“And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he follows not us: and we forbad him, because he follows not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part” (Mark 9:38-40).
The trouble was that the “us“ was spelt in capital letters, John told the Master, “We forbad him, because he follows not US.”
Whom did John forbid? A man, who in the name of the Lord was casting out devils. Anyhow there was POWER with this man, and his appeal to the name of the Lord was answered.
The wrong of the situation was that John was trying to prevent a man from doing good, which he himself was powerless to do. In the same chapter we read that one of the multitude brought to the disciples a demon-possessed son, a piteous spectacle. The poor father in distress said to the Lord, “I spake to Thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not” (Mark 9:18), and John was among their number. They were powerless.
They followed the Lord. In that they were right and happy. But there was a lack. What was it? The disciples asked the Lord to explain why they could not cast out the demon. Our Lord put his finger on the spot. He replied, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (v. 29). Thus our Lord indicated the reason for the lack of power. These disciples followed the right Person, but they lacked spiritual condition. The man they sought to forbid did not follow with them, but there must have been spiritual condition with him, for we read, “But Jesus said, Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My name, that can lightly speak evil of Me. For he that is not against us is on our part” (vv. 39-40). Our Lord told John, this man whom you forbade is “FOR US” (Luke 9:50).
Just before this incident we read that the disciples had disputed by the way. The Lord asked them what the dispute was about. He did not ask for information for He knew everything. He asked so that they might realize the shame of what they had done. In His presence they were speechless. They were in the presence of the Lord of glory, who had veiled His divine glory and stooped down into lowly circumstances, and had just told them that the Son of man should be killed and rise the third day, and yet they disputed about who should be greatest. The US was spelt in capital letters, and that meant each one would fain change the US into a great capital I. It is of that stuff the Pope of Rome is made. It produced Diotrophes in the very lifetime of the apostle John and the Lord used John’s pen to warn us against such a spirit; it is natural to every one.
The Apostle Paul is a great contrast to this. He tells us of brethren who took advantage of his being in bonds to preach out of contention, supposing this would add affliction to him in his imprisonment. What was his attitude to this? Such conduct on the part of these men was monstrous. Should we be surprised if the Apostle were filled with anger at their conduct and besought heaven to confound them? How then did the Apostle act? We read, “What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth Christ is preached, and I therefore do rejoice, yea and will rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). There was no, “We forbad him, because he follows not US.” It was no mere academic rejoicing. No mere lip rejoicing. It was real, genuine joy that Christ was preached. He sorrowed over the motive that actuated these men, but rejoiced that the gospel was preached.
Our Lord did not suggest that John and the rest of the disciples should throw in their lot with this man that was performing miracles in Christ’s name, which they were unable themselves to do. They were following the Lord. They continued to do so.
But what about spiritual condition. That would be marked by prayer and fasting Do we prefer a Bible reading to a prayer meeting? If we do, it may well lead to searching of heart. It is likewise easy to preach in a hall set apart for the convenience of those who have fellowship one with another, but how do we fare when we really meet human need? Can we grip the man in the street with the power of the word? We need to ask these questions and put them to our own souls and demand a mercilessly honest answer!
PRAYER! Earnest supplicating prayer! Prayer in the Spirit That is what is needed.
In 1 Timothy 2 1-6 we are exhorted “first of all” not only to pray for all men, but to supplicate.
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17), exhorts the Apostle Paul. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth to make known the mystery of the gospel,” wrote Paul to the Ephesian saints (Eph. 6:18-19).
“Prayer and—FASTING” What does fasting mean? For practical purposes, does it not mean the abstaining from things lawful in themselves but not expedient as the soul realizes the true presence of God, and what suits Him, and what are the needs of his work? Was not Paul himself a good example of this? He had power to “lead about a sister, a wife” (1 Cor. 9:5), but he refrained for the gospel’s sake. Do not missionaries, far away from home ties, surely lawful in themselves, sever themselves from ease, comfort, companionship and the fellowship of their brethren in home lands, in order to carry the gospel to the heathen? I knew one young brother who fasted from a fascinating hobby in order to give the money and time saved thereby to the Lord.
Fasting must be spontaneous to be acceptable to God. We see legal fasting behind monastery and nunnery walls that must be in many, many cases abhorrent to God, especially if those who practice it imagine they are winning their way to heaven thereby.
May we all be exercised about spiritual condition, and recognize it gladly in others, and, it may be, its absence in ourselves, so that powerlessness may be rectified.