Well, let me say in the beginning,
it's good to be with you in person tonight because every Wednesday
and Sunday morning, Teresa and I are with you on this. And it's so good to be able to
look you in the face tonight and worship with you. And what
Paul said is so true with us, too. You are a dear congregation
to us, truly family, home away from home. And it's always a
delight and an honor to be here. I thank you for having me. If
you would turn back to the passage that Ron read in Mark chapter
9, let me say, by way of introduction, one of the greatest burdens and
desires of my heart, as I know it is Teresa's, and every believing
parent for that matter, is that our children might know Christ. and be delivered from their sin.
And most everyone is familiar with this story that we read
here in Mark 9. This poor father who sought deliverance
for his son, who was possessed and afflicted by a dumb and deaf
spirit. He sought help first from the
Lord's disciples, but they could not help. You see friends, man
cannot help us. It takes a divine intervention
from God Almighty. And unless He helps us, we won't
be helped. Only Christ, the God-Man, can help us. I've often pictured
this in my mind's eye. The Spirit threw this young man
into the fire to burn him and threw him into the water to drown
him. And the Spirit's intention was
to destroy him, according to verse 22. And that is Satan's
desire to destroy us, destroy our children. This has been going
on with this young man since he was a child. And every parent
here would agree that to have a child suffering such pain and
such torment physically would be infinitely worse than if it
was themselves suffering. Oftentimes we've had a sick child
or someone we love sick and we've thought to ourselves, I wish
I could be suffering in their place. This poor father was at
his wit's end, no doubt about it. My heart goes out to him
every time I read this story. Scripture reveals several parents
in the scriptures that sought help from the Lord for their
children. That centurion named Jairus,
who said, my little daughter lieth at the point of death.
In Matthew's account, he said, my daughter is even now dead.
And Luke, we're told that she was his one and his only daughter,
about 12 years old. And you know that his heart was
broken when he came to the Lord. We have, Teresa and I have three
children together, two girls. Girls are pretty precious to
their daddy. And the thought of one would be suffering so,
just the thought of it breaks my heart. And then there's that
Greek Syrophoenician woman who cried for mercy. You remember
her? She came to the Lord. She said, my young daughter is
grievously vexed with the devil and unclean spirit. And you know
something that I've noticed about these parents in the scripture
is that they they would not take the no for an answer. I often get discouraged. I think,
Lord, my children have no interest in the Gospel. And if the Lord
uses what the world calls foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe, how can they ever hear? How can they ever believe? and
get discouraged. But my Lord can do anything.
And He can do everything. That centurion, before he reached
his home with the Lord, they came to him saying that his daughter
was already dead. But he was determined. He was
determined that the Lord could and the Lord would give his daughter
life. The Syro-Phoenician woman, she
wouldn't take no for an answer. She begged for mercy, and the
Lord at first ignored her. And yet she continued to beg,
and then the disciples came and said, Lord, send her away. But
she kept crying for mercy, and then the Lord called her a dog.
And she took sides with Christ against herself, and she said,
yea, Lord, a dog is what I am. But even dogs. Get the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. I was thinking today as I read
that story again that the crumbs from the master's table is a
bountiful meal and I'll take the crumbs any day from his table.
And this is why we must never give up. It's not in our strength,
not in our doing, it's in his. That's why we must never stop
begging. That's why we continue to beg the Lord for mercy. We're
mercy beggars, and we beg Him for mercy. That's why we continually
pray and seek the Lord for our lost children, our lost family,
and our lost friends. And these children, they suffered
greatly physically, but how much more does this suffering Apply
when it concerns the spiritual state of our lost loved ones
family and friends The Lord Jesus is the only one that can help
and that's why I keep begging I Keep begging the Lord to save
my children because first and foremost. He's the only one who
can I Love this story of this poor
father and his desire to believe and be rid of his unbelief I
That's the desire of every child of God. Yet when we don't, as
I said earlier, see the results that we hope for, we do get discouraged. We lose hope and it breaks our
hearts like it did this poor father in our story. We believe
and we pray, Lord, we do believe. And we do. But help thou our
unbelief. This man had said, Lord, if you
can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And the Lord
took that if, you know, that's a little word we should never
use in the same sentence with our Lord. The Lord took that if and turned
it right back around on him. He said, the if is not in my
ability to help you. The if is in your ability to
believe. And what a great lesson that
is for us. Christ speaks to us through His words to this man,
and He says, if you can believe, all things, all things are possible
to him that believes. And we, along with this Father,
say, Lord, I believe. I believe in Your ability. I
believe in Your willingness to save lost sinners. But help Thou
my unbelief. You know, a true believer doesn't
brag on their faith, do they? No, they repent of their lack
of it. Lord, I believe, not like I should, so I beg you, help
my unbelief. And you know the rest of the
story. Ron read it to us there. The Lord did just that. And I
have four things that I want you to consider found in verses
26 and 27. And these four things are a great
encouragement to me as I continue to seek the Lord for mercy for
my children my family and my friends and for your children
and family and friends. So let's pick up the story in
verse 25 and I pray that the Lord might be pleased to again
show us the beauty of our deliverance and our redemption in Christ
and the only hope that we have for ourselves and for our loved
ones. 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." I can't tell you how many times I read over
those last few words there, and allow me to briefly just point
out that our deliverance in Christ is not only effectual, but it's
effectual forever. Christ said, enter no more into
Him. When our Lord saves and delivers
His people, it's forever. Forever. Verse 26, 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. You know, the first thing that
we must remember, and this is the first point, Every natural
born son and daughter of Adam are dead and trespasses in sin. Dead. We're told that after the
Lord rebuked the foul spirit, the spirit cried, and with one
last-ditch effort to destroy this boy, it says it rent, that
word means it convulsed him. I can just see this. I don't
know if you've ever seen anyone have an episode like that. It's
just almost terrifying, isn't it? It's just so sad. And he convulsed, he rent the
boy sore abundantly, a great deal. So much so that when the
spirit left, this young man was as one dead. And so much that
many said he is dead. What a picture that is of all
of us by nature. But we're not as one dead. We
are dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. We're born physically alive.
