1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:03,280 What do you find hard to believe? 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:10,000 In many ways, our culture values doubt over belief. 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,720 For instance, doubt is a fundamental principle of 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,120 science. Scientists are only meant to 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,200 accept or believe what has been proven by experiments, and not 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,760 just proven by one experiment, but it's supposed to be 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,240 replicated and confirmed by other experiments against. 8 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,520 The first experiment had some kind of weird error that nobody 9 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,200 caught and wasn't in the write up. 10 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,520 But that attitude of doubt can sort of migrate out of science 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,440 and become a basic stance toward all of life. 12 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:47,480 We often regard those who are skeptical as tough, rugged, 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,160 unafraid of the cold, hard truth. 14 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,320 In our society. You don't usually have to 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,640 apologize for doubting something, but you may have to 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,360 apologize for believing something. 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,720 Just ask professional scientists who also are Christians or at 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,920 least believers in God, how they feel about revealing their 19 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,960 personal beliefs to their fellow scientists. 20 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:22,160 Our culture regards doubt as strong and faith as weak. 21 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,440 Is it right to believe only what you can prove? 22 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,240 Can anybody actually live like that? 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,600 What would happen to your relationships if your basic 24 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,480 stance is doubt everyone until they prove trustworthy, what 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,120 would that do to your friendships? 26 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,120 What would it do to your relationships with your family? 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:46,880 Or if you're married, what would it do to your relationship with 28 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,120 your spouse? Can you prove with scientific 29 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,960 certainty? Can you prove beyond a shadow of 30 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,520 a doubt that your spouse really loves you? 31 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,280 What if they've been bidding their time for these 15 years 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,960 they secretly have a sinister plan? 33 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,720 Is doubt meant to be a defensive armor that covers your whole 34 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,680 self? This morning, as we continue our 35 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:20,040 series in Mark's Gospel with Chapter 9, verses 14 to 929, 36 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,800 we're going to center our focus on faith and doubt. 37 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,880 This passage challenges us to consider what strength we really 38 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:37,240 need, where it comes from, and what that has to do with belief. 39 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:39,920 If you don't have a Bible, you can put up your hand. 40 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:41,240 Someone will bring you on right now. 41 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,080 Maybe you just left your Bible at home. 42 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,120 That's fine. Maybe you don't have a Bible. 43 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:46,920 If you don't have a Bible, we'd be happy for you to take it, 44 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,320 keep it, bring it home with you. Last week we studied Mark 45 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:55,680 Chapter 9, verses 2 to 13. In those verses, Jesus took just 46 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,160 three disciples with him up a mountain, and He gave them a 47 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,440 unique vision of His divine glory to prepare them to endure 48 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,360 his suffering and to endure their own suffering. 49 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:11,760 Our passage shows us what happened right after Jesus and 50 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,960 those 3 disciples come down off the mountain. 51 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:21,800 Please follow along as I read Mark Chapter 9, verses 14 to 29. 52 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,840 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great 53 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,800 crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. 54 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,320 And immediately all the crowd when they saw him, were greatly 55 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,560 amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 56 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,560 And he asked them, what are you arguing about with them? 57 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,360 And someone from the crowd answered him. 58 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:47,600 Teacher, I brought my son to you. 59 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:55,040 For he has a spirit that makes him mute, and whenever it seizes 60 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,680 him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and 61 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,680 becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to 62 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,360 cast it out, and they were not able. 63 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,800 And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how 64 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,400 long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? 65 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,279 Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him. 66 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,200 And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the 67 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,840 boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the 68 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:30,000 mouth. And Jesus asked his Father, how 69 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,440 long has this been happening to him? 70 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:38,840 And he said from childhood, and it is often cast him into fire 71 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:46,200 and into water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have 72 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:53,600 compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you 73 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,400 can, all things are possible for one who believes. 74 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,200 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I 75 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:08,000 believe, help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a crowd 76 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,280 came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, 77 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,640 saying to it, You mute and deaf spirit, I command you come out 78 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,600 of him and never enter him again. 79 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,280 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came 80 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:24,560 out and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them 81 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,400 said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand 82 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,160 and lifted him up. And he arose. 83 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,400 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him 84 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,760 privately, why could we not cast it out? 85 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:41,880 And he said to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything 86 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:48,400 but prayer. Here's the point of our passage 87 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:53,600 in one sentence. Weak faith lays hold of an all 88 00:05:53,600 --> 00:06:01,120 powerful Savior. Weak faith lays hold of an all 89 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,600 powerful savior. In this narrative, every 90 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,480 character or group shows us something different about faith 91 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,680 and unbelief. The story raises questions like 92 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,760 who should we believe? Why don't we? 93 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,120 And if we do believe in Jesus, what does faith get us? 94 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,840 We're going to walk through the story roughly in order. 95 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,600 But instead of tying my sermon points to particular sections of 96 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,960 verses, I'm going to tie them to four different characters or 97 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:38,720 groups. 4 characters, 4 points to the sermon point #1 98 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:46,600 unreasonable unbelief. Unreasonable unbelief. 99 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,440 Unbelief often likes to claim the rational high ground. 