Matthew 2024

A man approached Jesus and knelt before him.

Lord, have mercy on my son, he said. He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him. You unbelieving and perverse generation, Jesus replied.

How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked.

Why couldn't we drive it out? He replied because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. When they came together in galilee, he said to them, the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

They will kill him. And on the third day, he will be raised to life, and the disciples were filled with grief. Thanks for, reading that to us, Lauren. And, good evening, everybody. My name is Tom.

I'm 1 of the pastors here if we haven't met, and it's, lovely to be with you this evening. And, anybody tuning in online. Welcome to you. Let me just underline if I can again, the guest who's coming to lunch notice, and, that event is coming up next Sunday, and, can I warmly encourage you once more if you haven't, already signed up for that to do so, it really is a a tremendous opportunity, to meet with others in the church family to share a meal together just for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon? And I think it does give people a sense that they're beginning to get to know people.

In the church, and also if you've been around for a long time, it helps you break out some of those relationship silos that we might unintentionally be forming, but it allows us just to, to mix with others and so really good thing. And, you know, I was I was talking to a lovely couple after the morning service who haven't been with us very long. And, I asked them about guests who's coming to lunch. And, they said, oh, you know, what's, you know, what's that? Tell me about And, they had been in the in service that morning and had heard the notice.

And, so we don't presume that just saying something once, is enough to help people register. And so, I hope you won't mind me saying it again, you know, to take the opportunity. To sign up for guess who if you can. And, we are going to be, spending our time tonight in this, portion of Matthew's gospel that we've just had read. So this is Matthew 17.

If you can keep versus 14, to 23 open in front of you. This amazing question in verse 19, why couldn't we drive it out? Let's pray. Lord Jesus Christ given that you are the sovereign god of heaven who rules over everything and everyone. We know that you have bought each 1 of us here to this place tonight for a reason and that you have something to say to us, something to speak to each 1 of us about.

We thank you that you know each 1 of us here more intimately than we could even know ourselves. You you know everything about our past. You know everything about our present situations. You know all that is ahead of us in our future. You know our destiny and our eternity, and we are here this evening, under the voice of this God, who knows us.

And so we pray that you would please speak to every single 1 of us here and show us Jesus in his name. Oh, man. Now last week, if you were, here at the evening service, we were looking at that first bit of Matthew chapter 17, and Rory was very helpfully taking us up the mountain, with Peter James and John, and he was showing us, and I think the phrase Rory used was the the unmasking of the lord Jesus. That was the place on that mountain where the disciples were able to see something of his heavenly glory just for a moment. It was like the mask was pulled back and he was shining with the dazzling brightness of heaven, and he was seen to be there, the culmination of god's old testament revelation, and the son of the father who was going to go about the father's work and it really was a magnificent scene.

Jesus Christ revealed the mask taken away just for a moment so that people could see who he really was. And in this section, following that 1, it's as if we now see Satan revealed for who he is. Jesus unmasked on the mountain. Satan unmasked in the valley. And what is he about?

He's about the murder of children. That's who he is. Take his mask away. He wants to destroy the vulnerable. That's quite a thing, isn't it?

Have a look with me at verse 15. The father comes desperately to Jesus. Lord have mercy on my son, he said. He has seizures and is suffering greatly He often falls into the fire or into the water. And then in verse 18, we discover the source of this condition.

Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy. And so this boy's condition is nothing less than the work of Satan. Satan himself has in some way taken hold of this vulnerable child and is seeking to bring his life to a close in the most barbaric. Why? And you know, 2000 years on, we could say that his work hasn't changed very much.

You might have heard last year, just in 20 24 TikTok. Was being sued by 7 families in France who were accusing the social media giant of exposing their children to harmful content, leading to to take their own lives. The case alleges that the video platform's algorithm exposed them to content promoting self harm, eating disorders, and suicide said the lawyer who was representing the families. Not so different, is it? Throwing children into the fire is what he still does.

In this story, it was by some kind of physical takeover but if he can get them to self destruct with a thousand lies, then fine. And so you take these 2 sections together, and what have you got? Really? When you put them together? You've got heaven for what it is, and you've got hell for what it is.

You gaze into heaven, and what do you see? You see the majestic glory of Jesus Christ who loves vulnerable children and saves them and wants to rescue them, you gaze into hell in the valley and you see misery and destruction and a force out to get the vulnerable. But then look at verse 18. Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy and he was healed at that. Moment.

