Thank you so much for the opportunity to open it up tonight, dear God, and have you speak to our hearts.
I could preach on this subject, on this chapter, for days and days, because there's just so rich a truth in every chapter in the Bible, dear God.
But please just help us to see tonight what you would have us to see out of this chapter.
And we love you, in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Matthew chapter 17, well into the book of Matthew now.
Before I get into chapter 17, let me just show you something from the end of chapter 16.
Verse number 28 of chapter 16.
Now, I remember many times when you're talking to somebody who's an atheist, perhaps, or an evolutionist, humanist kind of person,
it said the Bible's not true, the Bible is written by man, we evolved, there is no God, there is no Jesus Christ, there's no word of God.
They'll say to this, the Bible is full of contradictions.
Have you ever heard anybody say that before?
Oh, the Bible's got all kinds of contradictions in it.
Now I always say to them, oh really, I hand them my Bible, I say show me one.
And nine times out of ten they'll just look at you, well, you know, I don't know, it's in there somewhere, contradiction.
Well, one time I was trying to win a distant relative of mine to the Lord and her friend was over
and I was trying to win them to the Lord, this is when I was a teenager.
And this girl said to me, yes, I will show you a mistake in the Bible.
And this is what she showed me right here.
And look at this, verse number 28 of chapter 16.
Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
And she said, look right there, it says that Jesus is going to come back in their lifetime.
And he still hasn't come back today, 2,000 years later.
Now, see, that's the problem with just isolating one verse.
All you have to do is read the next verse.
So here we see the promise of Jesus.
He says, look, and if you notice the context of chapter 16, he's speaking to his 12 disciples.
And he says, some of you standing here are going to see me coming in my glory of my kingdom.
We'll look at the next verse.
And after six days, well within their lifetime, after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them.
And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
So in this chapter 17 of Matthew, we see Jesus bringing his three closest disciples,
Peter, James, and John.
He brings them up into a high mountain, and they have this great experience
where they actually see Jesus Christ glorified the way that he's going to be one day when he comes back.
I mean, they saw this sneak preview of Jesus Christ's second coming.
They got to see what he's going to be like.
His face shined as bright as the sun.
His raiment was as white as the light.
He had Moses and Elijah talking with him.
And it says in verse number four,
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles,
one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
What he's saying here is, look, this is such a great experience that we're here with Jesus Christ in his glorified state.
Here's Moses. Here's Elijah.
They said, it's so great to be here.
I wish we could just stay here is what he's trying to say.
Let's set up some tabernacles.
Let's set up some kind of a shelter.
Let's make a place for us to stay.
Let's pitch a tent.
And I just don't want to leave this experience of being with God on the mountaintop.
Boy, these three disciples all throughout the Bible,
you'll see that there are various groups that follow Jesus.
And we've talked a lot about this in the book of Matthew,
just because the subject comes up so much.
We see the great multitudes mentioned in almost every chapter.
Did you notice that?
I mean, every chapter mentions the multitude, the multitude.
And sometimes there was a multitude of 5,000 plus women and children.
Sometimes there was a multitude of 4,000 plus women and children.
Sometimes it was an innumerable multitude that no man could number, the Bible says.
And that's a lot, because the Bible has some big numbers about people in it.
And so you see these multitudes thrown into Jesus,
but then you see him many times send the multitude away
and just spend time with just his 12 apostles, his 12 disciples.
The people who were there for him every day, day in, day out,
they weren't here today, gone tomorrow.
These are the serious Christians.
These were the 12 men that he sent out in Matthew chapter 10 as soul winners.
They were the people who win people to Christ.
They were the producers, if you will.
And then later on, you'll see in the Bible, that group was expanded to 70.
Seventy apostles that he sent out and gave them power,
and they went soul winning and so forth.
So you got the 5,000, the 4,000, the 70, the 12.
Then within the 12, you have these three men who were Jesus' closest disciples.
And these are the only three men who got to be a part of this.
Look, the 5,000 wasn't there on this mountaintop experience with Jesus.
The 5,000 did not see the transfiguration on the mount there.
The 4,000 was not there.
Not even the 70 was there.
Not even the rest of the 12 disciples were there,
but only the three who were the most sold out for God,
the most on fire for God, the most dedicated to God,
the closest to Jesus Christ, walking and talking with him daily,
they got to see the power of God.
They got to see the mighty power of God on the mount of transfiguration.
Look, I don't want to be the 5,000.
I want to be one of the three.
That's where I want to be.
I want to see these kind of experiences.
I want to have that kind of a close walk with God,
where I see Jesus Christ as he is.
Now, if you look, if you would, let's go down in the chapter.
Sometimes I go through the chapter just verse by verse chronologically,
but sometimes I skip around a little bit just to show you a topic.
So go down, if you would, in the verse.
I'm going to come back to that point, but come down to verse 14.
I'm going to show you something along these lines.
In verse 14 it says,
And when they were come to the multitude,
they've just returned from the mount.
They've been speaking with Jesus on the way down from the mount.
They get down to the bottom of the mountain where the multitude is.
And it says,
And when they were come to the multitude,
there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying,
Lord, have mercy on my son, for he's lunatic and sore vexed,
for oft times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water.
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Now look at this.
Who did he bring him to?
He didn't just bring him to the twelve disciples.
He only brought him to the nine disciples that are down at the bottom of the mountain.
