Please turn with me in the Gospel of Mark to chapter 9, when Pastor Gordon said that he was serving on a jury and could I preach tonight, I realized that I had this sermon already done and we were just reaching it in Sunday school, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, if you can do that on the Sabbath day. So, it's a marvelous story, a great Word from God that we're going to read tonight. Mark chapter 9, beginning at verse 14, and we'll read down through verse 32. Mark chapter 9 at verse 14, this is God's own Word. And when they, that is Jesus and James and John, coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted him. And he asked them, What are you arguing about with them? And someone from the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And when it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams, it grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. And Jesus answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him, and when the Spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, how long has this been happening to him? And he said, from childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes. Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a crowd was coming running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, the disciples asked him privately, why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. They went on from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and when he is killed, after three days he will rise. And they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask Him. So far the reading of God's Word. I believe helped my unbelief. I think that's probably one of the more memorable verses of Scripture. It's a very powerful declaration, isn't it? It's a remarkable statement, I believe help my unbelief. It's the word of a father as it's recorded for us here in this account of what is usually called the healing of the demon-possessed boy. And Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell this story, although it's interesting when you compare the three accounts how very different they are. They are not different in that there's any contradiction among them, but each of the three gospel writers that includes this story clearly has a very different purpose in telling the story. Luke tells the story to show the glory of Jesus. Matthew tells the story to focus on the disciples. Mark tells the story to focus on the father of the boy. And it's also interesting that although Mark is usually the briefest gospel and most of the stories he tells, he tells briefly, when Mark gets to this story, he is twice as long as any of the other gospels in its telling. Clearly, this is very important to Mark. No word is wasted in His recounting of what is going on as Jesus comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration, as His disciples, the three that had gone with Him, have seen His glory there. And Jesus comes down from that glory to a mess. this world is a mess, and if you're going to live in it, you're going to live in a mess. And that's what Jesus finds. He finds the disciples who didn't go with Him, the nine, there at the bottom of the mountain, and they are quarreling, they are arguing, they are having a theological discussion, and they are facing, the first thing that Mark shows us, is failure. Jesus has come from glory to failure. And what is the failure He faces? Well, first of all, it's the failure of a fallen world in which a young boy is horribly afflicted. It's interesting, Mark in this telling comes back four times, adding descriptions of all of the afflictions on this boy. He's mute. He can't control himself when he's seized. He's convulsed. And these convulsions are so severe that he can't control himself at all, and sometimes when he has convulsed, he's fallen into water or into fire. And the father who is recounting this says, clearly the demon is out to destroy this boy. That's the spiritual reality that Jesus is confronting as he comes down. And this reveals to us, makes clear to us the purpose of the evil one, The evil one who always claims to be coming to do good, to make us freer, to make us happier, in reality comes only to destroy. And Jesus comes to this spiritual warfare. This is what Paul describes, doesn't he, in Ephesians chapter 6, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. There, especially during the earthly ministry of Jesus, is this powerful revelation of demonic opposition come to destroy, destroy the truth, destroy life, destroy the Son of God, and here Jesus is seeing the failure in this world of those who are in the grip of the evil one. But it's not only the failure of this sad fallen world that Jesus confronts. It's the failure of His own disciples that He confronts. You remember in Mark, disciple always means apostles. He's not just talking about run-of-the-mill disciples like you and me. He's talking about this specially selected group that He has chosen. And He took three of the twelve up on the Mount of Transfiguration, but the nine remained below, and they have failed to deliver this poor boy at the entreaty of his father from this demon. And the disciples were told by Mark, verse 18, the father says, So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able, the ESV says. The Greek actually says they were not strong enough. They were not strong enough to cast out this demon. And Jesus reacts really sharply, doesn't He? Oh, faithless generation, how long do I have to put up with you? I think this is directed very much at the apostles, maybe at others in the crowd as well. The faithless generation are the apostles at this point. And I think we know that because earlier in Mark's gospel, Mark has been very clear that Jesus has given to the apostles the power to cast out demons. And he sent them out on a mission where they cast out demons. This isn't as if this father comes to these apostles with some new request they've never thought about and they just didn't know what to do about it. They had failed in the mission that Jesus had given them. Throughout