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“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:19-20

 

Matthew recorded this exchange between Jesus and His disciples after He had cast out the demon from a young boy brought to Him by the boy’s father. It occurred after the disciples had failed to cast out the demon. Upon Christ’s descent from the Mount of Transfiguration, He healed the boy.

 

This account gives a clear picture of the Church of Jesus Christ today. The demon possessed boy illustrates the world. The disciples depict the Church. Their inability to help the sick child portrays the helplessness of the Church to influence the world today. As they failed, so has the Church.

 

Evidence for the Church’s failure emerges from at least four areas: the defection from the Church; the denial of cardinal Biblical doctrines; the difference from the New Testament Church; and the disobedience of the Church from the commands of Jesus Christ. Given this overwhelming evidence, the Church desperately needs spiritual revival.

 

Certainly, the Church faces a crossroads. It can continue in its present downhill path. Or, it can correct from its present path to seek spiritual reformation and revival. A proper understanding and application of the truths taught by this miracle will help Christ followers and the Church to set their sails to catch the winds of the needed and longed for revival.

 

What caused the disciples to fail? They, too, wondered at what was behind it. Thus, they came to Jesus and asked Him. The question that they asked is the same question that the Church must ask today. For like them, failure confronts the Church, too. From this passage, I want to examine some particular, absolute truths about the disciples’ unbelief and how it applies to the Church of Jesus Christ and, perhaps, your life today.

 

The disciples’ assumptions

In Matthew 10, Matthew wrote of the disciples’ assignment to go and cast out demons. At that time, Jesus gave them power to cast out demons and to heal all kinds of diseases. Matthew did not set down the account of their mission. But Mark did. He wrote a short comment about the success of their mission in Mark 6:12-13:

 

“And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”

 

The disciples experienced a successful mission. They had authority over devils and demons. They healed the sick. What rejoicing they shared together as they saw God's mighty power flow through them. When they faced the father and his sick son, no doubt they must have approached it as they had previous situations. After all, they had cast out devils and demons on previous occasions.

 

They went into action and attempted to cast out the demon. But, on this occasion, nothing happened. The boy was not cured. He remained in the same, helpless, hopeless condition. I wonder how many times they tried to cast out the demon before they admitted failure. Indeed, they finally had to admit they could not cure the boy. They had failed.

 

In their attempt to cure the boy, the disciples’ behavior indicates that they made four false assumptions. First, they assumed that they knew the cause and severity of the boy’s condition. Second, they assumed that they knew how to solve the boy’s ills. Third, they assumed that what had always worked previously would work this time. Fourth, they assumed that they could count on the power that had accompanied them in the past.

 

Obviously, they were wrong.

 

Jesus’ answer

Jesus gave them a short answer to their question. They could not cast out the demon from the boy because of their unbelief.

 

Before examining the real reason, I think it worthwhile to become aware of what Jesus did not say. For example, He did not categorize the boy’s problem as an insurmountable problem. It was not beyond cure.

 

Second, He did not criticize them for failing to adapt to cultural conditions and solutions. He did not blame their failure upon their neglect to follow current methodology, programs, or solutions. These exclusions have particular emphasis to the Church today and perhaps even to your life, too. Remember, the sick boy pictures the world, and the disciples depict the Church. The failure of the Church today emulates their failure.

 

Too often, Church leadership identifies these exclusions as the cause of the current failure in the Church. If the Church would fix these areas of Church life, all would be well, they say. It has become increasingly popular for Church leaders to advise and implore the membership to depend upon these “fixes” for the direction of the Church. Sadly, these apparent answers not only do not work. They drive the Church away from the truth.

 

Instead, Jesus clearly identified the disciples’ problem: unbelief.

 

Presence of unbelief

In fact, everyone in these circumstances exhibited unbelief. The Scribes in the multitude revealed willful and persistent unbelief. (See Mark 9.14-29.) From the start of Christ’s ministry, they opposed Him and sought to kill Him. The boy had ignorant unbelief. He was a victim of the devil’s attacks. The father showed unwilling unbelief, crying out to Jesus for help with his unbelief. The disciples displayed unconscious unbelief. They thought they believed God, but they failed to trust Him fully to do what only He could do. They fell short of full and complete reliance upon God alone and nothing else.

