They Were Not Able

They Were Not Able

Mark 9:14-29

Thomas Aquinas was a Roman Catholic scholar who lived between 1225 and 1274. He was a brilliant thinker who left an indelible imprint on the fabric of his time. And at some point, he visited the Pope.

The Pope is said to have looked at Thomas and said, “Behold, Master Thomas, the church can no longer say, as St. Peter, ‘Silver and gold have I none!’”

Thomas was quick to reply, “Alas, neither can we say what follows, ‘but such as I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.’”

Thomas understood a truth that many people never grasp.

· The real measure of success for a church or a ministry is not how fine its buildings are; how large its offerings are; or how large the crowds are.

· The real measure of success for a church or a ministry is in whether or not it operates in the power of God.

We’re living in the day of measuring success.

Every church wants to be the largest, the richest, the most influential. Success is measured these days in dollars; attendance and attention.

The sad truth is this: God has a very different standard for determining what a successful ministry looks like.

In our passage, Jesus teaches us about the most important ingredient of a successful ministry. The disciples were missing that ingredient and failed miserably.

We’re told in our text that the disciples failed to cast out a spirit from a little boy. The boy’s father summed up their efforts by saying, “They were not able.”

He was right! He came to these men hoping to find help for his family, but he found that they had no help to offer. They were not able!

Why did they fail?

They failed because they lacked power. They lacked power because they were missing the one ingredient they needed.

We need to hear the message these verses teach us. We’re trying to carry out the Lord’s work in these dark, sinful days and too many times people walk away from our churches saying, “They were not able.”

Our problem is the same as the disciples. Often, we lack the necessary ingredient required for success.

Let’s listen to what He has to say to us today, both as individuals and as a church. I pray that we will hear the truth so that it will never be said of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, “They were not able!”

Pray!

Mark 9:14–29 ESV

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. 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!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

The first thing we see is the:

Lack of Power

Let’s set the stage.

Jesus had just taken Peter, James and John up Mount Hermon where He was transfigured before them. The glory of who He really was became visible on that mountaintop. Those three men saw Jesus in all of His glory. They also saw Moses and Elijah and listened to them talk to Christ about his impending death on the cross. They even heard the voice of God praise Jesus as His Son and told them to listen to what He had to say.

They must have been walking on air, floating with excitement as they came down from the mountain. But when they got to the valley below, they came face to face with a world filled with suffering.

Last week, I told you to enjoy those mountaintops for all they’re worth because there’s always a valley waiting for you. And it’s those mountaintop experiences that will get us through those valleys.

So, Jesus and those three disciples find the other nine disciples arguing with a group of scribes. It seems that a father had brought his demon possessed son to be healed. Jesus was up on the mountain and he must have asked the remaining disciples to heal his son. They weren’t able and the scribes were arguing and probably mocking them for their lack of power.

Jesus wants to know what all the commotion is about.

The father, in agonizing detail, describes the pitiful condition of his son, a horrible, ongoing state of torment.

When Jesus hears the details, He expresses His disappointment.

The word “O” in verse 19 is a word of deep anguish. It was usually reserved for a time of burdened prayer. People would come before God and cry out of their hearts and lift their “O’s” to the Lord.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a time when your heart was breaking and your soul cried out to the Lord?

Jesus is pretty frustrated with the people gathered there that day. He’s hurt that no one seems to be able to believe.

· The disciples, who’ve seen His power first hand, don’t have faith.

· The religious leaders don’t have faith.

· The crowds don’t have faith.

· Even this broken-hearted father doesn’t have faith.

Jesus sees this lack of faith and cries out, “How much longer am I going to have to put up with you?”

It was a heartbreaking moment for Jesus, following immediately after the transfiguration and His Father’s affirmation.

The saddest part of this whole episode isn’t the condition of the boy; the attitude of the scribes, or the anguish of the father. The saddest part is the powerlessness of the disciples.

These men had seen Jesus perform countless amazing miracles, yet they still lacked genuine faith. These men had even cast out demons in the past. These men had seen the miracles and they had performed miracles themselves, but now it is said of them “They were not able.”

In many ways these nine disciples are a picture of the modern church. Like them, we have the reputation that we have power. This father came to Jesus, but he thought the disciples could help his son. But they lacked the power to make a difference. As a result, they lost the respect of the boy’s father, the crowds and the scribes, who are mocking them for their lack of power and ability.

The church today has everything it needs to exist. Most churches have nice buildings, competent preachers, people who will do what needs to be done and enough money to do what they want. But most churches lack what they need most: the power of God.

Understand that this building we’re in is making a promise to the world. This building tells everyone that passes by that this is a place to meet God. This building promises a needy world that they can find help when they come here.

This church says, “If you need God, we can help you get to Him. If your life is broken, we can show you how God can fix it. If your family is coming apart, we can show you how God can put it back together again. If you’re lost, we can show you how to be saved.”

This church makes a promise to the world that we’re different than they are; that we’re able to help them; and that we care about them.

Most churches today lack genuine power. There’s no touch of God or His power. The world comes in and there’s no help for their condition. What does the world do? It stands around us and it mocks our weakness. May it never be said of this church “They were not able.”

We see the lack of power and the:

Lord of Power

Jesus hears the father’s story and commands the boy be brought to Him. When he arrives, the demon in the child recognizes Jesus and attacks the boy again. The child is gripped by convulsions, and rolls on the ground, foaming at the mouth. It’s a pitiful scene.

