All Things are Possible to him who Believes

 

 

"When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. And He asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and 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." And 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!" They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"

And he said, "From childhood. 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!" And Jesus said to him, "‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." When 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." After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!" But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?" And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."

Mark 9:14-29

Good Morning my beloved,
 
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are so glad that you could be here with us today, whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ. I feel like Peter when said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here!" I love God's Truth and it is important that we  embrace and defend the Truth over tolerance, in a world where Christianity is ridiculed and hated. The Truth is, Christ came to die for sin, and called for repentance of sins like pride, covetousness, lust and sexual immorality, all the things that sinners love. I believe the biggest reason Christianity has lost it's influence is because despite claiming to follow Him, most Christians fail to speak the truth in love and embody the same biblical principles for which Christ sacrificed His life. The gap between profession and exhibiting contradictory behavior of fulfilling their own lusts and desires, has lead to a lack of credibility among non-believers, as well as many fellow Christians. Truth is the defining factor that separates the Kingdom of God, where Truth is exemplified and the kingdom of darkness, which thrives on deception, lies, and manipulation, hindering spiritual growth. It is sad that so many professing Christians, seem to have forgotten the ways of God, and the results are disastrous.

We believe in a God we have not seen, a belief deeply rooted in our faith. The Christian life must not only be received by faith, it must also be lived by faith. The Word of God tells us everything we need to know, it's what anchors our faith! Unless the true church, the genuine followers of Christ, are willing to participate in the exposure of false teachers, that are leading people astray and causing confusion among those seeking spiritual guidance and awaken people to the Truth by pointing out the inconsistencies and deviations from the Truths contained in God’s Word, and provide them with accurate and reliable interpretations of Scripture, the entire earth is headed toward judgment. When we acknowledge God as the ultimate Authority, and the consequences for disobedience, we understand God's divine wrath and judgement is not only necessary to hold individuals responsible for their ungodly actions, but it is a justified response for those who openly rebel against His divine principles. Justice must be done, through the God of justice.  How often do we want what we want, because is to our advantage, rather than seeking God's will? Isn't that what "Thy will be done" means? 

Let us pray

Heavenly Father,

Father, thank You for Your Word, for the profound life-changing lesson on the power of faith we have before us. Help us Lord not to depend not on ourselves, but to humbly depend upon You, our source for all things, through faith and persistent prayer. Fulfill Your divine plans in and through our lives to shape every aspect of us into greater Christ-likeness so that our lives will honor Christ and bring You glory. Help us to trust Your perfect wisdom when we don’t understand and strive to truly believe in the transformative power of faith and let it inspire personal growth and make a lasting impact on the world. Father, we pray for those who have never placed their faith in Christ, open their hearts and grant them the gift of repentance leading to salvation. We ask and pray in Christ's precious name.

Amen

Today's Message: All Things are Possible to him who Believes

In Christian circles, we often hear that faith accomplishes great things, but I wonder if we really believe it, if we truly grasp the magnitude of that statement, in its power and ability to provide hope and strength in the face of daunting challenges and bring about change in the lives of others. Faith is not merely a concept, but has been the driving force in bringing about transformative changes not only in the lives of those who have embraced faith and allowed it to guide their actions but in the world through the powerful faith of the disciples, who had a difficult time grasping it and were often characterized by the shallowness of their faith. Though our faith is not perfect, but because it is a gift given to us by God, it is sufficient. There are many testimonies to the power of faith and how it has played a significant role in Scripture and throughout history. 

 

I believe some of the most prominent examples are found in Daniel chapter 3, where the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in God’s protection that enabled them to stand on the edge of the fiery furnace. In the sixth chapter, it was Daniel's faith that enabled him Daniel to survive the lion’s den and no harm was found upon him. Then, in Genesis 6, it was faith that allowed Noah to build a great ark and preach righteousness. And, in Luke chapter 7, it was faith that saved the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Aren’t we glad when the power of God shows up in our desperate circumstances?

However, it is important to understand that Satan's ultimate goal is to mislead, defeat, discourage, enslave us by relentlessly employing various tactics to weaken the foundation of our faith, and hinder our spiritual growth or destroy our faith, to undermine and obliterate the work of Christ in our lives, in our churches by fostering disagreements, and conflicts among church members, and in our relationships by sowing discord and division. He knows that a united body of believers, rooted in the Truth of God's Word, has the immense power prayer which can advance God's work in profound ways. We are not alone in this battle. God equips us with the Holy Spirit, Who empowers and strengthens us to resist Satan's strategies.

Open your Bibles with me to the ninth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Mark 9:14-29. This portion of Scripture is very special, it is about faith and believing, which is the dominating theme of the Christian life. It’s amazing, that Mark actually gives us a more lengthy account than Matthew and Luke, it may well be because Mark’s source was Peter, who was an eyewitness. Nonetheless, Matthew and Luke provide further insight that I believe enrich Mark's more lengthy account. If we will learn it well, I believe it will change your life and mine. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. Let's open our hearts and minds and see how the Lord might use today's lesson of faith to impact not only our lives but the lives of others.