In other words, this heavenly force and this hellish force are clearly not too equal and opposite forces. And so if you're from an eastern tradition or you know anything about eastern religion, You might be familiar with the yin yang symbol, which is really that. You've got the dark on 1 side and the light on the other, and they both take up the same area. They're kind of equal and opposite forces, and that's a type of dualism. Where there's no 1 force that is stronger than the other, they're both competing for authority and power, and 1 day one's winning the other way one's winning.

And so that's the kind of thing. That is that is not there is no sense of dualism here. But rather what you find is a Christ meeting Satan in the valley and in a moment destroying him and banishing him, you know, when the authority of heaven meets Satan in the valley, there's only 1 winner every time, and it's the heavenly champion who's come from the mountain to overthrow Satan in the valley. That kind of thing happens over and over in the gospel stories, and it is ultimately what takes place at the cross. And I do wonder whether after a story about Jesus' victory over Satan, Matthew naturally follows with something about the cross.

The Christ is now going to go to the cross. We're reminded of that because that is the place where the victory over the hellish forces is gonna be sealed forever. As Paul puts it in colossians too, Christ on the cross, disarmed the rulers and authorities, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them at the cross. And so time and time again in the gospels, we see Christ beating Satan, and then at the cross, we see him disarming, defeating, robbing him of his power and leaving him toothless in the world. And so when we take these 2 sections together, we must just appreciate how wonderful that really is.

That the lord Jesus Christ is not just a god for the mountain tops of religious experience. He is a god come down into a sick world. Into a sick dark world where demons go after the vulnerable. He's not just the god for the mountain top. He's the god for the valley.

The goal of the incarnation was not simply that we admire him. The goal of the incarnation was god rolling up his sleeves. And coming down into the darkness in order to overthrow horrible things like *********** addiction and lies and pride and all manners of darkness and to rescue children. That's what he's come to do. The goal of the incarnation was that children might be rescued from lies.

You see, I don't think that the children thing in verse 15 is actually just a picture of helpless people in general. I mean, I do think it is a picture of helpless people in general. I think it is actually about children specifically. And the reason I say that is because in context, if you turn back with me, just 1 page, to chapter 15 verse 21. The last time that we encountered demon opposition, it was in exactly the same sort of setting.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of tyre and sidon. Look at the similarities. A canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out lord son of David, have mercy on me, my daughter. Is demon possessed? And she is suffering terribly.

And so praise the lord that Jesus Christ has come into this dark world where Satan is after the vulnerable and he has come to rescue children. He's come to rescue children from lies and from forces that would harm them. And we'll come back to that a little bit later on. But now and we're gonna get into this part of the story now, the question is How is Jesus going to roll out the victory of the cross in the world? So what else what else to think about?

How is Jesus gonna roll out the victory of the cross in the world? By what means is it going to advance through the faith and the prayers of the church. Or at least that's the idea. And yet as we are about to see, there is 1 thing which you could say has the power to derail that mission. And it's not anything out there.

It's actually something in here. And so we see in this whole section, Jesus, unmasked on the mountain, Satan unmasked in the valley, but here's the first thing tonight. We also see the disciples unmasked on mission. Jesus unmasked, satan unmasked, and the disciples unmasked in mission. Let's pick it up verse 14.

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. Lord, clearly knows something about him, has heard of him, Respect him. Have mercy on my son. And what parent couldn't understand the anguish that must be going through him at this time. A child thrown often, the text says.

Into the fire and the water. How how distressing to see 1 so vulnerable and 1 so loved by you. Facing something so awful. He said he has seizures which is not necessarily always a sign of demon oppression, but it is in this case. He has seizures and is suffering greatly.

He often falls into fire or into water. I brought him to your disciples. But they could not heal him. Notice 2 things there. The suggestion is that the disciples had tried to do this.

It's not that they were unwilling. It's not that they saw this case and thought, no, we're not gonna have a go at that, actually. That's not what we've been called to do. That's above our pay grade. You're gonna need to come to someone else.

It's not that they hadn't had a go at it. The suggestion is that they had had a go at it. But they were just unable to do it. And secondly, it was clearly an embarrassing moment for them. Verse 14, when they came to the crowd, And so the sense is that the disciples had tried to get this thing done and failed to do so publicly that they had been seen publicly to lack the power and the resources to help this man in the way that he required.

And so it's hard for this dad, isn't it? It's hard for him to see his child suffering in such a terrible way. And in his desperation, where has this poor father gone for help? He's gone to the church. He's turned to the church for help in his distress, but the church of Jesus Christ have been unable to help him with this issue.

It's not that they didn't want to. I guess that they did want to, and it's not that they weren't willing to. They were but something in the church was broken. Something wasn't right. There was a powerlessness and a fruitlessness in the church.