Because if you read this carefully,
Jesus is walking down with them in verses, I believe it's six through thirteen.
I mean, they're walking down the mountain, four men having a conversation.
When they get there, they meet this man who has a son that's demon possessed.
He's got a devil in him.
And when they get there, he says,
I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
You see, the kind of Christianity that stays down at the bottom of the mountain
when Jesus is up at the top of the mountain,
the kind of Christianity that isn't as close to Jesus,
the kind of Christianity that's not as sold out and separated into the three,
see, that kind of Christianity is a powerless Christianity.
Here's a man that needed help.
Here's a man whose teenage son is devil possessed,
but he couldn't get help from the Christians who weren't spending time with Jesus on a close basis.
You see, where you get the power for the Christian life,
I mean, and I'm not talking about some power where somebody claims to have some experience
where they're slobbering on themselves and speaking in tongues and rolling in the aisles and all that kind of garbage.
I'm talking about the power of God, where the Bible says that ye also may know that the Son of Man
hath power on earth to forgive sins.
I'm talking about the power of getting people saved so that their sins are forgiven.
I'm talking about the power when Jesus said,
But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses unto me,
both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the othermost part of the earth.
He's saying, look, the power of winning souls,
the power of the Gospel, the power to win this young teenager to Christ,
whose demon possessed, the power to get him saved
comes from a person who's walking closely with Jesus Christ.
You see, you can't just throw Jesus aside throughout your week
and just all about money, you know, making money.
Hey, I work a job, I work overtime.
And when I work my job overtime in the fire alarm business,
boy, it's hard not to just be consumed with what I'm doing.
I have a one-track mind.
I can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
And so when I'm at my job, I just want to be all about my job.
But I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to be walking closely with Jesus Christ.
I'm going to have my verses.
I'm going to have my verses with me.
This is the sheet that I had with me for the last three days
as I was studying for my sermon.
I was meditating on the showers, memorizing the chapter.
And as I memorized the chapter, I had this sheet with me.
And I don't just turn a screwdriver.
I don't just make my business calls.
As I'm walking from point A to point B, I'm pulling out my verses.
I'm meditating on the Word of God day and night.
Because God says, look, if you want to have the power of God,
if you want to see people saved,
if you want to get the really hard cases saved,
if you want to get through to that teenager,
you must have the power of God.
And you get the power of God with a close walk with me,
a close relationship, not like where you follow me sometimes
and sometimes you're not there.
I'm talking about where you're just right there with me.
I go up in the mountain alone, you're there with me.
You see the power.
You see the miracles.
You see the glory of God.
That's what I'm talking about.
That kind of a Christianity is the kind that has power.
And not only that, but that kind of a relationship with God
develops your faith.
Look, if you would, at verse number,
what we just saw in verse 17.
Then Jesus answered and said,
O faithless and perverse generation.
The people at the bottom of the mountain didn't have any faith.
It said that they had unbelief.
You think that the three guys that were just at the top of the mountain
are having a faith problem right now?
I mean, after they just saw Jesus Christ in his glorified state?
You think that they're wondering whether Jesus is really able to heal this man?
I don't think so at all.
I think the faith problem comes from a distant walk with Jesus.
And sometimes when people talk about having a close walk with God,
or they talk about having a close relationship with God,
they use that terminology,
I think sometimes they just think of it as this spooky, ethereal thing
like, oh, I'm just kind of walking with God.
Look, let's bring it down to human level.
Let me break it to you.
This is God right here.
Okay, this is God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Look, you want to walk with God?
You want God to talk to you?
This is how God talks to you.
You open this book up,
and everything written in this book,
God is speaking to you.
Okay, you want to talk to God?
You want to talk about,
I want to have a relationship with God.
Look, it's based on you listening to God through His Word,
and then it's based on you speaking to God through prayer.
That's a dialogue that goes on there.
See, God's not going to come to you and speak in an audible voice.
Here's the revelation from God right here.
You just pick this up and read this.
So don't tell me that you're walking close to God
if you're not reading much Bible.
If you read the Bible for five minutes a day,
God talked to you for five minutes a day.
You spent five minutes with God.
If you prayed for five minutes,
you spent five minutes with God.
Okay, because spending time with God
is spending time with His Word.
Spending time with God is spending time with the Holy Spirit,
and the Holy Spirit indwells the pages of this book.
Jesus said,
The words that I say unto you,
they are spirit and they are life.
And so don't try to dissociate God from His Word.
Don't try to dissociate fellowship with God
from Bible reading and prayer.
We need to get back to the basics in Christianity.
I was talking to a pastor that was here on Sunday morning.
He was on vacation and he stopped through here
and he visited with us.
I was talking to him about this very thing.
We were talking about how we get so complicated
in the Christian life.
We've got all the programs and classes
and this book and this workbook
and this activity and this and that.
Hey, let's get back to the basics of Christianity.
How about reading the Bible?
Let's preach on that a while.
How about praying?
And I'm talking about getting on your knees
and opening your mouth, as the Bible says,
and audibly praying to God.
That's what I'm talking about, prayer.
Why don't we get back to the basics
of opening your Bible and winning somebody to Christ?
I mean, I'm talking about opening the Bible
and showing them how to be saved
and praying with them and getting people saved.
That's what I'm talking about.
Look, hang all the other stuff, friend.
And I'm sure a lot of it's good,
but why don't we get back to the basic things?
Jesus said one thing's needful.
