Let us turn to that portion of
scripture that we've just read here in the Gospel of Saint Mark.
Mark chapter 9. And I want just for a while,
before we turn to the Lord again in prayer, to direct your attention
to the words that we have here at verses 23 and 24. Mark 9,
23 and 24. concerning this man who has brought
his sick child, the child possessed of a dumb spirit, brought to
the Lord for healing. Verse 23 and 24. Jesus said unto
him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that
believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. help thou mine unbelief. Surely what we have here is very
much a prayer of faith and yet at the same time a prayer for
faith. A prayer of faith and for faith
at one and the same time. You will observe how in the text
we have both a confession and also a request and that's the
simple division that I want to follow as we examine these words
try to unload as it were what is being said in this passage
first of all a confession of unbelief in fact here there is
both the confession of his faith and also the acknowledgement,
the confession of his unbelief. And it reminds us, doesn't it,
that the life of the believer is very much a paradox. As the
hymn writer says, Lord, what a riddle is my soul. Here we have the confession of
faith. If thou shalt confess with thine
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. With the
mouth confession is made unto righteousness, or with the heart
confession is made unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
unto salvation. And this man utters those words,
Lord, I believe. Isn't that the language of faith? But then also he confesses his
sin. He feels his unbelief. And that's
where his prayer really begins, with my burden, I begin, Lord,
relieve this load of sin. Do we not often find that when
we come to pray ourselves? We cannot but open with the acknowledgement
and the confession of our sins. And there we need the Lord to
deliver us time and time again. Well, let us look more carefully
at this confession. is confession really of unbelief.
Unbelief is really the root of all sin. And we see that quite clearly
in what we have recorded in the early chapters of Holy Scripture. There in that third chapter of
the book of Genesis, we see the root of sin, unbelief, when Satan
by means of the serpent comes to tempt Eve, how we see unbelief
in the questioning of God, how the serpent says to the woman,
Yea, hath God said. Yea, hath God said, the questioning
of God, the questioning of the Word of God. And are we not sometimes
guilty of that very thing? We question the promises of God
because of our unbelief. But there's not only the questioning
of God in unbelief, there's also the contradiction of God and
the Word of God. Because you remember how the
serpent goes on to say to Eve, you shall not surely die. And yet God had said quite clearly,
so plainly, to Adam in the second chapter of Genesis, in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. That tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, he was not to partake of it.
He could partake of every other tree, all the trees in the garden,
bar that one. And the consequence, the result,
if he disobeyed, was plain enough, thou shalt surely die. And yet, there, with the entrance
of sin, there is the very contradiction of God's Word. Ye shall not surely
die. But also there, in what we read,
we see the willfulness of unbelief. in the case of Adam, because
Eve is the one who is tempted and persuaded by the serpent,
the subtlety of Satan's temptations, but what happens subsequently? She gave also unto her husband,
it says. And Edith eats. Adam eats with
his eyes wide open, he's not being tempted in any way. It
was so willful. Oh, it's that unbelief that is
the very root of every disobedience and all our sins. It is the sin
which does so easily beset us. And do we not even see it in
the situation that the Lord finds himself in here as he comes down
from that mount of transfiguration? Here is This poor man with his child
and the disciples of the Lord are really of no help to him.
And what does the Lord say? There in verse 19, O faithless
generation! Oh, there was such a lack of
faith. How the Lord was so very much aware of it. Here is that
one who is the perfect man. who never sins, who knows nothing
of unbelief. He lives the life of faith and
yet he's having to live in this faithless world. O faithless
generation, says Christ, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. It is unbelief
here then that we see at the root of sin and the man confesses
it. Lord, I believe, he says, help
thou mine unbelief. But as we see unbelief at the
root of sin, so we also see that sin is very much the consequence
of the fall of our first parents. As I said there, when God sets
Adam in the garden, the garden of Eden, the paradise of God, and
makes every provision for him and then provides him with his
wife Eve. He is told of every tree of the
God and thou mayest freely eat. But that one exception, the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.
For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. and he disobeys. And Paul says
the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death. All the transgression of the
commandment of God only brings death. If a man do these things
he shall live in them. But the consequence if a man
doesn't do the things that God has commanded he shall die. And so Paul reminds us doesn't
he there in Romans chapter 5 as by one man sin entered into the
world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that
all have sinned or as the margin says in whom all have sinned
we all sinned in Adam and we all suffer then the consequence
of that fall we We are but mortal. We're born
and we're born to die. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one. How can he that be clean
that he's born of a woman is the question that's put in the
book of Job. And David has to confess it. Behold I was shapen in iniquity
and in sin did my mother conceive me. or the awful result of sin whatsoever is not of faith is
sin and as we said it's unbelief that is there at the root when lust hath conceived it bringeth
forth sin, sin when it is finished bringeth forth death says James
the inevitable consequence of sinning but what do we see here
this particular man in the gospel is a man who obviously feels
his sin he feels the awfulness of his unbelief he said with tears he said with
tears Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief he feels He feels
the horror of what he's completely unable to do. He has no faith,
he feels. And yet, what we have is the
very language of faith. This is the strange paradox of
the Lord's dealings with a man. The Immortal says, "...to cease
in smarts but lightly, to own with lip confession is easier
still, but all to feel cuts deep beyond expression." This man
feels. He has a feeling religion. And
it has been well and truly observed that sin is of man. As I said,
we have it there. It's recorded in the page of
Holy Scripture. The infallible Word of God tells
us the origins of life and the origin of sin. Sin is clearly
seen to be of man. But where does the sense of sin
come from? That can only come from God.
