Download... January 17, 2010. Sunday Morning Service. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT: Mark 9:17-29
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 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.
19 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.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
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.
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.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
We have a lot to do with whether we believe, honor, or doubt! Negativism, is all around us, as well as the positive and it is up to us to choose how to think.
Is the glass half empty or half full? As you think, so you will become! Yet we all are stricken with doubts from time to time as this man in this scripture. Yet he prevailed with his petition, "I believe, help my unbelief! He acknowledged his faith with his neediness in lacking of it also. It could be a seeming contradiction. How many could with tears such as he, claim belief with the knowledge of his...also unbelief? Thinking of youth for an example, we want to encourage any with any professed grain of faith, however lacking in faith they may also be. And it does not of course just apply to the youth, but any adults included, can and do find themselves in that position of crying out with a grain of faith, needing so much more for the request on their heart. we must not question a person's complex mentality at any given place in their life.
The word "belief" comes from the same word as faith. You could say "I have faith, help my lack of faith." We must be on guard not to discourage anyone with the mentality "All or nothing" concerning an amount of faith. We need to give all ages and walks of life, that want to serve God, latitude in the amount of faith they possess at any given moment.
Another gospel account of the same incident:
Matthew 17:18-21 18: And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19: Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20: And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21: Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
All God needs is your "grain of mustard seed faith," to have God's power or victory. There are too many that would insist on all or nothing, which deny the neediness of the human mentality. (verse 20) Jesus said mustard seed faith is all that is needed for "mountains to be moved."
A mustard seed is quite small yet grows to a tree of around 10 feet high. Likewise God is able to take a small amount of faith as a mustard seed size, and grow it into an insurmountable amount of faith for His honor and glory of miracles in power. God takes the small beginning and is able to grow that substantially. Faith is the key the unlocks the door to Jesus! Luke 12:36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. The key of faith here was to "open" the door to Jesus! Another gospel illustration of a man's faith making him whole: Mark 10:46-52 46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47: And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48: And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49: And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50: And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51: And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52: And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Jesus set the example to ignore the "naysayers" speaking out to ignore the man, and listened to his offered plea of mercy and faith to be healed, and therefore he was healed! We all affect one another's faith. It should behoove not to be complacent with one another's lack. It is my choice or responsibility to hang on for one another's efforts, regardless of how small, to encourage one another's faith. It is with God's grace, that Faith unlocks God's Almighty Grace. Conversely we see here in this next scripture that Jesus would do no mighty works here because of this people's unbelief. Matthew13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their UNBELIEF. A lack of faith is manifested in many ways. Our desire should be to give more than just a teaching,..but to also water and nourish those seeds of faith. Otherwise the person is just receiving "a set of teachings."
A tree is a good illustration of how our life "tells a story of how we are either strengthened by the seeds of faith or adversity. Each ring also bears the residue of the calamaties whether sickness, the elements of effect in nature(fire, draught,sickness), are indicated by the surrounding rings of the tree's history. So our lives bear the effects of whether faith has strengthened us, or the lack of it has had it it's destructive effects. A tree is also a good illustration when kept where it was planted originally, and not supplanted somewhere else. The tree loses it's healthiness when fully grown and replanted somewhere else. Br D Goble recalled how he had observed a large church being built and fully grown palm trees being supplanted on that new property. The trees not too long later appeared to be dying. It can illustrate that we need to be settled where God plants us, and not be discontented with where He puts us. The trauma of the uprooting can kill you, as well as these trees. Be content where God establishes you.
I Timothy 6:12, Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. II Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:, Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Are you training for the race? Are you working your belief, to fight a good fight? Whether in sword play or fight, warriors needs a cause to sustain them. You can defend only so long without a true cause. The cause is My belief, you cannot depend on someone else's faith! I must have the cause to win! Not my parents, friends, etc., but MY reason or faith. Even your companion cannot have your faith for you. Like a newlywed couple, the "shine" comes off and you need to be strong in spite of whatever becomes of your companion. We cannot fight each other's battles but only win the victory through the faith allowed us as individuals. Our fight has the potential for victory when we have a Cause. Your house or possessions in jeopardy? That is a cause! What is Your cause? People too often can lose sight of their cause! Lord help my unbelief! Increase your faith. Place All of your faith in God. God wants our faith. Overconfidence in the flesh will detract from God to self. Allowing to be upset, might also lead focus to self and not God. Must not invest your faith in yourself. God wants All of our faith! God help us!
What has driven myself to my knees lately? Did you stay praying about it,... or pray through? Increase in things.. that will increase your faith.
I Samuel 17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? David here searched for the cause of his brother's contentions against him. We need to have causes to fight for or defeat the powers for our soul, or against our soul. Little David like others throughout the ages, had a cause to do service for his God in this battle. David did not consider complaints of the flesh that his brothers presented, that would distract him from victory! People that recede from the battle are those without a cause! You will not survive spiritually without something burning in your soul, as a burden from God to be contended with. For you will not have the necessary cause. God gave us a cause for us to do battle for that faith,..to give us needed life. God put that "seed" there, to create life within us. What's your cause/interest? God Can work with it. Let God nourish your seed of faith, water it, let it be fed.
Again Mark 9:17-29 The man with a sick child had a cause. Unbelief which comes often from mere religion separates good brethren.
Again Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. All things are possible! Psalms 56:4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Seeking God? Fear not what flesh can do to you,..put your trust in God. Pastor Goble shared an testimonial account read about a couple of brethren, one who had desired in their sparse living for some eggs for a meal. They left their humble abode for a bit only to come back to a basket on their table miraculously with the desired eggs, in answer to the one who offered prayers to God in request. That and other offerings bear witness not to give up to soon upon your cause or requests. All things are possible! Do we play a part in someone else' unbelief for the cause of increased belief or faith? Again Jesus helped that man (in the scripture text) faith to be increased to more belief or growing faith! Our prayer or cause should be "Jesus build upon my faith," ...in answer to my cause!
