Desire of Ages
Chapter 47
Ministry
It must have been sometime in my young twenties, as I was sitting listening to a sermon in a Charasmatic assembly, when in the row behind me a young woman broke out into an epileptic fit. That's how I saw it. My instinct was to get the chairs out of the way so she needn't hurt herself by banging into the metal chair parts. As if under another impulse command, three men came up quick and put their hands on her head while praying in english and 'tongues' for the casting out of the 'demon'. I was most perplexed. I was thinking in medical terms and they were making spiritual assesments.
The bible makes no bones about it when calling epileptical fits demon possession. As a matter of fact all mental illness mentioned in the bible seems to be put into this category. Knowing that this western world's 'days of enlightenment' tends more to investigate to understand the brain patterns and flows for the sake of control by chemical medicational control when problems occur, I am still confused whether I am meeting a demon possesed one or if he/she is mentally unbalanced due to irregularities from corrupt DNA, brain flow inblanced or bodily chemicals out of whack.
The disciples had a failing encounter of trying to cast out the demon in a child brought to them. It was the group of nine left behind as Jesus went up the mount of Transfiguration with the other three. Had not all of them been endowed with the power of God to cast out demons as Jesus had sent them off without money, or extra clothes for their special door to door preaching, healing spree in Galilee ? "What was wrong", I thought at the first time reading, "why couldn't they heal the lad ?"
The incidence in Mark says he had a "dumb spirit". The Evangelist Matthew says he was "lunatic". After reading the account I still see an "epilepsy" fit which took away the use of his speech. How the demons have a right to evoke such medical problems without the willful consent of the child does bother me. Are our kids so easily open for demon posession today as well when our precious children, who don't dabble in occult practice, but play like normal children ? Can our children experience diabolical possession at such a young age if we are carefully, with christian principles, monitoring their media consume, the books they read, the friends and activities they use their free time for ?
Jesus came down the mountain, got the situation with a pertinent question in control, but exclaimed with a "voice filled with sorrow", .."O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?" The boy was brought to Him at his command. Again he asked cutting questions and again got a disappointing answer in the supposition mode "If thou canst do anything ..". He in a very wise way, wanting to teach them what a proper faith formular is said,
" If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
The this statement was a mirror for the father's unbelief. He broke down. All his skepticism flew away. His love and yearning for the lad swelled up out of the depths of his heart and he cried out "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." It is this point of helplessness that the key of faith opens the doors of heaven.
In an one sentence command the exorcism takes place. The demon makes a final protest but leaves. It wasn't the mental assertion of "If thou canst Lord..." that moves the prayer wheel in the right direction. But the attitude of expectation present from the Lord toward us "If thou canst believe" which moves the power of answering from the Lord to us.
For those of us who size ourselves up as lacking faith it is detrimental to withdraw from Jesus and stay at a distance from Him. What helps better is to be in an attitude of awareness of our helpless unworthiness then cast oursleves upon the merciful compassion of our Saviour. Faith comes by the word of God. I read some bible promises and pray them through. But I need to check out the condition to be fulfilled first.
The nine got to questioning Jesus as they were alone with Him a while later as to why they couldn't have cast out the boy's demon themselves. And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." Prayer as a means for increasing faith. I believe Demons have different degrees of will force, some being easier to subdue than others, and maybe this demon was being particularly willful and obstinate so it required more faith to expel it.
I don't believe the disciples were altogether destitute of faith, but their faith was very low apparently at that time, to make their unbelief greater. In the talk afterwards with them, Christ didn't accuse the father of unbelief, but them because of their unbelief. The father of the child, who had confessed it, and desired it be removed from him. These guys seemed not to be convicted from the talk of Jesus with the belief condition of the father before the exorcism about their unbelief being the reason of not getting the job done as Jesus was on the mount of Transfiguation and having left them in charge with the crowd.
They showed by their own question 'why couldn't we'..that they sure were blind to the law of faith principle even then.
It isn't the quality of faith but the size needed as we learned in the mustard seed analogy. So even a small degree of faith in Jesus exercised will let him loose his saving power. With such a small start of faith we can move those metaphorical mountains in our lives. Those things in our lives equally difficult like casting out of a demon from someone.
There are many of us whose days are filled more with morbid thoughts of despair, discouragements, and personal grievances than in praise, hope and thankfulness. Such ones are shutting out the light of Jesus' presence with their dark gloomy thoughts. Then comes the moments of temptation or trail from Satan. Because of the sadness or doubt in their hearts, unbelief grips them like ivy growing up and around the stem of a birch tree. Ivy is a parasite plant.
The freedom comes like EW writes here : "In this state of darkness they had undertaken the conflict with Satan. In order to succeed in such a conflict they must come to the work in a different spirit. Their faith must be strengthened by fervent prayer and fasting, and hulmilation of heart. They must be emptied of self, and be filled with the Spirit and power of God."
"Earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith,-faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work,-can alone avail to bring men the Holy Spirit's aid in the battle against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world."
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Joan
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