Antidote For Unbelief
By
Rev. Todd W. Allen
Villa Rica
11/14/04
Mark 9:14-29
Our Lord
came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and the first thing he had
to contend with was a case of unbelief. It does not appear to be such a
case at first because the little boy who was brought by his father to
the disciples seemed to have a very severe problem. It would be easy to
say that it was not a case of unbelief but a case of demon possession
and well nigh beyond anyone's strength to deal with.
As Jesus approaches the crowd that had
gathered the first thing he noticed was that some scribes were arguing
with the disciples. Jesus wanted to know what they had been discussing.
But He knew what they had been discussing. They had been discussing the
case of the demon possessed boy and the inability of the disciples to
cast the demon out of him. These unbelieving scribes jumped on the
disciples and began insisting that they were powerless to do anything
and that their Master was unable to help this father and son. How
quickly do the enemies of God seize on any opportunity to scorn and
ridicule and berate any sign of failure or weakness? But at the
appearance of Jesus they became quiet.
Be sure the Devil will stir up
opposition and doubt whenever he can. We must be strong in faith and
bold for our God when dealing with cases brought to us. Any problem, any
difficulty is a challenge to faith to solve in the power of Christ.
The story is given in Mark 9:17-19.
And
one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed
with a spirit which makes him mute; 18and whenever it seizes
him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth,
and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it
out, and they could not do it.”
19And
He answered* them and said*,
“O unbelieving generation, how long shall I
be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
Mark 9:17-19
I. The Unbelief Of Others
Affects Us
The
crowd that day was not in a faith attitude. The disciples may have
neglected prayer while the Master was away. The case appeared to be most
difficult and Satan's spokesmen were on hand to deride and criticize.
When Moses went up to the mountain while he was gone the people departed
from the faith they had been taught and reverted back to idolatry.
While Jesus and Peter, James and John
had gone to the mount of Transfiguration the faith of those who had
stayed below
weakened. If you run with a worldly crowd your faith will be feeble.
Some people come to church full of doubts and throw a dampening blanket
on the worship of God. They make church into a time of debate and doubt.
Instead of expecting a blessing they are looking to find a little
amusement or ammunition for why they have never committed their life to
Christ. Those scribes that day were a deadening influence on the
disciples and everyone else. They came looking for an excuse to justify
their unbelief rather than seeking for an answer to their own sin
problem.
Charles
Haddon Spurgeon said these wise words: “When cast by providence
among sinful people who respect us, we ought to be particularly
watchful. The hatred of the ungodly when poured on Christians in the
form of persecution is seldom harmful to their spiritual nature, but
the friendship of the world is always to be suspected. When the servants
of the high priest allowed Peter to warm his hands at the fire, had
Peter been a wise man, he would have been afraid that evil would come of
it. We are disarmed by kindness, but it is never safe to be disarmed in
an enemy's country. "Who," says the old proverb, "could live in
Rome and yet be at war with
the pope?" Who can have much to do with sinners and not have something
to do with their sins? The smiling daughters of Moab did more mischief
to Israel than all Balak's
frowning warriors. All
Philistia could not have blinded Samson if Delilah's charms had not
deluded him. Our worst foes will be found among our ungodly friends.
Those who are false to God are not likely to be true to us. Walk
carefully, believer, if your way lies by the sinner's door, and
especially if that sinner has acted a friendly part to you.
We also should learn from this case that
sin is no small little problem. The demon had gained possession of this
boy at an early age. We don't know how old this boy was but he may have
been a youth, perhaps a teenager. When Jesus asked his father when this
all began in his son's life he told him it began in his childhood. He
said,
22“It
has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy
him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” Mark 9:22
This father had come to see the
seriousness of sin and the Devil's power. He knew quite well that the
demon in his son was out to destroy him. Some of you here have seen your
own children get under the influence of the Devil. They have seemingly
been deaf to your pleadings and they seem unable to speak with you about
the problem. A spirit of the demonic seems to take control in spite of
anything you can do. We can identify with this distraught and hand
wringing father. He had come to the church and had found that the
disciples could not give him any help. But he was desperate enough and
humble enough to not leave. Now that Jesus is on the scene he is not
altogether sure that Jesus can do anything either but just in the hope
that he might be able to do something he implores him if he can do
anything, take pity on us and help us!
II. The
Sovereign Authority Of Jesus Christ
Our Lord
tosses the "If" back at this father -
3And
Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things
are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23
The very desperation of this father is
fertile soil
for faith. Where
else would he go for help? If he were alive today he might take him to a
specialist, to the emergency room at the hospital or to a clinic. He
would seek human help for his son. But this son needed more than a
clinic or dispensary or even a hospital emergency room. His case was not
to be traced to some inherited or acquired deficiency or defect. His
need was spiritual, as are most problems in life. He needed a divine
deliverance from his seizures because there was a demonic influence in
his life.