We breathe, we move, we see, we talk, we hear, but we're dead
spiritually. Romans 5, 12, you know the passage
well. Wherefore, as by one man, Adam's
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. And Adam being our representative,
our federal head, he sold us all under sin. We're sold under
sin. And death being the wages of
sin, death passed upon all of us, and we're dead in sin. The Lord had told our first parents
that if they disobeyed and ate of that fruit, that tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, that he would die, and die he did.
And that's the problem with most folks today. They really don't
believe that they're dead. And Adam being our representative
and by our union with him, we're found guilty and death passed
upon all of us. And when Adam died, so did we.
The soul that sins, it shall die, the Scripture says. That's
what God's holy justice demands. Death is sin's wages. And that's
why I don't want justice. I want and need mercy. You know,
when we see and hear of horrific crimes in our day, we say we
want justice. Well, we do, but I don't want
it for myself. I want mercy. I want grace. The
wages of sin is death. But, don't you love the buts
of Scripture? I just love them. But the gift
of God is eternal life. How? Through Jesus Christ our
Lord. It all comes back to that John.
It's all in Him, all of it, in Christ our Lord. Death is sin's
wages. Because of our sin, we are dead.
We can do nothing for ourselves. It's just amazing to me that
people think that they can somehow or another do something of their
own will and work and way to save themselves. What can a dead
man do? What can a dead woman do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We're dead. We can do nothing for ourselves.
We cannot make ourselves alive. I mentioned the centurion Jairus
earlier in Matthew chapter 9. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ
and it says he worshipped Him. Have you ever noticed how many
times when folks came to the Lord Jesus, they came and they
fell at His feet and they worshipped Him? That's how we come to Him. Worshipping Him. It was the same
with that Syro-Phoenician woman who says she came and worshipped
the Lord saying, Lord help me. Well, I thought it was her daughter
that was saying that. It was. It was. But our heart breaks for our
children, our family, our friends, and we need help. We need the
Lord to intervene. Lord help us. Lord help me. The Scriptures reveal that those
who worship the Lord and ask for help always receive it. I
can't find anywhere in the Scriptures where the Lord ever turned down
a mercy-beggar. Can you? Nowhere. Those that
come to the Lord for mercy, worshiping Him, always receive mercy. Listen to what Jairus said. He
said, my daughter is even now dead. And it's the same with
our lost children. They are even now dead. But that's not all that Jairus
said. He said, but come and lay your
hand upon her and she shall live. And that's what faith is. He
knew that his daughter was dead, or as one did, there was little
life left in her, one of the gospel narratives said. But he
also knew that if Christ would come and lay his hand upon her,
that she would live. And you know I know that. I believe
that. Lord, help Thou my unbelief. Every son and daughter of Adam
is born dead, but with a touch from Christ. My, my. The Lord touched me. He touched me. When the Lord came into that
ruler's house, he saw the minstrels and the pipers. They were playing
songs to stir up lamentation and mourning. And I pictured
this so many times. The Lord came in. He said, give
place. You know what that means in old
Kentucky terms? Get out of my way. Get out of
my way. Save your lamenting and your
mourning for another day. For I have come that I might
give life and give it more abundantly. Save your lamenting and your
mourning for another time. This maid is not dead, but sleepeth. She's only as one dead. You remember
what the Lord said or told His disciples concerning Lazarus.
