Denying the Power Thereof

In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus is inside a house, and a man laying on a couch with an affliction described as a palsy is brought to him by those carrying the man. They cannot get to Jesus through the press, so they dig through the roof and lay the man before Jesus. Luke 4:17 says, “As Jesus was teaching, there were Pharisees (clergy) and doctors of the law sitting by which were come out of every town of Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”

That power was not there just for that man, but for everybody present in that house. What happened in this case with all that power that was present? The man was healed, but in Luke 5:26 it says, “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying ‘We have seen strange things today.'” Why were they amazed, and why were they fearful? It is because they grew up and in the case of the Pharisees, became priests but never came to accept that the power of God could be present in their lives to change things. They were denying the power thereof.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 says, “Know this! In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy; without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,  heady,  high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Does anything in these verses remind you of what happened in Connecticut recently with the massacre of 20 children and others?

The boy sure fit the description of a lot of what is said in these verses, but so does the church that was there eulogizing the victims of the massacre with President Obama present. They came into the service looking so sad and so powerless: they seemed more pathetic than anyone else present. They were not mad at the events that occurred. They were not looking for ways to take back what the enemy, Satan, had taken. They truly did not have a clue what to do. They were simply going to leave that up to Obama and other government officials to figure out. They truly were a church without power.

As Jesus was ready to depart into heaven, he left his disciples with words for his Church which would be born after he ascended into heaven. He said, “All of you go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18) Does that sound like a Church with no power? They were certainly doing those things in the book of Acts just like Jesus had said. They believed and just as Jesus said, “These signs shall follow them that believe.”

The problem with the established Church today is they do not believe and thus have no power. They typify what is said in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. They have made themselves completely subservient to the government, and that is why they never speak out against what has been going on in this country the last several decades. They see themselves as powerless and thus will never get involved.

That is the type of church mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:5  from which we must turn away. Jesus did say to turn away from this type of church. Why? Because they are full of all those sins listed in the earlier verses; just like the boy who murdered all those children and adults. They go through the motions of saying they know God, but in truth they deny the very power God gave us over the enemy. That same power could take back our cities from the mass killers and restore order to our cities and our nation. This notion is foreign to the established Church and so they like those Pharisees and lawyers  are amazed when the power of God actually manifests itself in our world.

We need a Church that believes in the power of God. We do not need a Church which says, “The power of God ceased to be after the book of Acts.” That is simply an excuse not to believe. When Jesus speaks, he speaks to his Church throughout all ages. He does not want to return to a weak and powerless Church. He said, “From such turn away.” Jesus is coming back for a victorious Church, and until the Church starts believing everything Jesus said, it will never have power, and it will let this country fall into chaos and destruction.