A Father's Repentance

Gen. Deborah Green

P RAISE GOD. Welcome to Battle Cry Sounding/Battle Cry Pounding. Yes, the Lord is on the move. The Lord is sending a deep freeze to let people know the cold of humility. I wonder what He has prepared next.

But you know, we can get so arrogant, so comfortable, that we don't want to hear God, that we don't want to believe God, that we don't want to trust God, and all we want is our own way. When we're in that shape, we're backslid. I don't care if you go to church every week. I don't care if you don't go to church every week. I don't care if you're a come-outer, a shouter, a pouter…IF YOU GOT ACCUSATION AGAINST GOD, YOU'RE BACKSLID.

Now, come on, let's face reality. What was the Jews' biggest problem? They didn't like the way God the Father brought the Messiah, and they didn't like the Messiah, and they didn't like what He had to say, what He had to do. They wanted it their way; they had contempt for the humility way.

They didn't like it that Jesus reached out to the wretched, to the blind, to the lost, to the perishing: they wanted Him to come in with a big, white entourage of beautiful horses, and be clothed in all this finery and elegance, and be bringing a sword to kill the Romans; they wanted it their way, and God brought it His way. And you know, that's exactly what God is doing NOW. He's bringing it His way. HIS WAY.

The name of today's message is, “A Father's Repentance.” We're in Mark chapter 9; I'm reading out of the Amplified version. But the truth of it is that the power of God is moving throughout the earth, and the call of God is the humility call to repent. It's definitely not to build more whore-houses called churches, it's definitely not to be involved in some political tea-party—which is a has been—and it's definitely not to think that you can change things if you write your congressman.

The only thing that's going to change things is REPENTANCE: by men, women, and children seeing: they have been wrong, they have been behaving as fools, they have lived in transgression, that is lived in violation against God. That's the only thing that's going to change things.

And if men will not repent and turn from their wicked ways, God's wrath will only increase; and God's wrath IS going to increase upon the disobedient, the proud, the haughty, the rebels, all who reject the call of God. So, go with me to Mark chapter 9, and we're going to begin here in verse 15.

But, God does things His way, and God has purposes we don't even see in what He does. So, for any of us to rise up in accusation against God, it's wrong. And when God puts a covering over you, and you want to accuse and abuse that covering, you're accusing and abusing God. It's just like the Bible tells us—that children are to respect their parents, why?

Now, it was an admonition given to the Jewish people who were all supposed to be believers in God. I mean, if your parents were rattler-believing heathen—rattle-shaking heathen—or they were, you know, bone-sucking cannibals, or they were reprobate drug-dealers, God is not asking you to go by their counsel, at all. In other words, you're not meant to be subject to an unbeliever's covering, in that sense.

But that admonition, and that command, was given for children to obey their parents because that was the covering that God provided to them, to keep them from many dangers. And if somebody's already gone down before you on the trail, and they say: “Watch out for this. Watch out for that. Be careful over here; oh, there’ re wild beasts over here waiting to devour you;” “Psst! I don't need to listen to them. I know it all. I don't need to listen to what they've got to say. They're just old fuddy-duddies; I mean, we live in a new generation.”

No, you're living in a proud generation; you're living in the deception of your own heart. If God provides a covering, God is able to guide the covering. It's like when God provided Moses, and these upstarts were going to overthrow Moses because, “Hey, God speaks to us too!” Well, God proved who's side He was on. And Moses didn't drop dead in the wilderness, and Moses wasn't swallowed up by the earth.

So, when you get the idea, if God's put you under a covering, that you can accuse and abuse the covering, you're doing that to God. So, go on, have your say, do your thing, and you'll give an account to God for that one too. So, we need to sober up in here with a lot of these bad habits that we've let flourish, and we think we get by with it. Honey, we don't get by with anything. You don't get by; I don't get by.

