer and fasting. I will challenge that assumption in a moment. But we tend to forget what Jesus told this man, and what He told his disciples privately later:

“But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  And Jesus said to him “If you can!  All things are possible for one who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24)

Belief & unbelief and faith & lack of it are a key component of the issue here.

I’ve always wondered if Jesus was being slightly sarcastic when he said “If you can!” in response to this man’s plea. IF this man knew more about Jesus before bringing his son to the disciples, he probably would know Jesus CAN, but probably the lack of ability on the part of Jesus’ disciples made him second-guess if Jesus could also. As Matthew Henry states in his commentary on this passage “Thus Christ suffers in his honour by the difficulties and follies of his disciples.” And so it still is to this day.

Jesus rebukes the demon, and it comes out of the boy. Everyone glorifies God, and Jesus enters the house He was on his way to, and the disciples then come up to Him and ask Him why they were unable to cast it out. All of you have heard and remember that He tells them “this kind can only go out by prayer and fasting.” However, if you’ve got a good Bible, there will be a note there at the end of Mark 9:29, and some translations of your Bibles will not even have verse 21 in Matthew 17 (which also states the same thing).

I get told all the time when talking about certain subjects “not to build doctrines on just one verse”, and people say that to me about speaking & praying in tongues (never mind that topic for the moment, and never mind they build their cessationist doctrines on one verse and a lot of assumptions, but anyway) for just one example. Some go so far as to “correct me” if I ever use the end of Mark 16 to say what believers are capable of because “it’s not in the original text”. If I can’t use “one” verse or passage to prove a point, neither can doctrines about this one verse be established when it’s convenient either—people can’t have it both ways when it suits their personal doctrines. But let’s look at what IS in our Bibles. Matthew’s Gospel records another component as to why they were unable to cast out the demon:

Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

Why does any of this even matter?

Oh boy, the mud is about to hit the fan now! If you ever want to make someone feel insulted, just imply that they lack faith in or for something. Even if you don’t say it, people somehow pick up on it and assume that if you’re saying people can have more faith for things, that that necessitates people already sometimes don’t have enough faith. Well, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Try not to be offended about it if you feel I’m talking about you, because I am. This applies to all of us for at least two reasons.

1) Faith is measurable.

All believers have a “seed”–if you will–of faith, but each of us water it and feed it at our own pace, our own amount, on our own frequency. Some people move mighty mountains, while others buckle under pressure if they don’t know how they’ll pay their $30 credit card bill that month. Frankly, NOT everybody has the same amount of faith! I don’t care if it’s politically incorrect or rude to say so!

However, I personally will never step on somebody for not believing as hard for something as I do, any more than I’d kick a baby for not walking yet. The Bible says of Jesus “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matt.12:20). We need to be patient as believers with each other and not get frustrated with someone just because they aren’t where you’re at yet. Build them up. Edify them INTO what you’re showing them, don’t just prove them wrong and think that settles it. You may already notice my style of blog writing is that I don’t prove something to be a problem without offering what I think is a solution, or that I don’t try disproving something just to prove something wrong alone in itself, without trying to invite the reader INTO what I’m sharing. We should show others ways to increase their faith, but not jump on them for not being there yet and put blame and guilt on them.

Maybe it’s possible, after all the things the disciples had already done in their ministry with Jesus, they had not yet seen something this severe and were not ready to handle it? Is it possible maybe that they weren’t mature enough in their faith yet to handle this particular deliverance properly? Who knows, I’m just speculating and any other assumption from the text is just that—speculation. But Jesus DID tell them they had “little faith”. If I were to say to someone–no, if I were to insinuate or simply IMPLY they were unable to obtain results in something because of little faith, I’d never hear the end of it from people about how arrogant I am. But this is an honest explanation Jesus gives.

I’ve rejected before the popular Christianese saying “if you only have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains”. That is obviously not what this passage is teaching. Jesus can’t be talking here of the size of a mustard seed if he just told his disciples the reason they couldn’t do something was because the size of “their faith seed” was too small! We learn from other passages where the kingdom of God is described as a mustard seed, that it starts off small, but then grows and dominates the garden (Luke 13: 18-19)—that is something worthy of consideration. Maybe it’s likely our “faith” is something that grows and increases in time if it possesses the very characteristics of the example used to describe it—a mustard seed. Check out a previous article for further study on “mustard seed faith” for more about that.

2) This passage also shows that just because healing didn’t happen (initially anyway) doesn’t mean it was God’s will for someone to stay sick.

Not only did the disciples not accomplish something they were given authority to do (but as we established, lacked faith to carry out), Jesus Himself goes ahead and does it. This passage is not just a teaching on Jesus teaching his disciples a lesson about something—this shows Jesus is perfectly capable of healing and performing the miraculous out of His compassion, and His desire to heal is not always demonstrated properly just because of our inabilities to accomplish what He has ordained and authorized us to do.

Would it bother some people to admit that healing is NOT automatic? This seems to be the favorite evangelical/cessationist argument to use on charismatics: “why don’t you use your gift of healing to heal so and so?” I dare to say that healing hardly ever happens and operates without faith being involved on someone’s part—whether it be the healer or the “healee”—usually the healer though, because you’ll never find Jesus refusing to heal someone b/c their faith is too small to BE healed, but He does rebuke His disciples for their faith being too small TO heal others.

