Latest / Reformed Thinking / From the Mountain of Glory to the Valley of Misery: Christ’s Authority over Human Helplessness (Matthew 17:14–18)

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From the Mountain of Glory to the Valley of Misery: Christ’s Authority over Human Helplessness (Matthew 17:14–18) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today's Deep Dive examines 2
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very specific theological texts, analyzing Matthew chapter 17,
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verses 14 through 18. Our mission today is to unpack
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Christ's absolute authority over human ruin.
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We're going to look closely at the staggering contrast Matthew
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creates between the majestic heights of the Transfiguration
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on the mountain and the sheer agony found in the valley below.
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OK, let's unpack this. We live in an era where human
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pragmatism, religious self-reliance, and modern
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sociological methods are treated as the absolute solutions to our
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problems. Society tells you that if you
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just read the right self help book, or if a church just
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implements the right marketing strategy, you can fix the human
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condition. Yet when confronted with the
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true spherical darkness of this world, those methods are
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completely helpless. They are bankrupt.
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We're going to see that humanity is ugly, ruined by the fall, and
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therefore we need a sovereign mediator.
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We need Jesus Christ, who alone possesses the might to subdue
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the Kingdom of darkness. You see, the text we are
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examining today is not a simple historical footnote.
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It is a historical manifestation of the Kingdom of heaven
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forcefully plundering the strong man's house.
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For this discussion, we are pulling from a stack of sources,
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primarily focusing on a rigorous exegetical commentary on the
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Greek text of Matthew, alongside A systematic theological text
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that applies these verses directly to our confessional
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standards. By synthesizing these two
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sources, we can really grasp the gravity of what is happening in
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this valley. Yeah.
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And if we connect this to the bigger picture, we have to start
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by looking at the immediate context of this passage.
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The exegetical commentary we are using spends a massive amount of
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time detailing the geography in the timeline here.
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Jesus, Peter, James and John have just experienced the
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Transfiguration. They were on the Mountain of
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Glory, likely Mount Hermon, high above the ordinary life of the
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region. Up there, Christ's divine nature
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was unveiled before their very eyes.
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The text in the earlier verses describes his face shining like
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the sun, his garments becoming white as light.
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The Father spoke directly from heaven, declaring that this is
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his beloved Son. That is a scene of absolute
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majesty, radiance, and unapproachable holiness.
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Moses and Elijah were there, representing the law and the
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prophets, all pointing directly to the fulfillment found in
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Christ. Peter was so overwhelmed by the
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glory that he wanted to build tents and just stay there
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permanently. But Matthew deliberately moves
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the narrator from that celestial height directly into the muck of
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human reality. Christ does not stay detached in
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heavenly isolation. He forces his disciples to walk
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back down the mountain. The descent from the mountain to
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the valley mirrors the incarnation itself.
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The king of glory enters a world characterized by confusion,
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suffering, and total helplessness.
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He steps directly into the misery to meet the broken.
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This completely shatters any notion of a distant,
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unapproachable God who watches humans suffering from afar.
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The Savior Stoops into the brokenness of this world to
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deliver. Those who know human agency can
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assist. The contrast is absolutely
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jarring, and it is entirely intentional on Matthew's part.
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You go from the blinding light of divine approval to the
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chaotic noise of a desperate crowd.
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The systematic text we are reviewing points out that
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Matthew is painting a theological picture for you.
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He wants you to see the true condition of the world without
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Christ. When Jesus reaches the valley,
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the situation is completely out of control.
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Scribes are arguing with the remaining disciples.
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A crowd is swarming, and right in the middle of it all, a man
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approaches him. The text tells us this.
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Father falls to his knees. The Greek word used here is
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koscriptun. The exegetical commentary
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highlights that this physical posture is the rightful position
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of the creature before the Creator.
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In the ancient world, falling to 1's knees like this was an act
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of complete subjugation. The Father does not approach
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Jesus as an equal. He does not come casually and he
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certainly does not come with a sense of entitlement.
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He falls down because suffering has stripped him of all his
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self-sufficiency. He knows he has reached the end
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of his own resources. This posture of complete
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helplessness is the only appropriate way a Sinner can
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approach the Holy God. He begs for mercy, says Lord,
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have mercy on my son. We need to think about the
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nature of mercy for a minute. Mercy is sought only by those
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who know they cannot claim help based on merit.
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This man has nothing to offer. He is completely stripped of any
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illusion that he can manage this crisis by his own strength.
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He does not ask for justice because justice would mean
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condemnation. He asks for sheer, unmerited
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mercy. Right, I completely agree.
