Sermon Tone Analysis

The Christian life is “a land of hills and valleys”.

In one day, a believer can move from a taste of heaven on the mountain top to the attacks of hell in the valley.

For more than two years, the disciples had walked in the presence of Jesus, the Son of God.

They had watched Him interact with people and their situations, heard Him teach, and witnessed His miracles.

They had lived by sight.

But now they would have to live by faith.

This morning we are going to look at Spiritual Warfare and Anorexic Christians

Text: Mark 9:14-29

This incident took place immediately after the transfiguration, and the contrasts between the two events are crazy, from one extreme to another.

The transfiguration happened on a mountain; this happened in the valley below.

In the transfiguration, there was glory; here there was suffering.

In the transfiguration God dominated the scene; here in the valley Satan dominated.

In the transfiguration, the heavenly Father was pleased in His Son; in this incident, an earthly father was tormented over his son.

In the transfiguration there was a perfect Son; here there was a persecuted son.

1. Spiritual Warfare; 14-18

Jesus, Peter , James and John come down from the valley to find the other 9 disciples in the midst of a spiritual battle.

A demon possessed boy was brought to Jesus to be healed but He was on the mountain so His disciples stood in to heal him, but they couldn’t.

When this happened the scribes took advantage of the situation to mock and discredit Jesus/ministry as a fake!

Satanic possession and spiritual warfare is real and alive today whether we want to believe it or not.

Unfortunately there are no statistics of its frequency, because in the U.S. it’s not treated as a spiritual condition, but as a mental or physical abnormality.

However, the same signs associated with possession can be easily seen in our society.

There are 7 CATEGORIES OF DEMONS in Scripture, their associated behaviors and the number of people involved:

Category of spirit Text Expression # US INVOLVED*

EVIL WICKED Mt. 12:45 VIOLENT 1.2 million

LYING SEDUCING 1 Tm.

4:1 OC-CULT 24 million

SICKNESS INFIRMITY Luke 8:2 SOMATIC 15 million

SPIRIT OF FEAR TIMIDITY 2 Tm.

1:7 PHOBIAS 41 million

BONDAGE ADDICTIONS Rm. 8:15 ALC/DRUG 45 million

DIVINATION SPIRITISM Act 16:16 SORCERY 3 million

UNCLEAN UNCLEAN Matt.

10:1 PORN/SEX.

40 million

Another stat associated with possession:

SUICIDE DESTROY Mk. 9:22 SUICIDE 1.3 million

It is NOT ASSUMED that ALL of these are demon possessions, but that they are expressing behavior that MAY BE associated with possession.

And instead of receiving spiritual assistance, these people are mostly drugged, put into mental institutions, or told their behavior is ‘okay’ because it’s associated with some syndrome.

They're told, “Just learn to live with it” or “Take the medicine.”

Spiritual warfare sometimes comes in the forms of doctors, friends, families, and even religious leaders who do not believe in the power of prayer!

[18] “But they could not”

The sad thing is that the man brought the boy to the disciples, but they couldn’t do anything.

And the tragic thing about this hour is that the church is helpless in the presence of the world’s need.

Right now, the organized church in desperation is reaching out, protesting and marching and getting involved in all kinds of things, and the world is actually criticizing the church because they feel it should get even more involved.

But social matters are not our business!

We ought to be able to help a poor demon–possessed boy today by presenting a Savior to him who will make him rational and who will bring him into a right relationship with God.

Unfortunately, the same thing has to be said of the church, “They could not.”

The disciples could not and we cannot.

McGee, J. V. (1991).

Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Mark) (electronic ed., Vol.

36, pp.

111–112).

Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

2. Anorexic Christians; 19

Jesus was livid with this “Faithless Generation”.

There was not a single person present who helped the desperate child: not the father, not the crowd, not the disciples, and not even the religious leaders.

Crowd- most didn’t believe in Christ as the Messiah but they liked the miracles

Scribes- knew the scriptures but had no faith in them

Disciples [Anorexic Christians]- Anorexia is an eating disorder that begins mental/spiritual that affects the physical.

It is a lack of appetite.

The same pattern happens in the christian “a lack of spiritual appetite” that will affect the physical actions of service and ministry to the Lord.

It’s called Complacency!

Appetite is one of the strongest indicators, to a doctor, of your health.

Loss of appetite is an indicator of a much deeper problem.Our physical body needs nourishment 3X a day; so does our spiritual being.

There are many Anorexic Christians! They’re leading a dissatisfied, unfocused lives.Many people come to church on Sunday and are satisfied with a pacifier sermon and a pacifier song – they make them feel good.

But later, they’re still hungry, because they never ate anything substantial.

A. W. Tozer: "Before we can be filled with the Spirit, the desire to be filled must be all-consuming.

It must be for the time the biggest thing in the life, so acute, so intrusive as to crowd out everything else.

The degree of fullness in any life accords perfectly with the intensity of true desire.

We have as much of God as we actually want.”

Pastor John Gaston, Assembly of God

The disciples had lost their spiritual appetite and were working off their past performances of casting out demons and healing the sick.

[28-29] Jesus told them later that they could not cast out the demon because of their lack of prayer/fasting.

Prayer/fasting takes the focus off of self and puts it totally upon God and therefore we are prepared to deal with the worlds difficult situations.

They weren’t living close to God.

They had the power but prayer it what maintains it!

95 % of the All-Terrain Vehicles ever produced never leave the road.

They are designed for a purpose for which they are rarely, if ever, used.

A believer who has experienced the power of the Spirit and is not sharing Jesus is like a 4-wheel drive vehicle that is never taken off the road.

They have power for a purpose they are not utilizing.

Anorexic Christianity!

Anorexic Christianity places a stigma on the church and the power of Christ to save.

Remember the father that brought his son to Jesus’ disciples who could not cast out the demon [v.18], “But they could not”.

[20-22] Look at what the disciples failure did to the fathers faith in Christ.

“But if You can do anything.”

He went from one who was confident when he brought his son to one that had doubt if Jesus could do anything for his son!

3. The Power of Faith; 23-27

Jesus says “I’m not the problem, you are!” Faith has the power to overcome.

Divine ability is not the problem, mans lack of faith is!

Jesus is the same God that parted the Red Sea, enabled a shepherd boy to defeat a giant, stood in the fire with the Hebrew boys, the same Lord that called Lazarus from the grave.

What could we possibly need that He couldn’t supply?

“Lord I believe, help my unbelief”.

Lord help my struggle with doubt.

Give me an appetite for you again.

Help my Anorexic Faith!

Jesus rebuked the demon on the basis of the fathers faith to believe.

This was a permanent healing where the demon could not return!

Close;

Faith is a gift of God.

The faith that we possess was given of Him.

If our faith is lacking, we must seek Him to increase our faith.