100 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,960 Oh, it's more reasonable not to believe it's more rational. 101 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,720 But I think our passage is going to show us how unreasonable it 102 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,480 is not to believe in Jesus. We see this unreasonable 103 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,920 unbelief in the scribes, the religious leaders who debate 104 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,360 Jesus's disciples. We see it especially in verses 105 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,720 14 to 19. Look back again at verses 14 to 106 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,760 16. And when they came to the 107 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,560 disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes 108 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,200 arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd 109 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,240 when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and 110 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,240 greeted him. And he asked them, what are you 111 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,560 arguing about with them? Hear Jesus and the three 112 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,480 disciples come back off the mountain. 113 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,000 They arrive back at the base and they encounter A chaotic scene. 114 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,480 There's a huge crowd, there's the scribes who are the highly 115 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,040 trained religious experts of the day arguing with Jesus, other 9 116 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,440 disciples. And when the crowd sees Jesus, 117 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,800 they run up to him and they're amazed at him. 118 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,080 The text doesn't give us a reason for this amazement. 119 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,640 I think it's basically just a celebrity factor. 120 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:57,640 Jesus is the one. They're here to see Jesus 121 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,680 finally here. And there's a kind of electric 122 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,040 current that runs through the crowd. 123 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,520 Here he is. And so Jesus cuts through the 124 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,600 confusion. He asks what the argument is 125 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,480 about. Now the the text doesn't tell us 126 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,480 exactly who his question is directed to, but we know that 127 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,040 the dispute was between Jesus disciples and describes They're 128 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,480 the ones arguing, but they're not the ones who answer. 129 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,160 Instead, it's somebody else from the crowd who speaks up and 130 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,720 answers Jesus question verses 17 and 18. 131 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,280 And someone from the crowd answered him. 132 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,159 Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that 133 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,840 makes him mute, and whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, 134 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,480 and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 135 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,200 So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not 136 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,320 able. Like so many people who come to 137 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:56,600 Jesus, this father is desperate. His son is suffering grievously. 138 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:01,120 He has a condition that bears a striking resemblance to the 139 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,360 medical condition we know as epilepsy. 140 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,600 His son's symptoms closely match those of grand Mao seizures, 141 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,160 where someone loses consciousness and their muscles 142 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,840 contract violently. But the passage tells us that 143 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:20,680 the source of these seizures was not a disease, but a demon. 144 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:26,040 Seeing these seizures as caused by an evil spirit is not the 145 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,880 Father's best guess. Instead, later in the passage, 146 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:33,120 Jesus himself addresses the demon, rebukes the demon, drives 147 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,720 out the demon. So this is not a case of pre 148 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,640 modern people ascribing to a demonic spirit. 149 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,840 What we modern scientific people really know is a brain 150 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,000 condition. Instead, there's an evil 151 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,120 spiritual power at work in the boy, harming the boy, trying to 152 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,800 kill the boy. As we'll see later, that power 153 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:58,440 at work in the boy is too strong for the disciples. 154 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,480 Now we have to remember that Jesus gave his disciples 155 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,880 authority to cast out demons. Mark 315 says that explicitly. 156 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,040 Mark 6-7 reaffirms it when he sends them out on a preaching 157 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,600 mission. Part of what they're doing is 158 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,000 casting out demons. So this is something that the 159 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,720 disciples should have been able to do. 160 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,800 It's not like a super hard test set for them that maybe they're 161 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,280 all going to fail. This is something Jesus gave 162 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,240 them authority to do, but they couldn't. 163 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,040 They were not able. You can even translate that 164 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:36,320 Greek phrase as they didn't have the strength. 165 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,760 The demon is too strong for them. 166 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,880 The reason for that we'll get to in the next point. 167 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,320 For now, we need to notice that this was the cause of the 168 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,680 debate. Jesus asks what the cause of the 169 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:50,240 debate was. The father answers. 170 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,360 I brought my son to get the demon cast out. 171 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:56,320 They couldn't do it. Now, why would that provoke a 172 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,680 debate between the scribes and the disciples? 173 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,560 The text doesn't tell us explicitly, but I think it 174 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:06,040 implies the answer. We have to remember how the 175 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,360 scribes have treated Jesus throughout Mark's gospel. 176 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,800 They've often witnessed his miracles, and they've 177 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,320 consistently been skeptical of them. 178 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,360 When they've seen him do miracles, they've attributed it 179 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,120 to Satan rather than to God. So there's been consistent 180 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,240 unbelief, consistent opposition, consistently explaining away the 181 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,600 things Jesus is doing so that they do not have to believe in 182 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,200 him. So here, when the disciples 183 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:34,040 can't cast out a demon, I think we're meant to understand that 184 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,360 the scribes response is basically, see, told you so. 185 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,080 Gotcha. You guys can't cast out this 186 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:40,560 demon. Yeah. 187 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,720 That's because you don't really have power. 188 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,560 Your master doesn't really have power. 189 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,920 He's kind of a fraud. This this proves what we've been 190 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,960 saying all along. You guys can't cast out this 191 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:50,960 demon. So Jesus is really nothing. 192 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,080 I think we're meant to understand based on the scribes 193 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,360 profile throughout Mark, that they used the disciples failure 194 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,160 as an excuse to justify their unbelief. 195 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:08,840 Now I think that implication or inference helps us make sense. 196 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,920 That of Jesus's shockingly stern reply in verse 19. 197 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,120 It's really harsh rebuke verse 19. 198 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,880 And he answered them. Oh, faithless generation, how 199 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,280 long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? 