 

Jesus denounced the crowd, including His disciples, for their unbelief. He called them a “faithless and perverse generation.” They lacked faith and failed to give rise to faith by their failure to respond to the evidences from the ministry of Christ and of God in their midst. Instead, they became perverse in their response to Christ: twisted, contorted, and distorted in their unbelief. Contrary to popular notion, unbelief is not a sign of superior intelligence. Rather, it shows perversity and disobedience.

 

In like manner, the Church fails today because of unbelief. For example, the Church lacks full and complete faith in God alone, i.e., His sovereignty, transcendence, and wrath against sin. We ignore the truth that God, the sovereign ruler of all things, intervenes, interacts, and interrupts in the activities of mankind. Moreover, the Church doubts the power of God. Instead, it relies upon human effort, ingenuity, and programs to accomplish its purpose.

 

Further, the Church disregards the authority of Scripture. Frequently the Church accepts the inspiration of scripture but denies its inerrancy. This error leads to making the knowledge of the truth an exercise in futility. It turns the Biblical record into a parable or a series of stories. It promotes the equal acceptance of all interpretations and the identification of none as the truth. It allows an approach that says, “This is what it means to me.”

 

Thus, man has elevated himself as the authority above the Holy Spirit in the determination of truth. Apparently, Jesus lied when He said that He would pray the Father to send the Holy Spirit Who would guide believers into the truth. (See John 14.26 and John 16.13.) Without the authoritative declaration of the truth, people disobey God's word, because of an indistinct understanding of Scripture. Instead, they follow their own feelings.

 

To complicate the issue further, pastors and teachers sacrifice doctrinal fidelity for cultural acceptance. Church leaders seek aid from the manners and customs of the world. They attempt to spur growth by emphasizing “meism”, messages and Bible studies centered upon the individual instead of upon Christ. By their actions, they deny the importance of doctrinal truth and the ability of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to believers.

 

In addition, pastors and Church leaders emphasize an easy believism that replaces and denies the Biblical doctrines of salvation. It has reached the point where the Church accepts everyone who claims salvation without evidence of it in his or her life.

 

To this list, we must add the exclusion of Christ-centered preaching, the omission of personal holiness, and the pursuit of the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the operation of the Church. Pragmatism dominates and determines personal as well as the Church’s decisions, as if the ends justify the means.

 

These evidences only scratch the surface of the pervasiveness of unbelief in the Church, its leadership, and our lives. But, it confirms its presence, which lies at the root of all spiritual failure.

 

Causes of unbelief

The Scriptures do not declare the cause of the disciples’ unbelief. Jesus had reprimanded them on several occasions prior to this one for their failure to believe. For example, they had no clues on how to feed the 5,000 or again at the feeding of the 4,000 when Jesus questioned them. On the sea in the midst of the storm, they feared for their lives in unbelief.

 

Although we do not know the exact causes, we can draw some ideas from the basic causes of unbelief in people. Sometimes unbelief stems from the fear of the crowd. To stand alone takes great faith in God. Similarly, the power of the culture can sway a person’s feelings and attitudes from faith. Again, mankind’s nature begins in unbelief against God and His word, and draws them away from confidence in God. Ignorance can contribute to doubt, too. Other times, unbelief grows because of prior successes and reliance upon natural abilities. Pride does go before a great fall.

 

Regardless of the reasons and the nature of unbelief, it is still unbelief. It fails to account for several critical factors:

 

* the necessity of God’s power to effect spiritual life;

* the extent of God’s power;

* the requirement of personal preparation for spiritual warfare;

* the helplessness of human abilities and their enmity against God.

 

The consequences of unbelief

Unbelief brings dire results. Unbelief always causes spiritual failure. It lies at the root of all sin. The Scriptures provide ample evidence of this awful sin. For this study, I will restrict my comments to the setting under analysis. It provides several examples of the consequences of unbelief.

 

First, it blinds the eyes. It hides the truth. It obscures the true condition of others. Further, it conceals the true condition of ourselves. Unbelief denies the necessity of God's power and misunderstands the extent of God's power.

 

Second, unbelief causes dependence upon human effort. It gives place to the world, the flesh, and the devil. It directs reliance upon personalities, programs, and procedures, instead of upon God. It prevents personal preparation prior to ministry and rejects the helplessness of human abilities.

