If you will, turn back with me
to Mark chapter 9. If you'd like to study this message
a little more thoroughly this afternoon, you can find this
same account recorded in Matthew 17 and also in Luke chapter 9. Now, by way of introduction,
just let me take a few moments and kind of tell you the setting
and what things had taken place. The Lord had taken with him Peter
and James and John and he went apart from the rest of the disciples
up into a high mountain. And there before their eyes he
was transfigured. His raiment become white and
glistering. And they saw not only him, but
they saw Moses and Elijah. This is talking about all the
prophets and the law represented in these two men. They saw Christ
talking with Elijah and talking with Moses, and he was talking
about his decease. You know, I looked that word
up, you know what it means? How it literally reads in the
original language, Exodus Talking to them about his exodus And there are several things
that happened while they were up on the mountain, and I won't
go into all those things but After the events of that day
and ever how long they were up there They heard God speak out
of the cloud They were ready to wreck monuments for Moses
and Elijah in Christ and the father spoke out of the cloud
and told him this is my beloved son you hear him you honor him
and Moses and Moses and Elijah disappeared out of their sight
and they saw Christ only. But ever how long that took that
day when the events of that day were over they came back down
from the mountain and when they did here was the scribes These
are the men who literally hand transcribed the scriptures. They
knew the scriptures inside out. If a comma was out of place,
they knew it. If this word was misspelled,
they knew it. They knew this Bible forward
and backward in the Old Testament. And here's these scribes, and
they're questioning with the disciples. And evidently, the
disciples were troubled by their questions. And so the Lord comes
over and Evidently, a man had brought his young boy to seek
help for him and finding his disciples, he went to them because
the Lord had given them power to cast out demons and to do
certain works to confirm their calling. And so they did those
things. And the man came to them and
through just what he had heard, he came and he asked them if
they could take care of this problem for his son. And it didn't work. And of course,
the unbelieving scribes used the disciples' shortcomings to
dispute with them about the claims of their master of being the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, you and I don't have
any part in any miracles that we can see. We do have part in miracles,
but we don't have part in miracles that you can see. And as the
disciples were given the privilege of casting out devils and the
healing of the sick through his name, and even so it's our privilege
to declare salvation through his name. And the healing of our spiritual
infirmities. He gives us eyes to see. The
Lord healed the blind, gave them sight, didn't He? We preach to men, and when the
Holy Spirit's pleased to do so, He gives them eyes to see. He
gives them ears to hear. He gives them a heart to understand. The miracles that we have part
in, and a very small part, is miracles that you can't see i
can't see your heart i can't tell if you believe or you don't
believe i just have to go on your word unregenerate men and women are
pictured all through the gospels in those men who came and who
were brought to christ to be healed unregenerate men are blind
and blind men were brought to christ crossed the path of blind
Bartimaeus and several blind men and gave them sight. Also
the dead were raised. The deaf were given ears to hear
the lepers cleanse the devils cast out of those who had, those
devils which had possessed them and made them miserable. And
all of these men and women together pictured the poor sinner. He's
lame, he's paralyzed, he's blind, he's deaf, he can't hear. He's
not in his right mind. He's influenced by powers over
which he has no control. And then I want you to notice
this. This man was a believer who brought his son. He had weak
faith, but what he had was genuine. It was genuine faith. A preacher,
how do you know that? How do you know that? How can
you say that this man's faith was genuine? Because it brought
him to Christ. It brought him to Christ. That's
what faith does. Faith brings a man to Christ.
If it doesn't bring you to Christ, it's not true faith. It's just
a profession. So let me ask you something.
Where did your faith bring you? When you talk about your faith
and when you describe your faith to men, where does your faith
bring you? Does it take you back to some old experience? Does
it take you back to some altar down in front of the church?
Does it take you back to the aisle you walked or some words
you repeated, some profession you made, some promises you made,
some deal you cut with? Where does your faith take you?