He said to Martha, she was doing a lot of serving,
but he said one thing is needful.
Mary's chosen the better part.
She chose the spiritual part.
Martha was doing all the physical serving,
all the running around.
Jesus said the spiritual is what's needful.
I'm talking about reading a spiritual book.
I'm talking about praying in the Holy Ghost,
as the Bible says in the book of Jude,
and I'm talking about winning people to the Lord
and the power of the Holy Ghost.
That's what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about a spiritual Christianity on the basics.
Read the Bible.
Pray.
Go soul-wading.
You see, I want to be closer to God.
Read the Bible more.
You say, I want to be closer to God.
Pray more.
You say, I want to have a better relationship with God.
Go soul-wading more.
See how simple this is?
It's not some spooky feeling that you have
where you just feel all this love.
Hey, hereby we do know that we know him
if we keep his commandments.
That's what the Bible says.
He says, and we know that we have fellowship with him,
because we walk in the light as he is in the light.
You see, when you live right,
when you read the Bible,
when you obey his commandments,
that's when you're walking with God.
And this is love,
that we walk after his commandments.
2 John, verse number 5.
And so that's what it is.
But let's go back to the chapter.
I want to go back.
I wanted to skip forward
because I wanted to show you the correlation
between the men up on the mountaintop
and the nine men who did not go on the mountaintop.
One of them, of course, was unsaved.
But the nine men who did not come,
they just didn't seem to have the power of God in their lives.
They didn't seem to have answers
for the people that were looking to them as their leaders.
They needed them to be the leaders,
and they didn't have the power of God
because they weren't spending time with Jesus.
But look if you would at verse number 4.
It says, I'm sorry, let me get back to my place here.
Verse number 5.
While he had spake,
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Hear ye him.
And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face and were sore afraid.
And Jesus came and touched them and said,
Arise and be not afraid.
Look at this next verse.
And when they had lifted up their eyes,
they saw no man save Jesus only.
You see, another difference between these men,
they didn't see anybody except Jesus.
Look, what's he trying to say?
Get your eyes off of man.
The Bible says,
looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith.
Look, sometimes people have the idea,
or they'll have this tendency
to get so focused on a man.
Now look, I've had many heroes through the years.
I have people that I look up to as heroes now.
But I'll tell you something.
I have more heroes who have let me down
than I have heroes that are living for God right now.
If I went back through my heroes growing up,
preachers, pastors, men of God,
most of them have let me down.
Most of them are preaching out of the NIV right now.
Most of them are out of the ministry right now.
Most of them have fallen into sin by now.
And I'm going to tell you something.
If my Christianity was based on a man,
if my eyes were on a man,
if I saw a man and said,
I'm going to follow you,
you're my role model,
you're my mentor,
and I didn't have that walk with Jesus,
and I just said,
this is who I'm following.
As soon as he falls into sin,
I'm going to say.
Nuts to it.
And I'll tell you something.
Every one of those heroes
that fell into sin or liberal-ed out,
yeah, they took a lot of people with them.
Because they took a lot of people with them
whose eyes were on man.
And they took them all with them.
But see, when your eyes are on Jesus Christ,
when you see no man save Jesus only,
hey, Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.
And so if your eyes are on Jesus Christ,
if your doctrine is based on the Bible,
not on the statement of faith of your church,
you know, because that could change,
God forbid.
But it changes.
Churches change.
And so we must have our eyes on Jesus only.
But go down, if you would,
to verse number 9.
It says,
And as they came down from the mountain,
so they're on the way down,
they're walking down the mountain,
Jesus with his three disciples,
Jesus charged them, saying,
Tell the vision to no man,
until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead.
You'll see this as a common theme
through the book of Matthew.
It talks about how he charged them
that they should not make him known.
In chapter 16, he said,
He charged them that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ.
It's just a simple matter of
Jesus had a certain plan that he was trying to follow.
He wanted to go through a certain time period
of being on this earth
for about three and a half years of ministry.
Thirty-three and a half years of lifetime.
And so he had a certain plan,
and he just didn't want things to happen prematurely.
He didn't want them to take him by force
and make him a king,
as they tried to do at one point.
He didn't want them to come and arrest him
and kill him prematurely
before he had finished the work
that the Father had given him to do.
And so that's all that is.
When you see that, that's all that is.
He's just saying,
Look, don't tell anybody
until after I'm risen from the dead.
And when he's risen from the dead,
he's going to say,
Hey, preach it on the housetops.
Go ye therefore into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
It says in verse number 10,
And his disciples asked him, saying,
Why didn't say to the scribes
that Elias must first come?
See, at this point they're realizing,
they're seeing that,
Boy, this is the Messiah.
I mean, this is Jesus Christ.
This is God in the flesh.
This is Immanuel, God with us.
And they're starting to see that.
And so they're confused
because they've been taught in church
all their life by the scribes
at, not at church, but I'm sorry,
at the synagogue,
which was similar to church like we have,
but they were taught their whole life
that Elijah was going to come first.
Now, where did they get that?
Turn, if you would,
to a book right before this,
Malachi chapter 4.
Keep your finger, of course,
in Matthew 17
and turn back to Malachi 4.
I'm going to show you
why they're saying this.
It says in Malachi 4, verse number 5,
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord,
and he shall turn the heart
of the fathers to the children
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Now, we see here
the last two verses of the Old Testament,
the last two verses penned down by men of God
who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
At the end of the Old Testament,
this man, Malachi,
penned these last two words,
which is a promise,
as we'll see in a few minutes,
of the coming of John the Baptist.
