Saturday Service 9/22/12
Father we thank you for your living word. By faith, we received your living word
tonight, into our hearts. It's able to transform us from glory to glory and into
the image of your son. In Jesus name, amen.
“…Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John (the inner circle of
disciples-they are the ones who went with Jesus to Jairus' house as He raised
that child from the dead. Peter, James, and John were with him in the Garden of
Gethsemane too), and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and
He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white,
like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared
to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and
said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three
tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— because he did
not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid..."
Mark 9:2-6 (NKJV)
The disciples were in process. They had some religion being flushed out of them,
as well. And Peter did not know what to say, so he was saying let's set up a
camp here on this truth…instead of moving on with the cloud. You know every
denomination has begun in a move of God. And there is a tendency to camp out
on that truth, and not progress with the Lord.
"...And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” The amplified says be constantly
listening to and obeying him.
Mark 9:7 (NKJV)
Listen.
"...Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only
Jesus with themselves..."
Mark 9:8 (NKJV)
Mark 9:14-29 (NKJV)
"...And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them,
and scribes disputing with them (the scribes were those who were learned in
Mosaic law-the religious teachers of the day). Immediately, when they saw Him,
all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. (Why were
they so greatly amazed? It was because they had just come from the
mountaintop. The glory was still resting upon Him; His face shone like the sunlike Moses when he received the Ten Commandments and he came down and
his face was glowing. The glory and presence of the Lord was resting upon
Jesus, and they saw Him and they were greatly amazed. In the Bible there is
such action...they were in awe. There's Jesus, look at him! Where is he been?
What's that glow on his face?) And He asked the scribes, “What are you
discussing (arguing about) with them?” Then one of the crowd answered and
said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it
seizes him(overtakes), it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his
teeth, and becomes rigid (This is a violent happening). So I spoke to Your
disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” He answered him and
said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? (The Living Bible says,
Oh what tiny faith you have-this was said not to his inner circle of disciples, but to
the general group of disciples). How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”
Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit
convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
(Demons are tormented by the anointing. The anointing was resting upon Jesus
in a tangible manner, and that spirit sent this young man into convulsions as it
came into contact with the anointing of God. )
And he said, “From childhood. So He asked his father, “How long has this been
happening to him?” (Jesus was gathering information because Jesus did not
minister as God who is all-knowing, he ministered as man filled with the Holy
Spirit. He was relying on his relationship with the Holy Spirit, to see what the
Father was doing. Bill Johnson says, 'I look at the devil long enough to pull
the trigger.' You could say that Jesus was waiting to pull the trigger...stewarding
the moment until He would cast the demon out. If we come
into a deliverance session with a been there-done that attitude, more than likely
were going to be like the other disciples.) And often he has thrown him both
into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything,
have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all
things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child
cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus
saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying
to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no
more!” (Short, concise, and He spoke out with authority, and it left).
Mark 9:14-25 (NKJV)
A man's ear was opened up last week...and he still has his hearing tonight.
Thank you, Jesus. All we did was speak to that spirit...Get off of him in the
name of Jesus. He started weeping. He hasn't been able to hear properly out of
that ear for years. You see, one look like that on his face and it's worth all
that you go through to get to that place... Just to see the look on his face,
the joy of being set free. Thank you, Jesus.
For a Christian, sickness can be a result of demonic attacks on the flesh, not
the spirit, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The devil cannot attack our
spirit.
At one time, Smith Wigglesworth was having tremendous back pain. His wife had
asked an elderly lady to come and pray for him, and she and a young man came
to the house. They went into Smith Wigglesworth's room where he was laying in
bed, and before anyone knew what was happening, the young man ran and
jumped on the bed and yelled get out of this man's back devil in Jesus name.
And before Smith could object to the fact he had a demon in his flesh, it left. The
pain left his back and his theology got straightened out.
So you can receive an attack in the flesh, but he can't touch your spirit. We
are learning in the healing rooms, to minister very directly.
And things are happening. Without much verbiage. It's making it really easy,
because Jesus is showing up. We are not the healer, Christ is the healer. It's
the easiest thing in the world to get people healed...we just get out of the way
and let God do it! Stewarding the moment. I honestly believe that it is the time
we're living in. This is that time.
"...Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen
upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the
people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you..."
Isaiah 60:1-2 (NKJV)
When we minister, it helps to discern if there is a spirit involved in the
sickness. Because sickness can be environmental, the result of sin, a sin
lifestyle, eating habits, or it can be a spirit attacking a person's flesh.
Last week in the healing rooms, we had a man come in with sinus problems. He
happened to mention he felt shame because of the struggles his son had. We
rebuked shame and condemnation off of him, and then we prayed for his
sinuses-which opened right up. Rebuking shame is the same thing as saying
you're
forgiven.
"...And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained...”