200 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,440 Bring him to me now. I think this rebuke is aimed 201 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,760 squarely at the scribes. It's possible Jesus includes his 202 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,600 disciples in this rebuke too, for their failure, but to me 203 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,680 that seems overly severe. I think it makes best sense to 204 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,760 see Jesus as specifically targeting the scribes, because 205 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,040 their unbelief is consistent. It's hardened, they're self 206 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,200 deceived, they're wilfully blind, they refuse to 207 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,040 acknowledge the truth about Jesus when it's staring them in 208 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,560 the face. I think that's what merits such 209 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:58,480 a harsh condemnation. Here, Jesus echoes the words of 210 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,960 God himself and speaks with the authority of God himself. 211 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:06,920 The passage we'll consider in our devotional tonight is 212 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:12,120 Numbers 1411, where the Lord rebuked his people's unbelief 213 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,080 after they refused to inherit the Promised Land. 214 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,120 That's the kind of turning point in the plot of the book of 215 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:18,640 Numbers as Michael's been walking us through. 216 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,680 The 1st generation refused, so they perished in the wilderness, 217 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,400 and here's how God responded to that unbelief. 218 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,640 Consider how closely Jesus words here in verse 19 echo God's 219 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:38,680 words there. And the Lord said to Moses, how 220 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:43,640 long will this people despise me, and how long will they not 221 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:48,040 believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among 222 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:54,120 them, In spite of all the signs. Israel's unbelief wasn't 223 00:13:54,320 --> 00:14:00,000 rational, it was unreasonable. God had rained down plagues on 224 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,880 Egypt. God had part of the Red Sea. 225 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:06,000 God had fed them with bread from heaven, water from a rock, and 226 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,640 yet they still didn't believe their unbelief was against the 227 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:15,360 evidence God had given them. It wasn't a healthy skepticism 228 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,080 waiting for reasonable proof. It was a refusal to acknowledge 229 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,040 overwhelming evidence. And the same thing holds true 230 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,080 for the scribes here. Their unbelief was unreasonable. 231 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:27,520 Jesus had performed miracle after miracle. 232 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,040 If you're looking for replication in the service of 233 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,680 scientific confidence. He himself repeated a variety of 234 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,160 mighty works again and again. He healed people. 235 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,840 He cast out demons. He miraculously multiplied food. 236 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,000 And then he did it again. Same miracle twice. 237 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:47,400 No replication crisis when it comes to Jesus multiplying food. 238 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:53,680 What more proofs of divine authority could you ask for? 239 00:14:55,440 --> 00:15:00,720 In their unreasonable unbelief, the scribes are a warning to all 240 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,760 of us. To refuse to believe in Jesus is 241 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:10,520 to reject overwhelming evidence, evidence that is more than 242 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,680 sufficient to warrant our belief. 243 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,680 People who don't believe in Jesus often say that they would 244 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,720 believe if only they had more evidence. 245 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:23,720 No, Maybe that's your attitude today. 246 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,720 If so, I want to challenge you. I want to argue that God has 247 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,720 given you more than enough evidence on three different 248 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,400 fronts. We're going to spend a little 249 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,400 time here. 3 fronts of evidence for believing in the God of the 250 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:43,000 Bible and Jesus in particular. First, God has made plain His 251 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:49,600 existence, His divine nature, and His power in creation. 252 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,280 Romans 120, the apostle Paul says, For his invisible 253 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,960 attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have 254 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,440 been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world 255 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,320 in the things that have been made, so they are without 256 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:11,080 excuse. In other words, creation points 257 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,760 beyond itself to God. Creation proclaims that it did 258 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,560 not create itself. Creation leaves unbelievers 259 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,800 without excuse in the face of convincing evidence. 260 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,320 If you want to maintain atheism in the face of this creation we 261 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,960 all live in, I would suggest to you that you have to believe in 262 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:38,320 at least six miracles. Something from nothing, order 263 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:48,240 from chaos, life from non life, the personal from the non 264 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:57,200 personal, reason from non reason, and morality from 265 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,800 matter. I would submit that it is simply 266 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,359 more reasonable to believe in the God of creation than to 267 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:09,560 believe in those six miracles. Second, I would say that God has 268 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,319 given overwhelming evidence of the truth of who Jesus is. 269 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,400 You can find evidence in the gospels themselves. 270 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,520 The gospels are sober, trustworthy eyewitness accounts 271 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,319 of Jesus career and they were written within living memory of 272 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:30,200 those who saw and knew him. There's even abundant evidence 273 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,840 for Jesus resurrection itself. A few weeks ago at the study 274 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,160 center here on campus, I gave a talk on the historicity of the 275 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,000 resurrection of Jesus. I gave 40 minutes of dense 276 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,680 historical arguments for why the resurrection of Jesus really 277 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,400 happened. If you're a skeptic, I'd love to 278 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,040 send you a link to that talk and then get together and talk about 279 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,400 it. Or if you're willing to examine 280 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,640 the evidence that the Gospels are trustworthy, reliable 281 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,920 accounts of who Jesus is, I'd love to give you a great book on 282 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,840 the subject called Can We Trust the Gospels by Peter Williams. 283 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,560 I'll happily get you a copy, give it to you, You read it. 284 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,400 Let's get get together and talk about it. 285 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,360 A third front of evidence. There are abundant reasons to 286 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:17,120 believe in the Bible, the Scriptures as a whole as the 287 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:20,360 true revelation of a trustworthy God. 288 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,080 Here are just five that I find compelling, 5 evidences for the 289 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,800 trustworthiness of Scripture as a whole. 290 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:32,120 Number one, the Scriptures give an utterly convincing 291 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:37,360 explanation for how humanity got into the mess we're in. 292 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,160 They explain how each of us not only does wrong things, but has 293 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,280 wrong desires. We weren't made that way 294 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,320 initially. We've become that way through a 295 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,840 fall into sin and a sinful nature we've all inherited. 