Download this MP3
If you want to stay up on the latest audio messages from Westside Christian Fellowship, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes.
Tweet

COMPLETE SERMON NOTES

​This Does NOT Go Out Except By Prayer & Fasting

17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son [his heart was right], for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Some manuscripts omit vs. 21 –

• 1. Synoptic – LUKE 9:37-43 and Mark 9:28-29 (NKJV)- 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.”

• 2. Context – LUKE 9:1 PROCEEDS IT: 1 One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

• 3. Church Fathers add credibility, but not Truth – Jonathan Borland, “No church father explicitly opposed the verse…”

a] Tertullian [converted to Christianity about AD 185] clearly supports the Byzantine text of either Matt 17:21 or Mark 9:29 when he says:

“…he prescribed that fasting should be carried out without sadness. For why should what is beneficial be sad? He also taught to fight against the more fierce demons by means of fasting. For is it surprising that the Holy Spirit is led in through the same means by which the sinful spirit is led out.”

b] Origen’s significance as a witness for the presence of Matt 17:21 cannot be understated since it predates by a full century any evidence of any kind that omits the passage. Origen [born AD 185] says:

“That those, then, who suffer from what is called lunacy sometimes fall into the water is evident, and that they also fall into the fire, less frequently indeed, yet it does happen; and it is evident that this disorder is very difficult to cure, so that those who have the power to cure demoniacs sometimes fail in respect of this, and sometimes with fastings and supplications and more toils, succeed.” http://www.academia.edu/6085076/THE_AUTHENTICITY_AND_INTERPRETATION_OF_MATTHEW_17_21

• 4. Is it a clear biblical truth? I don’t know why it’s omitted, but I do know that it’s a Spiritual Truth.

Ezra 8:23 – “So we fasted & ask God & He answered our prayer.”

Excerpt from “God-Cast: Hearing God Thru Fasting” [1 yr ago] – MOSES RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD  –  KING JEHOSHAPHAT EXPERIENCED VICTORY  –  ESTHER RECEIVED PROTECTION  –  ELIJAH WAS RESTORED  –  DANIEL EXPERIENCED THE SUPERNATURAL  –  EZRA RECEIVED DIRECTION  –  NEHEMIAH WAS STRENGTHENED  –  JOEL OFFERED THE CURE FOR JUDGMENT   –    JESUS WAS EMPOWERED  –  PAUL WAS CALLED  –  PETER RECEIVED CONFIRMATION  –  CORNELIUS WAS SAVED

LET’S BACK-TRACK: “Why could we not cast it out?” “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible…”.

a] Unbelief – allowing fear to influence and dominate. Earlier they had great faith or did Jesus supernaturally strengthen them?

b] Nothing is impossible for God – remember Who you trust in

• These BOTH play a HUGE role in answering prayers and spiritual power

HOWEVER – This Does NOT Go Out Except By Prayer & Fasting

A strong attack requires a strong defense – CONSECRATION [to be set apart]

EXAMPLE: Pulling a car out of the mud

Athletes, Employees, Writer’s, Weight loss…Media [I’m setting this time apart]

“Every temptation we face is designed by the enemy to cause us to disobey God and bypass our own cross. Satan’s design is for us to give in and disobey rather than to resist and offer our bodies as a living sacrifice; He wants us to indulge our flesh rather than crucify it.” SettingCaptivesFree.com

We’re initially pulled away by subtle compromises

1. Ezra 6:21 The sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate the Passover.

2. Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

3. 2 Corinthians 6:17 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.

4. 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

5. Revelation 18:4-5 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues…”

KEY: Are you affecting the culture of being infected by it?

Don’t Complain About Consecration – that’s how God sets us apart, fills us with His spirit, and grants us tremendous joy & peace – Carriers of His Presence –

As the flesh submits, you become more in tune with the things of God

• A stagnate spiritual life turns into flowing waters.

• The mind becomes uncluttered and focused.

• The things of God, rather than the things of the world, begin to dominate…

QUICK NOTE on “this kind” – “However, this kind does not go out …

Demonic Influence is either WELCOMED or REJECTED! It’s either FUELED or EXTINGUISHED! It’s either FED or STARVED!

Sometimes belief isn’t enough – it will require a FIGHT.

• FASTING STARVES THE FLESH WHILE FEEDING THE SPIRIT – We often say, “this isn’t important enough for me to deny myself.”