I hear people say all the time “well why doesn’t Benny Hinn or so and so or those charismatics go into hospitals and heal all the sick people?”  When someone says this particular statement or a derivative of it, I like to say “good idea, why don’t you do it sometime since it bothers you and you’ve noticed it’s not being done enough? God clearly put that on your heart for a reason, maybe He wants you to do it?”

It’s easy to be armchair critics and point out what others aren’t doing when we’re doing nothing ourselves, and overlook what IS being accomplished by certain other ministries, but anyway. The only person really demonstrating “automatic” healing in the Bible is Jesus–if you could call it “automatic” healing. But even Jesus Himself prayed more than once for someone for healing before they got it on their way to see the priest, they were healed (Luke 17:12-16). Let’s not make up functions for how God operates that aren’t actually in Scripture, or if they are–not to overlook other examples of healing also. Sure there were some who would touch the fringe of His garment and be healed (Matt 14:35-36, Mark 6:56), and the woman who touched His garment got healed of a blood discharge instantly upon touching him (Matt 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34), but that’s not the only way healing was transferred in Jesus’ ministry. In the future I intend on posting an entry detailing examples of healings in the Gospels not being immediate. My motivation for doing so is to give hope and encourage people not to give up so easily when it doesn’t happen right away, but to persevere. (such as the blind man who saw people as trees at first, Mark 8:22-25). There were even incidences where lepers came to Him, and Scripture records that.

I can sum up for you why some people see healing when they lay hands on the sick and others don’t.  And it’s not just faith; it’s tenacity.  Some people persist, like Jacob did for the blessing.  Some of us just give up too quickly if we don’t get results right away and not only give up, but build doctrines out of our failures like “it wasn’t God’s time” or “God doesn’t will to heal all.“

I’ve heard people reject the ministry of David Hogan, a missionary to Mexico for almost 30 years and has seen dead raisings in his ministry, because “they don’t like his attitude.” I think his “attitude” is why I trust him–it further evidences the fact it’s God working through him and it’s not man’s own ability. But I mention him because many people associate his ministry in Mexico with dead raisings and other supernatural miracles. Sure, in talking about him there almost becomes folklore and mythology in that Chuck Norris kind of way. But people forget the conditions and circumstances He lives in are FAR from what any of us even talking about him could relate to–like people have to bury their own dead, and not everyone can afford proper burials or for their loved ones to be taken to morgues and things like such. This is a man who’s been beaten within inches of his life, stabbed, shot, etc.. He’s doing hard work none of us could even relate to.

There’s places he goes where people just don’t have funerals and life insurance coverage and things like that. But specifically, people forget that the first time Hogan prayed for someone to be raised up, it didn’t happen. Nor the second time, or the third. This happened MANY times before seeing the first one rise up. And on the occasion he saw his first dead raising, he had prayed by the body for 14 hours solid before the results came–how many of us can even spend ONE hour in personal prayer?

I know you would do it differently if you were David Hogan, of course!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, circumstances can destroy any sound doctrine, and most doctrines in the church are built around failure instead of the Word of God. But how many of us are willing to persist when we lay our hands on someone and they don’t immediately show results? How many of you reading will keep going for it, or will you let your “sensibilities” tell you it’s foolish or that your evangelical peers will think you’re a flake if you speak too much about it or go “too out there” with this stuff? Having our theological “if God wants them healed He will heal them Himself” ducks in a row more often than not is an excuse for inaction.

Are you afraid if you go up to that person in a wheelchair you might look stupid? Trust me, you will look stupid, so quit worrying about it. I remember being in Charlotte, North Carolina a couple of years back, and was at Concord Mills Mall with some FIRE students. I chickened out the first two times I saw someone in a wheelchair. I made those same excuses to myself as everybody else does. But then it grated on me–”well, no guts, no glory“. The third person I saw, I went up to him, and he said no. Dang. I really was in the zone too! Then it dawned on me, what’s the worst that could happen? They say no if you ask? Or they don’t immediately get up if they do let you pray for them?

Allow me to finish with this and share other thoughts some other time, some other entry: What if, in order to get the breakthrough, God told you first to pray for a thousand people who would not be healed, before you started seeing healings regularly? If you have a brain, you’ll lay your hands on everything that lets you until you’ve reached number 1000! Then, go back to the first person and pray for them now that it’s working.

“Steve, God will not allow many people to operate in healing, because it will cause people to fall into pride”. Right, like you’ve never been in pride before! And God would keep somebody sick in order to avoid having you fall into pride? THAT is pride already!

Trust me, there is NO reason for anyone not to go for it we just make all the excuses in the world out of fear of failure, fear of rejection on the part of the person we seek to heal. Fear of taking responsibility for a miracle God enabled believers to do.

You’ll never know now will you if you don’t go for it…

Check out a really thorough teaching on faith and growing in it that I preached in Holland at a FIRE Summer School one year if you want to dwell more on these themes:
Download mp3 (right click and save)

Over the past few months I started writing down some of the things that God has done in my life and in the lives of my friends. The Psalmist says “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.” Psalm 145:4. So I just want to take this time and talk about some of the things that happened in my last trimester of FIRE school of ministry.