Now, back to our Scripture, Mark 9, beginning here in verse 15, but we'll start with 14, “And when they came to the nine disciples,” this is after they had come back down off the mount: “they saw a great crowd around them and scribes questioning and disputing with them....” Of course, this is the usual for the scribes and the Pharisees: “And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Jesus [returning from the holy mount, His face and person yet glistening], they were greatly amazed and ran up to Him [and] greeted Him. And He asked them, About what are you questioning and discussing with them? And one of the throng replied to Him, Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a dumb spirit. And wherever it lays hold of him [so as to make him its own], it dashes him down and convulses him, and he foams [at the mouth] and grinds his teeth, and he [falls into a motionless stupor and] is wasting away. And I asked Your disciples to drive it out, and they were not able [to do it].”

Now, you know, I'll be the first to confess that I have always construed this Scripture to mean that they were lacking in spiritual authority, in spiritual power, and of course, not every translation has it, but the ones that I am most familiar with, and have read the most—like the King James, and I believe it's here in the Amplified too—it has to do with fasting and prayer. In other words, A CONSECRATED LIFE—a life whereby you deny yourself to gain more of the power of God.

So, a short time ago, God showed me this, and when He revealed it to me in a new light. I thought, “Yes, that's absolutely true.” And I'm not saying that discounts the evaluation that we need to live a consecrated life unto God in order to have spiritual authority. But, you look at the scribes and the Pharisees, and they were proud of fasting twice in a week, but they had no spiritual authority. They had no power over demons; they had no power over sickness; they had no power over the powers of darkness; they were not able to make the blind to see, and the lame to walk, and the ears to be opened of those who were deaf, and the tongues loosed of those who were dumb. They couldn't do those things.

So, we can get in a religious mindset that because we do a certain activity or behavior that that in an of itself indicates we're consecrated, and we can think that's enough and not really be consecrated at all.

I know yesterday I got a letter from someone, and they wanted to remind me that they were in “fastings often,” because I had rebuked them for playing with the spirit of adultery; and I had given them quite a stern warning against it by saying, “If you keep playing with that spirit, your soul will be utterly destroyed.” Well, they wanted me to know that they “fast often, so therefore, there was no danger.”

But, the same person had also indulged themself in confessing to me their fascination with another female, other than their wife. So, who's who in the zoo? Honey, if you're playing with adultery demons, and you think by the very fact that you don't eat everything you can lay your hands on for one day, that that sets you free, you'd better drive out that demon. You'd better face that thing head-on, and you'd better tell it in the name of Jesus Christ, that you are not giving in to it, and it must leave you by the power that's in that name. Not by your power because you've been playing with it, but by His power.

So, the point I'm getting to is that God was giving me a revolution in my own thought regarding this Scripture—because we can get just like the religious did of Jesus' day and think that if we oh, attend a meeting, or do a 2 hour fast, or if we recite a certain prayer then we are safe—but if our heart's not in it, then that was the very complaint that God the Father had through Jesus Christ the Son against the Jews: their heart was far from Him, even though their religious practices, in some instances, were immaculate.

In other words, THEY WERE DOING WHAT THEY HAD BEEN ORDERED TO DO, BUT THEY WEREN'T DOING IT OUT OF THEIR HEART. THEY WERE DOING IT OUT OF RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION, and their hearts, their minds, their wills, and their fantasy life were far from God.

Ok, so as it's saying here that this guy's starting the accusation—in the sense that he said: “I brought him to you, but obviously you weren't here, and your disciples couldn't do the job.” So, he's attributing the fact that his son was not instantly delivered by the prayers of the disciples, he's attributing the blame to them, by the way he's stating this: “They couldn't do the job.”

And you know, I run into people like that all the time: “Well, I've been here, and I've been there, and I've gotten prayer, and nobody can heal me!” Well, you probably don't want to be healed—because you get a lot of ATTENTION for being sick. You get a lot of attention for being crippled. You get a lot of attention for being blind. You get a lot of attention for being looney, so you don't want it. And you want to blame the healer, or the one that God is using in that capacity, or you want to blame this person, that person, or the other person; the anger goes back on you.

When you hear people say, “Well, nobody can touch me!”...I heard these two women one day. They were walking by the prayer booth at the market, and the one poked her friend and she said, “Have you gone in there? I went in there, and I really got help.” And the woman said, “Puh! I wouldn't go in there! I've been everywhere, and nobody can heal me!” I thought, “Well, don't come in here!” I don't think they knew that I heard them, but I thought, “Wow, thank you Lord. Let her go on down the road!”