Perhaps the boy had gotten into the habit
of lying: Perhaps he had indulged in some sinful things that had enabled
the Devil to capture his soul. How easy it is for the Devil to take
souls captive. How hard it is to break loose from habits and lusts and
the shackles of sin., We see young people today getting hooked on
alcohol and drugs, on sex, on shop lifting, on cheating, lying and
mischief. What starts out as a lark may become a monkey on your back
that you can't get rid of.
This father had a little faith but he
admitted
that he had a lot of unbelief too.
24Immediately
the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
Mark 9:24
How can a person have faith and unbelief
at the same time? Some people have no faith at all. They are totally
unbelieving. They are atheistic. They deny that there is any
supernatural realm at all. But most people could identify with this
father. He said he believed in God, but just how much he believed he
could not say. There was a lot in his life that he would have to say was
of unbelief. He may have gone to the synagogue. He may have listened
respectfully to the rabbis. He may have prayed at times. But he had to
admit that his heart was not on fire for God. He wasn't as sure of the
things of God and of Christ as He thought he ought to be. But he prayed
a very good prayer that day, and it was from
the heart. He
confessed his unbelief. He admitted to Jesus that he needed help with
his faith.
Jesus then cast the demon out of his
son. There never was any doubt about the power of Christ to deliver the
demon out of this boy. And when he brings deliverance it is permanent.
25When
Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean
spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out
of him and do not enter him again.” Mark 9:25
Notice that the Devil had stopped the
ears of this lad. He was deaf as well as dumb. He had ears to hear put
the Devil had effectively stopped up his ears so that he couldn't hear
the gospel. The Devil can stop the ears of people right in the church so
that even though the gospel of God's love and mercy is going forth they
are so locked into a life of sin that they never hear a word of what is
being preached. But God used the feeble faith of that father to bring
his boy to Jesus, and then Jesus exorcised the demon.
Later the disciples asked him why they
had not been able to do what he had done.
29And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything
but prayer.” Mark 9:29
Some manuscripts add fasting. The real
problem is revealed in Matthew's account.
And He said* to them, “Because of the littleness of your
faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it
will move; and nothing will be impossible
to you.
Matt.
17:20
Unbelief is overcome when we go to Jesus
for help
We must consider
who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, where He is now. Every problem we
face in life requires faith to be resolved. Prayer is the antidote for
unbelief. Jesus said so. The truth is, you won't pray unless you have
faith, and faith is strengthened through prayer.
I would add to that Bible study and
Bible preaching. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, by believing
the Word of God and acting upon it.
Prayer is the means of grace which looks
to God alone for the answer. The disciples had depended too much on
their own handling of the case brought before them and had not sought to
God for the answer to his need. They failed because of little faith in
God and too much faith in themselves.
Oswald Chambers was quoted in
Christianity Today as saying “Beware of worshipping Jesus as the Son
of God, and professing your faith in Him as the Savior of the world,
while you blaspheme Him by the complete evidence in your daily life that
He is powerless to do anything in and through you.”
There once was a good woman who was well
known among her circle for her simple faith, and her great calmness in
the midst of many trials. Another woman, living at a distance, hearing
of her, said, "I must go and see that woman and learn the secret of her
holy, happy life." She went; and accosting the woman, said, "Are you the
woman with the great faith?" "NO," replied
the woman, "I am
not the woman with the great faith;
but I am the woman
with a little faith in the great
God. "
The father of the lad in this passage of
Scripture did the right thing -- he brought his son to Jesus and he
prayed for more faith. His little faith was rewarded.
Maybe you have a
little faith today and you have a big problem. Go to God in prayer about
your problem and persist in your request for an answer. The Lord tells
us that importunity and persistence will gain the answer. By such
importunity and persistence we are impressed with the fact that it is
God who brings answers to problems, not we ourselves.
0 help us through the prayer of faith
More
firmly to believe;
For still the more thy servant hath,
The more
shall he receive.
Have you come to Jesus with your sin
problem? He alone can solve that problem. He alone is the Savior. Come
to him today and bring every problem you have. He is able to deliver
you. Cast away your doubts and fears. Come to Jesus and find the
forgiveness and peace that he alone can give.
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The paper and sermon manuscripts from
Pastor
Todd W. Allen
are made freely available for review and
distribution. We only request that proper
web page attribution be provided if
distributed for any reason. Please be
gracious to forgive typos and errors of
expression. These notes are faithful
approximations of what has been preached.
May God be glorified in the preaching of
His Word.