296 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,800 We all have it in common. The scriptures explain how this 297 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,600 world can be such a heartbreaking mix of beauty and 298 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,520 brokenness. Beauty because it's the good 299 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,720 creation of a glad and generous God. 300 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,600 Brokenness because we've fallen into sin and misery. 301 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,760 No other religious text or human philosophy has an explanation 302 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,440 for our problems and the origin of our problems that comes even 303 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:24,200 close to the explanatory power of the Christian doctrine of 304 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,760 original sin. Only original sin explains why 305 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:34,760 each one of us is so messed up and how we got to be that way. 2 306 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,800 The Bible provides penetrating insight into human nature, our 307 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,760 thoughts, our motivations, our desires, what makes us tick, why 308 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,280 we do what we do. This book reads your mind. 309 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,360 This book reads your heart. When you read this book, it 310 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,760 X-rays you. After 27 years of being a 311 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,120 Christian, I only find that to be more and more true to my 312 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:05,320 experience #3 the Bible also has power to bring about real 313 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,040 change. I've seen this in my own life, 314 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,360 and I've seen it in the lives of hundreds of Christians. 315 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:14,440 I've been privileged to know and see the work of God's Word by 316 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,400 His Spirit, changing them from within 4th or 4th evidence. 317 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,560 There's also the fulfillment of prophecy. 318 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,960 There's hundreds of prophecies about who the Messiah would be, 319 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,360 where he'd be born, what He would do, what would be done to 320 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,680 him. They're just too many and too 321 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:36,240 different and too diverse for any kind of conspiracy theory to 322 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,800 account for how it all came true in one person. 5th And finally, 323 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:47,400 there's an amazing unity in diversity in Scripture. 324 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,160 It was written over 1500 years in three languages by dozens of 325 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,120 authors on multiple continents and multiple cultures, and yet 326 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,200 there's remarkable harmony and consistency. 327 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,680 The fit is incredible. The better you come to 328 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,600 understand Scripture, the more you see it interlocking in a 329 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,000 beautiful and complex way, as if you're staring up at the ceiling 330 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,520 of a cathedral. In the face of all this 331 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,840 evidence, there's plenty more where that came from. 332 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,040 What's more reasonable? Faith or unbelief? 333 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,760 The harmony of Scripture? The trustworthiness of the 334 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:24,640 Gospels? The historical evidence for the 335 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,720 resurrection? Does that make it more 336 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,680 reasonable to believe in Jesus or to reject Him? 337 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,000 The testimony of our passage, and especially of Jesus's rebuke 338 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,640 in verse 19, is that unbelief is unreasonable. 339 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:48,240 To refuse to believe in Jesus is to reject overwhelming evidence. 340 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:50,280 So what should you do if you don't believe in him? 341 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,880 Repent and trust in Him to save you. 342 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:01,880 But even those who do believe don't always do so consistently. 343 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:07,720 Our faith often fails. How? 344 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,120 The disciples show us a very relatable example. 345 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:16,120 We see it especially in verse 18 and the explanation for it in 346 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:20,880 verses 28 and 29. So point #2 self reliant 347 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,920 failure. Self reliant failure. 348 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:32,640 Why did the disciples fail? Because they didn't depend on 349 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,800 Jesus. Look again at the second-half of 350 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:40,960 verse 18. So I asked your disciples to 351 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,400 cast it out, and they were not able. 352 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:50,400 Big fail by the disciples. Why? 353 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:52,840 Why couldn't they cast out the demon? 354 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,080 Well, the passage doesn't tell us just yet, but if we Fast 355 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,320 forward to the end, after Jesus heals, the demon takes the 356 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:00,920 disciples aside privately in the house. 357 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,760 Afterward he answers the disciples question about it, 358 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,920 verses 28 and 29. And when he had entered the 359 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,880 house, his disciples asked him privately, why can we not cast 360 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,520 it out? And he said to them, this kind 361 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,000 cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. 362 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:23,720 Now, does Jesus answer to the question imply that this was 363 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,920 some particularly difficult or powerful type of demon? 364 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,760 Maybe, probably. I think so. 365 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,640 I'm not really sure. And if you have all sorts of 366 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,840 follow up questions about that, I would just point out that this 367 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,360 is all the passage says. This is all it gives us. 368 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,320 This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. 369 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,640 OK, They needed to pray. They didn't pray. 370 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,800 More important than what it tells us about the demon is what 371 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:58,200 it tells us about the disciples. They failed because they failed 372 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:04,320 to pray. Jesus tells them their lack of 373 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,880 prayer caused their lack of success. 374 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,040 What does their lack of prayer reveal? 375 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,320 self-reliance? self-confidence? 376 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,640 Some kind of sorely mistaken illusion of self-sufficiency. 377 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,480 Some kind of attitude down in their hearts saying we got this, 378 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:32,480 we're good. self-reliance is a failure of faith. 379 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,600 To believe in Jesus is to continually trust him for 380 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,520 everything you need, especially to depend on him for strength to 381 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,040 overcome spiritual enemies, whether external or internal. 382 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:52,560 Self-reliance is a failure of faith that produces failure in 383 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,320 the Christian life. The single biggest evidence of 384 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:01,480 self-reliance in each of our lives is lack of prayer. 385 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:08,560 That might be a general lack of prayer, or it could be a lack of 386 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,440 prayer about specific issues. I've certainly had the 387 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,200 experience of pouring out a struggle, confessing something 388 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,280 to someone, talking about a certain difficulty in my life, 389 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,920 and person just asked, are you praying about it? 390 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,240 How are you praying about it? How often are you praying about 391 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:27,560 it? What are you praying about it? 392 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,720 Sometimes even if I am praying about it a little, I kind of 393 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,520 realized, you know what, I'm kind of praying for it for like 394 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,760 30 seconds tacked on at the end of my prayer time. 395 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,360 Maybe it should migrate to the front of my quiet times with the 396 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,680 Lord, read scripture, and then dive into this issue that I'm 397 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,000 really struggling with and is really bothering me. 398 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,520 I've been helped by council like that even recently. 