And so, we see how this man is looking to Christ as God, help
thou mine unbelief, he says. And how emphatic is the request
here. He doesn't just say, help mine
unbelief, but he inserts that singular pronoun, as we see it
quite clearly here in our authorised version of the old-fashioned
singular pronoun, Thou, help Thou. All we know is that this
man, all the other men he's been speaking to, even the disciples
of the Lord Jesus, they could not help, all but this man. Help Thou, mine unbelief. It's so emphatic. Or could I
but believe, then all would easy be. I would, but cannot, Lord,
relieve my help. must come from the and so here
we see something of the confession of the man yes he confesses faith
and yet at the same time he's confessing the awful horror of
unbelief but there's not only confession as I said there's
two things in what the man is saying there's also a request
and it's a request for faith Isn't this what we do when we
pray? We make our requests known unto God. We are to be careful
for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgivings, make our
requests known. There are prayers, there are
supplications, there are requests, there are a variety of synonymous
words that are used in Scripture to describe to us what it is
that we do when we come to pray. And there is certainly request
in the language that we have here in the text. Jesus said
unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. So the Lord speaks of the necessity
of faith. And straightway the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe.
a confession of faith yes but then help thou mine unbelief
a request for faith at one and the same time well notice three
things with regards to his prayer for faith three things concerning
the faith that this man desires it's that faith that's the gift
of God I know these are such basic truths, I suppose, what
we seek to present tonight, such a basic text of scripture, we
might say. But then we need to be reminded
of these basic things. What is faith? It is the gift
of God. I like Dr. Gill's remarks concerning
this man. The doctor says, he saw it was
not in his own power to believe, nor had he the strength to oppose
his unbelief. He can't oppose his unbelief,
it's bound up in his fallen nature. As it is with all of us, we're
unbelievers by birth. He had no strength to overcome
unbelief. And he had no power, therefore,
to believe, says Dr. Gill. doesn't the Lord himself
say in in John 6 this is the work of God that ye believe in
him whom he has sent it's God's work saving faith is the work
of God in Colossians 2 12 we read of faith of the operation
of God's And it's the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who do believe, says Paul in Ephesians 2. The
exceeding greatness of His power, not just His power, nor the greatness
of His power, but the exceeding greatness of His power to us
who do believe, and it's according to the working of His mighty
power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.
Oh, it's the work of God's faith. It's not the duty of man. Man
cannot do it. He has no ability, no strength.
It's hopeless, his condition. Oh yes, he's to be a theist.
He's to believe that God is, but he cannot of himself exercise
saving faith, justifying faith, praying faith. It's God's work. but it's also God's gift for by grace are ye saved through
faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of
works lest any man should boast and so we have to come and we
have to ask for the gift of faith the guy there at the end of Philippians
1 Paul says unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ, not
only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Two gifts
there. It's given to believe on Him,
but it's given also to suffer. But where there is faith, there
is the trial of that faith. And isn't part of the trial and
part of the sufferings of faith the unbelief? that the child
of God, time and again, feels to be in his own nature. It's the wretched man that he
is, he's an unbelieving man. And so what does the believer
do? He has to continually and constantly look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Not just when we first believe, but day after day after day,
Isn't that the life of faith looking on to Jesus? And so we
see why this prayer of this man is left here on record to remind
us of what faith is. It's the work of God, it's the
gift of God. But then secondly also here we
see the reality of what faith is. How this man is responding to
the words of the Lord Jesus. He's responding to what Christ
says. And there's the evidence of the
reality of his faith. Jesus says to him, in verse 23,
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth. and immediately there's a response
on the part of this man straightway he responds to the word of Christ
straightway the father of the child cried out and said with
tears Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief or where does his
faith come from he comes from hearing faith cometh with hearing
and hearing with the word of God Earlier, of course, in the
chapter we have the transfiguration of Christ and those favored disciples,
Peter, James and John. They're there with him in the
mount, and he's transfigured. His raiment becomes shining,
exceeding white as snow. Or they see through the veil
of his human nature. They see through his humiliation. Now they see something of the
glorious, of God God's manifest in the flesh and then in verse
7 a cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud
saying this is my beloved son hear him and that's what this
man is doing you see this man is hearing the words the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus said unto him And straightway, the father of
the child cried out. That's faith. How do we respond
to the Word of God? We hear the Word of God. You
hear the public reading of the Word of God. You hear the preaching
of the Word of God. Besides our hearing, we're reading
the Word of God, I trust. Oh, but do we bear that mark
of the sheep of Christ? They know His voice. Oh, do I know that voice? Do
you know that voice? And those that know that voice,
they follow Him, and He gives to them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, it says. I've already referred to the
emphatic pronoun that we have here, Thou, in verse 24. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief."