I was at a prayer meeting and I told a guy named Ernie that I felt like there was anger and fear coming against him. It turns out there is a lot of anger coming against him.
I was emailing my friend Matt back home and I just wanted to encourage him that I was praying for him and not to feel alone because God is with him. And he emailed me back really encouraged and said that he had felt alone because he had just moved into a duplex from a dorm and was feeling really alone.

In the mall I prayed for Heather with a brace on her arm and all the pain went away except when she stretches sometimes.

God gave me the opportunity to go home from school to be at my grandmother’s funeral and on the way back in the airplane I met a really cool hunter from Colorado named Steve. And God just gave me the boldness and grace to share the gospel message with him. It was the first time I had ever done that on a plane so it was a cool day for me and he was a really genuine and nice guy.
At my brother’s wedding I got to pray for my best friend Rob for his voice to get higher again and Rob kept praying after that and God totally restored his voice range one day.
At Christmastime we prayed for my good friend Thomas because of intense sleep problems, they were really messing him up and two days later it broke and he was able to sleep great again!

My roommates and I were all praying together one monday night and Mike Prayed for our neighbours to hear the gospel. And then honestly like just a minute or two later they walked into the house and totally sobered up when they stepped on the carpet even after they drank 12 beer that day. Mike shared the gospel with them and really challenged them to have more than just a mental assent to who God is, they need to live their life for Him.
Mike and Eddy and I were at the Circle K during treasure hunt time and we talked to the lady at the counter and Mike asked her about her daughter and how she was doing. She said “My daughter was kidnapped a year ago” somebody just came to me today asking about her. It’s the saddest thing in my life, I wanted to commit suicide. And we prayed for her and she just felt a refreshing I think and a bit of her burden lift. It was really cool.

Mike and I were walking out of Sam’s club and he sees a big black woman and he asks her if she has “arthritis” she says yeah and we ask if we can pray for her and she says “Yes, as long as you don’t lay hands on me” so that was kind of interesting, we prayed and she said thanks and walked away quickly.

At the bass pro shop we see a guy in a motorized cart. We pray for his ankle that he hurt in a fight and he gets up, he’s like 6′7″ and he looks at us like “Whoah, what did you guys do?” but then as he tests it out the pain started returning to the level that it was normally. But it was really exciting at first!

At Wal-Mart today God blessed us with a lot of people in our path that wanted a touch from him. We prayed for a few people and they were really appreciative and one of the guys named Chuck said “I feel something that I can’t even describe”.

Last week I was in worship and I saw an angel feather fall into my hand and then disappear immediately. The day before another hit my chest and dissapeared. It was just a really cool reminder that God is working and there are things going on in our midst that we can’t even alway see.

We prayed for my sister as a house and she stopped needing sleeping pills for the next while.

Mike prayed for my stuffy nose and all the snot turned to liquid and started pouring out.

I just had been feeling this week that Mike had been thinking less of me that I was wasting time when I would study on my computer. And so I just asked God to remove any bitterness in my heart but I also asked God that Mike would appreciate me and understand me better. And honestly like 30 seconds later he opens my door and says “You’re awesome David”. And we had a really good conversation. It was just a simple little thing but it meant a lot to me.

Wade and a some roommates pray for Mikes back and almost all of the pain goes away

Praise God!!! Every testimony that we hear sets a standard as to what is possible and what is available to us. I’m even just encouraged hearing these again. Feel free to post any of your own in the comments section. God bless.

Knowing exactly what authority is and what it is not, is absolutely critical in a world where we face it everyday. When a policeman flashes his lights behind you and tells you to pull over, by what basis does he have the authority to make you do what he says? When your child in the backseat orders you to stop at the supermarket to get ice cream, by what basis does the child not have sufficient authority over you so that you can continue driving on a clear conscience? Because people give us orders on a daily basis, it is essential to determine what our filter is by which we discern which authority is valid and demands obedience.

We live in a world where authority and submission are two very distorted terms and neither of them are very attractive words. We hate the thought of domineering authority, and we hate submitting to that authority. However one thing all humans have in common is that we desire to have authority over others. This paper will attempt to redefine these two terms from a biblical standpoint so that we can have a fresh and healthy understanding of what it means to submit and what it means to have authority and what it means to really be Christ-like in the area of leadership in the 21st century.

Authority Redefined: The second mile

Firstly we must look at what Jesus says on the issue. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 is a startling passage. One with demands on humanity that such a minute percentage of Christians actually adhere to. In verse 41 Jesus says “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” At first glance this seems to be simply a passage on generosity, which it is, however Jesus was specifically dealing with authority in this passage. The Roman rule over Israel of the 1st century was a very oppressive and dominating government. Craig Keener says in his commentary on the situation: “Because tax revenues did not cover all the Roman army’s needs, soldiers could requisition what they required. Romans could legally demand local inhabitants to provide forced labor if they wanted and were known to abuse this privilege.”

In the same way in Matthew 27:32 when Simon was forced by a Roman soldier to help carry the cross that crucified Christ, they could at any time force anyone into service by hypothetically making them walk a mile with them. Nothing was more hated or unjust in the eyes of Israel then their Roman oppressors and here Jesus seemed to be encouraging allegiance and submission to these brutal soldiers. “But wont it then look like we are helping our enemies fulfill their agenda?” such questions must have been circling through their minds. Instead Jesus commanded allegiance above and beyond what the oppressive Romans would ask of them!