399 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:54,280 What is going on here? What's my prayer response? 400 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:02,720 Prayer is faith at work. Prayer is faith in action. 401 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,880 Prayer is a declaration of dependence. 402 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,680 That's why prayer is the chief test of how much you depend on 403 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,560 God. Those who depend on themselves 404 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:19,680 pray little or not at all. Those who depend on God most 405 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,640 pray most. What does the disciples 406 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,000 prayerlessness show us show us? It also shows us that they 407 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,520 underestimated the power of evil in the world and overestimated 408 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:36,280 their own power. Prayerlessness shows you that 409 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,080 you underestimate your enemy and overestimate yourself. 410 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,760 Prayerlessness shows you that you underestimate your weakness 411 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:50,360 and overestimate your strength. Prayerlessness shows that you 412 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:54,600 underestimate God's love, God's goodness, God's power, and his 413 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,120 willingness and ability to help you in every single one of your 414 00:26:57,120 --> 00:26:59,240 trials. That's what you're 415 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:00,640 underestimating when you don't pray. 416 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:09,440 As a theologian Herman Boving put it, prayer is the test and 417 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,200 thermometer of our spiritual life. 418 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,840 It's pulse and the best medication for it. 419 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,760 In the Christian life, dependence on self is failure 420 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,800 and dependence on God is success. 421 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,880 So often in trials we grow consumed with what we can't do. 422 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,800 Can I fix this? Can I change this? 423 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,880 What can I do to make it stop or get myself into a better 424 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,200 situation? What lever can I pull to solve 425 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:49,480 this problem? So often in our suffering, what 426 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:54,640 you can do is little, and what you can do is not even certain 427 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,960 to make things better. What you can always do in a 428 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,960 trial is rely on God. What you can always do in a 429 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,240 trial is call out to Him for help. 430 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:13,280 That's one of His purposes in ordaining trials for you, to 431 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,520 push you into a situation, to back you into a corner where 432 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,560 either you're going to fail or you're going to call out to Him 433 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,840 for help. Those are only two options. 434 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,480 From the perspective of eternity, what matters far more 435 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,400 than the external outcome of your trial is whether you relied 436 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,720 on God through it. What matters far more is not 437 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:40,120 whether your life gets better, but whether your soul gets 438 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:45,040 stronger. And your soul gets stronger by 439 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,080 continually calling out to God in prayer. 440 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:53,400 Through prayer, faith exchanges your weakness for God's 441 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,320 omnipotence. That's the promise of prayer. 442 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,120 In prayer, you exchange your weakness for God's omnipotence. 443 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:10,240 That brings us to .3. Weak omnipotent faith. 444 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:17,160 Yes, weak comma omnipotent faith for the theologically discerning 445 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:19,040 among us. Yes, I'm aware that omnipotence 446 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,080 is a divine attribute, not a human attribute. 447 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,000 The paradox is on purpose. We'll get there. 448 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,720 We see this paradox of faith's weakness and omnipotence in the 449 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:31,920 Father who brings this unto Jesus. 450 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,280 So we've considered the scribes, the disciples, now the Father. 451 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,440 We'll focus especially on verses 23 and 24 to get this point, but 452 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:43,000 verses 20 to 22 provide the context. 453 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,280 And they brought the boy to him. And when the Spirit saw him 454 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,640 immediately convulse the boy, and he fell on the ground and 455 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,280 rolled about foaming at the mouth. 456 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:00,040 And Jesus asked his father, how long has this been happening to 457 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,440 him? And he said from childhood. 458 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,240 And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy 459 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,880 him. But if you can do anything, have 460 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:15,960 compassion on us and help us. In verse 20, as the Spirit 461 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,920 possessing the boy draws near to Jesus, it's as if it knows it's 462 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,120 time is short. And so the demon throws the boy 463 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:25,360 into another seizure. Why does Jesus ask the Father 464 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:26,960 how long this has been happening? 465 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:29,280 It seems like odd timing for a question like that. 466 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,640 I think it's for both the Father's benefit and the crowd's 467 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,480 benefit. Jesus question invites the 468 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:42,120 Father to open up to him, to trust him, to come to him as a 469 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,400 whole person and bring the whole situation to him. 470 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,000 He tells Jesus just how bad it's been. 471 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,280 How bad is it? It's been happening since 472 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,080 childhood, and the demon has done this in such a way as to 473 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:00,280 attempt murder on the boy repeatedly. 474 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,360 Whenever there's a body of water or a fire, he tries to get the 475 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,520 boy to fall into it. This demon is trying to kill his 476 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,280 son. That's how bad it is. 477 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,720 I think Jesus question is also for the crowd's benefit. 478 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,360 The better they grasp the severity of the situation, the 479 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,720 more they will learn from Jesus's solution. 480 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,280 Remember, it was Jesus himself who said in verse 19, Bring him 481 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,840 to me. Jesus has taken charge of the 482 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:35,440 situation. He is the attending physician. 483 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,240 He is calling the shots. He has the situation in hands, 484 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,000 and yet the Father's confidence in Jesus waivers. 485 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:49,360 Look at the end of verse 22. But if you can do anything, have 486 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:54,480 compassion on us and help us. This appeal mixes faith and 487 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,640 unbelief. The faith is evident in His 488 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,360 petition. Have compassion on us and help 489 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,920 us. Here the Father echoes the way 490 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,200 that dozens of Psalms appeal to God for help. 491 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,000 It's like what we read, what Ginny read to us in Psalm one O 492 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,040 8 earlier verse 12 O grant us help against the foe. 493 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,240 For vain is the salvation of man. 494 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,920 Vain is the salvation attempted by the disciples Jesus. 