If you would turn with me this
morning to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, please. I was going
to say in the beginning this is one of my favorite stories
in all the Scripture, but honestly, most every story in the Scripture
is my favorite, especially when it comes to the Lord Jesus showing
mercy and grace upon sinners like me. Here in Mark chapter 9, the Lord
had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration. And when
He returned to His disciples, He found the scribes questioning
His disciples. And in verse 16, we read, Christ
asked the scribes, what question ye with them? Verse 17, and one
of the multitude answered and said, Master, have brought unto
thee my Son, which hath a dumb spirit. And wherever he taketh
him, that being the spirit, he teareth him, and he foameth,
and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away. He's just whittling
away to nothing, as we say. And I spake to thy disciples
that they should cast this spirit out, and they could not. And
he answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I
be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. That's what I want you to see
this morning. Christ is the only one who can help. He's the only
one that can help us in our condition. He's the only one who can deliver,
and He's the only one that can save. Now the words of Christ
to all His elect are just that. Bring Him unto Me. Bring her
unto Me. Bring them unto Me. Verse 20, And they brought Him,
being the afflicted Son, unto Him, the Lord Jesus, And when
he, Christ saw him, straightway, immediately, the Spirit tear
him and he fell on the ground and he wallowed, foaming, foaming
at the mouth. Whenever I see, in movies or
whatever, can't say that I've ever seen it personally, but
whenever I see that, it's just a terrifying thing, isn't it?
And the Lord asked this question. He said, how long has this been
going on? Now let me say something that's
obvious and that you know. The Lord knew how long it's been
going on. But he just wanted everyone else
to know. It'd been going on for a long time. The Father answered
and said, since he was a child, since he was just a wee little
tithe, as we say, and the evil spirit cast him into the fire
and the water, and he does so for the purpose of destroying
him. What a picture of sin this is. Your sin is out to destroy you. Now I want you to notice very
closely the words of this broken hearted father in verse 22. He
says, in oft times it, meaning the evil spirit, this infirmity,
hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him.
And then notice these next words. But if thou canst do anything,
have compassion on us and help us. Now, that word if is never
to be used in conjunction with the Lord's ability. It's not
a matter of if. To question anything that a sovereign
God to do is nothing but doubt and distrust. Jesus Christ is
God, and God is sovereign. He's in control of everything.
He works all things after the counsel of His own will. None
can question Him. None can stay His hand. None
can ask Him what He's doing. He's God. He does whatsoever
He will in heaven and earth and the seas and all deep places.
He's God. The word sovereign is synonymous
with God, as we looked at last week. Sovereign simply means
that God is God. How can men and women believe
that God is sovereign over everything except for salvation, except
for deliverance? Why does religion believe that
man has a say and a will in their redemption? Our Lord said very
plainly, for without me, you can do nothing. Now, I believe nothing still
means nothing. That hasn't changed, has it?
If it has, nobody's told me. Nothing means nothing. We cannot
do anything to save ourselves. We can't do anything without
God's divine intervention. God does not need our help. God asked Abraham a very direct
question. He said, is anything too hard
for the Lord? Is anything too hard for me?
Job said, I know, Lord, that you can do anything. Whatever
you determine and purpose to do, you can do it because you're
God. I know you can do everything. Everything means everything.
That hadn't changed either. And it is especially true when
it comes to salvation. Jonah said, salvation's of the
Lord. And what is man's part in that
statement? Salvation is of the Lord. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. If you and I are to be made righteous,
just, and holy before God, it's the Lord that has to do it. Anything
less than complete confidence and trust in Christ is nothing
but doubt. And the question is never, Lord,
if you can. The question is always, Lord,
if you will. That's what the leper said. Lord,
if thou wilt, if you will, you can make me clean. And the Lord
said, I will. He always does. He always does. The question is never if you
can, but if you will. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Not he was or someday he's gonna
be when I get to heaven, no. The Lord is my shepherd. There's
no doubt about it. To those of you who Christ is
your shepherd, there's no doubt about it, is there? You know
that he's your shepherd. If he's my shepherd, then I shall
not want. There's no doubt about that either. shall not want any good thing.