"When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. And He asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and 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." And 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!" They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"

And he said, "From childhood. 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!" And Jesus said to him, "‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." When 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." After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!" But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?" And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."

Let's look at verse 14, "When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them." When they came back,"Mark is referring to Jesus, Peter, James, and John coming back from the Mount where the glory of His transfiguration on the Mount and a glorified Moses and Elijah, and the voice of God dominated the scene, to the valley where the other disciples are and they see a large crowd gathered around them, and some scribes arguing with them. Whenever people saw the disciples, who are known to be associates of Jesus, they would assume that He would be there. Only this time, they find that He’s not there. And they see some scribes arguing with them, probably arguing with them for the purpose of discrediting Jesus. They were just about everywhere Jesus was presumed to be trying to "set Him straight" according their misrepresentation of the Old Testament and  inaccurate view of God and of the kingdom.

Verse 15, "Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him."  As soon as the crowd sees Jesus arrive with Peter, James, and John, they were so utterly amazed, they began running toward Him as fast as they can. Mark uses a very strong verb "ekthambéō," meaning out of one's senses. 

 

Verse 16, "And He asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" Jesus steps in and confronted them, what are you arguing with them about? They’ve obviously gotten themselves into a situation they were having difficulty handling. It's interesting that the disciples and the scribes didn’t say anything, I imagine the disciples didn't answer because it must have been embarrassing for them to be so powerless and unproductive in the face of Jesus' enemies. The scribes probably kept their mouths shut because they would much rather argue with the disciples than with Him. They were always losing their battle with Him, the influence and deception of Satan doesn't stand a chance against the Truth of God, does it? Belief divorced from Truth will always dwell in darkness. Nobody says a word until a man in the crowd speaks out.

Verses 17-18, "And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and 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." Not only had the disciples lost the argument with the scribes, but they lost the argument in terms of demonstrating the power of God, they were unable to free this young man from the bondage of the demonic spirit that had total power over him. They weren't just being mocked and scorned by the scribes, they weren't just embarrassed in front of the crowds, they are humbled in front of Jesus because they couldn’t do it, even though He had delegated the power to them to cast out unclean spirits. Matthew adds  the man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." Luke says he begged them and they still couldn’t do it. The problem is, they had already been casting out many demons. Now we know why they didn’t say anything. Beloved, Satan is real, he and his vast multitude of demons have a great power in the world. 

 

Jesus’ strong indictment in verse 19 is very important, "And 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!" That’s the way He normally talks to the religious leaders. This is the voice of holy despair, an expression of godly sorrow over the state of unbelief, He’s not talking to the father of the boy, though that may have been true to some degree. He's talking to His faithless disciples, that had to be hard to deal with. 

 

I can tell you from my own personal experience, lack of trust from those you love, those you've dedicated your life to and have suffered for is a hard thing to handle. And that's nothing compared to living a perfect life of obedience to the Father, not only in front of His own followers but even His enemies. That may seem surprising to us that those who walked with Him so closely, could be so faithfulness but there are many people today who are struggling with addiction to sinful habits and lifestyles who are just as faithless in the power of God to overcome them! They are more like these disciples than they probably care to admit. The reason the disciples could not cast out the demon was because according to the words of Jesus because they had no faith in His Authority in that given situation. It wasn't that they needed more power to cast out the demon, they were wavering in the faith, waning in their trust. They needed to learn how to believe by faith before He’s gone, because in a few short months, He'll be going away. Everything up to this point has been faith by sight.

 

Allow me to remind you, the God we serve is a God Who moves mountains, if you have faith in His power and seek His will. James 4:3, warns us "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." God is not here to do your selfish bidding, while you disobey His Word, this is a serious problem in the church today plagued by sin! Why don't you believe that the power of God can deliver you from your sin? Because you have no trust!

Verse 20, "They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth." Luke tells it happened while he was still approaching. As soon as they started to bring the boy to Him and the demon comes face to face with the Lord, he springs into action, throwing him into convulsions, it's the very dramatic verb in the Greek, "sysparássō," meaning to violently throw on the ground. Then he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth, in the midst of being violently slammed on the ground. 

 

Verse 21, "And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood." It’s been this way his whole life, though we're not told how many years it's been. Obviously, Jesus didn't need to know, He already knows everything. He wanted to know because He genuinely cares about our pain and suffering. Our Lord is compassionate and sympathetic, He wants to give this heart-broken father an opportunity to express his pain! That's why Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." He takes our infirmities upon Himself, doesn't He?

