Destroying Sacred Cows Parts 1 & 2

1. Doubt – Mark 11:23 – Doubt is not the thought to doubt, but the thought to doubt is only the temptation to doubt, not the action of doubting. For instance, if I see a person limping and I think, “I should go pray for that person.” But the thought pops into my mind, “Prayer doesn’t really work.” That thought is the temptation to doubt. If I still go and pray for the person, I did not doubt, but if the thought stops me from praying, then I doubted.

2. One Person’s faith (Responsibility of the person praying) – James 5:14 – The only person responsible for healing is the one praying, not the one being prayed for. Jesus told His disciples that they could not cast out the demon because of their lack of faith, and He told the Pharisees that they nullify the commands of God by traditions of man.

3. Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing – In order to believe and have faith, one must first hear the good news.

4. Great faith/little faith – Matt. 8:10 & 15:28 – The only 2 people Jesus told they had great faith were non-Jewish people who no covenant with God nor promise of healing from God. Yet they received from Jesus what they asked for.

5. Leading of the Spirit – Romans 8:14 – The Greek word for led is “agontai” which means “to more, impel, of forces and influences affecting the mind.” What affects the mind? Thoughts. You meditate on the Word and do what your Father does by knowing His character which is written in the New Testament (Jesus was the express image of the Father).

6. Rhema vs. logos – logos becomes rhema when you do it (man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds… You LIVE by the rhema).

7. Freely you’ve received, freely give – not talking about money – For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. The things Jesus says to give are healing, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and casting out of demons.

8. Anointing that abides –– We are first anointed (set apart) for God, then the Spirit comes upon us. One comes before the other, that is why it is “the Spirit is upon me because I am anointed.” The Holy Spirit is a person, He does not come and go, He is either all here or not at all here. Also, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, He lives in us.

9. Truth About the Holy Spirit Baptism – The Holy Spirit abides in us, He does not come and go. We are filled once and never need to be filled again. The Holy Spirit is described as rivers of living water that flow from us. He is a person, He either lives completely in us or not at all. He is the One who teaches and that is why the Bible says we need no man to teach us. He does not automatically fill us as soon as we believe (Acts 19:2) but all we have to do is ask and believe in order to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit.

10. Paraclete – the helper – sent alongside to help – Again, he never leaves us or forsakes us, and He is OUR helper, we are not His. We go and He follows, that is why it says that signs will follow all who believe. He provides the signs AFTER we go. And the Greek word paraclete also means “someone giving evidence that stands up in court.”

11. Jesus only healed those who came to him. Aggressive healing. – Jesus healed many who did not ask Him, some examples are the paraplegic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:6), the man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-4), the widow’s dead son (Luke 7:1-15), just to name a few.

12. He could do no mighty works - Matt 13:54-58 – In His hometown, the people in the synagogue were first amazed at His teaching then they realized who He was and they were offended. Naturally, they would turn their backs on Him and avoid Him like the plague. But some sick people came to Him and He healed them. It’s not that He lost His power or anything like that.

13. Can sin stop a person from being healed? – No. Jesus only gave two reasons for not being able to heal or cast out a demon:  Traditions of man and unbelief. James 5 says to bring the sick person to the elders and the prayer made in faith will heal the sick, and if he has sinned he will be forgiven.

14. Paul’s thorn in the flesh - 2 Co. 12:7 - Paul’s thorn, in his own words, was a messenger of Satan. He knew the Old Covenant inside and out, and he knew the stories. When he used the phrase, “A thorn in my side,” He obviously knew that it was used in the Old Testament to refer to God’s enemies.

15. Job - Job, as far as we are aware, did not have a covenant with God. The book of Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. In fact, Job misspoke when he talked about God because he said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” He did not know that God was not the One Who was taking away, it was the devil.

16. Timothy’s stomach - Paul told Timothy to drink some wine with his water. Since wine is alcoholic, it has the ability to kill bacteria.

 

17. 2 Timothy 4:20 - Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. KJV Later in the story, Trophimus joins up with Paul, so we know he recovers. But if you look at the Greek word for “sick” in this verse, it is the word “asthenounta” which actually means “physically weak, feeble, or exhausted.”

18. Inherited authority vs. delegated authority - Delegated authority is authority that has been borrowed from someone. Inherited authority is authority that is given by inheritance.

19. Rebuke – Mark 4:39 - The word rebuke simply means “to scold.” So if you say, “Devil, I rebuke you.” You did absolutely nothing. The actual rebuke is telling him what to do. For example, the correct way to rebuke the devil would be to say, “Devil, I rebuke you, GO!” The “go” part is the actual rebuke.