See, because they don't really want it. They want to be able to say, “Hey, I got something stronger than all of you.” So good, GOD WILL LEAVE THEM IN THE PRISON-HOUSE, the captivity of their sickness, their disease, their debilitated condition, because they probably don't want to give up their government check that they get for being disabled. That's a true fact of life in America. Well, wait till Obamacare gets through with everybody; there won't be any check for anybody except him.

Ok, back to our Scripture. We find that this fellow, this bystander, the main one of the throng, is the one that's got the problem. He's the one that's got the dumb son, and that's bound by a demon that throws him here, throws him there, throws him into convulsions, throws him down; he foams at the mouth, and falls back like he's almost dead. It's ugly what this demon does to him: he falls into a motionless stupor, he grinds his teeth, and he's wasting away. So what does that mean? He's probably not eating, he's probably not able to hold food, and he's just plain possessed.

And then he says, “And I asked YOUR,” and that “YOUR” is capitalized...“YOUR disciples to drive it out, and they were not able to do it.” Why didn't he drive it out? He thought he was bringing him to Jesus, Jesus wasn't there, brought him to the disciples, but they couldn't do what he wanted them to do.

And then it says, “And Jesus answered them, O unbelieving generation [without any faith]!...O unbelieving generation [without any faith]!” Now, it says that Jesus answered THEM! But, the only one that was speaking to Him was this man. But you know what? Jesus knew what the other ones were thinking. You might say Jesus read their hearts, by the spirit, by the power of Almighty God. Jesus read what was in them because it says, “He spoke to them.” It doesn't say, “He spoke to him,” “He spoke to THEM.”

And maybe when the dad of this poor child was giving his explanation, maybe there were those that were murmuring in the crowd saying: “Yeah, what happened to the power? I thought you guys were of God!” Because you know THERE' RE ALWAYS THE BYSTANDERS THAT WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEGATIVITY.

So, “He answered them, O unbelieving generation [without any faith]! “How long shall I [have to do] with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”

So, Jesus is not exhibiting pity upon this father; He's not exhibiting compassion upon the poor father's situation. He is simply stating a fact, “Hey dad, you're part of an unbelieving generation. You're lacking in faith.”

So, it's like I've been expressing here over several different messages: we have this idea that Jesus was Mr. Bleeding-heart-for-children, and that He wanted to immediately call an ambulance and get this kid put in St. Joseph's Exquisite Children's Hospital where he could get pediatric surgery, and oh no, he's not a baby. It's where he could get orthopedic surgery upon his limbs that are twisted, and he could get his tongue reshaped by plastic surgery, and he could get all these therapists and the best treatments money could by.

No, he started rebuking the father and the others who were the bystanders. He started rebuking them. Do you know why people won't come near unto Jesus? They don't want to hear what He's got to say. They don't want to come near unto Him because He might tell them: “You unbelieving, accusing rat! Don't you come with your wicked tongue and utter accusation against me!”

What's God calling for right now? REPENTANCE. REPENTANCE. What do you think God was calling for right then? “A miracle crusade! come one, come all”? No, God doesn't have to prove He can do miracles; He is the miracle. What was He after with them? What was He after with that father? What was He doing by rebuking this poor miserable guy that had this wretched kid?

He didn't care about the guy's misery. He didn't care about the wretched kid. He cared about the truth. He had compassion on that child, and as we all know, He set that child free. But He wasn't a bleeding-heart, “boo-hoo, Jesus-loves-the-little- children.” That's an invention of humanity.

HE WAS CONCERNED THAT HIS FATHER'S TRUTH BE MADE MANIFEST. And the truth was they were an unbelieving generation without any faith. See, they want to put the blame—the man especially, wanted to put the blame on the disciples—on someone else. Jesus is saying to them, “You're the unbelievers. You're the ones that don't have the faith.”

See, if they would have been in an attitude of confidence, an attitude of faith, an attitude of belief, God could have moved right then through those disciples. I mean Jesus had given them power and authority over demon spirits; He had imparted that to them—they were not without confidence—in the power of God.