His faith brought him to Christ. And true saving faith always
takes a man where Christ can be found. It takes him where
he can be found today, not last week. Saving faith doesn't go where
Christ was. It goes where Christ is. It goes
where He is. And that's why we don't have
crosses or manger scenes or any of these things. Christ's not
in the manger. He's on the throne. He's not on the cross. He's on
the throne. He's raised from the dead. Christ
is seated at the right hand of God and he can be found where
his people gather together in his name. Isn't that what he
said? Where two or more gather together in my name, there shall
I be in the midst. That's where you're going to
find Christ. So what do we look for? We look
for where Christ's people are gathered together. And that's
what this man did. He didn't know very much. He
had weak faith. But he did know this. Christ
can be found where his people are gathered. And so he went
where his people were gathered. There's a process that follows
chosen sinners on their way to conversion. And first of all,
they find God's ambassador. And then the Lord enables them
to know that they're in the right place. How does he do that? I
have no idea. I just know that the day I heard
the gospel, I knew I was in the right place. And that's all I
can tell you about it. But he confirms it in the hearts
of seeking sinners, that they're in the right spot, that this
man has the message, he has the gospel. And then he makes them to know
that though they are used of God, these men that he's come
into their presence, they're used of God in the ministry,
yet they themselves can do nothing without their master. Without me, he said in John 15,
5, you can do nothing. What can you do? Nothing. Nothing. Yet this is where the Lord's
pleased to abide, and so the sinner stays the course. He comes
and he sits. He don't find Christ right away.
He finds his people. He finds his ambassadors. These
men were ordained of God to preach the gospel, these men that he
came to. But he didn't find the master. He just found the men. He found the congregation. But
I'm going to tell you something. The man of faith, when he comes,
let's say he brought his son, as this man did, he's going to
keep bringing his son, and he's going to keep bringing
his son, and he's going to keep bringing his son until the Lord's
pleased to grant us with his presence. He's going to bring his friend
or his sister or his mother or whoever else he loves until the
master is pleased to grant us with his presence. And he alone
faithfully and affectionately accomplishes the work. Now let
me begin this morning with these things that transpired, these
events that transpired here. Let me begin with the question,
what prompted this father to bring his son? Why all of a sudden? This boy had been sick since
he was a child. There were times when he couldn't
speak. There were times when he couldn't hear. There were
times when he acted as part of a lunatic. Why, after all this time, did
he decide on this day to bring this boy to Christ? What prompted this loving father
to bring his son to this place? Well, I'll tell you what prompted
him to do it. A desperate reality had come
upon him. His son was possessed by an evil
spirit. An invisible force seemed to
control everything he did. And before I go any further,
let me show you something about saved sinners that you might
not know. Turn with me over to Ephesians chapter two. Let me show you something over
here. We all have this in common. Every last one of us have this
in common. Ephesians chapter two and verse
one. And you hath he quickened who
were, here's where we were when he quickened us. You hath he
quickened who were dead, in trespasses and sins. That was your condition then.
That was our condition when the Lord found us dead in trespasses
and sins. Verse 2, wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. Among whom also, now watch this,
we all had our behavior, our walk, our conversation in times
past, and we had it in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the
children of wrath, even as others. That's where the Lord found us. So we have everything in common
with this young boy who was possessed of an invisible powerful force
over which this man had no control and over which the boy had no
control. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse
12 he tells us, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
But that's what we think most of the time, don't we? We think
we can get one-on-one with somebody and accomplish something. Boy,
we go at it. He'll say something, we'll say something. He'll say
something, we'll say something. We go back and we're not doing
battle with the flesh. If that's all it were, I could
study and study and study and get the answers and I could get
a man down and pin him back by the door and I could convince
him. But he said, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers
and against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Every unconverted soul is possessed
by an evil force beyond his control. And spiritual wickedness in high
places is talking about religious groups. That's what it's talking
about. It's talking about denominations
and principles under the influence of Satan and who do his bidding
being deceived. That's what the Jews were doing.
They thought they were doing God a favor when they crucified
his son. That's what they thought. Why
did they think that? Because they were deceived. They
were deceived. We've got some fathers here today.
Has the desperate reality ever settled on you that your unconverted
sons are under the power of this invisible force over which you
don't have any control? Has that ever settled in? Has that
ever sunk in? That your children are being
led about by the rulers of the darkness of this world? Listen
to how this man describes his son's condition. He has a dumb
spirit. What's that mean? It renders
him incapable of speaking on his own behalf. What was Job
doing? When the book of Job started
out, what was he doing? He'd make an intercession for
his children. Why was he doing that? Because his children were
incapable of making it for themselves. That's why. That's why we pray
for our unconverted relatives and friends and neighbors, and
especially for our own children. Because they're incapable, they're
incapable of speaking on their own behalf. And then listen to
this, it says where it takes him, it tears him. Tears him. pulls him in every direction.