And so this dad had turned with his issues to the church for help. And the church had been unable to help him. And so the question is why is that? And what had gone wrong do you suppose? What had gone wrong?

What was that thing that was broken? There's a number of options, isn't there? Was it the mission Was this the wrong mission? Had they been engaging in a work that they were not called to do? Doing something they shouldn't have been doing?

Was the mission the problem? Well, no. The mission wasn't the problem. Just turn back with me to Matthew chapter 10. You remember when Jesus sent out the 12, Matthew chapter 10 verse 1, what is the mission that they're to be about?

Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority Next line, to drive out impure spirits. That was the mission. There's nothing wrong with the mission. It wasn't the mission that was the problem. Okay.

So perhaps then, the thing that was broken was the means. In other words, did they not have what they needed? Right mission, but wrong resources or no resources? Like trying to put a piece of furniture together without the right tools. They they were about the right thing, but they didn't have the right tools.

Well, no, that doesn't seem to be either. Chapter 10 verse 1 again, Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive them out. He gave them authority to drive out. And so we see that the mission was not the problem. They were engaged in the right activities, and the means were not lacking.

They had what they required, which was the authority of Christ to be about this work. Okay. Well, then is the thing that was broken them? In other words, were ordinary fishermen ever going to be able to do this? I mean, was it just a silly job to give a group of people like that, better entrust that too, a pharisee familiar with the darkness used to demon oppression and driving out.

It, you know, was it just too much? For a group of men like this. Well, no, that doesn't seem to be the issue either. Because in Mark chapter 6 verse 6, we read this. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Calling the 12, he began to send them out 2 by 2 and gave them authority over impure spirits, and then look what happens in March 6 verse 30. The apostles gathered around Jesus. This is them now coming back. And reported to the hymn all that they had done and taught. Similarly, when the 72 return in Luke chapter 10, what do they say to the lord Jesus?

The 72 returned with joy saying Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And so neither was it the men that were the problem? The mission was right. The means were there. The men were okay.

And so look, what what is the issue? Jesus diagnoses it in verse 20 of our reading because you have so little faith. And in Mark's Gospel, he adds, and this is the King James version, this kind can come forth by nothing, but prayer. And fasting. And so what was missing?

What was missing? What was broken in the church? Faith and the language of faith, which is prayer. 2 sides of the same coin. Trust and the language of trust, which is a praying church.

And so the next question is If these disciples weren't trusting Jesus and praying, what were they trusting in? And I guess it could have been a number of things, couldn't it? Maybe they were trusting in their mission. It's a subtly different thing from trusting in the savior, trusting in their mission. He's called us to do this.

He sent us out to do it. We can do it. We trust in our mission. We've been given the mission. Or maybe, and this is a very subtle, and I think relevant danger, maybe they were trusting in their track record.

We've done it in the past. We can do it again. Last week, sermon was a success. This week's sermon will be 2. In years gone by, we enjoyed much growth and blessing.

No reason to think it won't continue. That's a subtle thing, isn't it? To trust in the memory of success and in past blessing and to assume it'll just continue on. Whether we lean on him or not, But as they were to experience, the power to do the work of Christ in the valley. If you wanna overthrow hell, The power is not to be found in their mission or in their past success or in how confident they felt or in the gifts that they've been given.

The power was to come from somewhere else entirely. And we're gonna finish with that in our last point. But first, I want us to just peel back the onion again and to see if we can get into the root of what was really going on in these disciples when they were faced with the challenge. We've thought about some of the things that are going on, and we've heard Jesus's diagnosis But let what let's see if we can go just a little bit further down into the hearts of these disciples. And so, firstly, we had the disciples unmasked.

And secondly, this is now the root issue. I think. Secondly, the root issue. And let's have a look at verses 18 to 20 again. Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of the boy and he was healed at that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked why couldn't we drive it out? He replied because you have so little faith. Truly, I tell you if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Were they trusting in the mission that they'd been given?

Were they trusting in their past success? Were they trusting in their confident feelings? We don't know the specifics of that, but whatever it was, it was a form of self reliance. And that is a very subtle kind of problem. It's a bit like carbon monoxide.

In that when it leaks into a place, You can't really see it, and you can't really smell it. But the damage that it will do in the end is huge. And part of the problem is that self reliance is very good at hiding under the cloak of zeal and activity. It slips in very subtly. Under the cloak of Christian activity.

You know? Self reliance loves a busy place. Loves a place where things are happening, and it's good. And there's stuff happening over there, and there's stuff happening over there, and it's all it loves a busy place. But eventually, what you end up with is a form of Christianity which is always doing something and yet less and less significant things are actually happening.

