by Tony V. Hammack
To listen to this message (podcast) on faith please click here. To watch the video please click here.
Introduction:
Hope that is sure
Hope - to desire with expectation of obtainment
The invisible made certain
The Importance of Faith
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Believe and Receive
Matthew 21:21-22
21Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Body:
Faith and Unbelief?
Mark 9:17-26
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." 19"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." 20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. 22"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.“ 23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" 25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." 26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
Some points from the above passage:
- Take your problems to Jesus
- Not all unclean spirits are the same
- Unbelief is the reason the disciples cannot drive out the unclean spirit
- The unclean spirits can see the anointing and will manifest in the presence of God
- Asking diagnostic questions is important to know what you’re dealing with
- Because Jesus is in faith for the boy he can expel the unclean spirit. The father does not expel the spirit.
- Prayer and spending time with God builds faith
Today with so many solutions to all our problems I encourage you to take your problems to the Lord first.
Mark 5:26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
2. Unbelief hinders God from moving in the miraculous.
Because of this reality Jesus is selective
Mark 5:36-43
36Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 37He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). 42Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
3. Unbelief is the reason the disciples cannot drive out the unclean spirit
Mark 11:23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
4. The unclean spirits can see the anointing and will manifest in the presence of God
Mark 5:6,7
6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"
5. Asking diagnostic questions is important to know what you’re dealing with
Jesus asks the father in Mark 9:21, how long has the boy been like this. I believe Jesus is trying to determine the spirit’s entry point. Sometimes this gives the minister a strategy to know what they are dealing with, perhaps a generational spirit or maybe a more recent intruder.
6. Because Jesus is in faith for the boy he can expel the unclean spirit. The father does not expel the spirit. What seems to motivate Jesus to act is the approaching crowd (v. 25). Perhaps he would’ve worked with the father and or the disciples to get him/them up to speed had the crowd not been running to the scene.
- Often in scripture we see Jesus avoiding the crowds and telling people to not speak of the miraculous work he’s accomplished. My belief is that Jesus wants to be able to travel freely in towns and other areas but the crowds end up hindering him.
- Mark 1:45 – A Leper Healed Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
- Another reason we see Jesus wanting to avoid crowds is so he can focus his attention on his disciples.
- Mark 9:30b-31 Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples.
Faith Comes by Hearing
Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. The word for “word” here is rhema, it’s the spoken word of Christ meaning that you need a spoken word of God for faith to come.
The significance of rhema (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," Eph 6:17; here the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with Scripture.
The spoken Word of God comes as we meditate in the logos word of God, the written Word. I encourage you that if you need a miracle meditate in the logos word of God speaking the word over yourself quoting scripture until the rhema comes.
Jesus only does ministry today through people who are filled with Christ. Very often I believe we are praying for God to do something he’s given us the authority to do.
- 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
- Colossians 2:9,10 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
It’s interesting to note that Jesus says this kind comes out by prayer. However we see that Jesus doesn’t go into a long drawn out prayer time to his Father regarding this boy's condition but speaks to the unclean spirit commanding it to come out. To me the obvious conclusion is that Jesus is “prayed up” before this situation occurs. The disciples however are not. Now if they had more time there’s a good possibility that Jesus would’ve allowed the father to get prayed up or the disciples and let them cast the spirit out.
It’s important that we practice the presence of God. We should pray continually, always having the Lord on our hearts and prepared for every good work Getting into the presence of God is where we hear from heaven and learn about our authority. How we get free from sin and develop a real love for God.
Take some time to pray and ask God to drive out any unbelief by speaking His rhema word into your heart.
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