He's pulled this way and he's pulled that way. I'm talking
about young children, your children. They're pulled first this way
by their friends and then that way by their teachers and then
this way by some religious denomination. They get pulled every which way. And then it said, he foameth
and gnasheth with his teeth. If you read in Matthew's account,
the boy is described by Matthew as being a lunatic. He's crazy. How many times you said that
to your own children? Are you crazy? Yeah. Yeah, they are. They are. And then it said he sits and
he pineth away. I looked that word, pineth, up
in the dictionary. It means he suffered an intense
yearning. A yearning. He was wasting away by reason
of grief. And then he goes on. That's not
the end of his description. He goes on. He said, ofttimes
it cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him.
What does sin do to you sons? What does it do to your daughters?
Well, it casts them into the fire. Isn't that what it does?
Into the fire of lust and fires of hatred, fires of jealousy,
not to mention the fires of temper and rage. And then the tongue,
what about that? James said the tongue is a fire. It's a fire. Boy, somebody says
something, pow, before you can even think. You've done world
around in anger and you're just eating this man alive. The tongue
is a fire, James said. It's a world of iniquity. So
is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body
and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire
by hell. It cast him off and into the
fire and it cast him into the waters. He's not talking here
about the waters of life. He's not talking about here the
waters that are such a refreshing drink to us. He's talking about
judgmental waters. Waters of chaos. Raging waves
of the sea, Jude says, foaming out their own shame. This man's
son was a helpless case. And I'm confident of this. The
reason he didn't bring him before is because he tried to help the
child himself. He did. He meant well. He wanted
to help the child. I wanted to help my children.
I remember being young and my children being young. He tried
to constrain this boy. He tried first by reason. Isn't
that what we do? Try to reason with them, but
they're unreasonable, ain't He tried to reason with him. He tried to constrain him first
by reason and then by force, but all of it to no avail. And
I'm reasonably sure that he sought out the local rabbi. This man
was a Jew. I'm reasonably sure he sought
out a local rabbi who probably assigned the blame to some personal
sin of his or the child. Or maybe like one pastor told
me one time, I was a bad father. Well, it's easy to throw that
blame off, isn't it? Just throw it on. The longer this man struggled
with his situation, the worse it got, until finally he just
run out of options. He didn't have anywhere else
to go. What I'm doing's not working. All of my reasoning just rolling
off of him like water off a duck's back. Everything I do, even my
chastening, has no effect on him whatsoever. The more he struggled with the
situation, the worse it got until finally he just ran out of options
and he realized that his son's condition was beyond his ability. There's no natural remedy. or
cure for what this boy had. But he knew a man called Jesus. I have no idea how he heard of
him. He might have been there and
witnessed something that the Lord did. I don't know. A friend
of his might have saw a miracle that the Lord had performed and
come and told him about it. I don't know how he knew, but
he knew. He knew this man called Jesus, one who went about doing
good, one who was known for his mercy and kindness to help those
in need. One who had a reputation for
casting out demons. Why he just cast out, just a
few chapters back in the book of Mark, he just cast out a legion
of demons out of this Gadarene demoniac. And what about Mary
Magdalene? cast out her seven devils. He
had a reputation for casting out demons and restoring lunatics
to the right minds. He'd heard these stories. He'd
heard about these people. And he said, I know what I'll
do. I'll go to Christ. I don't know why I didn't think
of it before. My case is desperate. I'm desperate now. But he deals
with desperation on a daily basis. I go to him. I go to him. So first of all, he came out
of desperation. And then secondly, his first
encounter that he had didn't do him much good. He came to his disciples. Oh,
how well I remember my first encounter with Henry Mahan. I
went up there to that big church, and I sat down, and this man
was world-renowned. He was a pastor of pastors. He was a preacher's preacher.