495 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,680 Grant us help against the foe. Help, have compassion. 496 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,960 So the Father does believe in Jesus, but he also disbelieves. 497 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,120 He trusts, but he also doubts. The doubt is evident in the 498 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:38,360 first phrase, But if you can do anything, can Jesus do anything? 499 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,920 The Father's not sure. And so Jesus throws his doubt 500 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,320 right back at him, verse 23. And Jesus said to him, if you 501 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,560 can, he just quotes his words back to him. 502 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,520 Then he says all things are possible for one who believes. 503 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,960 Here Jesus first acts as a mirror to reflect the Father's 504 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,280 unbelief back to him and make him consider it. 505 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:12,080 Are you right to doubt? Is that if really reasonable? 506 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:19,200 Is the problem in me or in you? And then Jesus gives him a 507 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:27,160 reason to believe and not doubt. All things are possible for one 508 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,960 who believes. A phrase like this can easily 509 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,600 become a kind of cultural Christianity slogan. 510 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,160 You see it on enough, you know, framed pictures in somebody's 511 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,760 kitchen. You hear it in enough post game 512 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,480 interviews. Or maybe it even gets used in a 513 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:46,600 more sort of prosperity gospel direction. 514 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:48,640 If you believe every disease will be healed. 515 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:50,560 If you believe every bank account will be full. 516 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:52,480 If you believe that house will be yours. 517 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:58,320 But verses like this, you have to kind of reclaim both from a 518 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,040 kind of sentimental cultural Christianity application and 519 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,080 from a prosperity gospel over promising, turning God into a 520 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,040 genie kind of application. What does this mean? 521 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,239 There's comfort here. We have to kind of do some 522 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,120 gardening and wedding to clear it off and get at the comfort. 523 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:20,120 Here's what Jesus means. Faith is an empty channel 524 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,560 through which God's infinite power flows. 525 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:34,560 Faith is an empty hand that lays hold of God's infinite strength. 526 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:42,679 Faith is the bridge between our utter insufficiency and God's 527 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,800 all sufficiency. All things are possible for one 528 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:48,120 who believes. Why? 529 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,480 How can that be true? Jesus gives us part of the 530 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,520 answer later in Mark's Gospel, chapter 10, verse 27. 531 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,160 With God all things are possible. 532 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:04,760 Faith is how you draw on the infinite account of God's power. 533 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,480 Then comes one of the most touching, realistic, comforting 534 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,680 verses of the whole Bible, Mark 9/24. 535 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,280 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I 536 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:28,760 believe, help my unbelief. We'll come back to all things 537 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:33,040 are possible in the next point here I want to focus on I 538 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:39,480 believe help my unbelief. The father of the demon 539 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,360 possessed boy is a picture of every Christian. 540 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,560 It's not just that some believers have weak faith. 541 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,760 It's all of us at different times in different ways. 542 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,480 No Christian has perfect faith. No Christian has bulletproof 543 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,760 faith. No Christian has faith that 544 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,960 never wavers or doubts in any way. 545 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,280 As long as we have the remnants of indwelling sin within us, we 546 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:07,240 will struggle with unbelief. Logically speaking, faith and 547 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:10,040 unbelief are opposites. But our hearts are 548 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,040 contradictory, Our minds are contradictory. 549 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:16,280 Both exist in us. In our experiences, Christians, 550 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,080 faith is always mingled with unbelief. 551 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,000 Everyone who believes is in a constant and lifelong battle 552 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,160 with doubt. If you're not a believer in 553 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,280 Jesus, do you resonate with the Father at all? 554 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,680 Do you feel any of that kind of inner conflict and pull toward 555 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:35,280 Jesus, but you're not quite sure how to get there? 556 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,600 Even if you're not a believer, has faith begun to make some 557 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,000 kind of sense to you? Do you want to believe? 558 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,640 If so, I think you can make an adapted version of this Father's 559 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,800 prayer into your own prayer. Maybe Christianity is starting 560 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:52,840 to make intellectual sense to you, but you find it hard to 561 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:54,640 commit. You find it hard to hand your 562 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,520 whole life over to Jesus. Ask God to give you a willing 563 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:04,320 heart. Ask him to overcome your 564 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,960 opposition. Ask Him for faith. 565 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,840 If you're a believer and you struggle with assurance, I hope 566 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:18,560 this is a verse you'll print off and frame and hang up somewhere. 567 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:24,560 I believe help my own belief. Nobody's faith is perfect. 568 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:31,160 As JC Ryle said, it is of the utmost importance to our comfort 569 00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:37,720 to know that a true believer may be known by their inward warfare 570 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,280 as well as by their inward peace. 571 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:46,760 Weak faith is still faith. Imperfect faith is still faith. 572 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,840 Faith mingled with doubt is still faith. 573 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:53,280 When you examine yourself, don't only consider the presence of 574 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:56,240 doubt. Also notice the presence of 575 00:37:56,240 --> 00:38:00,800 faith. Remember that the presence of 576 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:10,360 doubt is not absence of faith. Help My Unbelief is a prayer of 577 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,640 faith for faith. It's weak faith praying for 578 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:18,080 stronger faith. It's real faith praying for 579 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,440 deeper faith. If you're a believer struggling 580 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:26,480 with doubt, fix your eyes on Christ. 581 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:30,960 Don't let your doubts turn into a kind of vortex that sucks you 582 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,880 into this kind of spiral where you think about this question 583 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,920 and don't know the answer, and maybe you go chase sources and 584 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:41,240 competing views and all the while you're not really focusing 585 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:45,120 on Jesus. It is valid and important to 586 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:47,840 seek intellectual resolution for doubts and difficulties. 587 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:53,560 But we all could think of people who, whatever good answer they 588 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,240 would get, would come up with another objection right 589 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:59,160 afterward. You can have all your doubts 590 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:00,680 satisfied. You can have all your questions 591 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,200 answered, and you still won't believe. 