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And what's fascinating here is the sheer reality of the
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affliction the boy's experiencing.
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The father describes his son as moonstruck, which translates the
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Greek term salaniazati. Now, liberal critical
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scholarship constantly attempts to reduce this text to a simple
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physical diagnosis. They want to demythologize the
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Bible. They claim the boy simply had
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epilepsy, attempting to strip the passage of its supernatural
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reality. They argue that 1st century
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people were just ignorant and attributed medical conditions to
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demons. But the exegetical source we are
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working from vehemently dismantles that argument.
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The biblical authors were fully capable of distinguishing
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between natural diseases and demonic possession.
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In fact, earlier in Matthew, the text lists diseases and demon
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possession AS2 separate categories of affliction.
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The Holy Spirit inspiring Matthew reveals that a
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malevolent spiritual entity is actively tormenting this child.
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The symptoms are terrifying. The boys frequently cast into
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the fire and into the water. Think about those two elements.
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Fire and water are ordinarily elements that sustain life.
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We need water to drink. We need fire for warmth and
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cooking. Here Satan weaponizes the very
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elements of creation to destroy the imago day, the image of God
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in man. The Kingdom of darkness does not
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bless or nurture. It seeks absolute ruin.
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The devil wants to incinerate or crown the creature made in God's
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likeness. This is a visceral portrait of
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hostility. The enemy is not a metaphor for
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bad luck. The enemy is a literal personal
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being bent on the absolute destruction of humanity.
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Watching this father completely unable to stop his son from
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throwing himself into the fire, it is a terrifying, vivid
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picture of what we call total depravity.
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And it's not just a theological term discussed in seminaries.
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It is this specific kind of helplessness played out in real
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life. You look to this boy violently
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thrown into the fire in the water, and you see a vivid
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illustration of humanity under the curse of the fall.
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The boy cannot free himself. He cannot exercise his will to
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make the demon leave. The father loves his son
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intensely, but his parental love cannot rescue the boy.
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No one in that crowd can fix the situation.
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The systematic text connects this directly to the reformed
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doctrine of total depravity. The text demonstrates that
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humanity is ruined and incapable of self repair.
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We are completely helpless. We cannot generate our own
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salvation. We cannot heal our own spiritual
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sickness. Total depravity means that every
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part of our nature, our mind, our will, our affections, our
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bodies corrupted by sin, we were just as helpless to save
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ourselves to the wrath of God as this boy was to save himself
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from the demon. Our wills are bound.
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And this is the point where the narrative shifts from the agony
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of the curse to a devastating critique of human religion.
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The Father did not just stand there, he sought help from the
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religious figures available to him.
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That brings us to the dismal failure of human agency.
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The Father tells Jesus that he brought his Son to the disciples
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and they could not heal him. The Greek verb there is
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arinathas, meaning they were completely unable, they lacked
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the strength. This is a staggering collapse of
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expectation for that desperate father.
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He brought his boy to the followers of the Messiah, the
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men who had proximity to the holy things, and they failed
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completely. We must keep the context in mind
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here. These specific disciples had
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prior commissions. Earlier in Matthew chapter 10.
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Jesus explicitly gave them authority to cast out demons and
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heal diseases. They have the Commission, they
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have the experience, and they had the outward association with
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Christ. Yet in this valley, facing this
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specific demon, they stand powerless.
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Their failure is massive and humiliating.
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It exposes the utter inadequacy of man when confronted with the
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true malice of the demonic realm.
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Our sources indicate that they possessed outward proximity to
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Christ, but clearly lacked a moment by moment dependent
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faith. They likely relied on the past
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successes or attempted to use a ritualistic formula instead of
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resting entirely upon the mediator.
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They treated the authority given to them as an inherent
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possession rather than a derived strength that required constant
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communion with the giver. Here's where it gets really
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interesting for you and me today.
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You can draw a sharp, detailed line from the disciples failure
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right to the failure of modern evangelicalism.
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We see the very same dynamic playing out in churches across
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the globe. We have movements that rely
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entirely on pragmatism. You have seeker sensitive
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models, massive marketing campaigns, sociological surveys
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dictating the sermon topics, atmospheric lighting and smoke
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machines. The church tries to confront the
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literal gates of hell using corporate strategies and
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emotional manipulation. This is incredibly tragic,
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really. Imagine being a parent desperate
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for your child's spiritual life, watching them being destroyed by
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the world, the flesh and the devil.
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You bring them to the visible church, and the church's answer
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is a demographic survey and a smoke machine.
