BELIEVE – word study – 3/5/10 – Dave & Cynthia
Mat 9:2 And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed;
Prophecy:
And do you not know many paralytics, who are lying on their bed? So what is, a paralytic, but someone who is unable to move.
First the physical and then the spiritual. (1 Co 15:47) First the physical man and then the spiritual man, but I say to you, he who is crippled spiritually is worse off than he who is crippled physically. For he who is crippled spiritually has no opportunity to rise: in – any - way.
And why did someone ‘bring’ someone who is paralytic to the Lord Jesus Christ?
For they had heard of his miracles and this is why they come. They come because they heard, and in hearing they sought out that which they heard was a blessing, and they sought a blessing.
For no one comes to you unless they are going to be blessed by it, why should they trouble themselves? And yet, the paralytic could not bring himself, but had to be brought. Those who are crippled, truly, cannot lift themselves at all. They are prostrate.
Mat 9:2 and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven."
For sin is immobilizing. And one of the main sins, of the church of your youth, was creating sin where there was no sin and the belief of sin is paralyzing. And this is why judgmental groups are so ineffective because they paralyze those who would do more, be more.
Stewart Traill was threatened when Kevin Brown, on his own, began to witness at concerts, he went outside the box. Meanwhile inside the box, everyone was witnessing to homeless people on the street!?
Here Kevin went to where the healthy youth were and he was condemned for it?!
This seems self defeating, and yet it was very well orchestrated, because the leader did not want to be questioned by healthy youth. It was easier to hide among those already conquered and the new fruit, among the homeless, were conquered as well, for those who are homeless are bereft of peace.
Mat 9:18 While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live."
Prophecy:
And this is the power of the open statement of faith. For faith speaks its desire. Its desire was that his daughter, who was dead, would be alive.
How crushing was it when your little dog passed? Everything in you wanted him back. Wanted his little life in your midst again. It was crushing. It was so crushing, that your wife sought to find another like it, by calling the same breeder, though she knew that he was already deformed [from a puppy mill] but in missing him, she wanted his replacement, even if it would have been just as deranged or more so, but I say unto you, this was just a dog, how much more a child?
And so therefore, this is an example of speaking something that isn’t happening, because you desire it to happen and going to the source of who can make it happen. (Heb 11:1) “Lay your hand on her and she will live” for he believed that Jesus had the power, that he could bring life to his daughter, who had passed.
This is the open statement of faith and it is spoken in faith and with a belief and a desire.
Mat 9:19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.
And what happens when you speak with faith? Jesus rose. (Dave: Wow)
The speaking of faith brings forth action.
Prayer brings forth action.
Prayer in faith brings forth more action.
Continual prayer in faith brings forth the ultimate action: Jesus rose and followed him.
Jesus goes to where you need him to go.
He doesn’t stay in the clouds.
If you bring Jesus your hurt, your pain, your fears, your need, your thoughts, he will go to where you need him to go.
So there’s the example of Jesus saying to the tax collector: ‘Follow me’ and there’s the example of the ruler causing Jesus to follow him, to his what? His need.
And his need was for what?
For his daughters life!
For it mattered to his heart.
Lift up your heart!
Touch what you need.
Bring it to the Lord, and the Lord will rise and follow.
Continue to bring it to his feet and he will continue to bring his feet to it!
There’s a saying in the world: 'You vote with your?' (Response: Feet!)
Exactly!
So therefore, if someone says, ‘Follow me’ and you follow, then there’s hope.
But Jesus also follows:
He follows heart!
He follows faith!
He follows asking, beseeching, trusting, expecting, believing, hoping, seeing!
And not only did Jesus rise and follow the ruler, but his disciples followed with him, for where he is, there is his disciple also. (Jn 12:26, Jn 17:24)
Jesus followed the cause that was brought to his feet.
Mat 9:20 AND BEHOLD, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment; (we had only read the first two words, the rest is included for continuity)
And behold, on the way to one miracle another miracle presented itself!
