Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 67

March 8, 2018;      Matthew 17:18;       17/260(IV);        ‘Absolute Authority’

Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

The Lord Jesus was up on the Mt. of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John.  As they descended the mountain, as usual there was a multitude waiting to see Jesus.  A man whose son was demonically tormented pleaded with Jesus to heal the boy.  The man thought the boy had epilepsy.  When Jesus ministered to the boy, Jesus cast out a demon and the boy was healed.  This is a perfect example of Jesus having authority over sickness and demonic activity.  Since Jesus was not under the curse, He ministered on the earth with complete authority over the devil and sickness which is a tool of the devil.  In every account in the Gospels, when Jesus encountered a demon or demons, they screamed in terror of the Son of God.  Jesus was in complete control and had absolute authority.  This is what so excites me about this passage.  The Gospels are a picture of how Jesus, a Man who ministered free of the curse, did it.  These are powerful accounts of the Son of God and His absolute authority in every situation.  Our Lord is not here, He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, but we are here.  We have the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ ministry and we are commanded by Jesus to continue His work.  As we share often, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit.  That is the ‘power supply’ Jesus ministered to as a Man empowered by the Holy Spirit.  It does not get any more exciting than this.  In essence we are Jesus, continuing to do what He did.  The Gospels are the ‘Blueprint’ and the Holy Spirit power is upon us to duplicate Jesus’ ministry. Let’s do it.