 

Verse 22, "It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him." It's as though the demon wanted to kill this young man, but he would not get to do what he wanted! This father has spent his whole life trying to keep this demon from killing his son, rescuing him from out of fires, trying to keep this demon from drowning his young son. Then he says "But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" Apparently, he's not sure if He can, but there must have been a glimmer of hope. It doesn't take much faith for impossibilities to become realities, does it? It only takes faith. He's saying if You are moved by compassion respond to our urgent need. The word "boēthéō," was originally a military term for responding quickly to an urgent distress call for help.

I love Jesus' reaction in verse 23, "If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes." That’s the point of the lesson, the power of faith, not only for this father and the disciples, but His words are fitting for all of us today who will hear His words! He wants to make sure that we get the point, it’s not a question of whether God can,  His power is available to those who believe in Him and His power. Listen, the power of God is not bound by anything, Jesus healed many people who didn’t believe, that's not the issue here. The real issue is unbelief cannot please God. Like all of us, the disciples needed to learn how to access the power of God by faith, which will ultimately benefit them and all those they will minister to. How much faith do you have to have? Do you believe God can do anything? Enough to commit yourselves to living for the Lord Jesus Christ and living in the power of His Spirit? There is a direct correlation between the kind of faith we have and the way we live our Christian lives.

 

Verse 24, "Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." This is a great encouragement to all of us! He is one of the most transparent people found in Scripture. I believe but come to my rescue and help me keep believing. It's the same Greek verb "boēthéō." We do not need to imagine that the Lord expects perfect faith, though He's worthy of it, He knows all He’s ever going to get out of us is imperfect faith, faith mixed with doubts and fears. But if we are willing to humble ourselves and ask Him to give us whatever we're lacking, He will dispel our insecurities. This man confessed his belief and asked for help with his unbelief, look how Jesus responded.

 

Verse 25, "When 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." He acts quickly to the situation because the crowd is starting to grow, He's does not need to prove anything to them. The emphasis now is on instruction for His disciples. Matthew tells us "And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once." 

 

In verse 26, Mark gives us more detail, "After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead! The demon demonstrates one last final violent protest before it came out, leaving the boy just lying there so physically exhausted, they think he's dead. Let this be a lesson, what Satan cannot control, he seeks to destroy. He particularly seeks to destroy the reputation, credibility and moral standing of those in positions of leadership and authority, through the spread of rumors, the manipulation of information, or the incitement of conflict and immoral conduct.

 

Verse 27, "But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up." Luke tells us He healed the boy and gave him back to his father. "But Jesus" I love that, took him by the hand and gave him back to his father, what a beautiful illustration of tenderness and compassion. We can only imagine the immense gratitude this father would have felt, having his son restored and given back to him. But the main point of this miracle was to demonstrate to the disciples that this same power was available to them, if they just would believe. We often use the metaphor faith can move mountains when facing difficult circumstances, but that's not a literal promise, except for God Himself, nobody can do that. The disciples faced a situation more formidable than anything they had ever encountered since the Lord had delegated His power to them, so extreme, it was a mountain of sorts. It's important to understand that if God has revealed that it is His will, nothing is impossible, if you have even a small amount of faith. The kind of faith that the father of the young boy had when he said, "I do believe; help my unbelief," was more faith than those who had been with Him from the very beginning. That has to be a hard lesson for them to learn. The power has already been delegated to them, all they needed was the faith to believe it. This isn't about believing that if we have enough faith, we can raise the dead, heal sickness and disease or cast out unclean spirits as some have suggested, it's about having the faith to believe that no matter how impossible it may seem for us, that God can and will honor His promises. In other words, faith is believing that God will do what He said He will do.

Do you believe that God will save you, through Jesus Christ, no matter how wretched, how ungodly your life has been? He will, if you will repent and cry out for mercy, and believe what He has said in His Word, He promises to grant you the gift of salvation. By His grace, He will remove the desires of your perverse heart and forgive all your sins and give you a new heart, one that longs to please Him. If you believe that, I encourage you go to Him in faith and expect Him to grant you salvation.

 

Verse 28, "When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?" When He came into the house, we don't know who's house it was, Mark just says the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, and of course the question on their minds is "Why could we not drive it out?" That tells us they obviously tried to do it on their own but were unsuccessful. I believe they thought they could do it in their own strength because they had been able to do it before. Remember Jesus' words in John 15:4-5, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." We need to be dependent on Jesus, Who is our source to the power of God. Listen, we will never have the ability to overcome the insurmountable circumstances in life in terms of human strength, that's not the way we approach our problems as Christians. Prayer is the pathway to change, isn't it?

That brings us to verse 29, "And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer." We can't ever expect for God to act if we haven't taken it to Him in prayer to cause His power to be released. The author of Hebrews 11:6 tells us "He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." When the people of God come to Him in faith, God moves powerfully. John 15:7, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Abiding in Christ means to be in constant close communion with Him, trusting him to meet all our needs. We live by faith, dependent upon the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word of God to us to bring us closer to Christ, inseparably linked through prayer. May we have faith that is alive, instructive and life-changing, all for the glory of God.

May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

 
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