592 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:08,320 Figure out how to fix your attention on Jesus. 593 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,440 Figure out how to engage your heart and mind with Jesus. 594 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,040 He does have good, solid, more than sufficient answers for our 595 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,800 doubts and our questions. But more important than getting 596 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:25,240 answers from Jesus is getting Jesus himself by faith. 597 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:32,160 This passage teaches us that faith is able to accomplish 598 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,520 anything because it relies on the God who can. 599 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,000 Even weak faith is omnipotent. How? 600 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,840 Not in itself. Not as if faith itself is a 601 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,320 magic power. Faith itself is not powerful. 602 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,880 Faith itself has no power. All of faith's power comes from 603 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,120 the God it relies on. And again and put faith to work 604 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,240 is in prayer. As Calvin put it, the first 605 00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:00,320 foundation of faith is to embrace the boundless power of 606 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,960 God. And the first step to prayer is 607 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:06,280 to raise it above all opposition by the firm belief that our 608 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:10,920 prayers are not in vain. All things are possible to one 609 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,680 who believes. But that doesn't make God into a 610 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:20,800 cosmic vending machine. God is not a genie who exists to 611 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:24,480 grant our every wish. All things are possible to one 612 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,000 who believes, but that doesn't mean every desire of your heart 613 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,320 aligns with God's. All things are possible to one 614 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,760 who believes, but that doesn't mean everything you ask God for 615 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:39,880 in prayer is actually good, or that he'd be wise to give it to 616 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,880 you. Faith also. 617 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,760 Trains our hearts to. Ask for what God promises. 618 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:52,360 Faith also trains our hearts to desire what God desires. 619 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,600 All the same. God does promise to answer 620 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,640 prayer. 2 truths we have to hold side by side, even though it's 621 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,360 hard. Prayer is not about performing 622 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:08,480 spiritual magic tricks, and God promises to answer prayer. 623 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,680 It's a mystery. It boils down in part to the 624 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:13,760 tension between God's sovereignty and human 625 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:15,720 responsibility. I don't have all the answers for 626 00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:19,840 it, but scripture teaches both. Prayer is not a magic trick and 627 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:24,320 God really answers prayer. Whatever in your life looks 628 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:30,160 impossible, ask him to do something about it. 629 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,600 Weak faith lays hold of an all powerful savior. 630 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:39,160 And what? Does Jesus? 631 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:47,160 Do with his PowerPoint #4 Almighty, compassion almighty. 632 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:51,080 Compassion. That is what faith gets from 633 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:53,760 Jesus. That is what Jesus puts to work 634 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:57,040 for the good of all who believe. We see this especially in the 635 00:41:57,040 --> 00:41:59,440 healing itself in verses 25 to 27. 636 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:05,560 Look first to verse 25. And when Jesus saw. 637 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:06,960 That a crowd came running together. 638 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,280 He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You mutant deaf 639 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:14,960 spirit, I command you come out of him and never enter him 640 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:18,120 again. Here Jesus casts out the Spirit 641 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,800 by a simple word of command, and to assure the Father and 642 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,040 ultimately the Son that this would never happen again, He 643 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:26,800 commands the demon never to come back. 644 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,640 Jesus's command accomplishes what it demands. 645 00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:36,040 Jesus command demonstrates His sovereign supreme power over all 646 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:37,840 spiritual forces in this universe. 647 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:44,120 His compassion is almighty and His omnipotence is perfectly 648 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,920 compassionate. There are two. 649 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:49,520 Main reasons. Any of us could fail to help 650 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:51,560 somebody. You could have a. 651 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:57,480 Failure of ability. Or of will you could be unable. 652 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,520 To help. Or. 653 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:04,400 Able to help, but unwilling. To help, you could lack power or 654 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,400 lack compassion. You need both in order to do 655 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,800 anybody any good. If you lack either one, you're 656 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:15,840 of no help at all. In verse 23, the. 657 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:21,840 Father questions Jesus's ability if you can, and Jesus proves 658 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:27,040 more than able. Jesus is perfectly willing and 659 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,920 perfectly able to help you in all the deepest ways you need. 660 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:35,880 Jesus is infinitely willing and. Infinitely able. 661 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:41,160 To heal the sickest parts of your soul. 662 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,480 If you were there that. Day you might not have thought 663 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,080 that Jesus word was instantly effective. 664 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:55,080 Look at verses 26 and 27 and. After crying out and convulsing. 665 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,560 Him terribly. It came out and the boy was like 666 00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:59,400 a corpse. So the most of them said he is 667 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:03,200 dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he 668 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,360 arose. When the demon came out of the 669 00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,880 boy, it says he's like a corpse. He looked dead. 670 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:11,480 No movement, no apparent life. The majority of the crowd 671 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:16,440 concluded that Jesus's healing attempt misfired and resulted in 672 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,800 the boy's death. Spiritual malpractice. 673 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,440 The physician made the cure worse than the disease. 674 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:29,840 Imagine you're the boy's father. Thanks Jesus, where the. 675 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:33,080 Demon. Failed to kill my son. 676 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:36,360 You have succeeded. Great job. 677 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:46,680 Jesus apparently made things worse before he made them 678 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:48,880 better. At least that's how it looked to 679 00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,040 the crowd. That's how it looked to the 680 00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:56,480 Father. And that making things worse 681 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,320 before he made them better. It's one of the main reasons why 682 00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:02,240 this passage comes where it does. 683 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:07,960 This passage comes right after a saying of Jesus in verse 12 684 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:13,440 where he refers to his being foreordained to suffer in order 685 00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:14,680 to save us. Look at verse 12. 686 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,360 How is? It written of the son. 687 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:21,240 Of man that he should suffer many things and be treated with 688 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:25,280 contempt. This is the puzzling piece of 689 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:28,240 God's promises that Jesus is trying to get into his disciples 690 00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:30,600 minds. I'm going to suffer to save you. 691 00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:34,920 And right after our passage in verse 30, we see that Jesus 692 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,160 began to teach again. Look at verse 31. 