Is Jesus actually teaching ultimate submission to all authority, even ungodly authority such as that of Rome? Surely not! That would be simply ridiculous and contrary to scripture elsewhere. What if the preaching of the gospel was outlawed, as it was later in the century? Surely in that case rebellion against authority is required. There must be another solution. Let us look at another passage from Matthew that seems to teach the exact opposite of such an idea.

Authority redefined: Christ Calls for Anarchy

In Matthew 23 Jesus utters probably the most profoundly offensive rebuke against a group of people than that of the entire New Testament. An entire chapter is devoted to this sharp judgment against the pharisaical religious authority system. In verse 8 he says: 
”But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your [Leader], and you are all brothers …Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (NASB)”

What a radical thought! Essentially Jesus said “You are all brothers and you have no leadership authority over you except for me!” If taken literally, almost 100% of our current Christian congregations are disobeying this command! Let us attempt to see what Jesus was teaching about leadership by looking at another passage. Matthew 20:25-26 says “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you!” Here Jesus is issuing another painful attack on authority. The most honest interpretation of the passage (both from the words used and the grammatical structure of the Greek) is that Jesus is not only condemning the misuse of evil authority here but simply the act of “exercising authority over” people! So what is the answer? In Matthew 5 Jesus seems to demand recognition of all authority, and here he openly condemns the use of authority! Jesus provides the answer in the verse directly following his statement in Matthew chapter 20. It all has to do with our understanding of submission.

Redefining Submission: The Autocratic Slave

Jesus says in Matthew 20:27 referring to leadership “whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave” Here Jesus is directly equating authority with slavery. Those who have authority according to Jesus are those who are powerless to execute any authority on a human level. “Looking at the parables of Jesus, we have a window on the position of the slave in society. The slave owes his master exclusive and absolute obedience (Matt 8:9), for no one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24). His work sometimes earned neither profit nor praise, for he was only doing his duty (Luke 17:7-10).”

Slaves are those disgusted and despised individuals; those at the lowest place in society. If one word could describe this group of people it would be “submission”. Slaves submit; by definition they can do no other. So in equating authority with slavery, essentially Jesus is equating leadership with submission. They are the same in His eyes. It is a radical paradox. Do you want to lead someone? Submit to him. Do you want to exercise authority over someone? Be his slave. For according to Jesus we “are all brothers” and we have no leader but Him. Ephesians 5:21 says “ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Paul is teaching that we mustn’t simply submit to our leaders, but to “each other”. Submitting to “each other” means everyone submitting to everyone. That’s the gospel; being slaves to each other. There is no one in the body that we must submit to that isn’t submitting to us in return. There is no pyramid structure with a man or a group of men at the top. The gospel teaches that there is Christ on top and then a group of slaves on an equal level serving Him and serving each other.

Having understood this, the passages we discussed earlier make a lot more sense. Why should we obey an ungodly Roman soldier who demands us to go with him a mile? Because it’s an opportunity to submit to him and be his slave! What a great opportunity to show the love of Jesus and to be “first” in the eyes of the kingdom even though you are last in the eyes of the world.

Why according to Matthew 23 should we call no one a leader? Because there is no human being on earth who demands submission that in turn is not commanded to submit to you in return. Even the head of the biggest denomination or the president of the United States, is commanded to submit to his brothers and ultimately to us! It’s a level playing field.

Slavery: The answer to both Submission and authority

According to Jesus this difficult subject of submission and authority can be summed up with slavery to God and service to men. Let’s look at Jesus’ example. The ruler of the universe who has “all authority” (Matt 28:17) and “Upholds all things by the words of his power” (Heb 1:3) came to be the ultimate servant of humanity. Luke 22:27 says “who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” If Jesus came as a servant how can we, in our organizations and church structures claim to exercise authority over others in the name of Christ when Christ himself never did while he was on earth? Isn’t it odd that in the gospels there is not one example of the ruler of the universe exercising or lording His authority over another individual? Not even one example of Him making someone do something they don’t want to do from his own authority.

” if we look at the life of Jesus, we find a very different model of authority. No-one could deny his effectiveness – nor that he changed the world – but he never lorded it over anyone – or forced people to accept his teaching. In Jesus, people encountered the authority of a love that was prepared to give its life for them.”

We have transformed Jesus’ teaching into something it was never intended to be. What Jesus came to uproot and turn over in the gospels we have quickly “Christianised” and placed in our church structure. We have embraced the way the gentiles do leadership when Jesus said so strongly in Matthew 20 “Not so with you!” Look at our examples of church “leaders” in the New Testament, the apostle Paul being the most prominent. Did he lord his authority over his church or did he lay his life down as a slave for his flock? The latter is clearly the case. The man poured out his life through pain, suffering, persecution, manual labor, weeping in prayer, travailing in intercession. He was not their Lord; he was their slave. A leader in our current western church structures might demand such things from their followers, instead our New Testament examples are revealed as ultimate servants.

