In this sermon, the preacher discusses the disciples' loss of power and authority over demons. He highlights that the disciples were initially given power by Jesus but lost it due to their unbelief. The preacher emphasizes that this lack of power is still prevalent today, despite the abundance of religious activities and media. He points out the lack of love, discipline, and discipleship among believers, which grieves the heart of God. The sermon concludes with the preacher urging listeners to reflect on their own lives and strive to be empowered by Jesus Christ.

We read the word of God from Luke chapter 9, beginning at verse 37 and concluding with verse 62. It's a long passage, but I think a very fruitful one for our thinking. Our Lord had been on the Mount of Transfiguration, Luke 9.37, and it came to pass that on the next day when they were come down from the mountain, many people met him. And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him, so that he foameth again, and, bruising him, hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring thy son here. And as he was coming, the demon threw him down and tore him, and Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his Father. And they were all astonished at the mighty power of God. But while they marveled, every one, at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples, Let these sayings sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of men. But they understood not this saying, and it was hidden from them that they perceived it not, and they feared to ask him of that saying. Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. And it came to pass that the time was come that he should be received up, and he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face, and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. And it came to pass that as they went on their way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee wherever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. And Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell who are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. May the Lord help us to be fit followers. There are some words that only Jesus can say. Only Jesus could say, He that has seen me has seen the Father. You and I wouldn't dare say that. Only Jesus could say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And there are some words that you and I say that Jesus cannot say. Our Lord never said, Our Father. He said, My Father and your Father, my God and your God. Our Lord never could say, Forgive me my trespasses, because he was holy and harmless and undefiled. And there are some words that Jesus speaks that we have spoken and we are surprised to hear him say them. Have you ever said, How long shall I be with you and put up with you? Sounds like a drill sergeant with a bunch of raw recruits, doesn't it? Or a kindergarten teacher at the end of the day. But Jesus actually spoke those words. In Luke chapter 9 when he came down from the Mount of Transfiguration he found an argument going on. He found a young lad who was possessed of a demon. He found his disciples who had been left behind powerless to cope with the enemy. And our Lord spoke out of a soul that was constraining. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? These words were not words of sinful impatience. He wasn't revealing the impatience of his own soul. Our Lord knew that he was on a divine timetable and he was going to fulfill that timetable. These words were spoken sincerely but primarily for the disciples. There wasn't anything wrong with Jesus, but there was a great deal wrong with his disciples. And I'd like to take these words in Luke chapter 9 verse 41 and use them as the key to examine this whole passage from verse 37 to the end of the chapter. I want to talk with you about the things that Jesus has to put up with. Often time people say to me, Pastor, you've got to pray for me. I've got to put up with so much in my family. Or I've got to put up with so much in that apartment where I live. Pastor, have the church pray for me because I have to put up with so much on the job. And so we do pray. Isn't it wonderful you can take your burdens to the Lord and say, Lord, you know what I'm putting up with and I wonder what would happen if sometime a voice spoke from heaven and said, have you ever stopped to think of what I'm putting up with? You and I take our burdens to the Lord. I wonder how many times we add burdens on the Lord. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ was greatly concerned because of the deficiencies in the lives of his believers. There were some things that were lacking. And because of these deficiencies, our Lord Jesus Christ was burdened and constrained. And there are three deficiencies that I see here in this section. And I'm afraid I see them in my own life. Perhaps you'll see them in your life. The purpose of this message is not to send anyone home discouraged. The purpose of this message is to help each one of us see what we can be in Jesus Christ. In verses 37-42, the Lord Jesus Christ is burdened because of their lack of power. They bring this young man to the disciples, the nine disciples who had not gone up on the Mount of Transfiguration. And the father said to them, here he is, would you please do something about it? They couldn't do anything. I besought thy disciples to cast him out, and they could not. I don't think I'm using my imagination when I say that this scene is a picture of our church situation today. Our Lord Jesus Christ up on the Mount of Transfiguration in glory. And while he's up there in glory, his followers are down here fighting a battle that they can't win. When you read this passage in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and put the whole picture together, you find a great crowd of spectators. And in the heart of that crowd is the father with his little boy pleading for something to