• PRAYER ENGAGES GOD’S STRENGTH: Every mighty move of the Spirit of God has had its source in the prayer chamber. —E. M. BOUNDS

We are Slaves to our Appetites – They must be starved: Jesus said – “when you fast…”

• Giving into one area weakness LOWERS my defense in other areas –

__________________________________

Health Benefits: Our bodies energy is focused on healing, detoxing, and cleansing. Mental alertness and energy increase.

• Excerpt from Dr. Esther Seales – see below

• If you don’t fast, you are not experiencing all that God has for you –

A] Healing

B] Break addiction

C] Unanswered prayers

D] Besetting sins and attitudes

E] Spiritual insight and a deeper relationship with God.

Why wait – start tonight – BUT IT WILL BE A BATTLE!

An incident from the American Revolution illustrates what tragedy can result from procrastination. It is reported that Colonel Rahl, commander of the British troops in Trenton, New Jersey, was playing cards when a courier brought an urgent message stating that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware River. Rahl put the letter in his pocket and didn’t bother to read it until the game was finished. Then, realizing the seriousness of the situation, he hurriedly tried to rally his men to meet the coming attack, but his procrastination was his undoing. He and many of his men were killed and the rest of the regiment were capture.

Nolbert Quayle said, “Only a few minutes’ delay cost him his life, his honor, and the liberty of his soldiers. Earth’s history is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions. ‘Tomorrow’ is the excuse of the lazy and the refuge of the incompetent.” Our Daily Bread.

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. Richard L. Evans, Bits & Pieces, March 4, 1993, p. 2.

Excerpt from Dr. Esther Seales – Fasting and Mental Health – Some mental benefits of fasting include a calming affect, the ability to focus on priorities and a generalized improvement in mental functioning. Don’t expect mental miracles on your first fast. Addiction and withdrawal symptoms (irritability, anger, etc.) could override any first-time benefits. However, examples of fasting’s positive effect on the mind are even more striking. A Kansas couple I talked with, both of whom were physicians, had an autistic son. They discovered fasting when the boy was 12 years old. After a three-day fast, the son began to respond to them for the first time in his life. Through testing it was learned that he had an enzyme deficiency that made him sensitive to certain foods. After a general fast of a few days, a rotational fast was used to keep from overwhelming the son’s enzyme system. At age 18 the boy was reading and showing great improvement, according to his parents. The symptoms of many other mental illnesses such as hyperactivity, dyslexia, incorrigible delinquency, schizophrenia and depression apparently have cleared temporarily during short fasts. These syndromes are usually blamed on early childhood/ parental relationships. What if they are more closely related to diet?

Some of the symptoms of these mental illnesses have reportedly disappeared after kidney dialysis, which filters toxic products from the blood. These products rebuild rapidly, and within a few hours the symptoms may return. Could the toxins come from incompletely metabolized foods, or accumulation of waste products? Can chemicals or drugs cause bizarre symptoms? Sure! The mind is a precious thing. Fasting can give the body time to clear itself of toxic products. Eating things designed for food in their purest form could be great for the mind, just as it has been shown to maintain our joints, our weight and our immune system. Dr. Yuri Nikolayave, a psychiatrist at the University of Moscow, treated schizophrenics with water fasts for 25 to 30 days. This was followed by eating foods in their purest forms for 30 days. Seventy percent of his patients remained free from symptoms for the duration of the six-year study. 4 In patients who have these advanced illnesses, profound biochemical changes do occur during the fast. Allan Cott, an M.D. at New York University, has used this fasting treatment on 28 schizophrenic patients. He reported a 60 percent recovery rate from this dreaded disease. 5 For many similar cases, read Brain Allergies by neuropsychiatrist William Philpott. He treated food reactions by withdrawal of the offending foods for three months. Then he rotated meals by food families every four days. Dr. Philpott uses this treatment for all kinds of physical and psychological problems, including arthritis, with surprising success. 6 The rotation diet is complex and difficult, even for highly motivated patients. It appears to me that a yoke of bondage to foods and chemicals is more easily broken by frequent periods of abstinence (fasting). A three-month withdrawal of the offending food is the equivalent of a fast from that food. Pediatricians, cardiologists, internists and many other specialists use this form of unconventional treatment for many ailments with interesting results. Supervision is a necessity.​

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS