Turn back with me to Mark chapter
9. We just had this account read
to us, and we're going to look at the subject of faith this
morning. The title of this message is,
Lord, Help My Unbelief. Help My Unbelief. I pray the Lord would truly help
my unbelief. I believe. Help my unbelief. We begin in verse 11. They asked our Lord, saying,
Why say the scribes that Elias or Elijah must first come? And he answered and told them,
Elijah verily cometh first and restoreth all things. and how
it is written of the Son of Man that He must suffer many things
and be said it not." Our Lord always told the truth. He cannot lie. He always told
the truth of why He came. He never hid that from His people. Never. This mystery of the gospel
which is hidden to men and women. Our Lord has never hid the mystery
from his people. Never. He plainly told them over
and over and over exactly why he came. For this cause came
I into the world. We know why the Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world. Men don't. But we do. He came to redeem His people,
didn't He? He came to redeem His people. That fallen race
of people, He came down here, He got them, laid hold of them,
paid for them, prepared a place for them, redeemed them back
to God. That's why He came. Verse 12
says, He answered and told them, Elijah verily cometh first and
restoreth all things. And how it is written of the
Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be set at naught.
But I say unto you that Elijah is indeed come. He has already
come. And they have done unto him whatsoever
they listed as it is written of him. And over in Matthew's
account it says then they understood that he was talking about John
the Baptist. This Elijah that would come.
He was talking about John, who was sent to prepare the way of
the Lord. The one who was sent to cry,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Verse 14. And when he came to his disciples,
he saw a great multitude about them. and the scribes questioning
with them. The disciples were trying to
cast an evil spirit out of a man's son, and they couldn't do it.
There was all this commotion around this man's son. They just
couldn't do it. Verse 15, And straightway all
the people, when they beheld our Lord, were greatly amazed,
and running to him, saluted him. And he asked the scribes, Question
ye with them. What are you questioning among
yourselves? What's everybody talking about?
As though he doesn't know. What's everybody, what's all
this commotion? Verse 17. And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath
a dumb spirit. He cannot speak. And wheresoever
he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth and gnasheth with
his teeth, and pineth away. And I spake to thy disciples
that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answered
him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Suffer means put up with. How
long shall I put up with you? Bring him unto me. And I'm just going to go ahead
and tell us there's the problem right there. There's the problem
right there. I'm sure the disciples got a
little too arrogant over the fact that they could heal people.
I'm quite positive they did. I know this flesh. The Lord gave
them the actual ability to heal and perform miracles, and they
got a little too carried away with it. And they walked up to this man's
son, thinking in their own minds, I'm about to do something. I
tell you what, I'm going to do you a favor here. I'm going to
bless you with me. I'm going to bless you with my
presence. You get ready for a blessing. Here I come. I'm going to do
something for you. And in the process, they lost
sight of Christ. That's what they did. They lost
sight of Christ. Our Lord said this is a faithless
generation, didn't he? A faithless generation. He said,
bring him to me. And there's our answer. That's
always our answer. Bring him to me. We preachers
would be wise We preachers would be wise to
get it in our minds and keep it in our minds. Keep it in the
front of our minds that we're not going to do anything for
anybody. Oh, he doesn't know God. Well, let me step up. I'll preach to him. We're not
going to do anything from anybody. Not for anybody. The only one
who can work. The only one who can heal is
the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one. The only thing
that we're called to do is bring men and women to him. That's
it. Just bring them to him. He said, bring that young man
to me. Verse 20, and they brought him
unto the Lord. And when he saw him straightway,
the spirit tear him. And he fell on the ground and
wallowed foaming." We see this man's condition, don't we? It's
a terrible condition. Verse 21, and he asked his father,
how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of
a child. Now, our Lord did not ask this
question to get this young man's medical history. That's what
you do when you go to the doctor. All right. Well, I got to get
some medical history on you here so we can know what's going on.
We need to know how to treat this. This young man was dumb. He could not speak. So the Lord
asked his father, how long has he been this way? And he did
not ask that to get his medical history. He knew all about this
young man. He knows the end from the beginning,
doesn't he? He asked this question so the man could confess with
his mouth, he's always been this way. Always. He was born just like you see
him right now. He was born this way. Our Lord
brings every one of his children to that confession. To that confession
right there. I was conceived in this. This horrible, wicked, bound
condition. Every single one of us can say
that about our own sin, can't we? Every single one. I've always
been this way. And I don't see myself getting
any better. Verse 22. And all times it hath
cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But
if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Now this man, as good as his
request sounds, we're going to be looking at the subject of
faith. As good as his request sounds, he said, if you can do
anything, have compassion on us and help us. As good as that
sounds, this man has just evidenced that he is an unbeliever. That's
what he is. He is an unbeliever. I'll tell
you three things this man does not believe based on what he
said. Three things. As we look into this, we ought
to ask ourselves, what do I believe? What God reveals to a sinner
about Christ is the difference between life and death, isn't
it? What think ye of Christ? So what do I believe on this?
Here's what this man said. If you can do anything, I'll tell you one thing he didn't
believe. He didn't believe God is sovereign. He said, if you
can do anything. He sure did not believe that
God is God Almighty, did he? And nobody does. Nobody does. What a blessing it is to have
our eyes opened. Just like this man, that's what
this whole world cries. I mean, if you could do anything. He does not believe that God
is God. He does not believe that God
holds his whole world in his hands. He can lift it up if he
wants to. He can crush it if he wants to.
Can he? He said, if you can, that's what
man by nature thinks about God. If you can. Yeah, I sure take
some help here if you can. Here's what the Apostle Paul
said, I am persuaded, I'm absolutely convinced that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. What
have we committed to him? Everything. Our life, our soul,
everything. Eternity. He is able. Now here's the second thing this
man didn't believe. He did not believe that the work was Christ's
alone. The end of verse 22 says, If
thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Help us. I could use a little
help on this. I'm doing the work. I'm doing
the best I can. I'm trying, I'm bringing. I'm piloting this thing, I just
could really use a copilot right now. Isn't that man? Isn't that man? You know what that leper said
when he came to the Lord? He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. If you will do it, you can make
me clean. Not us, you. Not us. This man did not believe
God was sovereign. He didn't believe the work was
Christ's alone. And he did not believe the word that God has
written. Those are the three things that
men do not believe. They don't believe God is sovereign.
They don't believe the work is Christ's alone and they don't
believe the word he's written. Verse 22 says, oft times it hath
cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. He's going into the fire and
into the water and it's going to destroy him. What is God written
in his word about that? Do we know? Look with me at Isaiah
43. Isaiah 43 verse 2 says, When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through
the rivers, they shall not overthrow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. You know when God gives a sinner
faith? That's always been there. You know, that that's always
been there. Every word has always been here. But all of a sudden,
when God gives faith, we believe it. We just believe it. Verse three, he said, I'm the
Lord, thy God, the holy one of Israel, thy savior, I gave Egypt
for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Since thou was
precious in my sight thou has been honorable and I've loved
thee. Therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life.
Fear not for I'm with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north
give up and to the south keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I made
him. I made him. He said, when you
pass through the waters, they're not going to destroy you. You're not going to be overflowed
by them. When you walk through the fire,
you're not going to be burned. Up until this moment, though.
This man didn't believe that. And the reason this man didn't
believe it is because he couldn't. That's the first thing about
faith is he couldn't. This is this is great reason
for thanks. Oh, if they could just believe
it. Here it is in the word. Why don't you believe that black
and white? They can't. Just can't. We get so outdone with people.
Bless their hearts. They can't. They just can't. Go with me back to our text in
Mark 9. Mark 9 verse 23. Jesus said unto
him. Here's our Lord's answer. He
said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. He said, If you can believe,
then all things are possible to you. Now what does our Lord
mean by that? If you can believe. Look with
me at Matthew 13. Matthew 13 verse 11. He answered and said unto them,
because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. It's given to
you. But unto them it is not given.
The only way that a sinner can know and believe the mysteries
of God is if God gives that sinner the knowledge and the faith to
believe it. That's the only way. That's the only way. We can't
take any credit. There's nothing to be proud of
for believing. There's nothing to be proud of
in that. Well, at least I believed. Well,
you wouldn't, because you couldn't. Not unless God gives that knowledge
and that faith. Look with me at Ephesians 2.
We could quote this, but it's better to see it. Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, For
by grace are you saved. Grace means free gift. Free,
free gift. What was the free gift? We just sang about it. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine that? The blood
of the Lord. He emptied himself. He emptied himself of all but
love. He didn't empty himself of love.
Everything else. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What can wash away our sins?
Men in churches everywhere sing that song. They stand up preaching
works. Preaching works, preaching works,
preaching works. And then they'll close the service with what can
wash away our sins. Nothing but the blood of the
Lord. You talk about condemn a soul. Not of good that I have done.
Nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8 says,
For by grace are you saved through faith. Through believing on that
gift. through believing on that blood. And that is not of yourself,
it is the gift of God. This is so important. Without
that gift, what that means is salvation starts in the heart
of God Almighty. And without that gift, no man
or woman can believe. No man or woman to, you know,
to believe it is such mercy and grace. Well, we've received mercy
and grace before we receive mercy and grace. He sends that faith. And he makes us, we don't want
to, we deny him. But that saving faith enters
us, it takes control of us. And that Holy Spirit of God causes
us, forces us, thank God, to believe on the blood that was
shed. Turn over a few pages to Philippians
1. Philippians 1 verse 29 says, For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His sake. It's given. It's given. It's given to believe. It's a
work that God Almighty performs in whoever He wills to perform
it. Let me show you one more. Go to Acts 13. Acts 13 verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. It does not say as many as believed
were ordained to eternal life. It doesn't say that, does it?
It says as many as were ordained believe. So our Lord said, back
in our text, back in Mark 9, verse 23, Jesus said unto him,
If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. If you can believe, this is what
God said to him. If you can believe, just like
Hebrews 11 says, then that is your evidence. If you can believe,
that is your evidence that God has chosen to do a work in you.
That's your evidence you're a blessed, blessed person. He sent that
faith to you, that faith that's totally looking to Christ. Verse
24, and straightway, that means at that moment, immediately.
The father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord. Lord. God has done a work in
this man. Faith comes by hearing and by
hearing the word of God. Well, God spoke some words right
there to that man's face. And as soon as the word of God
entered that man's ears. He said, I believe. I believe what? What did he believe? James said, you believe there's
one God, you do well. The devils believe that. Men all over this world believe
that there's one God. Men who bow the knee to Allah
believe there's one God. Men who bow the knee to Muhammad
believe there's one God. People say all the time, Oh,
yes, I believe in God. I believe in God. Well, the devils
do, too. They do, too. You believe God created the heaven
and he created the earth and he created man and he created
everything? Yes. That's wonderful. But the devils believe that.
They know who they answer to, don't they? We read about it
in here and read about it in here. Do you believe that man
fell in the garden? You believe men and women are
sinners? Yep. The devils believe that. The
devil himself was there when it happened. He made it happen.
They all believe that. Do you believe Jesus Christ came
to this earth? Jesus the Christ came to this
earth. The devils believe that. They
said, we know who you are, the holy one of God. Do you believe that he really
performed all those miracles? So do they. They were the ones
he cast into all those swine. Do you believe that he hung on
that cross? Do you believe they really put
him in that tomb? Do you believe that he truly
arose from that grave? All the devils believe that too.
They all believe that too. Saving faith does not just believe
in God. Saving faith believes God. Huge difference. A huge, huge
difference. Look with me at verse 24. It
says, And straightway the father of the child cried out and said
with tears, Lord. Now the first time he came to
him in verse 17, one of the multitude answered and said, That's this
man. He said, Master, The first time he came, he said, Master,
that means teacher. And that's what men think of
Christ, teacher. You've come here to be our teacher. You've come to teach us about
morality, teach us how to be better. You've come here to teach
us about God, you've come here to To point us to God. That's
what they believe. They believe he came to point
men to God. And he did. But they have no idea he was
pointing men to himself. Himself. Look what this man says
after God spoke the truth to him. Verse 24. Straightway, the
father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, God
Almighty, Sovereign, that's what the word Lord means. Sovereign,
ruler, controller, just like Thomas said, my Lord and my God. I believe. I believe. What? You. I believe you. Look, he said, help thou. First time just a minute ago,
he said, help us. Now he's saying, help thou. You're the author, you must be
the finisher, you must do everything in between. Help thou my unbelief. Nothing will be in here if you
don't put it there. That's what he's saying. Nothing
will be here if you don't put it there. Without you, I can
do nothing. That's what true faith is. That's
what true faith says. It points men totally to Christ. Totally to Christ. It says, I
can't, but you can. And you must. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed. Faith does not point a sinner
to anything, but the man, Christ Jesus, points a sinner to Christ. Verse 25, 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
rent him sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead,
insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the
hand, and lifted him up, and he rose." Isn't that sweet? Isn't that so sweet? Here this
man is laying there, and everybody's saying, He's dead. He's just
dead. And the Lord reached down his
hand. That song says he lifted me out
of the deep miry clay. This is what faith says. He settled
my feet in a straight and narrow way. He lifted me up to a heavenly
place. Where is that? Right next to
him. And he flooded my soul each day with his grace. That's what
faith says. That's all faith is. All faith
is, is he. He. He reached way down for me. At first, everybody does ask,
what must I do to be saved? And as soon as that faith is
confirmed, that faith says, he reached way down for me. I was
lost. I was undone. I was without God's precious
son. But you know what? He reached
down his hand for me. That's what he did. Verse 28,
and when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him
privately, why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them,
this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. Prayer is calling on God. Fasting is denying yourself. That's what it is. Absolutely,
positively, with a sincere heart, denying yourself. Totally denying
yourself. That's true faith. It says, I
cannot, I cannot. And if I have any hope, you have
to. You just have to. You're the
only one who can. You're my only hope. I don't
just believe in you, I believe you. You say, I'm a total sinner. I believe you. You say that you chose who you
would save. I believe you. Even if you didn't
choose me, I still believe you. You say that you only died for
the ones you chose to save. And I believe you. Even if you
didn't die for me, I still believe you. You say that every soul
you died for will receive this belief. Every soul that you redeemed,
every soul you've given this faith, this understanding to,
every single one of them that look to you and trust to you
is a recipient of your choice and of your blood. And thank
God I believe you. I believe you. And if you've put this faith
in me, you say in your word that if you put this faith in me,
if you have caused me to believe you, every soul you've done that
for will be kept all the way to the end. And Lord, I believe
you. I believe you. You put something
in here. It wasn't there before. But you have put something in
here. You've caused me to believe. I just believe you. Now, here's
my request. Would you increase it? That's
what the other gospel accounts say right here. As soon as he
told them this, they said immediately, they said, Lord, increase our
faith. Would you increase it? You've done something, I believe.
You've done something. Now, would you increase it? Would
you give me more? Would you let me trust you more?
Would you let me not stand up there thinking I'm about to do
some great thing for somebody? Would you let me crawl up to
the pulpit begging? Oh, help us. Oh, help us. Would
you give me a fear that makes me glued to this chair right
here? The more glued I become, the stronger the faith is. I
can't do this. Would you increase it, make it
grow? Isn't that what we all say? Make it grow. Lord, increase
our faith. This man said, I believe. Now,
here's our request. Help my unbelief. I'm going to
go through this life, a miserable, weak sinner, but I'm your sinner. And I believe I'm your sinner.
So help my unbelief, make it grow. All right, let's all stand
together.