He had television programs. He had all of these things. In
my eyes, he was just so big. And I went to him, and I thought,
boy, my troubles are over. My troubles are over. I found
this man of God, and he's going to help me. I thought if any
man could do me any good, it was going to be him. But it didn't
work that way. It didn't work that way. It wasn't until Henry's
Lord showed up that did me any good. And I tell
you, as much as that man was used, these men that this man
brought this boy to were used of the Lord. On many occasions,
he used them. And he uses men today. He's ordained
through the preaching of the gospel that chosen sinners be
called out. Please God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. But he's gonna make
you to understand that that man can't do you any good. It's his
Lord. It's his Lord. The best of men
are but men, and the Lord on occasion must teach us that lesson. God does use the means He's ordained. He uses His servants in the gospel
they preach. But it's the Lord Himself that
does the work, and He does it so that He gets all the glory.
Desperate sinners come where Christ is. They come where He's
known to be, and they keep coming until He's pleased to manifest
His presence. Listen to how Paul described
his ministry. He said, for we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul had everything about himself
he could have preached. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
He was circumcised the eighth day according to the law. He
said, you think you got something to have confidence? I'm more.
I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He had all kinds of things he
could have preached of himself while the Lord caught me up to
the third heaven and taught me personally. He said, we preach not ourselves,
we preach Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for
Christ's sake. The way preachers help sinners
is by pointing them to Christ. That's what we do. We point men
to Christ. I can't do anything good, but
he can. He can. Preachers help sinners by teaching
them the gospel and showing them Christ in the scriptures. You
know, I can sit here and preach on election until the cows come
home, but it won't have any impact on your soul whatsoever until
you discover that it's the doctrine of God and it's the way His sovereign
grace is dispersed to His people. That's when election takes root.
Well, if God didn't choose somebody, nobody would be saved. That's what you discover. And
my friend, know this, your unregenerate children cannot speak for themselves
or hear for themselves. They need somebody to bring them
to Christ. He may or may not intervene.
I don't know if he will or not, but this much I know. Ain't nobody
else can do you any good. You're gonna have to get to Him.
Gonna have to get to Him. But you say, preacher, to my
shame, I just don't know exactly what to do. Neither did he. Neither
did he. In fact, he knew so little that
he looked the Savior in the face and he said, if you can do anything,
if you can do anything, I don't know what you can do, but if
you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. I want you to stop whatever you're
doing. And I want your full undivided attention. This one to whom this
loving Father was addressing was the King of Glory. He's the
King of Glory. This man spoke this universe
into existence. He commanded and it stood fast.
He spoke and it was done. This man is the son of God. He
was in the beginning with God and he was God. All things were made not only
by him but they were made for him. He's the one mediator between
God and men. None other name given of God
among men whereby we must be saved. He's the way, the scripture
said. He's the truth. He's the life.
He's the bread. He's the waters of life. He's
the true vine. He's the head of the church.
He's the firstborn from the dead. If thou can't do anything, my
soul, he can do everything. This is where religion leaves
a man looking to a Christ who can't do anything. We don't know
what you can do. I do. You can do everything. Religion tells me his hands are
tied, his arms too weak, his will's restricted, his power's
useless before a closed door. One man closed his message with
tears in his eyes, and he said, God done all he can do, and it's
all up to you. There's only one if. Now listen
to me. There's only one if that has
any bearing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that if was presented by
a leper. who came and threw himself down
at his feet and he said, Lord, if you will. Huh? That's the only if that has any
bearing on Christ whatsoever. If he will. And you know what
he told the leper? I will. I will. That's what he tells every seeking
sinner. He throws himself, as he is, covered with leprosy,
filthy, Banned from the presence of true worship, here he sits
and he throws himself down at his feet and he said, Lord, if
you will, if you will. It's not a matter of can with
the Son of God, it's a matter of will. Listen to this, of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. Whose will? His will. He said, cannot I do
with my own what I will? It's God that worketh in you,
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And then James
says, don't say I'm gonna go here and there and I'm gonna
stay for such and such a time and I'm gonna do this and I'm
gonna do that. He said, men ought to say, if the Lord will, we'll
live and we'll do this or that. Why? Why do believers talk that
way? Because he tells us plainly in
his word that he worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. There's only one if that applies
to him. That's the title of the message
this morning, where the if lies. He doesn't lie on him. There's
only one if with him if he will. He can. But will he? I wonder this morning how many
of us in this place, when we make petitions for our children,
approach Him as being fully able to do what we ask Him to do. When we intercede for our children,
do we really believe that? Do we really believe that He
can conquer this nature? Reverse the direction of your
life? Lead you to repentance? Raise you from the dead? Do we
really believe that? My soul, what can't he do? He
made the sun and the moon to stand still for a day. Told his
prophet, he said, you command the moon and the sun to stand
still. And so his prophet did. And the sun didn't move and the
moon didn't move for 24 hours. Here's a flooding Jordan. And
his people come up to cross him. He reversed the flow of that
river, stopped that flooding Jordan River. I was looking at
the Arkansas River earlier this spring on my way up to a meeting. And that river just looked to
me to be boundless. It was over its banks, and it
was flooded all back. That's the way the Jordan River
was when the people of God came up to it, and the Lord just reversed
the flow of it, stopped it, and they walked across on dry ground.