So the last thing we see in the Old Testament
is a prophecy.
John the Baptist is coming.
Then several hundred years go by,
three to four hundred years.
And then, of course,
you have the book of Matthew,
the birth of Christ,
and then in chapter 3 of Matthew,
John the Baptist comes on the scene
fulfilling that prophecy.
Now, look if you would at Matthew 18,
back in Matthew 18,
look at verse number 11.
They say, wait,
I thought Elijah is coming back.
And don't let that confuse you.
Elias and Elijah are the same name.
Elias is the Greek name of Elijah,
meaning the Hebrew name.
Kind of like in Spanish,
my name is Esteban.
It's the same thing.
So sometimes in the New Testament,
you'll see...
What are you laughing about?
Sometimes in the New Testament,
you'll see...
El Pastor, Esteban, and the Sun.
And so sometimes in the New Testament,
you'll see the names can be a little confusing.
Elias is Elijah.
You'll see another name,
Elisias.
Elisias is Elisha.
So Elias is Elijah.
Elisias is Elisha.
You'll see at one time,
Joshua is even called Jesus,
because Jesus is the Greek
of the Hebrew Joshua.
And then also you'll see names like
Noe instead of Noah.
You'll see just on and on down the list.
Rabom instead of Rehoboam and so on.
And so here's Elias.
Why then say to the scribes
that Elias must first come?
And Jesus answered and said to them,
Elias truly shall first come
and restore all things,
but I say unto you
that Elias has come already.
He says, look, Elijah already came.
It says, and they knew him not.
They didn't recognize the fact
that the man who came before me
was Elijah.
He says they knew him not,
but had done unto him
whatsoever they listed,
likewise shall also the Son of Man
suffer of them.
He's saying, look, they're going to do
the same thing to me
that they did to Elijah,
which is John the Baptist.
It says in the next verse,
then the disciples understood
that he spake unto them
of John the Baptist.
Now, was John the Baptist
literally Elijah?
I don't know.
Now, let me show you
some interesting scriptures, though,
that made it, was he Elijah
come back?
Or was he just a man
that was very much like Elijah?
Well, look, if you would,
I'll show you from the Bible.
Turn back to 2 Kings chapter 2.
2 Kings chapter number 2,
verse number 9,
and I'll show you this.
2 Kings chapter 2,
and look at verse number 9.
The Bible reads here,
and it came to pass
when they were gone over
that Elijah said unto Elisha,
ask what I shall do for thee
before I be taken away from thee.
And Elisha said,
I pray thee, let a double portion
of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, thou hast asked me
a hard thing, nevertheless,
it thou see me
when I am taken from thee.
Notice that wording.
It shall be so unto thee,
but if not, it shall not be so.
And it came to pass
as they still went on and talked
that behold, there appeared
a chariot of fire
and horses of fire
and parted them both asunder,
and Elijah went up
by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it,
and he cried,
My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel
and the horseman thereof.
And he saw him no more,
and he took hold
of his own clothes
and rent them in two pieces.
He took up also
the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him
and went back and stood
by the bank of Jordan.
And so we see here
that Elijah didn't really die.
We saw that he was taken
from him in a whirlwind,
taken straight up to heaven,
raptured up to heaven,
if you will.
And so Elijah never died,
and so could it be
that John the Baptist
was Elijah to come back
a second time?
Well, look, if you would,
at Luke chapter 1.
There's two books after Matthew
there, the third book
in the New Testament.
Look at Luke chapter 1.
Luke chapter 1,
and while you're turning there,
I'll read for you
Matthew chapter 14.
We were already here.
I'm sorry, Matthew 11.
We were here about five weeks
ago in our lessons,
but in Matthew 11, 11,
the Bible says,
Verily I say unto you,
among them that are born
of women there has not risen
a greater than John the Baptist.
Now withstanding he
that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he.
And from the days of John
the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of heaven suffer
the violence and the violent
take it by force.
For all the prophets
and the law prophesied
until John.
Now listen to this.
And if he will receive it,
this is Elias,
which was four to come.
He that hath neared,
let him hear.
And so he's saying,
look, this is Elijah.
And so look, if you would,
at Luke chapter 1,
verse number 15,
the Bible says,
For he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord,
talking about John the Baptist,
and shall drink neither wine
nor strong drink,
and he shall be filled
with the Holy Ghost,
even from his mother's womb.
So we see a little bit
of evidence that perhaps
this is a second coming
of Elijah because we see
that the Bible says
that he did not die.
He was taken up by
whirlwind to heaven.
One of only two men
who did not die
in the Old Testament,
one is Enoch,
who was translated
that he should not see death,
the Bible says,
and was not found
for God had translated them.
And then in,
of course,
2 Kings chapter 2,
Elijah did not die,
but was brought straight
up to heaven.
And here he is,
John the Baptist,
in his mother's womb,
already filled with
the Holy Ghost.
So to me,
it seems to indicate
that it's probably Elijah
come back a second time.
Well, I guess we'll
only know for sure
maybe when we get to heaven.
We'll know for sure,
things like that.
But it's just
interesting to see that.
But nonetheless,
Jesus said that this is
the greatest man
who ever lived.
And you may say,
well, good night,
there's other great men
who lived,
but let's take
Jesus' word for it.
