Last time, we considered together in Mark's Gospel, the transfiguration, in Mark 9, and we move on this morning to Jesus healing a boy with an unclean spirit. So we will be reading together verses 14-29 of the Gospel of Mark, that's the second book in the New Testament, Gospel of Mark, beginning at verse 14. This is the word of the Lord, Mark 9, beginning at verse 14. 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 they 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 whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid so i asked your disciples to cast it out and they were not able and he answered them oh 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 the fire and into water to destroy him but if you can do anything have compassion on us and help us and Jesus said 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 came 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's he's dead but jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose and when he had entered the house his 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 may the lord bless the hearing of his word in the previous section mark took us up on the mountain if you will with you remember peter james and john and there we looked at the transfiguration of Jesus we saw the context of that we looked at the context of that transfiguration where Jesus was giving them a momentary display of his glory future resurrection glory if you will because he didn't want it talked about until the resurrection but he was answering their discouragement in their present struggle and the main reason for that discouragement that they were facing is because they were not listening to what he was declaring to them. All sorts of presuppositions, all sorts of things come into our heads, and often we don't even hear the word of the Lord because we have our idea of how it's supposed to go, what it's supposed to be, and anything different than our plan, anything different than the way we have deemed it's going to go it is like hitting a wall when we're spoken to well jesus uh was correcting this but it was a powerful moment for it was the voice of the father that came out of the cloud and said this is my beloved son listen to him i want you to listen to him to what he's telling you that was a great gift from the lord to take them up there uh to show them his glory to see the outcome to encourage them in all of their discouragement he gave them that privilege jesus had been saying something though that they wouldn't accept and this was what the father was really telling them to listen to jesus had been saying and he's going to keep saying until it happens i am going to die i've got a cross and then on the third day i'm going to rise again they couldn't even hear about the resurrection it was the death of christ that stumbled them but jesus was making clear that the pathway to glory the pathway to that future glory that they just witnessed would come by way of suffering and a cross suffering precedes it there's a kind of rule here to all of this if you will we enter the kingdom ourselves through much tribulation we enter the kingdom all who desire to live godly in christ are going to suffer contra the message of everyone who tells you you come to christianity everything's going to be great it's one thing though to accept that jesus will die but it's quite another thing to understand understand why he must die and that's where we land today in our passage this morning we have Jesus coming down the mountain and making clear that part of the cross that he is carrying and remember he's not doing this for himself he's doing this for us he's doing this to purchase us he's doing this because the father had given to him his people not one would be lost part of the cross that he was carrying for us was the defeat of satan and his realm and if we don't understand that if we don't understand that it's specifically jesus's work to conquer the devil and satan to conquer the demonic realm this life will not only be one of great discouragement but it'll be one of constant defeat it'll be one uh where you are constantly trying yourself to have the power to overcome and wonder why it's never working think about all the faith healers all the people who say i command and think that they have the power over the demonic realm think about this for a minute this is major discouragement if that's the way that we live because we have tried to take things on on our own and jesus has a clear message for us as he comes down the mountain here he had it for his disciples and he has for us that the way forward in my absence is not by your strength you too carry a cross there's no doubt he said that in the previous section you're going to carry your cross but the way that you face your cross the way that you go forward in identifying with me you have to listen carefully and understand what i'm showing and what i'm saying to you about how you're going to handle this cross more people do not listen how he's telling us to handle the cross that we care we carry and because of that life is a mess listen to him says the father so this is uh jesus this morning giving them a way forward and in this way he is showing them and demonstrating and promising to them his help it's what we just sang out from the song he delights to give us help in time of need even when he's absent