happen. And around the father and the little boy are nine disciples arguing with each other. And I suppose they're arguing about the best method of casting out a demon. And while they're arguing, they're doing nothing. Just like our world today. I meet people in the city of Chicago whose lives are being ruined by Satan. There are people crying out for help. Our churches are made up primarily of spectators. People who are watching. There are some who are trying to do something and sometimes can't do it. And our Lord cries out from the depths of his soul, how long must I endure your lack of power? You say, well, why be critical of the disciples? Because back at the beginning of this chapter, he gave them the power. Verse 1, then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons. And so when this man brought his son to the disciples, he was not coming to persons who were not equipped. But something happened between Luke chapter 9, verse 1, and Luke chapter 9, verse 40. Now what happened? They lost their power. They were unable to exercise authority over Satan. When you put the record together, when you read Matthew 17 and Mark chapter 9 and the passage we read in Luke chapter 9, when you put the passages together, you find out that they lost their power because of their unbelief. That's the first reason. When this thing was all over and the disciples with shame on their faces came to him and they said, Lord, why couldn't we cast him out? He said, because of your unbelief. Our Lord Jesus grants to us the power and the authority over Satan, but this power and authority will not work apart from faith. According to your faith, so be it unto you. You have not because you ask not. The potential is there. The effectiveness is not there. Unbelief. You see, we don't really believe what he says. Now I know how easy it is to sit down with your Bible and become a theologian and pigeonhole everything. This is for the Jews and this is for the Gentiles and this is for the church. This is for the spiritual people. This is for the carnal people. But the Holy Spirit of God says to me in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, ye shall receive power. When Paul wrote that marvelous epistle to the Ephesian church, he ends that first chapter by saying that Jesus has ascended far above all principality and power and above every name that is named. When he gets to the end of that third chapter, that marvelous third chapter where he has been praying that we might know the length and the breadth and the depth and the height of the love of God that cannot be known and that we might be filled unto all the fullness of God, he says this, and he's talking to a church, now unto him, who is able, who is able to do, who is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. He wrote to the Philippians and said, work out your own salvation, your own Christian character and conduct in fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you. But is he? Unbelief. We don't believe those verses and we're confronted with the problems of life and we say they cannot be solved. Husbands and wives who are having difficulties say, well, we just better get a divorce. Nothing can be done. Where's God's power? And someone's living in a difficult home situation and says, I've got to get out of here. Where's God's power? A change in geography will never overcome a flaw in character. So said Mr. Emerson and he was right. But there was another reason why they'd lost their power. Unbelief, lack of prayer. In Mark chapter 9, he says to them, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. They hadn't been praying. I know what they were doing while they were waiting for Jesus to come back. They were fussing. They were saying, how come Peter and James and John got to go and we didn't get to go? We laugh at that, but that's one of the biggest problems in our churches today. Paul wrote and said, in honor, preferring one another. And we don't practice that. Instead of these men saying, isn't that wonderful? Peter, James and John got to go up there. Boy, let's pray that they'll have a great time up there and come back and Peter won't talk so much when he comes back. In honor, preferring one another. We don't do that. We don't do that. They weren't praying. While Jesus was gone, they weren't praying. They should have said, man, we got to get together and pray. He's given us power. We don't know what we're going to have to do while he's gone. There's going to be some emergency come up. Every time he leaves there's an emergency. We better pray. But they weren't praying. That's why we don't have power. You announce a prayer meeting and the faithful saints come out. You announce a banquet and people show up you haven't seen for a long, long time. We don't believe in prayer. Prayer is something we do when there's nothing else to do. There was a third reason why they'd lost their power. This kind goeth not out except by prayer and fasting. Denial. You call a fast and people look at you and say you must be strange. You call a feast and they say isn't it great to have this fellowship. We've substituted the supper room for the upper room. Nothing wrong with eating. Moses saw God, sat down, ate and drank. Jesus prepared a table in the wilderness. Paul fellowshiped with the church until after midnight and broke bread with them and ate. Nothing wrong with eating, but there's nothing wrong with fasting. Denial. I tell you when we're making decisions and when we're fighting battles and when we're dealing with the devil sometimes we haven't got time to eat. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in the battle like a soldier out there on the field. We haven't got time to eat. We aren't even thinking about that. We're not thinking about sleeping. There's more than one kind of fasting. We're not thinking about the comforts of life. We're thinking about the battle that we're fighting and they lost their power because of unbelief and lack of prayer and lack of self-denial. Our Lord today must look upon us and say how long must I bear with you because of your lack of power? There's a second deficiency that is pointed out here in Luke chapter 9. Their lack of love. Verses 43 through 56. And you have here three concentric circles. Lack of love in three different areas. In verses 46 through 48 they didn't love each other. They were arguing over who was the greatest and love never does that. Love always says you are the greatest. And then in the next section they didn't have any love for people outside their own fellowship. We saw a man casting out a demon. You should have learned how to do it from him. And then they didn't even love their enemies. So here you have the target. At the heart they didn't love each other. The next circle they didn't love believers outside their own fellowship. The next circle they didn't love their enemies. Our lack of love. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you carry the right translation. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you use the right cliches. No, no. He said by this shall all men know you are my disciples if you have love. Now you can't manufacture this love. We're born selfish. I got a nasty letter from a man one day who heard me say that over the radio. He said children are not born selfish. I wonder how many children he had. We're born selfish. God has to teach us how to love. And the Holy Spirit pours the love of God in our hearts and Jesus says a new commandment I give that you love one another. And God the Father has said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God. Love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus said let's love our enemies as well. Love for each other. Now you know why saints don't love each other? They're too concerned about being great. We have a lot of verse 46 going on today. Who's the greatest? Who's got the greatest church? Who's preaching the greatest sermons? Who's writing the greatest books? Who has the greatest Sunday school? Who's doing the greatest missionary work? Did you know that God is not impressed with our press releases? Almighty God is not the least bit impressed with our statistics. We are. And here they were arguing who's the greatest and Peter was saying wait a minute I just came down from the mountain. I met Elijah. I met Moses. James says hold it I was there. John said yeah Peter I was there too and you opened your mouth to change feet. Oh we had a mountaintop experience. But now you're down in the valley. What good is the mountaintop if you can't take it down into the valley with you? And so Peter and James and John were saying well we must be the greatest because we're the closest to the Lord. We were up there on the mountain with him. Judas was saying but you've forgotten something. I carry the treasury. And when he sets up the kingdom I'm going to be the chancellor of the exchequer. If you fellas want any pocket money you've got to come to me. We have this going on today. The saints don't love each other. They're fussing over who's the greatest and Jesus had just talked about the cross. He had just said I'm going to be delivered into the hands of man and they were fussing over who's the greatest. If we'd remember the cross we'd quit talking like that. Paul wrote God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. All of the values of the world, all the cheap things of the world mean nothing to me. I've seen Jesus on the cross. And our Lord is burdened because of our lack of love. We don't love each other because we're too proud. We all want to be great. And our Lord says you want to know who the greatest is? The servant is the greatest. The least is the greatest. Here's a child. A child is the greatest. John was pretty convicted about that time and so he had to say something. He said now master we saw somebody casting out demons but he doesn't belong to our group. He's never come to any of our meetings. Doesn't even subscribe to our magazine. And we told him to quit. Isn't it too bad the saints don't love people outside their own fellowship? We sing what a fellowship. We mean our fellowship. We mean the group that belongs to the pin we have on our lapel. Some of the saints of God are going to have to go through a decompression chamber during the rapture before they get to glory because they think they're the only ones going there. I can never forget a few years ago counseling with a Moody Bible Institute student to whom God was doing some marvelous things and she said you know the church I was raised in taught us that we were the only ones right and really we were the only ones spiritual. I came to this school and I was shocked. I met people from different denominations who were really more spiritual than I was. And God taught me that there are other Christians. What a great lesson to learn. I have learned the hard way that God blesses people I disagree with. There are groups I disagree with. There are assemblies I disagree with. But God blesses them. He never comes and gets my approval. I'm not saying we shouldn't have convictions. I have certain convictions about certain things. My convictions are not weapons to fight with. They're tools to build with. And when I meet another Christian I don't try to find out where we disagree. I try to find out where we agree. I try to build bridges not walls. They did not love those outside of their own fellowship. And yet the people outside the fellowship were casting out the demons and they couldn't do that. Did you ever notice we tend to criticize other people for the things we're failing in ourselves? And then they didn't love their enemies. Our Lord was on his way to Jerusalem and they went through Samaria. And of course the Samaritans have no dealings with the Jews. And the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The Jewish males would pray every morning, Oh God I