Application: Ultimate obedience and Necessary Rebellion

Through this teaching we can know which authorities to obey and recognize and which authorities to disregard and rebel against. In saying there is no authority except from God (Romans 13:1) or there is no Leadership but Christ, the New Testament is making a sweeping statement completely illegitimating all other worldly authorities claiming authority in themselves. We should look at worldly authority as an opportunity to be a servant and to lay your life down, however it may happen that the Lord commands you to do contrary to that which they command of you. Why is it that the apostles were called revolutionaries and rebels, accused of organizing nationwide rebellions and upturning cities? Because they recognized that there was no authority from God and that it is always necessary to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). We can discern when obedience is required and when disobedience is required, simply by being a slave. There is no authority valid on earth except for Christ’s; our responsibility is simply to be the servant of all.

When the government says you cannot pray in schools. We must react by not recognizing that authority as legitimate, and ask the question how can I best be a servant and slave in my school? As a slave to God and men, prayer is absolutely essential and so rebellion to that rule is necessary. When the government says do not preach the gospel. We must react by saying I do not recognize that as a legitimate authority on my life and in order to be the world’s servant I must disobey. When a policeman pulls you over, you can best be his slave by obeying. When your child asks for ice-cream, you can best be her servant or slave by disobeying her command knowing that it would spoil her appetite before dinner!

Conclusion

The answer to being the best leader in a congregational setting or any other setting is simply by being the ultimate slave. In the same way, being the ultimate follower of God and other human leaders has the same answer, ask yourself how you can best be their servant and slave. Submission means consistently putting others needs and benefit before your own. The moment you look at your needs as more important than others you have disqualified yourself from being a Christ-like leader or follower. If our congregations and church structures were to embrace this principle, we would see a people resembling the church Jesus came to redeem, and the Jesus people would truly begin to arise.

Matthew chapter 10: “as YOU go, preach this message” They had to go do it. Simple enough, right?

Imagine seeing someone standing on a street corner with their mouth open, and going up to them asking what they are doing. Imagine they tell you that God told them to go preach the Gospel, and you ask “well why aren’t you doing it then?” and they tell you they are waiting for God to speak through them. Wouldn’t that sound ridiculous?

Why do I bring that up? Because we’ve missed this next part as a Church, and I listen to countless people tell me they won’t lay hands on the sick or practice healing because “only Jesus has power to do it.” This sounds noble and spiritual, but it’s a slap in the face to Jesus Who has given His authority to anyone who is saved through Him. Whenever people tell me this, I remind them “well, if Jesus lives in you, then let Him IN you do it through you.“ Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If responsibility that the Church has been commanded to do is not included in “all things”, then by all means place some liquid paper over this verse in your Bible.

He gave His disciples authority to drive out spirits, and gave them authority to heal the sick. This was a temporary endowment with power. When the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost in Acts 2, that was a permanent empowerment, and not just for the disciples. (see Acts 1:8, 2:39-40)

Luke 9:2 basically says He told them “preach and heal”. Do you think it would be conceivable to these disciples if you went back in time 2000 years, and stopped them before going on this mission, and told them the modern day evangelical view of healing, and taught them–as many do today–that “you can preach the Gospel without any power accompanying it”? Sorry, Jesus–no less God Himself, didn’t seem to think His disciples should go preach without power accompanying.

Stuff to observe and think about:

• In Luke 10, when Jesus sends out the seventy-two, He says “heal the sick, and preach”. This is described in the opposite order than the instructions he gave in the previous chapter when Jesus sent out the twelve. Also keep in mind, this passage effectively demonstrates that it was NOT just the disciples who healed or performed miracles.
  
• Mark 6:10-13 records how they went out and preached that people should repent, then says they healed them –
• In Acts 3, Peter and John said “what I have I give you” to the cripple who asked alms of them
• Acts 2:43 – many miraculous signs and wonders were done by the apostles, Acts 5:12 says the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. It does not say Jesus showed up as an answer to prayers for Him to do it.
• Acts 6:8 – Stephen full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs amongst the people.
• Acts 8:6 – when the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
• Acts 14 – when the people saw what Paul did, they tried to worship him but he stopped them and said he’s just a man
• Acts 28:8 – Paul laid hands on Publius and healed him

In each of these instances, we have human vessels doing the work of the Anointed One they follow and represent.

So far in life I’ve been unable to obtain a credit card in my name. Missionary work, and having monthly support, is not considered ‘income’ in the eyes of any bank I’ve gone to to apply for a credit card in Canada. So my mom signed me up to be under hers. I carry a visa card in my wallet that has my name on it. It’s my mom’s credit, and her credit background and her income that provides me the ability to use it when it’s not possible to use cash to order or pay for something. But I am the one who goes into a store and uses it–she “gave me the authority” to. I make the transaction, but for all intents and purposes of this analogy, I make the transaction on my mom’s “authority”. I carry the card in my wallet and it has my name on the card I keep in my wallet–but it’s ‘her’ credit. She gave, and I ‘have’. This is similiar to what the Lord has given His followers out of HIS power, but WE have it in His name and authority.

If you want to compare authority and power, just think of police officers directing traffic. I’ve seen police officers pointing and waving their hands for giant mack trucks and large vehicles, indicating with hand gestures when it’s appropriate for that truck driver to pass or turn. A truck could crush a police officer in an instant, no questions about it, but the officer, just by wearing that uniform and standing in the middle of a road can demonstrate his authority. If said truck driver did not obey, then power would be used when say a tank or something more powerful than the truck is brought in to blow that truck away. Power is the enablement to DO something. Authority is the command that requires obedience towards those being commanded. Believers in Christ have been given both.