That seems to be what's going on. The disciples are busy with the work. But nothing is actually happening. Not nothing nothing of significance is actually happening. It's just busyness with the work.

Because they're relying perhaps on past blessings and assuming that they'll continue. And frankly, what you end up with in this passage is a form of Christianity which is very easily dealt with by Satan. To him, self reliant Christianity is just like any other world view, which doesn't rely on Christ. There's no real difference because the power is being drawn from the same place in the end. It might use Jesus' name, but it's not dependent on him, and that's the sort of thing which Satan smiles at in the valley.

And I think that's why Jesus talks to the whole generation in verse 17. It's quite interesting that he actually rebukes the whole generation, isn't he? Because I think the point is what he sees in them is what he sees everywhere. It's just another form of self reliance in a generation of self reliant people. And so it's interesting, isn't it?

To ask the question, what actually is the worst work of Satan here? The most visible work is the throwing into the fire and the throwing into the water. That's a very obviously destructive type of work. But if we had to put our finger on the work which is most damaging, most deceptive. We could say rather be thrown into the fire than to be a self reliant Christian.

And I have to say if I can just personally This is a this is a struggle for me. To believe and not just to say it from this position, but to believe when none of you are watching. That no sermon and no meeting and no effort is gonna prosper unless it is animated by trust and by prayer. Behind the mask, that is the big problem. And yet this self reliant thing is a slippery snake because of course self reliance can actually take many different forms.

A faithless zeal is 1 form of self reliance, but so is doing no ministry at all. That's a form of self reliance. It's interesting, isn't it? When Jesus arrives at this scene. He doesn't say, That's what were you doing that for?

What were you doing that for? You should have been sat by yourselves, you know, doing nothing and just talking about the law, you know, or something. You know, you boy, why were you out trying to help people? Why were you out trying to cast out demons? You know, he doesn't evangelism is not the problem.

In a ministry, helping oppressed people is not the problem. He doesn't tell them off for the activity they're engaged with, No. No. The answer is the right mission and healthy busyness with a vital dependence upon Christ. Anything else is just another form of self reliance.

Let's do it in our own strength without trusting. Let's do nothing at all because if we do nothing, then we've got nothing to rely on. So we'll be free of that danger because we're not doing any ministry, so we don't need to self rely on it. We're because we'll do nothing. You see, you know, it's so much more slippery than that.

The work was right. They should do the work. Get on with the work. Go and drive out in pure spirits and proclaim the kingdom and heal the sick. Go and get your hands dirty and be busy in the valley, but don't cut off your means.

Trust, trust, and dependence. And so lastly, let's look at the answer to the problem. Spend a bit of time on what we are to be about. It's in verse 19. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, why couldn't we drive it out?

And I don't think they're being stroppy there. You know, I don't think they're saying, why couldn't why can we drive it out? You know, why, you know, what's that about? You know, you sent us to do this? You're gonna do it or not?

You know, why why wouldn't we drive it out? You want us to do this or what? What? You wanna go? You know, they definitely won't do it now, I think.

But, you know, there there doesn't seem to be a sort of a a stroppiness there. I think I think there is a I think there is a humility in this question. Why couldn't we drive it out? And you know, it it's not a bad question to ask that, is it? Why couldn't we drive it out?

It might be that there's an area of your life. Maybe your witness at work or maybe a marriage problem that you're going through or maybe a battle with a particular sin, which at the moment seems powerless. I wonder if you've got anything like that at the moment, an area of your life, which at the moment seems powerless. You're not able to make any headway, not able to enjoy any victory, and it just seems all a little bit fruitless in 1 particular area. Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing to get alone with God, and to ask the question, lord, why can't I drive it out?

Why can't I drive it out? And to spend some time, just Meditating on that question. Why can't I drive it out? And then to really ask yourself where the verse 20 is is the problem. He replied because you have so little faith.

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move. And I think that answer is both humbling and helpful. It's humbling because for the disciples you think, oh, That's all it would have required, you know. And now I don't think that's to say that they had no faith at all in Jesus, but I think it is to say that their faith was wrongly directed at this point. And so how how humbling If you had true faith, the size of a mustard seed, you could have said to a mountain move, and it would have moved.

So there's something humbling there, but I think there's something very helpful and encouraging for us. Because actually What we have here in verse 20 is a is an illustration which shows us that it is not the size of the faith that matters. It's not that we need vast quantities of this thing called faith. You know, we need loads of it and, you know, I don't know how we're gonna get loads of it, but we're gonna get loads of this thing called faith that we can have. Jesus seems to think it's not so much about the size, but about whether it's true or not.