As God, He can do everything. So I shall not want. He provides
everything that I need and everything that God requires of me. Job
said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. He said, no fault can
be withheld from Him. He knows our every single need,
everyone. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded. Persuaded of what? Persuaded
that he, God, is able. It all comes back to God's ability. Not ours, but God's. God is able. Able to do what? All that the
believer commits unto Him. Everything. I love how the Lord
turned this man's statement around right back onto him, right back
around to him. Verse 23, Jesus said unto him,
if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
You see, again, friends, it's not, the if is not in Christ's
ability to do, the if is in our ability to believe. And we cannot
believe, no more than we can come, as we saw in the first
hour, except the Father which sent the Lord Jesus Christ draw
us, drag us to Himself. But we're not going to be too
hard on this poor fellow, this hurting father, because we're
really no different. Yes, David did unequivocally
say, the Lord is my shepherd. But on another occasion, David
said, will the Lord cast off forever? Will He be favorable
no more? Is His mercy clean gone forever? Does His promise fail forevermore? The same man that said, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. The same man who was the apple
of God's eye is full of doubt. and destruct. So is this man. So is this man. John Newton, the author of Amazing
Grace, wrote, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. And yet Mr. Newton also wrote,
tis a point I long to know, oft it gives me anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? All of
us are just a short heartbeat and a short breath away from
unbelief. And that's why we earnestly pray
as this poor father did. Verse 24. It says, in a straight
way, the father of the child cried out. Now, this is not... I don't picture this man just
calmly saying this. He said with tears. He cried
out. He's weeping. Lord! Lord, I believe, help thou
mine unbelief. That's pretty much become a constant
prayer of mine. Lord, I do believe, but help
thou my unbelief. Every true child of God believes.
Every believer has full confidence in Christ. But it's equally true
that every believing child battles with the enemy of unbelief. And we pray, Lord, I believe,
but help thou my unbelief. Now that but has nothing to do
with Him and everything to do with us. It's not in His ability
or even His willingness to help. It's in our ability to believe. Every child of God has some degree
of faith, but they don't boast in their believing. They don't
boast in their faith. But like this man with tears,
they repent of their unbelief. I suppose the greatest heartbreak
of any child of God is just that, their unbelief. Oh, I wish I
could believe him more. I wish I could trust him more.
I wish I would rely upon him more. And it's not because he's
not able. We live in a day where religious
men and women boast of their supposed great faith, but the
true child of God repents of their lack of it. They have enough
faith to ask for more faith. And they understand who it is
that gives that faith. Lord, I believe, but help thou
my unbelief. But their chief concern is their
unbelief. Our Lord told this man what applies
to every enlightened sinner. If you believe, not if I can
do, but if you believe, all things are possible to one who believes. Now this was the answer to the
doubt that was in this poor man's mind. Faith is what overcomes
doubt. And yet faith is a gift of God. And God has to give it. I saw a book not long ago written
by Billy Graham on how to be born again. Well, I don't know
how he knows that. It's a great mystery how a man's
born again. And it's a great mystery in how
we get faith other than the fact that God has to give it. You're
not going to muster it up. Do something or throw some things
into a pot and make a potion and drink it and have faith all
of a sudden. No, it's a gift of God and only God can give
it. The Scripture says, for all men have not faith. I think about the Lord when He
destroyed the world in the flood. Out of the whole world at that
time, how many were saved? Only eight souls. Up to three million people, nobody
knows the number, but it was a bunch. Up to three million,
as many Bible scholars say, came out of Egypt, and only two, over
the age of 20, entered into the Promised Land. Two! I wonder
how low of a percentage that would calculate to be. .000001
maybe? Many shall say unto me that day,
the Lord said, referring to the day of judgment, many shall say,
Lord, Lord, haven't we? Look at what we've done. There
are many called, friends, but only few chosen. Not all men
have faith. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. And I'm so glad that it says
many and not any. But not many. Our Lord said,
Strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you,
will seek to enter in and shall not be able." Don't have the
ability to enter in unless God make them willing. And God enabled
them. Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. Why? Because wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there
be which go in their head. Many. Why should we make our
calling and election sure? Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it. A friend of mine was on an airplane
once with a man who was obvious religious. You know, it's a pretty tell-tale
sign sometimes. His speech gave that away. Every
other sentence was, praise the Lord, thank you Jesus, praise
God, hallelujah, drives me nuts. So with a bit of sarcasm, my
friend asked the man, oh, so you're a Christian? And the man
responded, was almost insulted. And he said, why, yes. I'm a
Sunday school teacher and I'm a deacon in my church. But is
that what being a Christian is? Is that what being a believer
is? Most religious people think so. While Lucifer was an angel. and being lifted up in pride,
he kept not his first estate, and God reserved a place for
him in everlasting chains under darkness until the day of judgment,
Jude 1. Now friends, there is no salvation
or eternal security in a church position or in a religious profession. None. I'm sure that it's of no
surprise to you that we live in a day where and when most
everyone, almost everyone, claims to be a Christian. But in most
cases, you'll find that those who claim to be so don't believe
in Christ at all. Men call America a Christian
nation. That couldn't be further from
the truth. Look around you. It's not a religious nation.