But see, I have always been of the mentality that the disciples were to blame because that was the accusation of this father—until God showed me, hun-uh, that old man, or young man, or whatever he was, NEEDED A REPENTANCE REVOLUTION IN HIS LIFE, and nothing was going to happen to that child until he got it.

Now, try it on. Think about it; read it for yourself. “How long shall I [have to do] with you? How long am I to bear with you?” In other words, He's not pleased in their unbelief. He's not satisfied in their misbehavior. He is displeased. He is displeased with what? Their attitude. He's displeased with the attitude of the father, and He's displeased with the fact that if the big guy wasn't there, they didn't have any faith in God.

Did you know you're supposed to keep your faith in God whether there's a little guy, a big guy, or no guy, and that's the truth? We are meant to keep ever believing in God. And did you know that God will also allow the big guy not to be there to test your faith, to see if you'll trust God, to see if you'll look to God? So now, the big guy's back, and what is he doing? He's correcting them, He's upbraiding them, and He's rebuking them—for their unbelief.

Then it says, “So they brought [the boy] to Him, and when the spirit (meaning the demon spirit) saw Him, at once it completely convulsed the boy, and he fell to the ground and kept rolling about, foaming [at the mouth].” Jesus didn't get a bit perturbed, or disturbed, or frightened. And He doesn't scream out, “Call an ambulance.” The Bible just says, “And [Jesus] asked his father, How long has he had this? And he answered, From the time he was a little boy. And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But (this is the Father speaking) if You can do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

So, what's he showing by the utterance of his mouth? His lack of faith. He said, “If you can do anything, IF YOU CAN do anything…” He gave himself away. Not only did he give himself away when he wanted to accuse the disciples, but he also gave himself away before Jesus right then when he said: “If you, IF YOU, the Son of God, the One who is the embodiment of power against demon forces, the One who is the healer, if you CAN do anything…”

THAT'S UNBELIEF, FOLKS—IN THE EYES OF GOD. “Well, I don't know if God CAN do it…” How many of you have ever said that? “Well, I don't know…I know God can…but WILL He?” UNBELIEF. And then we want to lay it on God, we want to lay it on the disciples, and we want to lay it on somebody else. That was coming from that father's heart.

Did you hear me? It was coming from that father's heart: it came out of his mouth, and it was evident that he was lacking in faith in God—faith and trust in Jesus. Now it says, “And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything?” He says: “[Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!”

Then it says: “At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith!” Now the King James says, “Help my unbelief!” But what is it saying? The father is confessing his sin. He's crying out, “Lord I believe!”

So, what has happened to him? He's had—in that instance—a REPENTANCE REVOLUTION because he saw that the problem was not in the disciples, nor in Jesus, but THE PROBLEM WAS IN HIM: that it was HIS FAULT because he did not believe, that HE was the one who was lacking in faith, that HE WAS THE ONE who was doubting God, and that he was the one that was mentally disputing: “If you can do anything.” And Jesus said, “All things are possible when you believe.” So, why wasn't the boy healed previously? Why wasn't the boy set free?

Then it says after that, “But when Jesus noticed that a crowd [of people] came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You dumb and deaf spirit, I charge you to come out of him and never go into him again. And after giving a [hoarse, clamoring, fear-stricken] shriek of anguish and convulsing him terribly, it came out; and the boy lay [pale and motionless] like a corpse, so that many of them said, He is dead. But Jesus took [a strong grip of] his hand and began lifting him up, and he stood.” He was healed, he was delivered, and he was set free.

But, I believe that God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Lord, were after the lack of repentance in that father, and it was that father's repentance that freed, in the Spirit, the power of God to go into that child to set him free.

DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR UNBELIEF HINDERS THE MOVE OF GOD? Did you know that our unbelief hinders the healing and the deliverance power of God because we are standing in the way, and we are saying: “IF you can do anything,” and “your disciples couldn't do it.” Hey, you know what, you got problems in your life, you got things you can't overcome, or you got things that haven't been conquered by the power of God? Repent. REPENT. REPENT, and get the revolution that will set you free. Amen.