John 20:22-23 (NKJV)
We have the ability to forgive people's sins and say your sins are forgiven
you...and rebuke condemnation off of them...you are forgiven. What we have
learned is the number one hindrance to receiving healing is unforgiveness. They
feel condemnation and they feel like they are not worthy to receive, and
everyone is worthy to receive. Christ paid an awful price for us to walk in
wholeness and divine health.
"...Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And
he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by
the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house,
His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to
them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting..."
Mark 9:26-29 (NKJV)
Prayer is intimate communion, keeping us in touch with His presence. They were
powerless because they were prayer-less. Their self-sufficiency spelled defeat.
They had trusted in the power they had been invested with.
"...And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two,
and gave them power over unclean spirits. So they went out and preached that
people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil
many who were sick, and healed them..."
Mark 6:7,12-13 (NKJV)
The implication here is that they were relying on themselves and not on Christ.
It was like they had faith in their faith. Our faith is in Christ. It's easy to
slip, and I've done this. I've had faith in my faith, and tried to rush my way
into someone's healing. And it doesn't work that way.
It's the heart's trust in the person of Christ, and getting out of the way to
let him do it. Because He's really, really, really, really good at what He does.
We are not. It is so much fun when you get out of the way and you see the Lord
touch people.
In Bill Johnson's book, Hosting the Presence, he says something really good
and it speaks to me:
Sometimes you don't get to know a person until you work with them (he's talking
about the Holy Spirit now). That is certainly the setting Jesus created for his
disciples. They were to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit in ministry
that would later set them up for one of the most amazing promotions imaginable.
They would become the dwelling place of God on earth.
Have you ever considered yourself the dwelling place of God on earth? Let that
drop down into you-we're the dwelling place of God on earth. He's done this. We
didn't do this.
You're the dwelling place of God on earth.
We're in a time of transition. We are coming to the end of the church age as we
know it, and we are entering into the kingdom age...where all genuine ministry
flows through relationship and not gifting. It's through presencing and not
principles. What we are doing here is presencing the Lord. Stewarding the
moment...and people are being healed. We are getting out of the way. All we are
doing is presencing the Lord. And the Lord is moving, and people are being
healed. And it is so exciting to see people healed.
"...Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute;
and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all
the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” (The
Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One) Now when the Pharisees heard it they
said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the
demons...”
Matthew 12:22-24 (NKJV)
The blind and mute man spoke and saw after he was delivered...here a person
who took on the characteristics of the demon that had control over them. In the
account in Matthew, He spoke to that deaf and dumb Spirit and said come out of
the man... and then he could speak and hear. A person can take on the
characteristics of that spirit that's attacking them.
That's why in Mark 16:17 Jesus said that these signs will follow those who
believe. In my name they will cast out demons and they will lay hands on the
sick and they will recover. If the sickness is because of demonic influence, we
cast that out first and then the person will be healed. We address that first.
The Lord comes in and heals them. We are His mouth here on the earth; we are
His hands and feet.
Jesus lived in constant conflict with the world around him as He brought heaven
to earth. In the Father of Lights movie, an Egyptian Christian said that in the
world there are two zones: the comfort zone and the conflict zone. If we are
willing to leave our comfort zone-our complacency and place of self-sufficiencywe will have conflict and enter into an encounter with God. When these things
happen (and sometimes they can be very intense), if we listen to the Lord and
see how something will be displaced, then we are propelled into an encounter
with God because God is going to show up. He's not going to leave us out there
hanging. Jesus had just delivered this man from being under the power of Satan
when the Pharisees accused Him of being of the devil. Religion puts information,
rules and regulations above having a personal relationship with God. This is of
Satan.
I am quoting from Kris Vallotton: the devil was not concerned that Adam and Eve
would know that he is evil when he had them eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, but he was concerned with their relationship with God.
Think about this...in that relationship they had unlimited authority. Satan
wasn't worried about exposing to them that he was evil, because once they
would eat of the tree they would see that Satan is evil. He didn't care...what he
wanted to disrupt was the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God.
Because then they would know that they had unlimited authority over him in the
first place. But he disrupted that, he deceived them out of that. He still does that.
When we take hold of the fact that as a believer in Jesus Christ we have the
authority of God on this earth (not that we sling our authority around-it is
under submission to His authority that we operate), we are getting hold of the
fact that we are heirs with God and joint heirs with Christ. Whatever Christ
has, we have.
When the kingdom of heaven invades earth it can get messy. It can get ugly in
the midst of recovery. There can be conflict and contact. When the spirit
contacts the demonic, it is no contest. Remember in Father of Lights when they
went to India...and they were going to talk to a witch doctor who was powerful
in all of southern India? All they did was pray and release the presence of the
Lord...and he went blind. They didn't yell at him...the power was dissolved. The
power of God is so much greater than the power of Satan.