thank Thee I'm a Jew and not a Gentile. I thank Thee I'm a man and not a woman. A free man and not a slave. And may there be no Samaritan ever in the resurrection. A Samaritan couldn't even become a proselyte. A Gentile could become a proselyte but not a Samaritan. And so here they are going to Jerusalem and they have to have some place to stay during the night. And so they stop at this Samaritan village and Jesus says can you take care of me? And they said where are you going? And he said I'm going to Jerusalem. He said you just keep moving. Move on man, move on. And James and John did the spiritual thing. Lord do you want us to call fire from heaven? That's how you take care of your enemies. Singe them. Burn them. Have you ever noticed that in our hearts often when we are rebuked and rebuffed our first desire is vengeance? There is something in the human heart that says I'll fight you back. And here is John. John has been up in the mountaintop. James has been up in the mountaintop. Please don't come and tell me about your mountaintop experiences if you want to burn people up. It didn't do them much good. And Jesus rebuked them. He said you know not what spirit you are of. You know what he is saying here? He is saying man do you remember that boy that was wallowing and foaming and frothing? He was demon possessed. Oh yeah. The same spirit, the same kind of demonic power that was controlling him is controlling you. But you are acting religious. Satan is a great imitator. Whenever you find a saint of God who says burn up the enemy. You can be sure Satan is there because Satan is the destroyer. Jesus didn't come to destroy men's lives. He came to save them. He didn't send you and me out to destroy men's lives. We lack love for those who don't believe the way we believe. Now I want to point out that the Samaritans were wrong. Their theology was wrong. Their religion was wrong. In John chapter 4 Jesus said to the Samaritan woman salvation is of the Jews not the Samaritans. But even though their theology was wrong and their religion was wrong and their attitude was wrong that was no excuse for James and John to be wrong. James and John had good theology and bad attitudes. Why is it that so many people can be very very fundamental and orthodox in their theology and so difficult to get along with in their character and attitude? Some folks have the idea that the only way to prove you are orthodox is to be mean. He said don't you even love your enemies? I find it sometimes very difficult to pray for those who despitefully use me and those who lie about me but I have to do it. On more than one occasion I've had to bow before God and say dear God you know how I feel. Here is this piece of published material that is full of lies and I can't do anything about it but God I want you to help me to love my enemies. I am not an enemy to them but for some reason they are an enemy to me. Now Lord help me to love my enemies. And you know what he does? He does. Our Lord in heaven must be deeply grieved at our lack of power, our lack of love for each other, for believers outside of our fellowship and for our enemies. But there is a third deficiency that burdens his heart. Our lack of discipline and discipleship. Verses 57-62. We are just like these men today. Lord I will follow you wherever you are going. Great you got a sleeping bag? Oh I thought you stayed in Conrad Hilton. No. You there follow me. Oh let me first go bury my father. Now his father wasn't dead or he wouldn't have been there. This is an oriental way of saying as a son I have an obligation to my father when he is gone I will follow you. Jesus said you let the dead bury the dead. Let the sinful dead, let the dead in sin bury those who are dead. You follow me and preach the kingdom. Lord I will follow you but let me go say farewell. Don't look back. We are like these men today. We call him Lord, Lord, Lord and don't do what he says. We hear him tell us what he wants us to do. We won't do it. We argue about it. And the whole trouble is in some bad grammar and some bad theology. Me first. Notice that? Lord permit me first to go and bury my father. I will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell. That's the whole problem today. Me first. That's bad grammar. Terrible theology. Jesus never said me first. If he had said me first he would never have left heaven and come down to earth and laid aside all of his glory to die nailed to a cross. He always said you first, others first. Love always says you first. Earlier in this chapter our Lord talks about what discipleship really is. Verse 23. If any man will come after me let him 1. Deny himself. 2. Take up his cross daily. 3. Follow me. Now take those three conditions and look at these three men at the end of the chapter. If any man would come after me let him deny himself. Lord I will follow you wherever you go. Oh but there is going to be discomfort. You won't have a place to live. You won't have a big budget. You may occasionally miss a meal. Oh can't do that. Sorry Lord. Deny himself. Not deny things. Deny himself. God doesn't want my wallet. God wants me. God doesn't want my talent. He wants me. He wants you. Deny himself. Take up the cross. Lord let me go first and bury my father. Oh you haven't died have you? Follow me. Oh I'll follow you but let me first go. Oh you can't put your hand in the plow and look back. Now I wasn't raised in the farm. You know that. I grew up in the concrete jungles of the city. But I know this much about plowing. You better watch where you're going. Plow a straight furrow. And if you're plowing the way they used to plow and you look back before you know it you'll be in your neighbor's yard. Look back. Look back. No he says you deny yourself and you take up your cross and you follow me. I wonder if this doesn't explain why we have the situation in Luke chapter 10 verse 2. The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Few. They