As the child struggles on the ground, Jesus questions the father. He’s trying to overcome this father’s lack of faith. Jesus asks him about how long the child has been this way. The father’s answer is graphic and telling. He says that things have been this way since the boy was little. He also says the spirit has attacked the boy repeatedly, trying to burn him to death or drown him.

Then, the father bears the true condition of his faith. He looks at Jesus and he says, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

It’s a pitiful request, but it is also a request from a faithless man.

This father trusted that the disciples of Jesus could heal his son. When they failed, his faith in Jesus and His abilities was shattered as well. He had brought his son believing that he could be delivered and now his faith has been reduced to “if you can do anything.”

23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”

Jesus rebukes the father for his doubt and commands him to place his faith in Jesus for the healing his son desperately needs. When the father hears this, he makes one of the most honest and transparent prayers in the entire Bible.

He looks at Jesus and says, “I believe; help my unbelief.”

He’s saying, “Lord, I do believe in You and in Your power. But my faith is weak! Help me to grow in my faith.”

Then Jesus commands the spirit to leave the boy and to never return. The demon attacks the child one more time and comes out. The child becomes so quiet and so still that the crowd assumes that he is dead. Then Jesus does what He does best; He takes the child by the hand and He lifts him up. The child rises and is free.

There are some lessons we need to learn here before we move forward.

A powerless church portrays Jesus in a bad light

Because the disciples lacked power, the father assumed Jesus lacked power. The same is true today. When a lost world walks into a church building and it sees deadness, coldness and apathy; the lost assume that Jesus is just as lifeless, just as powerless and just as dead.

Most churches are guilty of false advertising! They claim to have something to offer the world, but they have nothing but cold, dead religion and that helps no one!

It’s time the church told the truth about Jesus! He changes lives! Knowing Him is exciting! His church is alive and active in the world. His Gospel has power. We should never be guilty of false advertising!

Weak faith is better than no faith

This father was filled with doubt, but there was still a kernel of faith in his heart. As a result, he got what he wanted.

God isn’t put off by our doubts, but total unbelief slams the door on His power in our lives. We need to remember that it isn’t large faith that receives big answers from God. It’s simply genuine faith that sees Him move in great power.

Jesus is still in the lifting up business

Just as Jesus took this poor boy by the hand and lifted him up into a new life, Jesus can do the same for all who come to Him by faith.

He can lift a dead sinner out of their sins and into a new life in Christ.

He can lift a cold, indifferent church member out of their complacency and into a new life of joy and blessing.

He can lift a burdened believer out of their fears and give them peace that surpasses all understanding.

We see the lack of power, the Lord of power and the

Lessons of Power

When this encounter is over and the disciples are alone with Jesus, the nine who failed ask Jesus about why they did.

These men were concerned about their failure, and they should have been!

The answer Jesus gave them is both simple and telling. His answer is that these men failed because they lacked spiritual discipline in their lives.

Prayer is a state of close communion with the Lord. These men were not communing with God as they should have been. Neither were they as surrendered to God as they should have been. As a result, they lacked the power of God in their lives and they could not cast out this spirit.

The disciples didn’t fail because they did not believe!

They believed all right, or they would not have tried to cast the spirit out. They believed they could and when they failed, they were humiliated, amazed and dismayed. Their problem was they believed in the wrong things. They failed because their faith was in their words and rituals and not in God.

Their faith was in the ritual. Their faith was in what they had done before. Their faith was in themselves. These men failed because they were not leaning on Christ for the power they needed.

We fail in His work and we lack His power for the very same reasons. We lack the power of God in the modern church because we lack spiritual discipline! We’re no longer a praying people. We’re no longer a surrendered people. We’re no longer a people who walk in total dependence on our Savior.

We have become like the Jews in Acts 19 who were trying to cast out a demon in Jesus’s name. They had the formula: they had the ritual, but they lacked the power of God to get the job done. That’s the state of the modern church!

We look back to the glory days and we rest on what the church did in the past. We look back to yesterday and how great things were. We talk about how high attendance was. We look back on how many activities were going on.

But for some reason today, we think we’ll bring all those things back by getting laws passes, joining a certain party or electing certain people.

The truth is, there will be no power; there will be no glory; there will be no revival in the church until God’s people learn to lean on Jesus and on Him alone for what we need.

What do we need?

We need to pray

I’m talking about prayer that seeks the face and the will of God. I’m talking about constant and persistent prayer that won’t stop until an answer comes. Maybe that means going back to the days of coming back to the altar and praying on our knees seeking His will in our lives and in this church.

He has promised to hear our prayers and to answer them.

Genuine, faith-filled prayer is the key that will open the door of revival and power in the world today.

We must be surrendered

God cannot bless and use a church that isn’t separated from the world. It is God’s will that we place everything we have, are and ever hope to have or be on the altar for His glory.

We need to become totally dependent on Him for everything

Until we reach the place where we understand that the power of God does not come because of our preaching, our singing, our working or our manipulation of people and things. The power of God rests on us as we learn to rest in Jesus.

The cure for what afflicts the modern church is found in His words to the church in Ephesus; we need to fall in love with Jesus again.

What we need is simple. What we need is available. What we need is the power of God. That power will come when God’s people get serious about seeking His face; walking in His ways and leaning on Him for all we need.

“They were not able.”

What a tragic statement! When people come and worship with us, what is their thought when they leave?

Can they say, “The power of God is in that place; they serve a mighty, wonderful Lord”?

Or do they leave here saying, “I went there for help; I went there for fellowship; I went there for love; I went there for hope; I went there for peace; I went there for acceptance; I went there for Jesus, and they were not able?”

We can either be a people who can or a people who could not. Which kind of people we are depends on us.