Mat 9:21 ..for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I shall be made well."
Her belief was, that she had to reach for it and touch it. (Mt 9:21)
She had to touch hope, for she was in a desperate place, where hope had not reached.
For she saw no hope.
For she had become poor due to her failing health.
Some need to reach for it.
Some need only hear the word, that it will be done, and they will believe.
But she said to herself, ‘If I only do this, then I can climb mountains’.
It’s not necessary for her to touch his garment for power to go forth, but in her mind, this was her belief and therefore, she acted on it, and reached through the crowd to touch it.
For her it was as though she were touching holiness, and indeed, she was.
Mat 9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.
Prophecy:
And who did the Lord Jesus Christ come for? (Dave: The sick)
The sick.
Those who look down their nose, as though they had reached nirvana, there is no place for them.
Jesus came for those who had need.
For those who think they have it all, have no need, and why is it?
Because they blind their eyes to their true condition.
They think they are above sin.
“Well, if you leave, you’ll be sinning.”
Yet he cannot see his own sin.
And yet, those who seek the Lord and the creator in the midst of their pain and suffering and turmoil and need, receive.
And it is in the receiving that joy comes forth.
This place of rules and regulations has little joy.
For when everyone is wearing the same clothes and the same smile and the same hat and the same heart and the same mind, where is the blessing?
Where is the faith?
Where is the overcoming?
Where’s the comfort?
And yet Jesus, seeing her said, "Take heart daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.
(Today is Sat, 3/6/10)
Mat 9:24 he said, "Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him.
Those who have no faith: laugh, mock or speak down at what they do not understand.
Mat 9:28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."
Mat 9:29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you."
And I say unto you, it is as simple as that: ‘Do you believe?’
According to your faith be it done for you, means: they have to believe in order for the power to go forth. (Mk 5:30, Lk 6:19, Lk 8:46)
‘Let the power go forth’ means: You must believe, that they might believe.
For belief brings forth belief.(2 Co 1:4 - You must have something to extend it.)
They wouldn’t have come to him, had they not heard the signs he already had done before.
They are going to him because they heard of the previous signs. (Dave: Right)
And so I say to you, they heard and believed and then believed for themselves.
First they heard of someone else’s blessing and realized they had a need for a blessing and they went looking for the blessing.
And Jesus said, “Do you believe?” (Mt 9:28)
And he said, “Yes” and he touched their eyes saying, “According to your faith be it done for you.”
And so I say to you, examine, if you have faith that your eyes can be healed.
If you have faith that your body can lose weight.
If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, (Mt 17:20, Lk 17:6) that he who you speak to is actually speaking to you and it is not the vessel before you, but the vessel within ~ Indeed!
Mat 9:30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." Mat 9:31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
And even though he charged them not to say anything, how could they not? (Dave: Yes)
He who is blind can see and he should keep his mouth shut?
But this is because he (Jesus) was being pressed upon. (Dave: Oh!)
And he knew if they opened their yap, more would come. It is inevitable that more will come! (Dave: Wow)
Indeed, he was on his way to raise the girl and the woman with the hemorrhage, and the blind, and the dumb demoniac, and the this, and the ones not written about: (Mt 4:24, Mt 8:16, Mt 12:15, Mk 3:10, Lk 4:40, Lk 6:19, Ac 5:16)
This is why he charged them not to speak.
For he was being pressed upon continually with need upon need upon need.
And were all written there would not be space, only a select few had been written, it is understood that it was more than what was written.
(John 20:30,31, John 21:25, Matt 14:14, Matt 15:30, Matt 19:2, Matt 21:14, etc.)
Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity.
And in this scripture Jesus preached the gospel and also healed infirmities and therefore he was more than a preacher, he was more than one who speaks, he was one who acted.
He was one who brought comfort to those who suffered.
Every disease!
Every infirmity!