and so as we look at this passage this morning, I see here what could be deemed right at the beginning an embarrassing defeat, a tragic exposure, and then an encouraging solution. An embarrassing defeat, a tragic exposure, and an encouraging solution. One of the things that Mark is showing us is that Jesus is using these events to train his disciples. You know this is training time. Things are escalating to the cross the events that are happening at this point would be largely imprinted on their minds forever as they went out to take the gospel to the ends of the earth they needed this these would be the things they would look back to and say ah remember that holy spirit would bring it to their minds and they would say this is what he was teaching us once they understood in the resurrection they didn't understand it all right now one of the things here that mark is showing us in this training is how to move forward in his absence the story is told by one of them it's generally received the story is told here by one of them who came down the mountain and that is uh most likely peter as there's been a long history and tradition of what is recorded here as coming from peter he had just given peter james and john up on the mountain to see his glory he had they had seen the transfiguration but where were the other ones not all of them were there not all of them got to see this not all of them were privileged to see that so while three of them were able to see that glory you'll notice here that nine of them jesus has not neglected in fact this becomes a giant moment of training for them it would be one of the most important lessons that they would ever learn right here. Below now are the other nine. What were they doing during this moment of transfiguration? What were they doing as Jesus had departed with these three and gone up on the mountain? Jesus, of course, has been up on the mountain with who? Moses and Elijah. What was happening at the foot of the mountain? Well, Jesus descends now with the three from the mountain we read that in the other gospels he descended and we read in verse 14 here in our text and when they came to the disciples they saw a great crowd around them and the 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 fascinating moment here is what is happening at the foot of the mountain a man has a son you'll notice that here a man has a son at the foot of the mountain who is being absolutely assaulted by a demon it was a kind of epilepsy but in the sense that this was much worse than that because the demon used that weakness to destroy the child. It seemed that the demon was assaulting his brain, causing seizures, and it was an awful display. The demon would slam him to the ground, and not only did he foam, but he would gnash his teeth and his whole body would stiffen out. I mean, this was a real sight, an awful sight to behold. Can you think of anything worse than to see this happening to a little boy so the disciples come along while jesus is up on the mountain and they they have all these people there gathered around this boy and the disciples began to attempt to cast out this demon but they couldn't they had absolutely no power to do it and all of a sudden this this gave great opportunity for the scribes to come along and begin mocking. This gave great opportunity for the scribes to come along, to provoke them, to mock them. And you can imagine the scene, the disciples trying over and over, come out. Nothing. Come out. I don't know what they tried at the bottom of the mountain, but I'm sure they tried a lot of different things to get this demon out. Nothing happens. People are laughing. Scribes are mocking. In some sense, I can't help, and maybe this is going too far. But I can't help but see a sort of culmination here of all the bad events on mountains in Israel's history. Moses and Elijah is up there. You can't help but think about the Mount Carmel event where all of Israel is gathered around, remember? Baal worship. And remember, Elijah is up there. What is he saying? Well, maybe your God is going to the bathroom, and that's the nice way to say it. Anyone who knows the Hebrew knows that. But that's exactly what it says. Maybe he's doing that. Can you imagine the scribes saying that? Where's Jesus? Maybe he's out going to the bathroom. I think they're repeating history, they think. Even worse, there are overtones here of the golden calf event. Jesus and Moses were just up on the mountain together. When Moses was up on the mountain in Exodus, we're going to come to a section here in chapter 24 where he ate and he drank, beholding the glory of God, and I'll look forward to this, in the face of Jesus Christ. Christ was up on the mountain with Moses in the days of Exodus. Moses comes down the mountain, and what did he find when he came down the mountain? A huge, faithless scene at the bottom of the mountain in complete impatience, in complete absence of what they said, well, where is this God? He's nowhere to be found. We're going to do it our way. We're going to bring God to us our way and we're going to go forward our way. And they ended up in the worst kind of scene of idolatry that you could come up with. So they tried to bring in Exodus the Lord to them their way. It's idolatry. That ultimately is the cause and essence of all idolatry. This is helpful. That we have the same kind