 

Third, unbelief prevents God's supernatural power. Instead, it boasts in human ability, ingenuity, and enterprise. Despite claims to the contrary, unbelief leaves God out of plans and purposes.

 

Fourth, unbelief permeates the circumstances in which it abides.

 

The failure of the disciples exhibits all of these effects and resulted in their failure.

 

* It caused an inaccurate diagnosis of the boy’s problem. Jesus distinguished between devils with His statement, “...this kind...” The disciples missed it entirely.

* It fostered ineffectual solutions to the boy’s problem. Again, Jesus showed the necessity of a particular solution when He said, “...but by...” The disciples had relied upon business as usual.

* It cultivated the anger of the scribes and Pharisees to Jesus.

* It resulted in insufficient power to cast out the demon. Jesus revealed the need for special power to remove the demon when He called for “...prayer and fasting...” The disciples made no such search for God’s power.

 

Thus, they met abject failure. Similarly, the Church of Jesus Christ and perhaps even you meet failure today because of these same consequences. The Church has inaccurately diagnosed the problem of mankind. It has proposed and implemented ineffectual solutions that have proven false. The failure of the Church has prompted many to disregard the Church and its messge. As a result, the Church lacks God's glorious manifest presence and power, which alone can cure the ills of mankind.

 

All of this results from the same root cause: unbelief. Unbelief is not an intellectual virtue nor does it confirm intelligence or sophistication. It does reveal an ignorance of God and displays a perversity of heart and the evil of unbelief.

 

The importance of faith

Faith reveals three essential assurances. It believes that God exists and has spoken in His word. It considers what He has spoken as true. Finally, it knows that God has in the past acted according to what He has said and has the assurance that He will continue to proceed in this way in the future.

 

Faith forms the basis of everything in the Christian life. It furnishes the foundation of all that the Church and Christ followers accomplish. It links mankind with the power of God. In Matthew 17.20, Jesus explained how much a small amount of faith can accomplish. It can move mountains and cast them into the sea.

 

In fact, the Scriptures declare that God requires faith as the basis of pleasing Him. All else is sin. The following two references clearly make these statements.

 

“...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23

 

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

 

Because the disciples did not believe God, they failed. In like manner, the Church fails today in its attempts to cure the ills of mankind because of unbelief.

 

Implications of the truth

What can the Holy Spirit accomplish in your life today with these truths? First, He can clarify for you the truth. These truths reveal the Biblical doctrine to believe about the spiritual failure of the Church, perhaps even in your life.

 

Second, He can comfort you with the truth. As you read them, perhaps you agreed with these truths from God’s word. It reaffirmed the truth in your heart and mind. As a result, you found comfort for your conscience, faith for doubts, and hope for uncertainty.

 

Third, He can convict you of sin. The truth of God’s word rebukes the doubtful. Where has the Holy Spirit identified today your failure to apply these truths in your life? Does your attitude and behavior resemble that of the disciples? Do you, too, practice self-effort and self-righteousness? Do you conform to the manners and methods of society?

 

Do these truths regarding the importance of faith mold and shape your life? Are they evident in your life? Do you doubt God’s word and His power? Do you misunderstand the necessity of faith? What conclusions about your conduct and condition has the Holy Spirit revealed to you today? Has He found you faithful or doubtful? Has He approved or reproved? Has He called you innocent or guilty?

 

As the Holy Spirit brings a revelation of the truth, He also brings recognition of sin. I remind you that God examines the heart and is not fooled by the outward appearance.

 

Fourth, He can correct you from sin. He rebukes you of sin in your life that He may reprove you from sin. The example of the disciples shows sinful practices to shun. God disapproves of sin and judges all sin, large or small. It separates you from Him and breaks your fellowship with Him.

 

I remind you of two references from the Bible that clearly show these consequences.

 

 

“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: {2} But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2

 

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” 1 John 1:6

 

Fifth, He can conform you to the truth. Through repentance, the Spirit wants to adjust your thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and actions to God’s word. He wants you to trust Him to do exactly as He said He would do. He wants you to distrust and deny self so that you might glorify God and exalt your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Finally, He can complete you unto good works. The reaffirmation and revelation of the truth, rebuke of sin, reproof from sin, and repentance from sin has one goal in mind: spiritual reformation and revival. May the Holy Spirit come to you in grace and bring a spiritual transformation in your life today.