Mark's gospel, we read that Jesus came preaching and casting out demons. And Jesus had given that commission to His apostles. You go and preach and cast out demons. And they had gone and they had preached and they had cast out demons. What's happened here? Well, Jesus diagnoses what has happened here, doesn't He? They are faithless. They have failed in faith. They haven't trusted what He said to them. They haven't carried out what He called them to do. And you can feel the frustration in Jesus, can't you? How long must I put up with this generation, this faithless generation? That question, how long, is a question that echoes through the Psalter, doesn't it? Often articulated by the people of God when they're suffering. How long, O Lord? How long? And here we see the suffering of Jesus in the face of faithlessness in those closest to Him. His frustration, His anguish, His suffering. And this is recorded by Mark with such care and such passion because He wants us to think about what does it mean to have faith? what does it mean to believe? What does it mean to trust Jesus? Because I think one of Mark's regular points is, we can do better than the apostles did. Now, I'm not saying we could do better than the apostles did after Pentecost. They became impressive after Pentecost. But here, there's a great weakness, there's a great failure. And Mark wants to show us what faith really is and how critical it is. And he does that by focusing in on this Father. You know, it is interesting, I think, that all three Gospels talk about this healing or this deliverance of the boy possessed by a demon, none of the three really focus on the boy. He's the occasion for these stories, but not really the center of the story. And here, the center of the story is very much the father. And so, Jesus asks the father, verse 21, how long has this been happening to him? And the father said, from childhood. Now, we don't know exactly how old the boy is, but clearly this is a matter of years this has been going on. And it has often cast him into the fire and into water to destroy him. And then the father says to Jesus, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. What a statement. If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. You know, one of the great themes of Mark's gospel is, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? And what we've seen in the chapters of Mark coming up to this point is that Jesus is the compassionate one. Jesus is the helping one. Jesus is the one who cares and provides. There's a kind of irony in this address. If you have compassion, If you can help, please help us. And Jesus gives an answer that at first glance might seem a little confusing. Verse 23, Jesus says, if you can. He's taking those words that the Father spoke, if you can. Now, some have argued that what Jesus is saying when He says, if you can, is it's not a matter of what I do, it's a matter of what you do. If you can, Father, you're the one who has to help Him. It's not me, it's you, if you can. That's often the Pentecostal reading of this verse. It's really up to you. But that's really not what Jesus is saying at all. The Greek is really very clear that Jesus is simply repeating the words of the Father. He's not telling the Father that it's up to Him. He's challenging the Father's uncertainty about Jesus. It's as if Jesus is saying, if we translated it into the way we would speak in English, it's as if Jesus is saying, if I can, if I can. If any of you have ever been to the National Convention of Ligonier Ministries, one of the things people particularly enjoy is that there's a question and answer session at several points through the days of that conference, And it was always a treat to hear R.C. Sproul answering questions because he did it with such energy and vigor and often with humor. And we got a question once in that way, and it was a sensitive pastoral question, but it rested on a very basic theological point. And so there was a pause after the question was asked, and R.C. finally looked out at this crowd of people, And he said, what's the matter with you people? And I think Jesus says this in sort of that tone. If I can, who do you think I am? He's been surrounded by unbelief. Here he has come, the Lord of glory, taking upon himself our humanity. entering into our world of suffering. He's come out of His compassion. He's come to help us. And the question put to Him is, if you have compassion and if you can help do something. And Jesus says, if I can. And then He speaks to the heart of the spiritual issue here. all things are possible for one who believes. Now, this is another translation that is as good as far as it goes, but what it really says is, all things can be for one who believes. We've been talking about who can do what. The disciples couldn't do it. Jesus can do it. all things can be to the one who believes. So, what does Jesus mean by that? What does Jesus want us to learn from that central word that He preaches to this desperate Father? Does Jesus want us to conclude if we really trust Him, we can have a Rolls-Royce? Does Jesus want us to conclude that if we really trust Him, we can be delivered from any sickness we have? What is He teaching us here? All things can be to the one who believes. Well, first of all, He's calling us to trust Him. Believing is not a work that we do. It's a relationship that we have with the Savior. It's relying on Him. It's turning to Him. It's relying on Him. It's trusting Him. All things can be to the one who trusts Me. And of course, implicit in that statement is, do you trust Me? Are you relying on Me? And that's the real focus here. Are we a people who rely on Jesus, who trust Him? It shows how perverse we are that often we want to focus on all things can be. Oh, great, what are all the things that can be? We can rescue the Silicon Valley bank from bankruptcy. Is that what Jesus is talking about? What Jesus is really saying, all things can be that I have promised you if you trust me. Are you disappointed to hear that? That He's only promising here