of moment now after Jesus has been on the mountain, and you can imagine Moses as he's heading back up and the glory is shaking his head, right? Another conjecture. Jesus comes down to the same ugly scene of unbelief. The disciples are caught up in it, trying to cast out a demon with absolutely no power. And if you want to know how serious Jesus took this, how agitated Jesus was by this, Maybe to you doesn't seem as serious, but here Jesus is crying out when he sees this, oh, faithless generation and perverse generation, faithless generation, how long shall I bear with you? How long shall I put up with you? This was a cry of anger. This was a cry of pain. Whatever just happened, it very much affected him in the worst sort of way to which we're all standing back what what did happen here i really want to understand what just happened here calling it a scene of total unbelief is really quite a charge isn't it faithless what was wrong this wasn't the easiest passage to work through this week i struggled long and hard on this one you can ask my wife she's tired of hearing me talk about this one i have no problem understanding why he said this to the scribes. I mean, they're just ruthless. They are absolutely, all they want to do is catch him in a trap and destroy him. I have no problem understanding that. But he's calling it a generation and everyone understands he's looking at everyone in this whole mix. What I think is crucial to see again is that this has become a sort of test for the disciples. We just came off the mountain. Think about the scene here. Peter's looking at this coming down the mountain. we just came out the mountain and god the father had just diagnosed the problem that they were not listening to his son who's listening to the son listen to him well here they descend on a earthly father and a son this son is demon possessed on what basis could this earthly father or this son be helped had not the disciples learned anything yet if they were the problem with the disciples is that they were not listening to the son of god how did their actions at the foot of the mountain show that one of the things that mark keeps showing us over and over here is jesus's power over the demonic realm we've looked at this all the way back from chapter one even in the remember in the synagogue one of the earliest events where he was casting out demons Jesus' power and authority over the demonic realm. And as we put this together, as we heard everything last time in the transfiguration of the pathway of suffering to enter into glory, one of the things that Mark has made really clear to us is that the way that Jesus is going to accomplish this, to carry our sorrows and to carry our sufferings would include a direct confrontation with satan and with the demonic realm you've got to understand that here is an earthly father with his beloved only son and he is saying i brought him to you jesus but you weren't here so i took him right to your disciples so that they should cast it out but they couldn't now the question is is why couldn't they the disciples were totally humiliated at the bottom of the mountain why couldn't they cast it out here's a big moment in this particular scene where jesus exercises compassion on this father and his son and jesus asks the caring question not because he needed to know it but because he wanted everyone to hear it to demonstrate his care. How long has this been going on? And the father says, from childhood, this demon, this has thrown my child into the fire and into the water. He has tried to destroy him so many times. And here it comes. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus says, if you can, if you can. How did he say it? Again, I'd love to hear the tone on that one. Was it, if you can? If you can? Really? He had just put his hand on the problem however way we hear it. How do you capture it? Now, it's striking here that back in Mark chapter one, the leper came to Jesus and said, Lord, if you're willing. And Jesus says, I'm willing. if you can. And now we're starting to get at how serious Jesus is taking unbelief, aren't we? He is clearly agitated in this particular section to make a very powerful point in front of his disciples and to go after them too. Oh, faithless generation. He was talking to everyone there. And in the next breath he says, all things are possible to him who believes. well that's the problem isn't it jesus was saying someone who believes in me and this is the point he's making here is not going to put a limit on what i can do someone who believes in me is not going to hold and throw around limits on me which is what everyone in this scene is doing the problem is not me says jesus the problem is this it is whether you have the faith to believe that's the problem we all have to think about here that's the problem all of you have to think about here. The problem is not me. I've got sufficient power. The problem is you. This is what he said to the multitude that day. The problem is whether one has faith. When you begin to put the problem of the disciples together with this, I think it helps to get where we need to go this morning. And that takes us to the end of the passage at this point, where I believe it's really helpful to put this together that the father who is in some way illustrating the problem of the disciples when jesus had descended on