Is it true faith? Is it true faith? In the true lord Jesus Christ. Is it a true faith? Which looks at Jesus' words apart from me, you can do nothing.

And believes at the level of conviction that we cannot do kingdom work. By trusting in the mission or the memory of good things done, or our confidence on the day, but in Christ alone. Not the size. Small is okay, but it better be true. It better be true.

True faith in the true Christ. I was reflecting on another way to apply this earlier this afternoon, and, I was reminded of that series that we did, in the 7 churches in Revelation, not so long ago. And, 1 of the issues with the church in Laodicea, if you remember that or are familiar with it, is that you've got a church who were very outwardly busy with the work of god. You know, it was a busy church, and they were doing lots of stuff, and they were in there. Taking the lord's supper, and they were doing bit of teaching, and things were going good.

And then you've got this haunting moment towards the end where Jesus says, behold I knock. Anyone who opens the door, I will come in and eat. With that person. And so the whole image given there is a church busy with kingdom work, which has shut the door on Christ. It's no longer involving Christ, trusting Christ, relying on Christ, and yet it's doing the work of Christ.

And so Jesus is knocking on the door like you're gonna let me be part of this. You're gonna let me in. You're gonna eat with me. You're gonna depend on me. Are we gonna do this properly?

And something similar is going on here. Decipals about the work and not trusting in the savior. And so how we need these words in verse 20, if you have faith just as small a true faith, just as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you. And so can we agree together to to have a look at this? And to have a think about this.

And I don't want to, reduce this application just down to the level of 1 meeting. But if if we do believe that the prayer meeting is the place where disciples speak the language of faith? If that's what we think it is, and I hope that is what you think it is. Where disciples engaged in hellish work come together and talk the language of faith together. If that's what we believe the prayer meeting is, then surely whenever possible as Christian people, we need to be there.

In the end, it comes down to it just comes down to what we think life is, really. I mean, if we if we think it, you know, if we think we're not in this valley and that Satan is not trying to ruin our children and destroy the vulnerable and oppose the church. If we don't believe in that, then fine. Don't come. But if we're willing to take Jesus' word here seriously about the nature of the world in which we minister, then surely we must take his advice on the means by which it gets done, which is disciples coming together and speaking the language of faith, prayer.

Prayer for our children. Brothers and sisters, can't we agree to make an effort to do that? If Satan is in the world looking to throw children into the fire, can't we agree to get together once a month and to pray the lord's overthrowing of that darkness. Can't can't we agree to get together and say, lord, we wanna help people who turn to us. You know, if these recent statistics are to be believed, then people in the world are turning to the church with issues of lostness and meaninglessness.

And what a tragedy it would be if we were unable to help because we had not prepare ourselves and prayed. And trust can't we agree that it would be good to pray that we'd be ready to help a world when it turns to the church? For help. This is part of our mission, but if we will not trust, then how can we expect anything but the frustration of verse 19? Why couldn't we drive it out?

Brothers and sisters, Christ Jesus has conquered Satan, and the victory is already won, and he is with us now by his spirit in the valley, but we need to rely on him. Him for our children, him for our witness in the world, him for a maturing church, him for the next generation of leaders, him for our young people, him for conversions and baptisms, him for Sunday school teachers to teach them, we need to rely on him if we are going to be about his work. And so we wanna say together lord Jesus I'd be happy with a mustard seed as long as it's true. As long as it's true, just give us a mustard seed, and we can be about this work. Should we pray for that together?

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that on that mountain, your father declared you to be the loved son, that you are a majestic heavenly king. And when we raise our eyes up to the mountain, We see all the glory and the beauty and the power that we will ever need. And yet, lord, we recognize that we don't live on the mountain. We we live in the valley now, and there are hellish things happening all around us. And we do thank you so much for the privilege of being involved in this mission.

How how amazing that we could have the spirit of the risen Christ within us and a powerful gospel that can move mountains to proclaim it. And what a what a blessing that you would call us to this? And yet we are humbled by this question. Why couldn't we drive it out? Why couldn't we?

And we recognize them. We will all know to some extent areas of our lives that are fruitless, and which we don't seem to be enjoying power and victory. And we need to look at ourselves. So, you know, is it is it because that mustard seed of true trust in Christ is missing. And so often it is, and so we pray heavenly father, please, that you'd forgive us for trying to do your work in our own strength.

And we pray that you would give us a simple true trust in Jesus. You would keep us a praying people. Help us please, not to neglect the means of grace, the prayer meeting, to come and speak the language of faith together in this dark world. And so please, lord, for all of us here, help us to take away these things we ask in Jesus' name.