Martha and Mary had sent Him word saying that their brother
was deadly sick. And the Lord tarried for two
more days. And it was then that the Lord
said, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may wake him
out of sleep. And the disciples were excited,
and they said, Lord, if he's asleep, that's good. He shall
do well. He's resting. He's on his way
to recovery. And then the Lord spoke of his
death. And when they thought He had spoken of Lazarus just
taking rest and sleep, He plainly said, Lazarus is dead. Now, which was it? Was Lazarus
asleep or dead? Well, with Christ, who is life,
they're one and the same. It was both. The child of God,
though dead, or only is one dead, because they only sleep. So the first thing we see is
that we, like our children, and like this young man, are as one
dead. Many said that this young man
was dead, and many say that we are. God's word says that we're
dead. God's holy law says that we are
dead. God's holy justice says that
we are dead. But if Christ is our healer,
we are only as one dead. We've been sleeping. And with
a touch from Him, we will forever be made whole and alive. What
a Gospel. What a Savior we have. And that brings us to the second
thing. Verse 27, But Jesus took him by the hand. I remember when He took me by
the hand. That's my second point, friends. Salvations of the Lord.
I've said this often, probably said it here, but it's so true.
What follows that in the Scriptures? A period. Nothing to add to that. Salvation's of the Lord. This
don't add anything to it. Salvation's of the Lord if? No,
no, no. Period. But? No, no. Period. Nothing to add
to that. Salvation is of the Lord. Christ the Just One died for
the unjust, that being His unjust people. And He takes them by
the hand and He brings them to God. That word salvation simply
means deliverance. It specifically means deliverance
from sin. Thou shalt call His name Jesus. Why Jesus? For He shall save
His people from their sin. Saved from our sin. Paul wrote in Romans 3, verse
24, being justified. That word means rendered innocent. How are we justified? Freely.
By His grace through the redemption. Where's that redemption? That
is in Christ Jesus. It always comes back to Him.
Two words stick out in that verse like flashing neon signs to me. The word freely. and redemption. We're justified. We're made righteous
in the sight of God. How are we justified? Freely
by God's grace. I never grow tired of hearing
that. Never. I dare not try to bring some
righteousness of my own before God. It's filthy rags. God won't accept it. It's got
to be perfect for God to accept it. Christ's perfect righteousness
is just that, perfect. Our English dictionary defines
the word redemption as to do something that compensates for
poor past performance. And I could almost swear that
I saw my picture next to that. Poor past performance, that pretty
well describes me. And that's our great dilemma.
God requires a perfect performance of his word and a perfect keeping
of his law that we cannot provide. We can't provide it. And that can only be accomplished
by God's grace in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ and redemption
found in him alone. To redeem means to gain or regain
possession of something in exchange for payment. The only acceptable payment that
God will accept is death. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sins, it shall die. And that's because the wages
of sin is just that. It's death. And the only acceptable
payment for sin is a perfect death, or in other words, the
death of a perfect offering, the death of a perfect sacrifice. For God only accepts that which
is perfect. God demands a sacrifice that
has not spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing. And it has to
be holy and without blemish according to Ephesians chapter 5 verse
27. It's got to be perfect. That's something we don't know
much about. You know, we see a young child born and we say,
oh, he's just perfect. Or she's just perfect. But we
don't understand what perfect is, not when it comes to what
God requires. How are we accepted? Only in
the Beloved, only in the perfect One who loved us and gave Himself
for us. And Christ took that young man
by the hand. Our Lord joined Himself with
that young man. He became one with that young
man. He made Himself one with Him who was thought to be dead.
And that's how a dead sinner is given life. That's the only
way that we can be given life. By our union with Him. By being
made one with Him. And truly, we say this, hoping
it never becomes just cliche, but when God the Father looks
upon this wretch of a man, He sees His own beloved Son. Why?
Because I'm one with Him. Isn't that wonderful? That's the Gospel. It's in Christ. It's in the Lord Jesus. That's
how I did sinners given life being made one with Him. Paul
and John often sing our story when He, Christ Jesus, reached
down for me. And that's exactly what He did.
He reached down His hand for me. How did the Lord deliver
Israel out of Egypt? Hebrews 8 verse 9 says, I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. That's
how God saves every chosen sinner. He takes them by the hand to
lead them out of their bondage and sin. So we know that salvation,
redemption, and life is by the Lord taking us by the hand. How
does God save us? How does the Lord deliver us?
Well, that brings me to the third thing. Again, verse 27. He took
him by the hand and lifted him up. How does the Lord save sinners? He lifts them up. The Lord God is sovereign in
all things, especially in the salvation of His people. Christ
alone takes us by the hand, and He lifts up the mercy beggar
out of the dust and out of the dunghill, and He sets him among
princes. Christ is our Prince. He's our
King of kings and our Lord of lords. That's what Hannah said. She said the Lord killeth, and
the Lord maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and He bringeth up. He lifts up. May we never lose
sight of who it is that gives life. The Lord maketh poor and
maketh rich. He bringeth the low and lifteth
up. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and he lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set
them among princes. It's the Lord that does it all.