Asking God to drive out the demon is insulting the authority God has given you.
All we are doing is reasserting God’s authority and power over peoples’ lives. “But Steve, who do you think you are trying to do what God does”–I’m a child of the King, stating we are to do what He instructed us to do; set the captives free. “But Steve, you’re interfering with the Sovereingty of God when you do things like this and advocate others are to as well”. We’re not interfering with God’s sovereignty, we’re enforcing it using the power He’s given us, His children.

Matthew 4:23 – every healing is a deliverance on some level; this passage says Christ healed the sick, but then people brought to Him the demon possessed, and they were healed.
Compare this with Matthew 8:16-17.

Yes, it’s true that in Matthew 10 the commission to only go to the lost sheep of Israel was a commission to those twelve disciples in this passage. But the Great Commission is for all of us, every generation, to all nations. Later, in Matt 10:11, 17-18 Jesus tells the disciples they will be flogged in the synagogues—when did this happen? In Acts, not before. Interestingly, Smith Wigglesworth said “you don’t get persecuted until you get the Holy Spirit.” Later in the chapter, Jesus goes on to say they will bear witness before the Gentiles–when did that happen? Not on that particular trip, but years later in the book of Acts. Jesus also said “he who stands firm until the end will be saved” (v.22). “You will not finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes” (v.23).

This is obviously continuing ministry, not just the mission trip they went on in that chapter. And we see this applies to anyone who believes in Jesus’ name.

So Church, let’s start doing those things in Jesus’ name and authority. If He could use them, He can use us.

The Gospel, and the Kingdom of God That Follows….

This entry makes the assumption that many of my previous entries have been read by the reader prior to this. For more on the subject, please click on the ‘healing’ label/tag at the end of this entry.

In Luke 8, Jesus said to His disciples “let’s go over to the other side of the lake”. There’s definitely a purpose in this, because Jesus only did what He saw His father doing. They got in the boat, and Jesus falls asleep. Jesus knew there’d be this storm, and wanted to see how his disciples would handle it. As soon as they got across, Jesus was met with the demon-possessed man, and there was that confrontation. But Jesus knew what He was doing when deciding to go over to the other side of the lake.

• Matthew 4 – Jesus went throughout and taught, preaching the good news, and healed every disease and sickness. Matthew 9:35, the same words used (teaching, preaching, healing).
• Matthew 10:7 – “as you go, preach the kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and do the same things I have been doing“.
• Matthew 12:28 – “if I drive out demons by the Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come upon you”
• Luke 4:40 – the people brought to Jesus those with various sicknesses, and he healed them all – he told them he had to go to the other towns also, because that it is what he came here to do

The kingdom of God comes in God’s power; it takes back what Satan has unlawfully made his own, and rightfully restores it as His own. The King came, and stood as The King, and restored His authority over the usurper’s kingdom.

Romans 14:17 says the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Where the King is there is the kingdom. Jesus didn’t just preach words, he preached with the power of God.

Jesus never prayed for the sick in the Gospels. Neither did any of the disciples in the Gospels or Acts. They healed the sick. James 5 talks of the prayer of faith—there’s nothing wrong with praying in faith for the sick. You can pray for the sick, when believing in faith for various needs to be met—but Jesus and the disciples never prayed for the sick. They healed them. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus didn’t ask God to do it. He thanked God, then commanded Lazarus to come forth. When healing the sick, He spoke the healing into existence, commanded eyes to be opened, or drove out the demon in someone that was causing the infirmity, always demonstrating His authority from above.

Almost all scholars admit that the end of Mark 16 is authoritative. We don’t have the end of Mark’s Gospels original manuscripts to compare to, other than what we have in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but nobody really disagrees that this contradicts or adds anything different to Jesus’ words in the Gospel accounts that we do have, so there’s no real fuss to be made over these words:

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)

These are signs, indicators that Jesus has triumphed over all powers of darkness. And they are not just signs, but indications that believers have Jesus’ authority. It is significant that Jesus says believers would do these things in His name. The first one Jesus lists here that will demonstrate we have the same kingdom that He gave us, is that we’ll cast out demons.

In the book of Acts we see Peter command a cripple to walk by saying “silver or gold, have I none, but what I have, I give you—walk in the name of Jesus” (Acts 3:6). In 9:32 – Peter makes a pronouncement over Aeneas, and tells Him Jesus heals him. Later on in Acts 9:38-40 Peter gets on his knees and prays, but then rises and tells Tabitha to get up –he obviously communed with the Father, maybe he got himself focused, maybe he reminded himself of the Word. When I volunteered in the healing teams during my third year of Bible school, we would spend about half an hour or 45 minutes praying in tongues, as well as in our understanding before bringing in the person receiving healing to receive laying on of hands from us. See also how in Acts 14:8 Paul saw the crippled man’s faith, then told him to get up.

God is trying to tell us something is wrong with our modern efforts if our emphasis is on praying for healings, when we’ve got authority to heal the sick.

In Luke 4 –the year of Jubilee fell that year, and scholars and many teachers say this passage takes place on the Day of Atonement. Talk about timing! The next instance in Luke’s Gospel, is when Jesus walks into the synagogue, and finds the demon possessed man, and rebukes the demon out of him. Jesus proclaimed this
is the Jubilee, then finds this man, who was not “Jubilee standards”. The next instance in Scripture is when He heals Peter’s mother-in-law.