This is the greatest man
who ever lived,
John the Baptist.
This is the greatest man
who was ever born of a woman.
Yes, he was
greater than Moses.
Yes, John the Baptist
was greater than King David.
Yes, John the Baptist
was greater than any
Old Testament character
you want to name.
This is the greatest man
who ever lived.
I want to study his life.
I want to read his preaching.
I want to pattern
my preaching
after his preaching.
I want to be like him.
I want to have
the walk with God.
I want to be strong
in spirit,
as the Bible says that
he was in Luke 1,
verse 80,
because I want to be
the greatest man
that ever lived.
There's a good hero
for you, John the Baptist.
But back to
Matthew chapter 17.
Likewise shall also
the Son of Man suffer of them,
he says in verse number 12.
Then the disciples understood
that he spake unto them
of John the Baptist.
Then we see the story
about this teenage young boy
who's demon possessed.
Look at verse number 15.
I want to show you
something about this.
Lord, have mercy on my son,
for he is lunatic.
Lunatic means he's crazy.
He's nuts.
He's insane.
The dad didn't realize
that he was demon possessed.
He just thought,
this kid's crazy.
This kid's a weirdo.
Look at the self-destructive behavior.
For oftentimes he
falleth into the fire
and oft into the water.
In another gospel
of this account,
I think it's in
the book of Luke,
Jesus talks about this.
The man talks about
his son actually throwing
himself into the water,
throwing himself into the fire.
And so this was something
where he's not just
slipping and having an accident.
Okay?
He's trying to drown himself.
He's trying to throw
himself into the fire
and kill himself.
This kid is insane.
Well, look on though.
It says, you know,
I brought him to
thy disciples.
They could not cure him.
But look at verse number 18.
And Jesus rebuked the devil.
You see, he had the devil inside.
He was possessed with
the devil inside his body.
Now, all throughout the Bible,
you'll see men
who are demon possessed.
Yes, people are
demon possessed today
because, you know,
things don't like that,
don't change.
Obviously, the devil
walking about as a rolling
line seat whom he made about.
And you'll notice some
common denominators
about those that are possessed.
Number one, this
self-destructive suicidal
type behavior.
Number two, other
self-destructive behavior
you'll see like the man
in Mark chapter 5
would cut himself with stones.
Remember, he would
cut into his own flesh.
And listen, go down to
the public school.
You'll see many,
many teenagers.
I've known several
teenage girls who inflict
wounds into their arms
and cut themselves.
Why?
Because they're
demon possessed, that's why.
That's what the Bible says.
And I'll tell you why.
They got the music.
They got that Gothic music.
And by the way,
it talks about another man
in Mark chapter 5
who was always dwelling
among the tombs.
Remember the demon-possessed
man who cut himself?
He had his dwelling
among the tombs.
See, he had this
fascination with death.
He loved death.
And the Bible, no wonder,
the Bible says,
all they that hate me
love death.
It says in the
book of Psalms,
all they that hate me
love death.
Why does the rock and roll
have so much death in it?
Why does it have
so much skulls
and darkness and evil?
Because they that love death,
it's because they hate God,
that's why.
All they that hate me
love death, Jesus said.
And they have this
fixation on death.
I'm talking about
the Nine Inch Nails.
I'm talking about the,
I don't even know
the names of the girls,
so the Marilyn Manson
and Rammstein
and all these filthy
as hell groups
that have this demonic,
yes, it's demonic music,
it's dark,
it loves death,
it has a fascination
with death.
And these kids
listen to the music
and they become
demon-possessed
listening to this
wicked, ungodly music.
They become demon-possessed,
as we learned
a few weeks ago,
all music is religious.
All music is religious.
He said,
this is secular music,
there's no such thing.
Is Jimi Hendrix
secular music?
Because he said,
music is my religion.
He said,
when I burn my guitar,
I'm offering up
a burnt sacrifice.
He said,
my religion
is rock and roll.
He said,
my religion
is a religion
of voodoo.
That's what he said.
That's Jimi Hendrix.
All the quotes are there
and his album's
called Voodoo Child.
It's not hard
to figure out
what he's about.
Look,
all music is religious.
All music,
music throughout the Bible
has always to do
with religion,
spirituality.
And so these kids
listen to this
evil rock music
and what happens?
They're demon-possessed.
They cut themselves.
The man that was
demon-possessed
says no man
could bind him.
No, not with chains.
Nobody's gonna
tell me what to do.
Nobody's gonna
make rules
and try to bind me.
I'm gonna be free.
I'm gonna do
what I wanna do.
I'm gonna break
all the rules.
I don't care
what Mom and Dad says.
I don't care
what the preacher says.
I don't care
what God says
because I'm gonna
do what I wanna do
because I hate God
because I'm demon-possessed.
That's why
I'm destroying myself.
I mean,
think about the
destructive behavior
of alcoholism
and the disease
that comes with it.
See,
all of sin
is this
self-destructive
devilish behavior.
And so you'll see
people that are
into this kind of stuff.
They're demon-possessed.
What are we
gonna do?
How are we
gonna reach them?
How are we
gonna get them?
What are we
gonna do to
straighten out
this kid
who's into
this music
and he's
demon-possessed
and he's
destroying himself?
What are we
gonna do?
I mean,
how did Jesus
handle it?
First of all,
he had
the power of God,
which the
nine men
at the bottom
of the mountain
did not have.