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But when those pragmatic methods encounter genuine spiritual
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darkness, when they face the agony of the curse in the lives
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of broken people, they fail miserably, just like the
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disciples. Modern pragmatic religion cannot
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heal the soul. A smoke machine cannot cast out
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a demon. A demographic survey cannot
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regenerate a dead heart. A5 step self help sermon series
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cannot break the bondage of sin. The disciples failed because
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they relied on themselves, and much of the modern church fails
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for the precise same reason they have treated the ordinary means
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of grace for corporate methodology.
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I agree entirely, and this raises an important question
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about the state of the visible Church.
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The systematic theology source we are reading makes a brilliant
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observation here. The disciples in this moment,
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we're operating in what we can call functional atheism.
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They were acting as if God were not there.
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They were trying to manufacture a spiritual result using their
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own localized strength. You have to be warned about
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resting an outward religious positions or institutional
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privilege. You might have a theological
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degree. You might hold an office in the
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church. You might attend every service,
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but if you are not resting in Christ through dependent faith,
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you are operating in functional atheism.
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The disciples tried to perform the work of the Kingdom while
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disconnected from the king. That is a terrifying reality.
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It shows us that nearness to sacred things does not
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automatically equate to spiritual vitality.
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Activity might remain, the outward forms might look
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correct, but the true spiritual authority is completely absent.
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The failure of the disciples drains the scene of all
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misplaced confidence. It proves that earnestness alone
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is insufficient. Good intentions cannot banish
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the darkness. Only the Sovereign Lord can do
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that. And Jesus does not coddle them
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in their failure. He does not pull them aside for
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a soft, encouraging pep talk. He responds with a divine
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diagnosis of the heart. Verse 17 says, O faithless and
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twisted generation, how long am I to be with you?
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How long am I to bear with you? Jesus does not offer them soft
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therapy. He does not say, well, you tried
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your best. Let's analyze your methods and
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try a different approach next time.
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He responds with holy indignation.
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He issues a sovereign rebuke. Let's look at the Greek word he
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uses, which our exegetical source focuses on heavily,
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Diestramino, and this translates to twisted or perverted.
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This is not just a passing bad mood or a temporary lack of
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optimism. This is an ontological diagnosis
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of the human heart. Jesus is stating that the
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fundamental nature of this generation is crooked.
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It has been away from God. It is a severe moral failure to
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trust God rightly in the presence of overwhelming
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evidence. They had seen his miracles, they
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had heard his teaching, and yet they remained faithless.
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Their hearts were structurally distorted by sin.
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Yes, and if we tie this directly to Reformed theology, we see a
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perfect alignment with the Westminster Confession of Faith.
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Chapter 6, paragraph four of the Confession states that because
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of the Fall, humanity is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made
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opposite to all good and wholly inclined to all evil.
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Christ's use of the word twisted confirms this confessional
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standard. The human heart is not a blank
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slate, nor is it basically good with a few flaws that just need
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minor correcting. It is disabled and opposite to
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all good. Notice also that Christ rebukes
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his own disciples here. They are included in this
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faithless generation in this moment.
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This teaches us a crucial lesson regarding the law and gospel
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distinction. The laws function in this
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specific text is to expose the spiritual poverty of those who
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should have known better. The law crushes their pride.
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It shows them that their inherent faithlessness is an
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offense to a holy God. The disciples needed to be
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broken by the law before they could properly rely on the
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gospel. They needed to see that their
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self-reliance was not just a strategic bearer, but a moral
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offense. You can trace the biblical
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echoes of this rebuke right back to the Old Testament.
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In Deuteronomy chapter 32, known as the Song of Moses, Israel is
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called a perverse and crooked generation.
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Jesus is intentionally using that same covenant language.
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Our systematic source points out that Jesus is standing there as
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the new covenant mediator, the divine prophet, assessing his
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people, and he finds them guilty of the same ancient rebellion.
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The law brings condemnation. It exposes the absolute failure
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of everyone standing in that valley.
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The Father's faith is weak. The disciples have failed
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completely. The scribes are arguing in.
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The crowd is filled with unbelief.
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The situation is completely saturated in spiritual failure.
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Jesus expresses a holy weariness.
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He asked us, how long am I to bear with you?
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That is the righteous sorrow of the sinless Son of God
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confronting human rebellion. It is the frustration of perfect
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holiness interacting with pervasive corruption.
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But then, right in the middle of that holy indignation, right
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when you expect him to turn his back and walk away, and
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righteous judgement, we see the breathtaking pivot of sovereign
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mercy. That pivot is one of the most
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glorious moments in the narrative.