to keep His promises? shouldn't be disappointed. There's nothing better than that, that Jesus will keep His promises to us. He's promised to cast out demons in His day. He's promised to forgive our sins. He's promised that we'll have eternal life in Him. All these things can be to the one who believes. the Father gets it. That's the beautiful thing in this text. That's why this verse is so memorable. All things can be to the one who believes, and the Father responds, I believe, help my unbelief. Doesn't that connect with us at such a basic level? I think all of us, if we're asked, do you believe in Jesus? I would say yes. But at the same time, there often lingers in our hearts and in our minds a question, Do I believe enough? Do I believe in the right way? Is my belief the kind of belief that Jesus calls for? I want to believe. But is my believing quite right? And I do think this is a properly memorable verse. because this Father is such a perfect illustration for us what faith really is. I do believe. I hear the words of the Savior, and I trust it. I hear the words of the Savior, and I rely on it. And you know what? If there is lingering unbelief within me, I ask the Savior to help me. you see this father makes a declaration of faith makes a confession of faith I believe and then he prays whatever's lacking in me whatever's failing in me I turn to you Jesus and I pray to you as the compassionate one as the helping one I pray to you Jesus help my unbelief what a beautiful picture for us of what the life of faith is like the life of faith is listening to Jesus all things can be to the one who believes and then accepting the word of Jesus I believe and then praying to Jesus for help in all the continuing struggles of our life. What a beautiful picture. What a great encouragement. And what comes of this meeting of Father in Jesus? What is the fruit that's born of it? Well, the first thing we see is that Jesus commands the demon to come out. And it's such a powerful picture. Again, this demon convulses this boy. He has no choice, the demon, except to obey the Word of the Lord. But he's furious. He's still fighting. He convulses this boy, and the boy collapses on the ground. And the crowds are running to see what's going on. And they look at this boy on the ground, still, quiet, unmoving, and the crowd says, he's dead. And I think, again, Mark is saying to us, this is the situation that everyone in the world faces as they look around and try to evaluate the world in which we live. And the world looks around, and it sees a corpse. And Jesus says, I see one delivered and living. Who's right? Who's right? The crowd would have said, we're right. We see the boy. He's dead. What could be clearer? And Jesus leans over and takes the boy by the hand and raises him up, And he's alive. The word of Jesus is more reliable than what we think we see in the world. We experience that at every funeral of a Christian. For the world says, this one is dead and gone. And Jesus says, though he die, yet shall he live. That's the promise of our Savior. That's a promise that's sometimes hard to believe. And when we stand at a coffin and find it hard to believe, what should we say? We should say, I believe. Help my unbelief. The Gospel of Mark is full of what I call mini-resurrections. Jesus took this boy by the hand, and he arose. It's the same word for resurrection. Mark is over and over again showing that Jesus is the Lord of life. Jesus is the one who brings life to those who believe. Jesus is the one of whom Psalm 73 spoke, Nevertheless, the Lord says, I am constantly with you. You hold me by my right hand. The Lord reached down, took this boy by his hand, and raised him up. Jesus is the Lord of life. It's a wonderful story, isn't it? It's a beautiful story. But if we step back, we have to say, this father and this boy will both die again. So, does it matter? And our answer is yes, it matters, because it testifies to us who Jesus is. It testifies to His compassion and His care. It testifies to His promise that those who belong to Him will live. And it calls us that we will believe the Word of Jesus. because He can do it. He can forgive sins. He can raise the dead. He can give the gift of eternal life. Jesus is trying to teach His disciples about that. Right after this, He says to His disciples, I will be delivered in the hands of men, and they will kill me. And when I am killed, after three days, I will rise. There's the very heart of the gospel, isn't it? Jesus dies for sinners, and He rises as Lord of life. But they did not understand. They were not yet ready to say, I believe. Help my unbelief. And that's why I say every one of you here can be better than these apostles, because every one of us here is called by this text to say to the Savior, I believe you. I believe your word. I believe your promise. And where I am weak, help my unbelief. When the disciples said, why could we not cast out the demon? Jesus said, this comes out only by prayer. And then you, like me, immediately thought of the words of John Calvin. The chief exercise of faith is prayer. The chief exercise of faith is prayer. Why didn't they have faith? They hadn't prayed. They hadn't prayed because they didn't have faith. This comes out only by those who exercise their faith in prayer because prayer is the turning to God and asking God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I believe. Help my unbelief, Jesus. And He will. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our God, how amazingly good You are to us in giving us Your Word, in giving us Your Spirit, in giving us Your Son. And we pray that every one of us here tonight may be filled with that faith that in every circumstance and every trial turns to Jesus and is able to say to Jesus, I believe. Grant, O Lord, that in all the struggles of our lives we might be people of prayer, praying, help my unbelief, help me in my need, because I know You will do and can do everything You have promised. Thank You, O Lord, for Your mercy to us. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.