He was enforcing Jubilee. He proclaimed liberty to the captives, and then went about setting them free. Jesus didn’t have to ask His father to do something that He was anointed to do. He just did it.

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

I’m going to go out on a limb here, and use this passage concerning healing and preaching the Gospel, since both teaching and healing are what Jesus was doing in the context of this passage.

I just want to say out the outset, to people reading this: I’m hardly an expert in this area (healing). I deem experts those doing this regularly and more than I. I can count using both hands how many times the Lord has done a miraculous healing at my hands. I get convicted writing some of these entries because I’d rather write testimonies of it rather than opening up the Scriptures to show what the Word says on the subject.

One night at De Fakkel I began this passage of Scripture.  At our house church meeting, someone shared this passage, and I forget what application they gave it, but I zoned out a little bit because it’s one of those overused ‘missionary passages’. Every time a missionary comes to one of our churches and shares and exhorts concerning going on the mission field, they remind us all in the body “the harvest is ripe but the laborers are few.”

But what context did Jesus say this in?

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”

He was doing three things: teaching, proclaiming the Gospel, and healing every disease and every affliction.

I don’t necessarily know what he was preaching or teaching, but I know when he was done, people were getting healed and set free. So I’m going to go out on a limb based on my experience with teaching on this topic, that Jesus probably was proclaiming to them stuff that built their faith up in order to get them positioned to receive their healing and deliverances. So with that being said, that’s another reason I blog about this topic—to build our faith up in the Word so we can all go back to our lives, jobs and school and live it out. Jesus demonstrated what he proclaimed.

THEN Jesus turned and said to his disciples what he said:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Compassion is what moved him. It’s the compassionate Shepherd who turns to his sheep, and leads them. It’s the compassionate Shepherd that turns around and if his sheep fall into a rut, he gently and kindly picks them up, dusts them off and leads them again. It’s also the compassionate Shepherd that heals his sheep.

Looking at the crowds, Jesus had compassion for the sheep, and told his disciples the laborers are few, and to pray for the Lord to send more. But here’s the problem. Too many of us are praying for someone else to do the work. Yes, Jesus did say pray, but he also said in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He told us to go, and he told us to pray for others to go. There’s an un-reached harvest that is ripe. And there’s a bunch of unhealed people out there in our churches and in our workplaces. I had a great opportunity to ask someone if they’d like me to lay hands on them this week. The brother was in pain and said he hasn’t had a pain free day in decades since a car accident. I thought I experienced compassion for him, but really all I did was experience sympathy. Sympathy says “I feel sorry for you” or simply has pity for the person. Compassion DOES something, like Jesus’ compassion motivated him to do something. I was too afraid of even asking, because he was from a church that doesn’t believe in healing and I worried I’d look excessive to him and the other people present who have “corrected me” on the subject of healing–and I feared he’d say “no thanks”. But in most cases, I’d rather go for it and fail, than to not go for it at all and guarantee no results. So with this opportunity, I failed.

People are everywhere in our lives, and we make excuses all the time for not sharing the Gospel, for not seizing an opportunity to heal someone (yes heal someone, not ‘pray for them to be healed’—the Holy Ghost lives in you if you’re saved and Christ does it THROUGH YOU–so get used to me saying it that way all the time because I’m not going to qualify myself anymore). Next time you see someone, and you know they’re in a condition, then ask them if they’d like you to lay hands on them to heal them. Don’t ask “IF you can pray”, because everybody thinks of doing that and it’s just some nice religious thing and leaves out the possibility for results.

Force yourself out of your comfort zone, because if you say “would you like to be healed” then now you instantly force yourself to build up your faith for that thing to happen or you’ll look stupid. Most of the time, I have easier luck with unsaved people because they don’t have a bunch of bad theology they’ve been taught about how God works. Most of the time, if you say “you’ll heal them” (by laying hands on them), they put their faith in you, (as an ambassador of God to them), and they believe that you’ll do what you say you will. So it’s made easier for you actually because they have faith that you know what you’re talking about, even if you don’t and you’re trembling in your boots worried it won’t happen.

Go for it! The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. The only reason we’re not seeing more results, is because we’re not stepping out and DOING anything with what we know.

As someone once told me years ago, ‘no guts, no glory, no newsletter story.”

Think of it that way. Have some guts, cuz it will take some. I’m nervous every time I go street witnessing or ask someone if I can lay hands on them–worried in both cases that my efforts will be in vain. But then I usually go to bed that night excited and unable to believe what I saw God do. When we start taking God seriously, He starts taking us seriously as well, and demonstrates His power through and around us.

Don’t listen to that fear keep you from doing anything. Step out, you’ve got it made already for you—the harvest is ripe. That means go harvest something!

The main purpose of this entry is to stir the believing reader up into understanding that if we wait until we are perfect before doing anything for God– then we would never do anything at all. Everybody knows the mistakes the disciples made: Peter rejecting Jesus but how different He was after the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. Everybody knows how the disciples all deserted Him in his final hours; everybody knows the issues of pride they had, but I think we need a reminder in order to realize these were all ordinary young guys, just average revolutionaries, and God used them mightily despite terribly obvious and pathetic character flaws probably few reading this may actually struggle with.

