14 ¶ And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Again, based on the corrupt readings of a handful of Alexandrian manuscripts, most notably the twisted Codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, “tears, Lord” are removed in many modern versions, downplaying the sincere devotion and response of this father. Sadly, many fine Christians have no concept of what the Devil has done to their Bibles. “Yea, hath God said?”
Here is an example of what demonic possession can do. This last request is a classic for all of us. We should all be saying at some point in time “help thou mine unbelief”. You can believe and have a great need for faith to be given to you by God. Pray for faith. When you get saved you don’t have all the faith you need.
Romans 14:1 ¶ Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
1Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Also, we should be asking Jesus Christ to rebuke the devils. We should resist the Devil. There are, as I said before, people who think they can command Satan to leave a place in Jesus name. They are foolishly mistaken. You have no example in the Bible where you talk to Satan in prayer. You are never to speak to Satan directly but to call upon God to rebuke him. Pastors who command Satan in prayer to leave, even in Christ’s name, have merely invited an infestation of devils on their congregation. These devils won’t leave easily and you can have spirits of apathy and dull hearing and those who create bitterness, jealousy, envy, and rebellion. I have left “revival” meetings and not returned to them because a Pastor spoke to Satan in prayer, prayer that should be reserved only for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Jude 8 ¶ Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
You can’t honestly claim to be like Moses or Paul. Your Pastor is not Moses and is not Paul. To claim that he can command a devil to leave is to imply that he has the power of the Apostles. The Apostles are in heaven and their gifts are not manifest in the church as we have something more perfect and complete, that does not point to us, but to Christ; His Book. Satan knows your weakness and pride. You think you can command Satan to do ANYTHING? You are called to do one thing.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Nowhere are you told to rebuke the Devil.
Claiming Apostolic gifts to point to your own spirituality and how close you walk with God is a sham in comparison to submitting to the authority of His word. Today, we have people who create rankings of Christians, starting with those who are “great” Christians who have apostolic gifts and/or think they are without sin in their lives. Their experience with Christ is first and foremost. It’s all about them, not Christ, although they pay lip service to Him.
You can see that they have not submitted to the words of God to sanctify their lives because their affections are little different from the unsaved. If they don’t go to bars, they’ll attend professional sporting events and criticize those who go to bars. If they don’t go to movies, they’ll watch TV and criticize those who go to movies. If they don’t smoke, they’ll be addicted to caffeine, and criticize those who smoke. The modern Pharisee has created, like the Pharisee of old, standards that are comfortable to him. The Pastor who is a Pharisee will say that his standards are godly and that if you put more or less on him than he does you are being rebellious.
Then, that Pastor will think that he is an Old Testament prophet, or priest, or even perhaps Paul or Moses. He will command spirits to leave, thereby infesting his congregation with them. He will go to the Law or the Tribulation books of the Bible for his doctrine and then, pick what he thinks he has and discount the rest. If you don’t manifest the gifts or righteousness this Pharisee has then you are backslidden or steeped in sin.
There is no liberty in his doctrine, only chains. He is a Judaizer, trying to put his congregation under the bondage of the law. He will not uplift the testimony you have at work or in your family because those things compete with his demand that you be at his beck and call. And, in his arrogance, he will claim powers of healing and the rebuke of devils that he does not have. People who focus on special gifts and their own righteousness, salvation experience, and works, and thus themselves, and don’t focus on the word of God to transform their lives think they have the power of God on their lives and that they are an example of a Christian reaching for perfection. Instead, they are why there will be no revival in America that is from God.
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