The Great Physician: Difference between revisions

 
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<blockquote>''<big>“</big> <small><sup>20</sup></small> And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. <small><sup>21</sup></small> And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. <small><sup>22</sup></small> And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. <small><sup>23</sup></small> Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. - [[Mark 9:20]], [[Mark 9:21|21]], [[Mark 9:222|22]], [[Mark 9:23|23]] <ref>King James Version (KJV)</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>''<big>“</big> <small><sup>20</sup></small> And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. <small><sup>21</sup></small> And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. <small><sup>22</sup></small> And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. <small><sup>23</sup></small> Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. - [[Mark 9:20]], [[Mark 9:21|21]], [[Mark 9:222|22]], [[Mark 9:23|23]] <ref>King James Version (KJV)</ref></blockquote>
Now look at how this father responded:
<blockquote>''<big>“</big> <small><sup>23</sup></small> And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. - [[Mark 9:24]] <ref>King James Version (KJV)</ref></blockquote>
The Lord didn’t correct him, rebuke him, or say anything like that; He just cured the boy. This shows that you can have faith and unbelief at the same time. Imagine a team of horses hooked up to a wagon. Under normal circumstances, they would have enough power to move that wagon. But if an equal team of horses was hooked to the other side of the wagon and both teams were pulling at the same time in the opposite direction, the net effect would be zero.
This is what Jesus was saying in the first part of [[Matthew 17:20]]. He didn’t tell His disciples, “It’s because you don’t have enough faith”; He said, “It’s because of your unbelief. Your unbelief canceled out the faith you had.” Translating this “Because you have so little faith” makes no sense when you look at the rest of [[Matthew 17:20]]:
<blockquote>''<big>“</big> <small><sup>8</sup></small> 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 17:20]] <ref>King James Version (KJV)</ref></blockquote>
Jesus was saying, “If your faith is only the size of a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible to you.” You don’t need big faith; you just need a faith that isn’t canceled out, counterbalanced, or negated by unbelief pulling in the opposite direction.


===Part Five: The Law of Faith===
===Part Five: The Law of Faith===
== Footnotes ==
== Footnotes ==
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