But secondly,
what's he do?
And Jesus
rebuked the devil.
So what was
the answer
for this kid?
It was a rebuke.
What's a rebuke?
Somebody telling
him that
he's wrong.
I mean,
that's what
it means.
A rebuke is
when you say,
hey,
we just need to
get him to
a psychiatrist
and maybe
we just need
to like
show him,
I don't know
what people think.
You know what
they need
is preaching.
That's what
they need.
That's what
a rebuke is,
by the way.
The Bible says
preach the
word,
be instant,
in season,
out of season,
reprove,
rebuke,
exhort with
all long
suffering and
doctrine.
Reprove,
rebuke,
exhort.
Exhortation.
And so,
yes,
that's what
preaching is,
a rebuke,
because you
don't hear
from the teacher
down at the
public school,
you're not
going to hear
them say,
hey, listen,
your music's
wrong,
your music's
out of hell,
get right
with God.
Get saved now.
You're going
to go to hell,
Jesus died
on the cross
and every music
you choose to
listen to,
we're still
going to love
you, okay?
I mean,
look,
we're still
going to be
there,
we're still,
don't,
hey,
look,
you could
come to us
and to,
look,
whatever,
look,
no,
that's not
what we need.
They need
to come to
church,
they need
to get a hold
of them and
say,
listen,
son,
you're on
your way
to hell,
you need
to get
saved.
Yes,
the love
is there
when you
talk to them
about salvation,
you talk
about Jesus
Christ,
but before
you're ever
going to
get anybody
saved,
you got
to tell
them about
hell,
you might
want to
stop at
Romans 3.10
and say,
hey,
there's none
righteous,
no,
not one.
You might
want to
stop at
Ecclesiastes 7.20
and say,
hey,
there's not
a just man
upon the earth
that doeth
good and
sineth not.
You might
want to
stop and
say,
and death
and hell
were cast
and that
they're not
worshiping God,
but they're
worshiping the
devil and
they need
to be saved.
And so that's
exactly what
happens,
it says,
and Jesus
rebuked the
devil and
he departed
out of him
and the child
was cured
from that
very hour.
Look,
Jesus couldn't
even see
what the
big deal was.
That's why
he said,
oh,
I'm preaching the
gospel.
You say,
what does that
kid need?
He needs the
gospel.
They need
to be saved.
And you know what?
Christian kids
sometimes get
into this kind
of setting.
I don't believe
that a Christian
can be demon
possessed for
one minute.
But Christian
kids can get
into this kind
of garbage
and this kind
of sin and
they need to
rebuke too,
by the way.
They need
to be loving.
But you know what?
Love and
compassion
is nothing
if you don't
have the rebuke.
See,
you have to
have both there.
You've got to
have the both
sides of the coin.
You've got to
have the positive
and negative
terminal of the
battery in
order to make
something operate
and you must
have the rebuke
and you must
have the love
on both sides
of the coin.
And if you
just all love,
all love,
and let me show
you some love
how you can be
saved.
You know,
you start with
the negative and
you end with
the positive right
there.
Just like my
servants,
don't worry,
the positive side
is coming.
Just hang in there.
I've reserved
the last three
minutes of this
sermon for
all positive.
All right?
Just hang in there
until the end.
Just kidding.
All right.
But look,
it says the child
was cured
of a problem.
We want to see
people saved.
We want to do
what you're doing.
Why couldn't we
do it?
And Jesus said
to them,
because of your
unbelief,
for verily I
say unto you,
if you have
faith as a
grain of mustard
seed, you
shall say
unto this
mountain,
remove hence
to yonder
place and
it shall remove
and nothing
shall be
impossible unto
you.
You see,
you get saved
by faith.
You get saved
when you believe.
And what is faith?
Let's not forget
what faith is.
It's when you
believe God's word.
That's what faith is.
Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by
the word of God.
He that heareth
my word and
believeth on him
that sent me
has everlasting
life and
shall not
come into condemnation,
but has passed
from death unto
life.
How do you
live the
Christian life?
Well, the Bible
says,
When you fail in
the Christian life
is when you
don't have faith.
When you don't
believe the Bible
over circumstances.
When you don't
believe the Bible
over what you
see with your eyes.
That's the lack
of faith.
That's where
you have unbelief.
You say God
is not able.
Can God
furnish a table
in the wilderness?
That's unbelief.
That's a lack
of faith.
That's going
to cause you
to fail.
Why did the
children of Israel,
which came out of Egypt,
why didn't they
enter into the
Promised Land and
cross the Jordan River?
The Bible says
in Hebrews,
chapter 3,
it says,
So we see that
they could not
enter in because
of unbelief.
Let us therefore fear
lest a promise,
see a promise,
I'm talking about
God's word,
lest a promise
being left us
of entering into
his rest and
you should seem
to come short of it.
For unto us
was the gospel
preached as well
as unto them,
but the word
of faith
and them that
heard it.
See what he's
saying is that
preaching will
not help you
unless you believe
what's being preached
because you believe
the Bible.
Your life will
not have the power
of God.
You'll not see
people saved unless
you live a life
of faith.
Look, when I go
out sowing,
I'm expecting
people to get saved.
I expect to have
the power of God.
I'm serious,
because God
said I was
going to have it.
God said I was
going to be bringing
his sheaves with them.
And so when I go
sowing, I expect
to see people saved.