I’d like you to go away from this entry and read carefully and study Luke chapters 9-10 for yourself. But in the meantime, let’s look at some selections and let me show you my observations and some questions to provoke thought. One thing is for certain; I’m sick of hearing people say “well look at all the things wrong with the disciples, and God still used them.” Most people who say this ignore or just don’t pay attention to the fact that the disciples actually did something we don’t commonly do—heal the sick, and cast out devils, as detailed in the following selections of Scriptures.

Luke 9:1-6, 10a
And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.
And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
On their return the apostles told him all that they had done.

• Did they have authority and power given to them?
• In this passage, did they go and fail to heal anybody?

Luke 9:12-17
Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.”
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish–unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”
For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
And they did so, and had them all sit down.
And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets
of broken pieces.

• What was the disciples’ original idea to do before this miracle happened?
• Do you think Jesus wanted them/expected them to be the ones who provided the food/miracle?
• Do you think that Jesus would have been as visibly involved if the disciples didn’t shrink back from this opportunity to put their trust in Him and demonstrate His provision?

Luke 9:32-36
Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”–not knowing what he said.
As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

• What dumb thing do you notice the disciples did here in this passage (hint, none of the other Gospels document this detail)? They fell asleep!

Luke 9:38-42
And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.
And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

• Did the man from the crowd merely ask the disciples to heal his son?
• What did Jesus say before he healed the boy? Do you think this was directed at the disciples? If so, does this indicate He was tolerating a lot with them up until this point already?
• Weren’t they given authority already at the beginning of this chapter to do this very task? So then what was the reason or one of the reasons they were unable to see this deliverance? (You might need to read the parallel in Matthew 17:14-21 for more straightforward of an answer).

Luke 9:46-48
An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side
and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

• Why was this not the greatest time to be arguing about who was the greatest? Because they failed to heal a boy just moments earlier!
• The word for argument, “dialogismos” literally means a “reasoned discourse.” I wonder what this conversation would have looked like! Right after being unable to heal a boy with authority they had already been given, they are found arguing and debating who was the greatest!
• The account in Matthew has this argument taking place before the epileptic boy was brought to them. Either way, we see they clearly had issues of pride.

Luke 9:49-50
John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”
But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

• Is casting out demons the same thing as giving food to homeless people or something ‘nice’ like that? Does this require power FROM God?
• How arrogant and elitist is that mentality that tries to stop others from doing good works unto the Lord because they’re not one of us?
• We see one of the apostles trying to stop other people from doing the good works of the Lord—casting out demons is not the same thing as merely witnessing or handing out food to the poor! This is done with authority, you can’t just cast demons out of someone with your own good intentions (see the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-19). And, last time I read, just few moments earlier they failed to cast a spirit out of a boy, and now John is trying to stop someone else from doing it!

Luke 9:53-55
But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
But he turned and rebuked them.

• What exactly did the disciples offer to do for Jesus?
• Did they ask Jesus to do it, or did they indicate they would do it themselves? If so, would they have been able to offer to call fire down from heaven if they did not have authority to do so?
• Does it seem odd to you that James and John had faith to wipe a people out, but either they, the other disciples, or all of them neglected to be able to heal the epileptic boy and do something GOOD for the cause of Christ?

Luke 10:1-2, 9
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

• What do you notice about this passage?
• Were the apostles doing anything that the Lord couldn’t empower others to do?
• Could the Lord have been trying to do something about the disciples’ pride and arrogance, that He chose this point to be when He’d empower others to do the very things the twelve had already been doing?
• Does it seem to you that it was only the original twelve disciples that were healing the sick? Then why do so many teach and preach that miracles ceased when the last apostle died, when they weren’t the only ones doing these things!?
• Could it be that Jesus anointed these 72 others with this power, because as stated, the harvest is plentiful but there are not enough workers?
• Could Jesus be taking this to the “next level”?

Luke 10:17-20
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

• It clearly worked.  No question about it.

Some questions to consider:

• Have you ever messed up? Has the Lord still used you?
• Have you ever neglected to do something the Lord has told you to do?
• Have you ever fallen asleep in the presence of the Lord, or when you should have been praying?
• Have you ever said anything stupid in the presence of God?
• Have you ever prayed for someone and they didn’t get healed even though they begged you to heal them? What about praying for someone that didn’t get healed right away, but someone else prayed for, or laid hands on them and they got healed, like Jesus did here?
• Have you ever argued with people, through words or just behavior, that you think you’re the greatest in God’s kingdom (or at least carried yourself like you’re more spiritual than others)?
• Have you ever tried to stop others from doing things for God because they’re not a part of your group, church, denomination, circle, etc..?
• Have you ever offered to kill someone else for Jesus because they wouldn’t listen to Him?

If you have done anything these disciples have done wrong, then congratulations! You are just as capable of being used by God as they were!

If we’re going to study the things they did wrong and compare ourselves to them and think they were more immature or worse off than we are, then we need to make sure we’re doing the least of what they did; which includes things like healing the sick, casting out demons, standing up and boldly proclaiming the Gospel from the ‘upper room to the multitudes’ and so forth.

Anyway, this is a blog friendly version of my notes I prepared for the Bible study tonight at De Fakkel. I hope I encourage and challenge you to step out in faith, knowing that you’re a work in progress, and sometimes it’s through ministering for the Lord that your character issues are dealt with.

Tot ziens!