It's a religious nation, but not a Christian one, let me say
it that way. And we have the American flag, but we also have
the Christian flag, and we have Christian schools, and we have
Christian politics, and so-called Christian churches have Christian
singles, and Christian widows, and Christian dating classes,
and those things have great appeal to so-called Christians. But
did you know that the word Christian is only found two times in the
Bible? Just twice. And in both places,
it simply means followers of Christ. That's what Christian
means. Sadly, not many who claim to
be Christian are following Christ. Now in the first instance of
the word Christian, it was King Agrippa. You remember that story?
King Agrippa, he told Paul, he said, almost, almost thou persuadest
me to be a Christian. It was kind of like saying, you
almost persuade me to join a particular social organization, or go to
a certain college, or follow a certain sports team. You almost
persuade me. If a man or woman ever sees their
sin, sees truly what they are, they won't have to be persuaded.
And they won't almost be persuaded. They will be persuaded to follow
Christ. They will follow Him. Our Lord
told the fishermen, professional fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James,
and John, He said, follow Me, and I'll make you fishers of
Me. You know what they did? They followed Him. But one day,
Matthew sat at the seat of customs, and Christ told him, he said,
follow me. And the Scripture says that Matthew
arose and followed him. Now that fellow had a good job. It paid good money. But when
Christ affectionately called him and said, follow me, he followed
him. Matthew was a Christian, a true
Christian. What about the rich young ruler?
I think about him all the time. He lived by the Ten Commandments.
He said, Good Master, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal
life? But eternal life doesn't come
by being good. And eternal life does not come
by doing good. Eternal life comes by the doing
of Christ. He's the only man who ever was
truly good. Today, Steve McCarty is professing
Christ in baptism, but he's not professing works of righteousness
that he himself has done. No. I've talked to him. I know. Salvation is according
to God's mercy, and it's in and it's by and through the perfect,
the good, perfect, and righteous work of Christ. That's what he's
professing. He's professing that Christ has
done for him what he himself cannot do. And that's what God
will bring every sinner that he intends to save. Baptism is professing our death
and our burial and our resurrection with Christ who put our sins
away by his death and burial and rising again. And you remember
what our Lord told this rich young ruler since we're on that
subject. He said, if thou shalt will to be perfect, if you will
to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to
the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and
follow me. And we're right back to that.
Did he? No, he went away sad. He was
broken hearted. Scripture says because he had
abundance. Salvation has to do with a person,
not a doctrine, not a law, not even with the ordinance of baptism.
And there's no salvation in getting in this water. You ask the average
churchgoer if they're a Christian, and usually the first thing that
they'll say to you is, oh, well, yes, I was baptized many years
ago. Isn't that right? You've asked.
But baptism's not salvation. Today, Steve is simply in obedience
to God's Word, identifying himself with Christ, who loved him and
gave himself for him. And what he is professing to
God and to you as the people of God, God's people, is that
Christ is everything. Christ did it all. Christ finished
the work that we could not do. And God accepted that work. That's
what baptism pictures. He's publicly professing that
he died with Christ, was buried with Christ, and is risen with
Christ. Seems today everybody believes
in God. They believe there is a God.
The devils believe there's one God, and they tremble. People
believe that God is holy. They really do. After all, the
Bible is the Holy Bible, and God's angels are holy angels,
and God's Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Well, he must be holy.
People talk about going on vacations to see where Christ lived, and
they call it the holy land. So as far as men and women understand
holy, they believe God to be holy. But that's the sad thing. There's none that understand
it as we saw in Psalm 14 this morning. Pilate believed Christ
was holy. He said, I find no fault in this
man. His wife, Pilate's wife, thought
Christ was holy. She said, don't have anything
to do with this innocent man. Judas thought Christ was holy. He cried, I've betrayed innocent
blood. Yet all these aforementioned here were lost in their sin. So you can believe God is holy
and still be lost. Many believe that the Bible is
the Word of God. Now, there's many that don't,
but there's many that do. But few read it, and few heed
it, and few believe it. Many believe that they're sinners. The sorcerer Balaam said, I've
sinned. King Saul, what a mess of a man
he was. He said, I've sinned. Judas said,
I've sinned and that I've betrayed innocent blood. Why, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, but simply confessing
your sin will not save you. Your sin's got to be dealt with.
It's got to be punished. It's got to be paid for. And
only Christ can do that. and we're right back to salvations
of the Lord. Didn't that just, just that statement
just entail so much. I heard a man recently say, confession
is good for the soul. Well, it might make you feel
better, but it won't save you unless your confession is made
to the one and only advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have
an advocate with the Father. We confess our sin to Him. and
trusting Him to put it away, then it may be good for your
soul. But just to share your sin with another not going to
save you. I had a man in Texas one time tell me that he wanted
to be baptized. And I don't know why I did, because
to be honest with you, I kind of doubted his sincerity. He
said, I want to be baptized. And I said, why? And he said,
because I believe that Christ died on the cross. Well, pretty
much everybody believes that. You just ask them, you believe
Jesus died on the cross? Yeah, I believe Jesus died on
the cross. But why did He die on the cross?