And that will change
your sowing when
you go in faith
and say, man, I believe
God's going to
do something.
I believe that God's
going to win my
lost loved one
to the Lord when
I get in the gospel.
I believe that my
co-workers are
going to get saved.
I have the faith
to believe that
my labor's
not in vain.
And God says if
you go with faith,
you'll have power.
You'll get
people saved because
everything in life
is in vain.
And that's why
reading the Bible
is so important,
because this is
where the faith
comes from.
So we see here
that they couldn't
cast him out
because of unbelief,
but then look at
verse 21.
Jesus adds
another reason.
He says, but
nonetheless,
how be it,
this kind goeth not
out but by
prayer and fasting.
He says,
listen, gentlemen,
there are some
hard cases.
There are some
people that are
very difficult
to get saved.
You know, that Jehovah's
Witness loved one,
this is so filled
with the devil
because of their
demonic religion.
I'm talking about,
and don't tell me
that Jehovah's Witness
is not a demonic religion.
It's a religion
that seeks to
dethrone Jesus Christ
from the position of God.
That sounds like
the devil.
That sounds like
the devil.
If thou be the
Son of God,
commandeth
these stones be
made bread.
If thou be the
Son of God,
cast thyself down
for it is written.
If thou be the
Son of God,
well, please,
hear ye him.
And so there's
nothing more demonic
than the Jehovah's
Witness religion
taking Jesus out
of that position
of being God.
You know,
that Pentecostal
loved one,
and yes,
Pentecostalism
is as demonic
as there is.
Rolling in the aisles,
speaking in tongues,
flopping around
on the ground,
filled with Satan
because of their
stinking Christian
contemporary rock music
that they're
blasting in their
service that
denies eternal
salvation.
I was trying to tell
them that your
sister-in-law that,
you know,
the Assemblies of God
believe you can
lose your salvation.
They don't believe
in the eternal
security of the believer.
Hey, I went on
their website,
I got them a
statement of faith
of the Assemblies of God.
I got the statement
of faith of
the Church of Christ.
I got the statement
of faith of all
these charismatic
denominations,
and they say,
if you don't live
right, you will
come to the place
where you'll
lose your salvation.
They got to stay
saved by works.
And I'm going to
tell you something
that's demonic,
that's out of hell.
He said,
if anybody else
preached another gospel,
let him be accursed.
Okay, and so
it's a cursive
religion.
You say,
look, I have a
loved one
that's into
Pentecostalism.
I have a loved one
that's into Jehovah's
Witness.
How am I going
to get him saved?
It's just so hard
to get through to him.
The devil's
done so much
to just take
hold on him.
I'll be of this kind.
Go with not that,
but by prayer
and fasting.
And let me just
tell you something.
This is some advice
on how to get
the hard cases
saved.
And I remember
I learned this
when I was,
I want to say
I was about
21, 22 years old
at the time.
I think I was
about 21, 22
right around that time.
And I sat down
with a pastor
in Tracy, California
and I was talking
to him.
He was telling me
how he'd won
some Jehovah's
Witnesses and
I saw a few people
who had actually
gotten some of them saved.
And I've seen
a few Jehovah's Witnesses
saved since then.
But I sat down with him
and I said
I want you to tell me
right now.
I sat in his house.
I was just like you are.
I was working in the area
down in Tracy, California.
And I went to his church
on Wednesday night
and I sat down
and I went soul winning
with him on Tuesday night
and I sat down
with him after soul winning
and I said
I want you to tell me
right now
how you win
these people of the Lord
that are these hard cases.
Because I want to know
because I want to learn.
He says here's what I do.
I just pick one person.
I pick one person
and I just set aside
like two weeks.
And I pray for that person
a certain amount
during that two weeks
that's more than
I could do for extended.
I couldn't do this
for a year.
So I just have to limit it
to about two weeks or so.
And I just target
my prayer at that person.
And I'll spend maybe
an hour a day
just praying for one person.
Or maybe even longer.
I'll take some days
and go without food
and fast for that one person.
And I'll just
send all this prayer to God
on behalf of this one person.
And just focus my attention
on this one person.
And I said look
and this is the way I am.
I'm a very analytical person.
And I'm not just going to
walk away and say
okay pray for him for an hour.
I said look
good night.
How do you pray for one person
for an hour?
Are you just chanting
over and over?
Please help so and so
he could say.
Please help so and so
he could say.
I said good night.
What are you praying for an hour?
He said well this is what I did.
The first time I did it
he said I don't really need
the list anymore.
But I made a list of things
that God could do.
Because God can't really
get them saved.
I mean they have to choose
to be saved let's face it.
But he said I made a list
of things that God could do
to help this person get saved
and I just prayed
on that list.
And he had things on there
like just don't let them
sleep at night.
Like whatever verse
that they've ever heard
from the Bible
that I've ever given them
or that anybody's ever
just let it just ring
in their ears.
They won't be able
to get it out of their head.
Just take away anything
that they've saved.
Take it out of their life.
Whatever it is that's making
them just so hardened
to the Gospel remove it.
God send a car crash
to get a hold of them.
Send a disease to get them
in the hospital where
they might realize that
they need it.
Do whatever it takes
to get them saved.
And sometimes he said
I picture it like this.
He said I picture it
like I'm in a courtroom.
And like I'm an attorney
on one side.
And God's the judge.
And I'm making my case
before God who's the judge
and the jury.