It's the Lord that makes poor sinners to inherit the throne
of glory. How can He do that? Well, the
pillars of the earth are the Lord's. And He has set the world
upon Him. God is almighty. He'll keep the
feet of His saints and He'll keep the wicked in silence for
by His strength shall no man prevail. Friends, God is omnipotent. He can do anything. He can save
my children. He can save yours. He saved me. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall He thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth. And He shall give strength unto
His King and exalt the horn of His anointing. It's the Lord
that does all these things. It's God who does them. It's
God who does whatever He pleases. I love that passage in Psalms.
Whatever the Lord pleases, That did He. That did He. He has mercy upon whom He'll
have mercy. He has compassion upon whom He'll
have compassion. None can stay His hand. None
can question Him. He hardens whom He will harden.
As He thinks, so shall it come to pass. As He purposes, so shall
it stand. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? None can stay his hand. None
can say unto him, What doest thou? The Lord lifteth up the
meek. He casteth the wicked down to
the ground. Psalm 148 verse 6. Have mercy
upon me, O Lord. Consider my trouble, which I
suffer of them that hate me. Thou that liftest me up from
the gates of death. While in prison, John the Baptist
called his disciples and said, go ask the Lord Jesus, art thou
he that should come or we look for another? Do you remember
what the Lord told them? He said, go and show John again
those things which you do hear and see. I need to be shown again
and again, don't you? The blind received their sight.
The lame walked. The lepers are cleansed, the
dead here, and the dead are what? Raised up. And the poor have
the gospel preached to them. That's how they're raised up.
Tell me the story of Jesus again and again. That's what your pastor
does. Tell me again how Christ died
for wretched sinners like me. Paul wrote in Romans 8, verse
11, But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken, shall also make alive your mortal bodies by His
Spirit that dwelleth in you. Paul said in Ephesians chapter
2, even when we were dead in sins, He quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are you saved and have
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ. This, dear friends, is the Gospel.
He who lifts us up was lifted up for us. Isn't that the most amazing thing?
He who lifts us up was lifted up for us. He must be lifted
up in order for us to be saved. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Friends, we must not only be made alive, we must be lifted
up. You know, a man can be alive
and yet be completely disabled. A man can be alive but in a coma. One's heart can beat and yet
their brain be dead. Christ came and lifted us up
in order for us to have life and to have it more abundantly.
And He's the Good Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep. What a Savior. This child of
God was dead in sin. I'm talking about the man that
stands before you. But Christ took me by the hand
and He lifted me up. And now I'm dead to sin. Not dead in sin, but dead to
sin. And then lastly, because of these things, we have the
certainty of life everlasting. You know, this is a sure thing.
In a world where there's not any sure things, this is a sure
thing. We have the certainty of life
everlasting. Look at verse 27 one more time. But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up, and he arose. He didn't try to get up. He didn't
lend a helping hand to rise, did he? He didn't get up by himself. He didn't pick himself up by
the bootstraps. I had a preacher tell me that
one time. Well, you've got to do something for yourself. You've
got to pick yourself up by the bootstraps. Listen, if that's
so, I'll never be saved. A dead man can't pick himself
up. Christ took him by the hand.
He lifted him up. And he arose. And this is the
record that God has given to us, eternal life. And this life
is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son hath not life. It's just that
simple. There's not anything hard to understand about that,
yet it's impossible, apart from God's mercy and grace, for us
to believe and trust on our Savior. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life. and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Now unto Him,
unto Christ, that is able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless, faultless. Me, faultless? Yes, me and you,
faultless. Before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy, of course. exceeding joy, the thought that
this sinner is faultless before God. Wherefore, he's able to save
them to the uttermost. Uttermost. Completely. Fully. They come unto God by
Him. Seeing that He ever liveth to
make intercession for them. That's the certainty of my hope.
Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief. What is our hope? No. Who is our hope? Who is our hope? It's found only in and thine
through the One who takes you by the hand. The One that saves
you by His grace. The One that lifts you up. The One who saves and keeps and
preserves you. Kept by the power of God. I'm going to be kept because
it's God that keeps me. No need to worry and fret about
being kept when it's God that keeps us. He's that one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, kept by the power
of God through faith by believing Christ and His Word unto salvation. Men today say, well, you know,
God's made salvation possible. No, God's made it certain. He made it certain. So as long
as any sinner has a breath in their lungs or a beat in their
heart, there's hope of deliverance, redemption, and life. I'm going
to keep seeking God's throne of mercy for my children. And
just maybe, He'll be pleased to have mercy on them. May God
be pleased to make it so. for his glory and our good and
for Christ's sake. Thank you so much for having
me. It's just wonderful to see you.
I just love you guys. Thank you.