this scene of unbelief remember that particularly jesus had already commissioned the disciples and given them power over unclean spirits do you remember that when he sent them out in the mini mission the trial mission i give you power over the unclean spirits. They're totally baffled. I'm sure they're thinking, but you said you gave us power over the unclean spirits. But Jesus in this particular section is the object of no one's faith. On the one hand, a man came hoping that Jesus could, and that was setting limits on him, and then when he wasn't there, went to his disciples, and the disciples act as if they have this power automatically don't they the disciples begin to take the situation into their own hands and a lack of faith is seen how they expected to be able to do it and here's the key this morning apart from jesus they presumed on that power this was like in the old testament hey let's put the ark out in the middle of the field and we'll defeat the philistines it should be no problem for us what's missing here well that's why it's helpful to go to the end of this at the end of this whole scene they walk up to jesus and they say jesus why couldn't we and he says something very interesting i'm sure you've all thought about it this kind cannot be driven out by nothing but prayer isn't that a fascinating statement to make we want to know why we can do this and jesus says it can't go out except by prayer what that means is that whatever kind of satanic assault they were confronted with this was a demonstration of the worst kind of bondage that satan brings upon people i think when he says kind, he's having us think about something that Satan does that is the worst kind of act and is the worst kind of act that Satan in his kingdom does is try to destroy you. Utterly destroy your lives. His business is to destroy lives. You see it all the time. People's lives, they want to destroy themselves and Satan's behind that. What is more painful than seeing him do that to a child? Jesus is about to send them out as his ambassadors. What did they need to learn? How would they defeat this enemy? I mean, that's a training question, isn't it? It's a very simple thing Jesus was saying. You ready? Way simpler than you ever thought. The reason you were powerless is because you didn't pray. It can't be that simple, can it? Doesn't this lesson make a little sense now? You see what he was teaching them? They thought, God's given us this power in the past. It's ours. Therefore, we should be able to do this. It was a kind of control of God and a manipulation of God himself, wasn't it? Very similar to the idolatry at the foot of the mountain in Exodus. We'll bring God to us our way. I can imagine all sorts of goofy attempts at healing were going on down at the bottom of the mountain. But no power. Nothing came that day. Nothing. No power. Totally impotent. No power whatsoever. By the way, I just have to say, this exposes the sheer hypocrisy of this so-called faith healing movement. It's been going on for years where if it were really legitimate and they were really doing that, they'd be down at Children's Hospital. Wouldn't they? They wouldn't be healing noses and ears and toes. They'd be helping children if it were legitimate. You'd see Benny Hinn down there where the most heartbreaking of all miseries in this life shows itself among children. And you can't even see those pictures of starving, hurting children, can you? And in this regard, you see what they were doing. There's a reason Romans 10 always said, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down or who will descend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up. What does it say? The word is near you that if you believe. God's power is not magical like that. God doesn't give power like that. He doesn't do it. He just told you this. What Jesus descended upon was a scene of unbelief because they were trusting in themselves rather than Him. And it showed by what? A lack of prayer. It's just reality. Strong faith in this life will be evidenced by prayer. A lack of prayer in the Christian life is a sure indicator you're trying to do it yourself. And I know what your road has been like and I know what you're going through. Because that's me. Prayer is talking with God. Prayer is probably why we struggle with prayer is it's usually about our list of healings, isn't it? truth be told. Heal so and so for this. Heal so and so for that. You know, you could manipulate God in prayer that way. Looking for a pain-free and a pleasure-filled life when he's told you that through much suffering you enter the kingdom. It could be your way of not listening to that. Look at how God inspired prayer in the Bible. Praising God for his power. I mean, look at the Psalms. Asking God for his strength because you cannot uphold yourself. You can't do it. You're a spiritual mess. And often God doesn't take your struggle away. I don't have to make that case in this life that He often doesn't take your struggle away. Many of you have lived it. Many of you know this. Instead, it often turns out so that as you do pray, you find your whole mind changing and looking at it differently so that you're going on in His strength so that the power of Christ may rest upon you in your weakness. Prayer is the means for you to express reliance and trust. That's what it is. You get the message