And I'm making my case
why God should answer
my prayer.
And I'll even bargain
with God.
He says I'll offer
God things and say
God what about this?
Take this away from me.
I don't need it.
I want you to
answer my prayer God.
And he went through
just all this great advice.
Probably a whole
sermon of itself.
And I said you know what?
I'm going to try that.
I said that's exactly
what I'm going to do.
And so I picked out
the person that
I want to save
more than anybody else.
A relative of mine.
It was a hard case.
And I said I'm going
to try this out.
And boy I started doing it.
And I mean I just prayed.
I made a list.
I prayed and prayed.
Just begged God
for this one person
days without food.
Begging God.
I went over to this house.
1045 at night unannounced.
Knock on the door.
Because you know you got
to put some boldness
with the prayer.
You can't just pray
and God God.
You know you need to
act also
in your mouth boldly
preaching the gospel.
I went to his house.
I dragged him out
of the house.
1045 at night.
I said listen to me.
Because he wasn't
open to the gospel.
I said you're going
to listen to me right now.
I preached in the gospel
for 20 minutes.
He kind of laughed
and snickered.
Whatever.
And I thought to myself
this is going in one ear
and out the other.
I'm not getting anywhere.
But I did it anywhere.
And I just preached to him.
Okay?
And it seemed like
nothing was getting through.
Well a few days later
I talked to somebody
and he had repeated back
a bunch of stuff
that I had said.
And so I was like
why?
You know maybe
something did sink in.
I went back about a week later
and I was still doing
my praying and everything.
Went back a week later
sat him down
talked to him for 45 minutes.
And he argued with
some of the things I said.
I preached in the gospel
from the Bible.
And 45 minutes later
he bowed his head
and got saved.
The next Sunday
he got baptized.
And I'm telling you
I'm telling you something.
Right now he goes
to church Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night.
Right now he goes soul winning
on a weekly basis.
Right now his life's
been completely turned around.
Right now he reads the Bible.
Now look,
this kind cometh not out
but by prayer and fasting.
You see I want
that kind of convert.
I want to be able
to have somebody
that I want to the Lord
that's serving God.
I want to get
that lost loved one
of mine saved.
That friend of mine saved.
How am I going to do it?
I want to have somebody
that I want to the Lord.
I want to bring my soul
to the Lord.
I want to bring my sheaves
with me with rejoicing.
How am I going to do it?
Is by prayer and fasting,
that's how.
But look,
don't just take
that one verse
and say well,
just run with that
and just say it's all
prayer and fasting.
Look,
it really went back
and he said how be it,
this is kind of an afterthought.
How be it this kind goes
not out by prayer and fasting.
Yes these are the hard cases
but look,
before that let's look at
the primary thing
that he talked about.
Look, unbelief.
You got to live
a life of faith
if you want to see
the hard cases.
And then go back
you want to be up there
on the mountain with Jesus
as much as you possibly can.
You get on the mountain
with Jesus
as much as you can
and you get the faith
and you get the prayer
and fasting.
Good night.
You're going to get
some people saved.
You're going to see
something
or else the Bible's
not true.
But let me hurry up
because I'm running out
of time here but
look at verse number 22.
We switch subjects here.
And while they
abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them,
The Son of Man
shall be betrayed
into the hands of men
and they shall kill him
and the third day
he shall be raised again.
And they were
exceeding sorry.
They didn't quite understand
that this was important
that it should happen
for the gospel.
But in verse number 24
it says,
And when they were
come to Capernaum
they that received
tribute money,
this is the IRS,
this is the tax man,
they that received
tribute money
came to Peter
and said,
Did not your master
pay tribute?
He said yes.
And when he was
coming to the house
Jesus prevented him.
Now the word prevents
just so you can
understand the English.
And by the way
let me put this in right here.
These preachers
are just constantly
going back to
the Greek and Hebrew.
You know there's so much
just if you can understand
the English language.
There's so much that's
on the surface in the Bible.
And especially if you could
learn the English language.
You know that word
prevent there.
The word prevent means
came before.
That's what it means.
Like the Bible says
in 1 Thessalonians 4
that they which are
alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent
them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself
shall descend with that
and says,
And the dead in Christ
shall rise first.
See the dead in Christ
are going to rise first.
Those that are alive
and remain
unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent
them which are asleep.
They're not going to go up first
saying that
the dead in Christ
shall rise first.
Then we which are
alive and remain
shall be caught up
together with them
in the clouds
to meet the Lord
in the air.
And so look,
prevent,
it means that
Peter,
he's talking to
the IRS man
at the door.
I'm glad it was him
and not me.
And so the
IRS is coming by
saying,
hey look,
doesn't Jesus pay taxes?
And he's like,
uh, yes.
And he goes to the house
to talk to Jesus
about what's going on.
Jesus,
you didn't pay your bill
or what?
And he goes into the house
and he gets there
and it says
Jesus prevented him.
Meaning,
before he could even
ask Jesus
what was going on,
Jesus already knew
what was going on
because he's omniscient.
He's God.
And so Jesus
already knew
what was going on
and he says,
Simon,
what thinkest thou?
He says,
of whom do the
kings of the earth
take tribute and
custom?
Of their own children
or of strangers?
Peter saith unto him,
of strangers.
Jesus saith unto him,
then are the children free.
Notwithstanding,
lest we should
offend them,
go thou to the sea
and cast and hook
and he tells
and he gives