That He might die the just for the unjust. And that's what the
Lord has shown you. And that's why you desire. profess
Him in baptism. Christ died on the cross to satisfy
the holy law and justice of God in the room instead of His people. Salvation is not knowing about
Christ. We say this all the time. Salvation
is knowing Christ. It's knowing Him personally.
It's knowing Him intimately as a woman knows her husband. Many believe in Christ, but few
have bowed to Him. Many confess Christ as their
Savior. Oh yes, Jesus is my Savior. But they never bowed to Him as
Lord. Many believe in Him, but few
have bowed to Him. There are many preachers, deacons,
elders, Sunday school teachers, who have never been conquered
and bowed to Christ. And I suppose the biggest deterrent
to sinners buying to Christ is they just don't see they have
a need. They don't understand the depth
of their sin. They don't understand the danger
of their sin. And when it gets right down to
it, they really don't believe that God will punish sin. There was no one more zealous
and religious as Saul of Tarsus. But after God saved him, he later
said, I had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known
lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. Paul before
thought sin was an outward act. There's a lot of folks that still,
that's what they think. Well, sin is what we do. It's
an outward act. But when God truly saves a sinner,
He'll show that sinner that sin is not what they outwardly do,
but what they inwardly are. Well, it's out of the heart. that precedes evil thoughts,
and murders, and adulteries, and fornications, and thefts,
and false witness, and blasphemies. These are the things that defile
a man. Not what goes into his mouth,
but what comes out. Not his outward acts, but those
things that come from within. That's what defiles men and women. And this book is clear. In Adam,
we died. In Christ, we're made alive.
As we bore the image of the earthly, a believer now bears the image
of the heavenly. It all has to do with representation. Jesus Christ is our federal head. We live in Him. And that's what
baptism professes. I'm living in Christ. I follow
Him. In Him, I'm as perfect as He
is. everything to Him. The salvation
of my soul, the putting away of my sin, the righteousness
that I must have before God. It's all in Him. It's called
substitution. By the disobedience of one, we
were made sinners, but by the obedience of one, many are made
righteous. Jesus Christ is made in the child
of God everything they need. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. He's in all and in all. So he
that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. Salvation is all
about faith in Christ. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Not only do you believe in Him,
but do you believe what He says, what He declares in His Word? Abraham believed God. He didn't
just believe there was a God. He didn't believe some things
about God. He believed God. And it was counted. It was imputed. It was charged to his account. I love to think about that. I remember one time, it was high
school. I was working a minimum wage
job, not making much. And I pulled up to the gas station
where I always traded. It's where my father traded. Counting my money to make sure
how much I could put in my gas tank. I wouldn't have had near
enough money today. But anyway, I put that amount
in my vehicle and I went inside to pay it. He said, I don't need
any money. I said, what do you mean you
don't need any money? He said, your dad came by earlier this
week and told me to charge all your gas. for the next year,
or however long it was, to his account. And I loved it. I stuck my $14
back in my pocket and spent it on something stupid, I'm sure.
But it was charged to his account. Christ's righteousness is charged
to my account. And I'm happy about it. I'm so
happy about it. In Hebrews chapter 11, Noah and
Enoch and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Sarah and
Rahab, they all had one thing in common. You know what it was?
Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. And we read
it over and over and over again. By faith, Noah being warned of
God prepared an ark. By faith, Abraham was called
out of the land of idolatry to a place that God would show him. By faith, Enoch walked with God. Our Lord told that poor father,
He said, all things are possible to them that what? Believe. That's what faith is. Believe
in God. I confess to you this morning,
that I believe. In a few minutes, Steve is professing
to you that he believes Christ is his all in all. But every
believer will add, Lord, help thou my unbelief. I'm so thankful and I'm so encouraged
that my salvation doesn't rest on my faith and my faithfulness,
but wholly and completely and fully on Christ who is faithful
that promised. And I could just rest. I could
just rest in that. I believe, but I need help. Lord,
help thou my unbelief. And if you ask the Lord like
this Father did, Christ will help you. He will. He's never turned down one yet. Nowhere in the Scriptures can
you find where somebody came to Him in need, and He said,
no, I'm sorry, I can't help you. Look down at verse 25 in Mark
9. When Jesus saw that the people
came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto
him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him
and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried and wren
him sore and came out of him. And he, the young man, was as
one dead, insomuch that many said, he's dead. And I love verse
27. But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up, and he arose. That's what our Savior has done
for every believing child of God. He took us by the hand,
He lifted us up, and we arose.