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Despite his holy weariness, despite the accurate and
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devastating diagnosis of their twisted hearts, Christ
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immediately issues a command of grace.
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He says, bring him here and to me.
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He does not turn his back on the misery.
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He does not say come back when you have perfected your faith
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and sorted out your theology. He does not withhold His
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compassion until they meet a certain standard of performance.
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He exposes the root disease with absolute honesty, but He
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receives the ruined exactly as they are.
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This is the heart of the gospel. Christ does not flatter human
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weakness, but He also does not abandon the afflicted.
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He invites the needy to be brought directly to Him.
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This teaches us that Christ is both truthful and compassionate.
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He diagnosis the fatal disease of unbelief, but then he steps
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in as the only physician who can provide the cure.
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He takes the burden entirely upon himself.
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Now we arrive at the climax of the passage, verse 18.
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The text says and Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him
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and the boy was healed instantly.
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After all the human failure, the screaming, the terror, the
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arguing, the smoke in the water, Jesus speaks a single word.
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It is an effortless victory. When you look at the original
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Greek, Matthew uses a specific tense here for the word rebuked.
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The exegetical text tells us the verb is a bit of Mosin.
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It is an A rest, indicative active verb.
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This grammatical structure points to a completed historical
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victory. It is not describing a long,
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exhausting wrestling match. There is no struggle.
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Jesus does not negotiate with a demon.
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He does not perform a lengthy incantation or rely on
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superstitious rituals. He does not use any secondary
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means or props. He speaks, and the Kingdom of
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darkness yields instantly. His word alone achieves the
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victory. The authority displayed here is
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absolute and terrifying to the forces of hell.
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The fight is over the moment he opens his mouth.
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And. This raises an important
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question regarding what this effortless victory tells us
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about Christ's identity. He is not a simple facilitator
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of divine grace. He is the sovereign Lord
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described in the Westminster Confession, chapter 8.
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He is the eternal Son of God, vested with supreme authority.
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He commands the spiritual realm. The demon does not resist him
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because the demon cannot resist him.
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Satan and his agents are creatures under judgment.
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They are compelled to obey the Creator's appointed King.
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The departure of the demon is immediate and unquestioned.
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This strips the devil of any illusion of autonomy evils.
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Destructive, yes, but it is not sovereign.
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Christ alone is sovereign. The victory in the valley is a
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visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God breaking into
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enemy territory and asserting its rightful, unyielding
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dominion. It is a preview of the ultimate
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victory that will be won at the cross.
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I think we really need to look at how this applies today,
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because we read this and it is incredible, but we have
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charismatic movements today claiming they could do this
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precise same thing. This requires us to establish a
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cessationist framework for understanding this miracle.
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Why did Jesus perform this specific miracle in this
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specific way? Our systematic text provides a
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brilliant defense of cessationism.
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In here, we have to understand the redemptive historical
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purpose of these events. This miracle and the others like
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it in the Gospels function to validate Christ's messianic
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credentials. It proved that he was the
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promised king, inaugurated the Kingdom of heaven.
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Later, the apostles performed similar signs to validate the
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foundation of the early church. We contrast this with modern
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charismatic mysticism, which claims these miraculous sign
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gifts are still normative today. As Protestants holding to
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Reformed theology, we understand that those validating miracles
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has ceased. The Canon of Scripture is
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closed. The foundation is laid.
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Today Christ exercises the same sovereign authority not through
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spontaneous miraculous exorcisms in a valley, but through the
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ordinary means of grace. He subdues the hearts of sinners
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and restrains the enemy through the preaching of the Word and
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the administration of the sacraments.
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The authority is the same, the Kingdom is the same, but the
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method of its administration fits the current era of
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redemptive history. Spot on the ordinary means of
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grace are how Christ currently plunders the strong man's house.
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And we must also note the completeness of the restoration
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in this text. The verse says the boy was
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healed instantly. Christ's work is both negative
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and positive. Negatively, he expels the enemy.
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He drives out the demon, removing the source of the
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torment. But positively, he restores the
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boy completely. He doesn't just leave the child
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empty and broken. What the devil had ravaged,
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Christ makes whole. This physical healing points us
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directly to the spiritual reality of salvation.
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Snatching the boy from the destructive fire anticipates
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Christ snatching believers from the eternal wrath of God at
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Calvary. Christ does not just forgive our
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sins and leave us in our corrupted state.
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He imputes His righteousness to it and begins the work of
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sanctification. His deliverance is immediate,
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sufficient, and perfect. He takes a ruined life and
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recreates it for His glory. So what does this all mean for
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you today? How do we apply this massive
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theological reality to our daily lives?