say that we have some 40 million born again people in the United States of America. I'd like to know where they are. That much salt ought to be doing something. That much light ought to be doing something. Elijah was discouraged in his ministry. He was sitting under his juniper tree saying oh God take my life. I'd rather have a death certificate than my ordination certificate. God says to him look don't give up. There are 7,000 who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal and if I'd been Elijah I would have said Lord where were they when I needed them. Here I was up on Mount Carmel all by myself. Where were they? Spectators. The laborers are few because of the price to pay. There's no price to pay to become a Christian. Jesus paid that price. I confess to you it didn't cost me anything to trust Jesus Christ except a humbling experience of repentance that broke me. Oh I lost a few friends and I was laughed at by a few relatives but that's no price to pay. But it cost something to follow Jesus. Not to take up your Bible. Not to take up your hymn book. Take up your cross. A cross means suffering. A cross means shame. A cross means death. Take up your cross daily. Paul said I die daily. Follow me. And so friends in the midst of all of our celebrating 40 million people who are born again. Evangelical books selling beautifully on the newsstands. All of our celebrating great people are born again. In the midst of all of this our Lord looks down and says I wonder what's going on down there. I wonder. There's more sin than ever before. More darkness. More rebellion. When I was in high school if a student showed up with any kind of alcohol he was dismissed from school immediately and boy he really had to do something to get back. You know where the alcohol problem is in our schools today? Not in high school. Nor is it in junior high school. It's in grade school. 40 million people born again. More religious radio than ever before. Religious TV. Religious columns in the secular newspapers and magazines. And we say oh Lord aren't you proud of us. We're doing such a great job. And our Lord is quietly saying how long must I put up with you? Lack of power. Lots of window dressing but no steam coming out of the boiler. Lack of power. Lack of love. The inter-family fighting that's going on among evangelical believers must break the heart of God. Lack of discipline and discipleship. Me first. Me first. I did quite a bit of going to and fro up on the earth these past two or three weeks. I appreciate your willingness to share me with other places and I'm finding the same thing true every place I go. Churches are having a difficult time with evening services and Wednesday services. I was in Texas. I was on the east coast. Pastors telling me the same thing. Because when 6 o'clock rolls around on Sunday night people are saying me first. When Wednesday dawns and there's a prayer meeting, me first. When the missionary committee says we need thus this amount of money just to maintain the status quo, me first. We may be impressed with what we're doing. I'm not so sure God is impressed with it. I was chatting recently with a man who is quite knowledgeable in Christian schools and he says to me the thing that burdens my heart is that many of our students in our Christian schools don't know why they're there. And when they graduate they don't know what they're going to do. Me first. Is there an answer to this? Of course. There always is. The answer is found in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a disciplined mind for all of my deficiencies and I have them. I have his sufficiency and his efficiency. The Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came down upon these men they had power and they had love. John and Peter went to Samaria in Acts chapter 8 not to burn the place up but to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's the way to win your enemies. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Don't be afraid of the enemy. God has given us the spirit of power and of love and of a disciplined mind. If you and I are going to have power and love and discipleship and discipline it has to come from the Holy Spirit. And that's why we have to surrender to the Holy Spirit and say Holy Spirit of God fill me. Fill me. I don't have power. Grant me your power. Oh I am selfish. I need your love. Grant me your love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Oh dear Spirit of God give me the discipline that denies. Give me the ability to say no to sin. Help me to have a disciplined mind and to live like a disciple. I think there are times when I burden the Lord and he looks down upon me and says how long must I put up with you? How long must I bear with you? Your lack of power, your lack of love, your lack of discipline. And then Paul says to me from the heart of the Lord Jesus God has given us the spirit of power and of love and of a disciplined mind. Heavenly Father I pray that the Spirit of God will as it were examine us, search our minds and our hearts, strip from us all of our pretense, all of our man-made measurements and measure us O God by the things of heaven. Measure us O Lord by the measure of the sanctuary not the measure of the world. We don't know what true greatness is apart from Jesus. Forgive us for our lack of power. Forgive us for our lack of love. O God may Christians who know Jesus Christ and love him be able to love one another. May there come Father peace in the ranks that brother not be fighting against brother. And gracious God grant to us that we shall have discipline. We shall carry the cross. We shall pay the price. We shall not look for the comfortable way but the conformable way. Conform to the image of your Son. And grant that anyone here today who has never even begun this life will begin by faith in Christ. And may each of us take new steps now of sincere dedication to follow Christ. I pray in his name. Amen.