here? Christ has to bear the cross for you. Christ has to defeat the demonic realm for you. He has to suppress its assaults on you, which are constantly coming. I'll look at that in a minute. You can't do it. You don't do it. You know you don't do it. You never will be able to do it. And unbelief shows you trying to do it without Him ever praying. And what did this show the disciples? Well, they found themselves shamed, exposed, humiliated. And that's what happens when we try to live this Christian life on our own strength. Not only do we bring discouragement upon ourselves for not listening, but often embarrassment, harassment, and sometimes fall in defeat. You can't win yourself, is what he's saying. You can't do it yourself, is what he's saying. I carry this cross for you. This kind of bondage, what you're studying here, is exemplary of the kind of mastery over people's lives that apart from me, you're helpless. And this is why Jesus said, this is the work of God that you believe. Even faith is a great gift from Him that you believe. And belief will then begin to take root in your life and it will begin to show itself in life in prayer. See what prayer is? Casting yourself upon the Lord for his power and his strength and his deliverance. It's summoning him. They say that the one thing that Queen Mary hated the most were John Knox's prayer. Hope I got that right. It just came to my mind. If I got that wrong, Dr. Godfrey can correct me later. The battle that you are in is that fierce. If you could only see the spiritual and demonic assaults upon you that happen all the time, that you don't take seriously the harassment, the assaults, and spiritual warfare, you wouldn't have inspired texts, by the way, that tell you about this if this weren't true. You wouldn't have inspired texts telling you that flaming darts of the evil one are firing at you all the time. You wouldn't have to be called to take up the armor of Christ to put on his armor if this weren't going on that we're wrestling not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places you're subject to that don't get me wrong he has a shield around his people but that doesn't mean you're free from a tap satan has asked to sift you as wheat peter but i've prayed for you that your face should not fail truth be told we're often trying to do it ourselves and we wonder why we find ourselves with no power discouraged in the fight and i'll say i would first ask you to be honest with yourself are you praying it's a basic message doing it yourself is a form of unbelief and jesus was teaching them something so vital here in my absence here's what he's saying to them you still need me i'm just as available to you as if i'm walking with you on this earth and the way that happens is through prayer go to my father and ask for the help of his son see it this power is not yours it's mine says jesus and that's why we say, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ. Every new day, every new circumstance, every new sorrow, every new challenge, every new affliction, every new hardship requires us to go to him brand new. You don't just stand back and say, well, it's been good in the past. No, he's saying, come. That's part of your communion. and in this way we see how the disciples misunderstood their mission here was a man who should have been called to faith there was a man who should have been helped by turning him to jesus here were disciples who were trying to do it in their own power and jesus was completely excluded from all of this little scene no wonder he's bothered how do you think we're able to do this today years ago i learned this i'll never forget up north one sunday i had worked really hard on a sermon and i told my wife best sermon i'm ever going to preach right and that day the church was full of visitors one little lady had finally brought her unbelieving neighbor to church she was so excited and i get up to start the sermon and we're not but two lines in the mic goes out happens get it started goes out again get it started goes out again i basically throw the thing at that point and then the mic guy we started with the pulpit mic it goes out and then the mic guy walks up right to the front and i lost it i just absolutely lost it everyone up the lord bless you and keep you and i stormed right out of the sanctuary they didn't get a sermon that day. One of the elders walks to the back and says, you need to get up there and finish your sermon. I said, it's not happening. You need to get up there. It's not happening. You're not making me. I can't do it. First time those Christians had ever witnessed anything like that. Still talked about. I talked with a godly man after, and you know what he said to me? For some reason, Chris, it was shut down that day. I had never thought about it, but I came to realize something that I can just expect all this. God raises up a pastor. You come and you're going to get a sermon today. How much do you take even this for granted? It's all grace. Do you think your attitude could be like the disciples? I expected to hear a sermon today. I always have. Let me ask you, did you pray this morning? Do you think we can just come and automatically expect everything to go well in every circumstance of life? Let a little messenger of Satan come, said Paul, to torment me. Then I'm going to learn. It's when I'm weak, then