Not just picking and choosing what he wanted to deal with, he dealt with all of it, those who pressed upon him.
Mat 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
For when you cause one to sin, it is robbing them of faith, of belief, for sin comes from a lack of faith.
(Rom 14:23 ..for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.)
For whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Jas 4:17)
For if someone believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are innocent and they are living in a state of trust.
As a child trusts and has no reason to fear, but when fear comes in, all sorts of sin follows.
For fear has to do with a lack of faith.
A lack of faith of God’s love.
A lack of faith of your ability to be loved by God.
A lack of faith, is where all the problems rise.
And this is why there is such a severe penalty for turning someone away from faith.
Is not this what caused you the most grief from your former friends? (Pro 17:9) (Dave: Yes)
For they caused others not to believe in what their own eyes saw and their own ears heard.
And they are receiving the penalty for their error, and there are many who are too stupid to see it, that there has been a judgment even upon his flesh, even upon her own life. For her toil has become greater, due to his weakness.
Mat 18:7 "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!
Prophecy:
Wow to the world for temptation to sin, but I say to you, when the church becomes more worldly than the world, this is a catastrophe: For someone goes with the hope of peace and walked away with a burden greater.
Mat 18:12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
And in this verse, my son, the previous fallacy is put to rest. For previously it said, ‘If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off’ (Mat 18:8), but I say, ‘If it goes astray, seek it out.’ (Mt 18:12)
And it seems as a contradiction, but he’s saying:
Cut off the tendency to seek after that which is tempting.
Cut ties with that which is tempting, not with the sheep that’s gone astray!
You don’t cut ties with something that’s weak. You go and look for it.
Mat 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
And this is the key: ‘If he listens to you’
If one gives an audience to hear himself, he does not want to hear you, he does not want to hear any one else.
‘If he listens to you’ and this is where we felt stressed, that he didn’t listen to us.
Mat 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
Mat 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
And this is the chain of command and this is what Chris failed to do:
He didn’t speak to you.
He made accusations about you to others.
He never had you understand what his concerns were.
He didn’t want you to.
He wanted to be estranged and he sought pretext.
And this is also countering the shunning thing, because they shun that which they don’t understand.
(Job 15:9, Pro 28:5, Is 6:9, Is 44:18, Mic 4:12, Mt 13:13, Mk 4:13, Jn 8:43, Eph 5:17, Jud 1:10)
Prophecy:
They don’t try to understand because they have their ears closed and therefore their heart is closed.
Reference: Mat 13:15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.'
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Act 28:26 'Go to this people, and say, You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
Act 28:27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.'
Act 28:28 Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen!"
Prophesy:
They don’t open their ear, or their heart.
They can’t hear.
They can’t see.
They don’t have any understanding.
Yet they think they’re in a position to shun!
You don’t shun someone unless you make triplicate effort:
personally,
with two,
and with more than two.
(This is what Stewart Traill taught, that it was ok to disregard the counsel of the scripture and his disciples followed in his teaching: it's ok to publically insult without any grounds, it's ok to falsly accuse openly without speaking to a brother privately, it's ok to lie about a brother and soil his reputation to anyone without regard to any reprocussions, it's ok to treat others disrespectfully, even ones who extended themselves for your benefit, even ones who financed his interests, even ones who lived by a code of ethics, who sought to bless and lift up, it's ok to disregard the Word of God, Jesus, and conscience, it's ok to be baptised into the ways of Stewart Traill ~ this is what some have accepted and still accept.)
Mat 18:21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"
Mat 18:22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
Prophecy:
And yet, notice what it says, “If my brother comes to me, shall I forgive him?” and the Lord said, “Yes”, but notice:
He came to him.
He sought to reconcile.
He sought to understand.
He sought to have a conversation.
He sought peace. (Dave: Right.)
Where was the seeking on Chris’ part?
It did not exist.
He hurled innuendo.
He hurled lies.
Lies were believed.