When the Church Is Ineffective rev.
When the Church Is Ineffective
Maybe this just happens to me but it seems like the minute that you have had a good time, before you can really even let it sink in it trouble shows up. It is almost like trouble was sent an e-mail letting trouble know that you have just had a good time, because by the time that you make it down from your mountaintop experience, trouble is there waiting on you. Maybe its me but it is amazing how you can have a spririt-filled service and before you can get out the door good here comes that brother or that sister with some mess. Maybe its just me but it seems like you can have a good day at work and come home to a spouse that’s jumping you for what you are not cleaning, cooking, or washing. Maybe its just me but you can go to Sunday School, 11:00 service, and 3:00 p.m. service and be blessed of the Lord and that Monday morning you get to work and you are slammed by your supervisor with all kinds of problems that somehow just happen to be your fault. Maybe its just me but its right after the Lord blesses you with the income return, before you can even tell anybody what the Lord blessed you with, you find yourself having to dish out all of your income return to fix your car that has broken down. Trouble seems to show up after a mountain top experience.
Jesus and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John has just experienced a mountain top experience and on the next day as they come down from the mountain, Jesus was approached by a man whose name, nationality is not mention but the man mentions his need. Let me pause to say that I just believe that the Holy Spirit does not mention his name nor nationality because that is not important, the one thing that was important was his need. It should not matter if someone is black white, asian, native American, or European, what is important is their need. Regardless of their name if its is Bobby Earle, Annie Mae, Richard, or Lucille if they have a need that is what we need to focus on. This man falls down before Jesus and says have mercy on my son for he is a luntick and often he falls in the water and often he falls in the fire. It looks like the father is saying that his son has a mental illness that he is crazy but if you look closely at the greek word for lunatic it really refers to someone that has epilepsy. And epilepsy is a condition that effects the central nervous system in which the person has seizures that can cause them to have convulsions, sharp pain in the abdomen, and can become unconscious for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.
And what is more disturbing is the man goes on to say that I brought him to your disciples and they could not cure him. The word cure in the greek is the word therapuo. The word therapeuo, means to heal or restore back to health. It is were derive our term therapy from. A therapist job is to get you back to where you were before you got sick or injured. This was disgraced the Lord’s name because if you go back to Matt. 10 Jesus gives them the power to cast out demons and heal sickness, but even with everything that they needed to help this man, they still are ineffective. He brings his son to the Lord’s disciples, the ones that should be able to help him, but they could not help him. He took his epileptic son to the disciples looking for a change, but he left the same way that he came. Before you jump up and start criticizing the disciples for their ineffectiveness, I think that I ought to tell you that just like the disciples, the church has been guilty of being ineffective. Many have come Sunday after Sunday empty seeking a filling but left empty. Many have come Sunday after Sunday looking for an answer, but leaving without the answer. Many have come Sunday after unsaved and have left unsaved. Many have come hungry looking to be fed, but left still hungry. And if anyone ought to be able to restore it ought to be church. Well the question comes why were they ineffective?
If you carry the name you ought to carry out the name….You see they carried the name disciple which meant that they were adherents who accepts the instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct. Which is to say that they put what they were taught in to practice. But the problem is that had the name disciple but they were practicing disciplship. Some of us carry the name Christian but we are not able to help anyone because we are not carrying out what we are being taught.
Don’t become negligent in the necessities……..Prayer life… The reason why they did not have any power is because of the fact that they did not pray. There is power in prayer. Hezekiah……Peter in jail.;…Paul and Silas…..Elijah prayed
Practicing faith….the reason why they were ineffective is because of their lack of faith. In order to be an effective church you must have faith. Because the truth is that if you don’t have faith how can you expect someone else to have faith. Paul said that we walk by faith and not by sight. And if I possess faith, then I should not have to tell anyone because my faith will make itself known. And how I know that it makes it known is because my belief determines my behavior. If you are not tithing you don’t believe that the Lord. If you don’t pray for them that despitefully use you, you don’t have faith. If you don’t love them that hate you, you don’t believe God. If you can treat people any kind of way you don’t believe God. If you are married and you still holding on to momma’s dress tail, and are afraid to put them back in their place when they step out, you don’t believe God when He said that a man should leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife. If you are a wife and you want to have the authority in your marriage, you don’t believe wheare God said wives submit yourselves to your husbands.
Must have knowledge of what is necessary to meet the need….In other words you have to know what to do and how to do what to do in order to help someone. You can’t help anyone if you don’t have knowledge. How can you help someone if you don’t know how to help. But it was not that these disciples did not know what how to address the need. Because if you go over into Chapter 10 you will find that the Lord had given them the power to cast out demons and to heal. But the problem is that they were not using what was given to them. Matter of fact God gives us everything that we need in order to help others but the problem is that we are not using it. What do you mean? He gave us His Word, and His Word will help you to solve any problem that you have, but the problem is that we are not using it. Matter of fact we even get it at Bible Study and Sunday School but we don’t use it. And the reason why I know that we don’t use it is because if we used it we would be changing, but many us choose to stay the same. And another way that you can tell we are not using it is because many of us don’t show up for Bible Study and Sunday School. How you going to tell somebody how to get saved when you don’t know how? How you going to tell somebody why they need to tithe, when you don’t know how? How you are going to help somebody with what their role should be when they are about to get married and you don’t know. You can’t help anybody if you don’t have any knowledge. The only way that you can get knowledge is to not pay attention to what everybody else is doing, not going to sleep during service, not talking while preaching and teaching is going on; but you ought to listen to the Word, read the Word, Study the Word. The only way that you can use it is that you have to have it.