I'm strong. It was Jesus who would say, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation for the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. What he's saying is I have grace to help you. And I believe that's the impression he leaves on them to close this sermon out. Listen to this for a minute. He left a lasting impression on them. As soon as Jesus says, if I can, if you can believe all things are possible, as soon as the man hears that, he cries out, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. That is wonderful, honest confession because it's our experience. I've always loved it. I believe, but I'm so weak. You've got to help my unbelief. Notice the humility in that. I know unbelief is all through me. I don't want it to be. Would you please address it? Would you please take it out? Would you please help me in my unbelief? I believe you, but I'm that shallow. Boy, the man first realized the greatest problem was not his son. The greatest problem was the unbelief of his heart. And it's at that that Jesus, in compassion, not judgment, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness, what was declared on the mountain, Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, commands it to come out, to never come again. And now think of what happens. God the Father had just said, this is my beloved Son, hear Him. What Jesus did was the answer to everything. Remember, I will go and rise again. Here is a Father and a Son on earth. Jesus casts out the demon. Mark wants you to think about this. He uses death and resurrection language on purpose. Because you see, when Satan is dethroned, life comes. The Son lies dead. Everyone said it. I don't think he was really dead, but Mark wants you to think that. The son lies dead, and all of a sudden, at the hand of Jesus, he grabs the boy and lifts him up to a resurrection. That's the result of true faith. It's the whole picture. The glory to come is right here. He had just shown them glory. This is his path, and now this is the result for us because of his path. his cross he had to defeat satan and because he would become the curse because he would die and rise again this is our story he's answered it he's answered all the sorrow that you've ever seen in this sad world in his own life death and resurrection and so in this way it was a visual of their story jesus wins for you jesus wins for you and didn't the disciples later get this please listen carefully this final statement this got me this week how did this affect the disciples with their mission when peter heals a lame man in acts 3 the power was given remember what he said men of israel why do you marvel at this or look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we made this man walk well he got it god glorified his servant jesus whom he raised from the dead and his name through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see in that see yes the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all then he goes on chapter 4 let it be known to all of you and all the people of israel that by the name of jesus christ of nazareth whom you crucified whom god raised from the dead this man stands before you healthy it's his power not all and that's the story what the disciples learn that jesus has the power to raise us to life through faith in his name and i love this because as you go forward until you reach glory and you're on this life's hard path that you're on you know what he's inviting you to do pray he's telling you to pray i know you can't go on in your own strength i know your children suffer i know but what i'm saying to you says the lord i'm with you lo i'm with you always but you need to know that nothing comes out if you will i don't believe in demonic possession of christians no power of sin can be manipulated and controlled your way i have to win that battle for you and i'm willing to do it if you're honest with him you're going to say lord i believe help my unbelief take away my doubt have compassion on me and help me there was a prayer here wasn't there for apart from you i can do nothing and he just says i'm so willing to help you i'm willing to answer your prayer cast all your cares upon me says the lord why Why? Because I care for you. Let's thank Him this morning in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we have to confess how shallow we've been in prayer and that often what we do go through in this life is brought about us by going on in our own strength, in our own trust, in our own dependency, not looking up to You. And we can all testify that the lack of prayer is evidence of it. Lord, we believe You this morning. We believe everything You've told us. We believe who You are, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. We believe what Your Word has said, the prophetic word which is confirmed. But we're asking You this morning, all of us together as a church, to deal with our unbelief. Help us to love Your worship, to hear from You. Help us to pray to You and to go forward in Your strength and not our own. And then we'll fulfill why you have us here. That we might be a light to many. And that they might know that it's by the power of Jesus that there is true life given. And that in the end, all of us are going to be lifted up by His hand into glory. Thank you for encouraging us today with these words. In Jesus' name, amen.