All Things Are Possible With God and Faith

 

14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever 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 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20 So 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. 21 Jesus 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 one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29 NIV)

The description in the passage sounds exactly like an epileptic seizure. Have you ever seen an epileptic delivered by God’s power? I have on a few occasions, and one of them happened almost identical to this story in Mark. It’s a powerful testimony of a miracle of healing that will “mark” you just like it did me years ago! You will hear about it in the podcast attached to this page.

A few things to learn immediately from a simple reading of this passage:

1. The boys had some kind of seizures that were eerily similar to what I have seen during people having an epileptic seizure.
2. Though the disciples were anointed by the Lord to heal every sickness and cast out all demons (Matthew 10:1,2), in this case they were ineffective. The question is WHY were they ineffective?
3. The anointing to heal the sick and cast out demons on Jesus was present and delivered the boy. (Acts 10:38)
4. The failure of the disciples to cast out the demon was not a demonstration of the will of God. The will of God was the manifestation of the boy’s deliverance as proven by Jesus.
5. Jesus did not speak to God about the demon but spoke directly to it and commanded it to come out of the boy.
6. After deliverance from demon possession, a person can be on the ground in a seemingly lifeless condition. A person can fall to the ground under the power of God. That is what happened here. The very same thing that happened when the crowd came to arrest Jesus and He said to them, “I am He.” The power of God knocked everybody to the ground! (John 18:6) It happened to the soldiers guarding the tomb of Jesus when and angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. They fell to the ground like dead men! (Matthew 28:2-4) It happened to the great persecutor of the church named Saul of Tarsus. (Acts 9:3,4) The power of God knocked him off his high horse to the ground! It still happens today!
7. The reason for the disciples being ineffective was their lack of the prayer of faith that heals and delivers the sick. (See James 5:14,15) Jesus called them “unbelieving” in Mark 9:19. That meant they were in unbelief or lack of trust and obedience. Notice the same story in Matthew 17. In Matthew 17:17, Jesus called the disciples that could not cast the spirit out “unbelieving and perverted.” Later when they questioned Jesus as to “WHY” they could not cast out the demon He gave a direct answer as to why they failed, even though Jesus had previously given them power over all sickness and demons.

The disciples failed in their ministry to the sick and demonized. WHY? Was it because God was not willing to heal and deliver in that case? No way! The disciple’s failure, or your or my failures, are never because they are the will of God for His people. What is THE reason for failure? It is not the result of some hidden agenda by God or His angels. Failure is NEVER the w