Or this man's faith clearly is centering on Christ. Christ is the very object of
the faith of this man. Remember what the Lord Jesus
says to another man. There in John chapter 9 we read
of the man born blind, whom they cast out of the synagogue
because the Lord had given him sight and he acknowledged the
Lord and they agreed that they were going to cast out all those whoever professed the name of
Jesus of Nazareth and the Lord finds him. What does the Lord
say to that man? There in John 9.35, Dost thou
believe on the Son of God? Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? Well, this man, here in Mark
9, does believe on the Son of God, that one of whom God had
said to those disciples in the mount, this is my beloved Son,
here, here. Or do we believe that? This man
is confessing Christ. Lord, he says, I believe. He addresses Him as his Lord.
And again the hymn reminds us that Christ is God, I can avouch,
and for His people cares, for I have prayed to Him as such,
and He has heard my prayers. There is a reality then in the
faith of this man because he is responding to the words of
the Lord Jesus and then finally this evening just to say something
with regards to degrees of faith there are degrees of faith there's little faith there's
small faith weak faith strong faith assurance of faith, full
assurance of faith. There are certainly degrees of
faith. There's that work of William
Huntington, The History of Little Faith. Quite a choice little
book in many ways. The History of Little Faith.
And we read of Little Faith, don't we? How the Lord speaks
to Simon Peter in Matthew 14 where Peter is walking on the
water to go to the Lord and then he becomes so conscious of the
elements, the winds, the wave and he begins to sink and the
Lord saves him and then they're in the ship and they're safe
and they're secure and the Lord speaks to Peter and says, O thou
of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt? is that the faith
we have, little faith, doubting faith? again Romans 14 the opening verse
him that is weak in the faith says the Apostle receive ye but
not to doubtful disputations let us seek to be encouragers
of those who have little faith or weak faith we receive them
we receive them they have faith and he might
be weak but we're not going to dispute with them we're going
to try to to encourage them. Abram, of course, is the father
of all them that believe. He's the father of the faithful.
That's how we read of him there in Romans 4.11. And then Paul
goes on at verse 20 in that chapter to tell us of Abram that he was
strong in faith, giving glory to God. Oh, we want the faith of Abraham,
the father of the faithful. We want strong faith. Paul is
the one who speaks of us drawing near to God with a true heart
in full assurance of faith. Now, we need to be careful, of
course, because it is not the amount of our faith that saves
us. It's not the amount of faith
that we have that is salvation. It's the object. It's the object
of faith. And that object is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The object is the all-important
thing because however weak my faith might be, Christ is always
that one who is mighty to save and able to save to the uttermost.
The object is all-important. Although it's like the amount
of faith then that's so important, we should, however, desire to
be those who are free from all doubts and all unbelief. We need to be like this man in
the Gospel. Lord, he says, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And the Lord Jesus, He's able,
He's able to succor is weak people. There's no disputing that. He
is a compassionate Saviour. We have not an High Priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, we're told.
He was tempted in all points like us we are, yet without sin. And again, I've said it before,
how emphatic is the language there in Hebrews 4.15, because
we have a double negative, we have not an High Priest which
cannot It doesn't simply say we have a high priest which can
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but the double
negative really lends a certain emphasis. We have not a high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And how the Lord was tempted,
tempted in all points, like as we are, we read of his temptations
in the wilderness when the devil comes and what is the temptation
if thou be the son of God if thou be the son of God oh what
a temptation to suggest that he's not the
son of God the wickedness of that devil and of course the
Lord rebukes him The devil flees from him, leaves him for a season,
comes again. His life is one of temptations.
To the disciples he can say, You are they which have continued
with me in my temptations. Now the devil comes, and has
nothing in him that he can take advantage of, but he'll come,
he'll tempt. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, and he understands what all temptations are. And
he is able, he is able to succor. What does this man say to the
Lord at the beginning? Previous, really, to the words
of our text, we're looking at verses 23 and 24, but look at
the end of verse 22. If thou canst do anything, he
says to Christ, have compassion on us and help us. Oh, the Lord
is a compassionate Savior and He will help us. and we're to
come and we're to come with the faith that we see in this man
who answers the Lord straightway he cried out and said with tears
Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief and what was the consequence
well the Lord heals his son it's a remarkable miracle the Spirit
rends him, comes out of him and he was as one dead in so much
that many said he is dead but Jesus took him by the hand and
lifted him up and he arose. Oh the Lord then bless his words
to us and grant that we might be those who by his grace would
would rise even to him and look to him and trust in him and pray
to him. Oh the Lord be pleased to bless
his word let us now sing our second hymn 278 the tune is St
Paul's number 62 I know the Lord is nigh and would
but cannot pray for Satan meets me when I try and fights my soul
away O could I but believe, then all would easy be, I would but
cannot, Lord relieve, my help must come from Thee. The Hymn
278 and the tune is 62.