693 00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:39,680 The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, 694 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,800 and they will kill him. And when he is killed after 695 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:47,320 three days, he will rise. The message of Jesus to his 696 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,160 disciples that he's teaching them again and again and again 697 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:54,600 in this section is it's going to get worse before it gets better. 698 00:45:55,240 --> 00:45:57,280 That's all part of the plan here. 699 00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:00,880 He's giving them a picture of what that looks like in 700 00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:05,280 practice. How does Jesus save us? 701 00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,760 By dying, then rising from the dead. 702 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:11,920 And so his treatment of this boy is a picture of how he saves us. 703 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:14,800 And it's a. Picture of the path. 704 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:20,920 Of discipleship for all of us. The boy's helplessness. 705 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:23,520 Is a picture. Of our own spiritual. 706 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:27,080 Condition. Before Jesus saves us. 707 00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,080 We're in bondage to power stronger than us. 708 00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:35,360 There are forces at work in us that are trying to kill us 709 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,840 eternally, and we can't liberate ourselves. 710 00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:45,720 We can't fix ourselves. Only someone stronger can. 711 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,280 Only someone who has divine power can. 712 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:52,080 And that's what God sent Jesus into the world to accomplish. 713 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:56,200 He sent him, his Jesus puts it to bind the strong man, to 714 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,800 demolish Satan, to destroy his power. 715 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:02,080 And Jesus did that by dying on the cross and paying the penalty 716 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:04,720 for all the sins of all those who had turned from sin and 717 00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:07,560 trust in him. Then after that, after dying for 718 00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:09,840 the sins of all who would believe, he rose from the dead 719 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,120 on the third day. He destroyed death. 720 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,760 He defeated death. He himself entered into a new 721 00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:17,760 kind of life that death couldn't touch. 722 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:20,240 And that's the promise he holds out to all who turned from sin 723 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:25,680 and trust in him. It gets worse in order to get 724 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:30,400 better. Jesus suffered the worst in 725 00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:31,360 order. To offer you the. 726 00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:36,720 Best, that's the message of the gospel as we've seen over and 727 00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:42,200 over again in Mark's gospel cross then resurrection is Jesus 728 00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:46,920 path of saving us and it's our path of following him looking at 729 00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:50,760 verse 27. Jesus took him by. 730 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,800 The hand and lifted him up and he arose. 731 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:56,400 It's just like what he did to the girl who actually was dead, 732 00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,200 Gyrus's daughter back in chapter 5. 733 00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:01,000 It's just like what he's going to do to himself in rising from 734 00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:03,440 the dead. It's just like what he's going 735 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:07,840 to do to every single person who believes in him on the last day. 736 00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:11,720 He will, as it were, take you by the hand, lift you up, and you 737 00:48:11,720 --> 00:48:16,240 will arise, never to fall again. That's the promise of the 738 00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:18,520 gospel. That's what Jesus is picturing, 739 00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:23,400 even in the way he saves this poor demon oppressed boy. 740 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:26,880 That's the good news of what he came to accomplish. 741 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:34,960 If you're a believer in Jesus, it is safe in various ways to 742 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:38,920 expect things to get worse before they get better. 743 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:43,760 There's no way into the Kingdom except through the cross. 744 00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:49,520 Expect to suffer. Expect to struggle against sin 745 00:48:49,520 --> 00:48:52,200 as long as you live. Expect. 746 00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:55,920 To endure. Trials that you didn't ask for 747 00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:59,040 and that you wouldn't wish on an enemy. 748 00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:05,560 God has good purposes in and through all of those. 749 00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:11,520 God has good and wise reasons for making it worse. 750 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:17,920 Before he makes it better. God is testing you, purifying 751 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:23,640 you, sanctifying you. 1 crucial way he does that is by making 752 00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:25,480 things worse before they get better. 753 00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:28,920 So keep trusting Jesus. Trust his power, trust his 754 00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:32,120 compassion. Trust that He is perfectly 755 00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:36,720 willing and perfectly able to give whatever help you need. 756 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:43,320 Brothers and sisters, if it's normal that some things get 757 00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:47,920 worse before God makes all things better, then we shouldn't 758 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:50,000 be afraid to share our suffering with each other. 759 00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:54,120 We shouldn't be afraid to share our struggles with each other. 760 00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,800 We shouldn't be afraid to confess our sins to each other. 761 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:01,760 When someone does share a struggle or something they're 762 00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:06,880 suffering with you. The best thing you can do is 763 00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:12,600 point them to Christ's person, Christ's work, and Christ's 764 00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:16,440 promises. No matter how bad things look 765 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:22,480 for you right now, if you trust in Jesus, keep trusting in Him 766 00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:25,840 and keep hoping in His almighty compassion. 767 00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:30,760 Keep your eyes fixed on the day when, coming soon, Jesus will 768 00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:34,040 exercise that almighty compassion perfectly toward you 769 00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:38,360 and toward the whole creation. There is a day coming when 770 00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:42,040 Christ will completely remake you and completely remake this 771 00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:45,520 universe. There is a day coming when 772 00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:52,600 Christ's almighty compassion will expel all sickness, all 773 00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:58,680 suffering, all sin, and everything that could diminish 774 00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:02,880 your enjoyment of His infinite goodness. 775 00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:05,600 No. Matter how weak. 776 00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:09,200 Your faith feels. Remember that your Savior's 777 00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:14,560 compassion is omnipotent. Your Savior's mercy is almighty. 778 00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:20,920 Weak faith lays hold of an all powerful Savior. 779 00:51:23,760 --> 00:51:28,000 Though Satan should buff it, the trials should come. 780 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:36,160 Let this blessed assurance control that Christ has regarded 781 00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:41,760 my helpless estate and have shed His own blood for my soul. 782 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:54,600 Let's pray together. Heavenly. 783 00:51:54,600 --> 00:52:00,640 Father, we pray for those who don't believe that they would. 784 00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:05,320 We pray for all. Of us who do believe that you'd 785 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:08,120 help our unbelief, we pray that you would. 786 00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:12,440 Grant us. To trust you with and trust you 787 00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:15,320 for those things that look impossible. 788 00:52:16,920 --> 00:52:21,400 May we see your. Omnipotence at work in our lives 789 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:26,200 through faith we pray in Jesus name, Amen.