He parted the waters of the Red Sea. Do you think for one moment he
can't overcome some vile spirit? Do you think his power is hindered
by a fallen nature? Do you think for a minute that
the Son of God will be rendered helpless by the will of a man?
He said, my people shall be willing in the day of my power. But I'm
going to tell you this, he's the only one who can make them
willing. Mother's tears won't make him
willy. Father's love won't make him willy. But he can. He can. Now listen to how our
Lord responds to this man. Here he is. He's grieved and
he's desperate and he's pleading with Christ. And he don't know
too much about Christ. He don't know exactly what Christ
is able to do. And he said, if you can do anything,
Here's how the Lord responded to him. He said, if you can believe.
Where's that if at? Right here. Right there. If you can believe. The if doesn't lie on the Son
of God, it lies on the sinner. You say, Preacher, my faith is
so weak, it's so ignorant, it's so filled with unbelief. That's
true of every one of us. The strongest of us, that can
be said of. But listen to what he says. He
cried out back to the Lord and he said, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Faith is not the meritorial work,
it's the work of grace in a man's heart. Christ's righteous obedience
and shed blood is the meritorial work. That's what bought us. That's what redeemed us. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Imagine
a man lying weak on his deathbed. And on his table lies the potion,
lies the cure. Here's the medicine. And with a weak and trembling
arm he lays hold of the glass and he brings it to his lips
and he drinks it. To what does one owe the cure?
To the power of the arm or the efficacy of the potion? It's
not the arm. And see, when we start looking
to our faith, when we start talking about our faith, we want to find
perfect faith. We're not satisfied with it because
it's full of holes. It's full of doubts and fears
and unbelief. The best of us. And we're not
satisfied with it, and so we don't even account ourselves
as believers. This man's faith was genuine
faith. It brought him to Christ, and
he told Christ to his faith. I believe. I do. But I'm filled with unbelief.
Help thou my unbelief. The strength's not in the faith,
it's in the object. Listen to how Paul described
his hope. He said, I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know, I know.
He said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Now, if thou canst believe, All things are possible to him
that believeth. Well, can I? Can I? Having heard the Gospel preached,
having read it for myself in the Word of God, can I believe?
Can I take God at His Word? Can I put my trust in a Savior
who's accomplished the redemptive will of God? Can I put my soul
and the souls of my family and my children into His hands? What
stands in the way? What's blocking my path? Am I
not persuaded of His power and ability? Am I not convinced of
His willingness? Am I not convinced of His divine
appointments? Do I not believe He can do what
He will? What stands in the way? What
holds me back? Do I have some doubts about Christ?
Do I doubt that His righteousness is sufficient? Do I doubt that
His suffering and His death is sufficient? Do I doubt His resurrection
or His intercession in glory for me? What blocks the path? Do I doubt His love? What stands
in my way? Whatever it is, I pray that the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of all grace, remove it from your mind
and heart and enable you to believe, even with all of its flaws, to
believe. To say in your heart of hearts,
Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. I'm gonna tell you
this, if perfect faith was required, nobody'd be saved. Nobody'd be
saved. Listen to this. This is over
in Romans 4, 16. You can study this when you get home. Paul
said, it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end,
that is, to this end, that the promise might be sure to all
the seed. Oh, what gracious faith. he gives
to his people. Faith. Faith. Where does the F lie? Right here. Can I believe? Can I believe
God? I tell you, you read in his word
who Christ is, why he came, what he did, and where he's at, and
you can't find a single reason to doubt him. You can find every
reason in the world to doubt yourself, but you can't find
any reason to doubt him. And where did this man's hope
lie when he brought his son? With Christ.