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First, you must resolutely confront the sins of our time.
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When you look at this text, it forces you to take a hard look
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at the idols of our own era. You must reject the idols of
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self-reliance. We are so obsessed with fixing
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ourselves. You must reject the prosperity
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gospel, which wickedly treats faith as a tool to manipulate
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God into giving you health and wealth.
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The prosperity gospel tells you that your faith is a currency
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used by blessings. It treats God like a vending
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machine. But this text shows us that true
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faith is the desperate plea of a beggar who has nothing to offer.
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You must also reject the pragmatic church methods we
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discussed earlier. Stop relying on human cleverness
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to accomplish spiritual work. If you're trusting in a program,
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a personality, or a marketing strategy to change hearts, you
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are setting yourself up for the same dismal barrier the
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disciples experienced in that valley.
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The Church must return to the pure preaching of the Word and
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the faithful administration of the sacraments.
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Furthermore, we have to look at this through the lens of the
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third use of the Law. For anyone who might be rusty on
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their categorical theology, let's break that down.
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The first use of the Law restrains sin in society.
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The second use exposes our sin and drives us to Christ.
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We saw that in Christ's rebuke of the disciples.
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The third use of the Law teaches that the Law now functions as a
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guide for our grateful obedience as believers.
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Our justification is a settled legal reality secured entirely
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by Christ's blood. We are not obeying God to earn
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our salvation. We obey God because we have
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already been saved, because Christ has snatched us from the
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fire, because he has rebuked the darkness that held us captive.
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Our natural response must be a life of dependent trust.
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We do not go out to fight demons in our own strength.
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We stand firm in the finished work of the one who has already
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disarmed the principalities and powers.
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We obey His commands out of immense gratitude for the
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sovereign mercy He has shown us. The law becomes a delight rather
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than a burden. Think about what dependent
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prayer looks like for you right now.
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Whether you are a weary St. battling ongoing sin, apparent
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agonizing over a rebellious child, or a church office bear
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facing a culture that hates the truth, you must adopt the
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posture of that Father. You must fall to your knees and
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say, Lord have mercy. You bring your ruin, your
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absolute inadequacy, directly to the mediator.
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You do not try to clean yourself up first.
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You do not rely on your past successes, You acknowledge your
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spiritual poverty, and you rest entirely on His sovereign Word.
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You cast aside the functional atheism that plagues our modern
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minds, and you trust the Christ is actively ruling and reigning.
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This text offers intense pastoral comfort for the weary.
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You can bring your massive burdens to Christ.
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He is not intimidated by the sheer weight of human misery.
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The Father brought a situation that was chaotic, violent, and
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severely terrifying. Yet Jesus handled it
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spiritlessly. Whatever agony of the curse you
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are experiencing in your life, Jesus is sufficient.
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He does not turn away the sufferer.
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He may diagnose your unbelief honestly, but His invitation
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remains fixed. Bring Him here to me.
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The valley of misery is never beyond His reach.
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He enters it precisely to act as the Deliverer.
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You can rest confidently in the fact that your Savior is the
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omnipotent Lord of heaven and earth, and no force of darkness
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can stand against His command. Your weakness is the exact
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platform where His strength is made perfect.
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Let's bring this discussion full circle.
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We have seen that human effort, no matter how sincere or
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religiously privileged, is a dismal failure against the curse
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of the fall. Total depravity means we cannot
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save ourselves. Pragmatic methods are useless
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against the gates of hell. Christ alone, the sovereign
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Mediator, provides the remedy. He stepped down from the
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mountain of glory to meet us in the valley of misery, and with a
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single word He conquered the enemy.
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He offers unmerited mercy to those who fall at His feet in
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complete dependence. I want to leave you with the
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final thought to ponder. Building on the material we have
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discussed today, consider the specific elements the demon used
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to try and destroy the boy. Fire and water.
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The enemy took these good aspects of creation and
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weaponized them for ruin. Isn't it fascinating that in the
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New Covenant, Christ reclaims these very elements for His
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glory? The destructive waters become
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the waters of baptism, signifying our washing, our
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burial, and our union with Him. The consuming fire becomes the
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purifying fire of the Holy Spirit descending upon the
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Church at Pentecost. Think about your own life.
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How might Christ be taking the very circumstances the enemy
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meant for your destruction and reclaiming them as the precise
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instruments of your sanctification?
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive on Reformed
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thinking. We hope this examination of
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Christ's supreme authority encourages you to cast aside all
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self-reliance and rest entirely upon the sovereign Mediator.
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Farewell.