Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Help My Unbelief (Mark 9:14-29)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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Help My Unbelief (Mark 9:14-29)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Let's take our Bibles and open up to the Gospel
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according to Mark. Mark chapter 9 looking at
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verses 14 through 29 as we continue our sermon
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series through some of the miracles of Jesus.
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We're not covering all of them. That would take
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a very long time. But we're seeing several of
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these and this one that we look at today This
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is a remedy for the weak heart. And so if your
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heart is weak, if there are things that are weighing
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you down today, I pray that you would be strengthened
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by God's Word. And so would you give an ear to
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it now? Mark chapter 9, verses 14 through 29.
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And when they came to the disciples, they saw
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a great crowd around them. scribes arguing with
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them and immediately all the crowd when they
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saw him were greatly amazed and ran up to him
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and greeted him and he asked them what are you
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arguing about with them and someone from the
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crowd answered him teacher I brought my son to
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you for he has a spirit that makes him mute and
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whenever it seizes him it throws him down And
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he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.
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So I asked your disciples to cast it out. And
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they were not able. And he answered them, oh,
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faithless generation, how long am I to be with
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you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him
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to me. And they brought the boy to him. And when
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the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed
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the boy and he fell on the ground and rolled
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about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked
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his father, how long has this been happening
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to him? And he said, from childhood. And it is
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often cast him into fire and into water to destroy
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him. But if you can do anything, have compassion
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on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if
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you can, all things are possible for one who
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believes. Immediately, the father of the child
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cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief.
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And when Jesus saw that, a crowd came running
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together. He rebuked the unclean spirit saying
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to it, you mute and deaf spirit, I command you,
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come out of him and never enter him again. And
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after crying out and convulsing him terribly,
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it came out and the boy was like a corpse. So
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that most of them said, he is dead. But Jesus
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took him by the hand and lifted him up and he
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arose And when he had entered the house his disciples
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asked him privately Why could we not cast it
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out? And he said to them this kind cannot be
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driven out by anything but prayer This is God's
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holy word Let's pray Father we we bless you and
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we thank you for your infallible word. And we
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ask today that as we look at this text that you
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would strengthen our faith just like you strengthen
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the faith of this man within this text. This
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we ask in Christ's name. Amen. I know that I've
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shared this illustration before, but maybe you'll
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hear it like it's the first time. You might remember
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the great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Spurgeon
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was the pastor of a very large church in London
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called the Metropolitan Tabernacle. It was very
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impressive, just lots and lots and lots of people
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worshiped there Sunday after Sunday after Sunday
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and showing up throughout the week for Bible
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studies and for prayer and things. And people
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in London would often ask Spurgeon, How do you
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keep this church going? How is the ministry here
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so successful? And on more than one occasion,
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he said, you want to know? Come with me. And
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he would take those visitors down into the very
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basement of the church. And he would say, I owe
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the success of this church to our heating apparatus.
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You want to see? And they would say, what are
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you talking about? I don't need to see that.
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But in the basement, there was a room. And it
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wasn't so much a physical heating apparatus as
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it was a place that was filled with people praying.
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And he would say, this is the engine room of
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the church, the prayer meeting. And that's what
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we see from this text. We see how important,
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how crucial, how powerful prayer is and how Christians
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have to be men and women, boys and girls of prayer.
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But we also see the necessity of faith in here.
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So that's what we're looking at today, faith
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and prayer. But we also must note the context
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of this episode. If you have your Bible still
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open, which I hope that you do, look at just
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what happens prior to this episode in Mark chapter
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nine. This is the transfiguration. It's very
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important to note that. It's also to note who
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is actually involved in this episode. Verse 14
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says, and when they came to the disciples, who
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is they within this text? It's Jesus and it's
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his inner circle of disciples. Peter, James,
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and John come with Jesus to see this great crowd.
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What were those three doing with Jesus? Well,
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we know from that context that those three were
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on the mountain with Jesus They have seen Jesus
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there with him and they come down from that mountain
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and they see this great crowd and these disciples
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and there is some sort of commotion that is happening
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and It's a commotion of unbelief This should
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remind us of the time that Moses was on Sinai
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You remember when Moses spends a long time on
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Mount Sinai, such that the Israelites down below
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are like, we don't know what happened to him,
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let's make a god. And they make an idol, the
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golden calf. And Moses is on the mountain, and
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he hears the commotion. And this grieves him
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to the core, for he sees the unbelief of the
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people. This is a situation that Jesus and the
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disciples see. They come down from this mountain.
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and they see what's before them, and they see
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the scribes arguing with them. And in the midst
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of all of this, somebody comes up to Jesus and
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says, teacher, I brought my son to you, for he
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has a spirit that makes him mute. And so we have
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this man who is desperate for help for his son.
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His son has been sick since he was very young
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as a boy. And he's got these seizures, right?
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And more than that, he's got this demon possession
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that's happening that has many times tried to
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cast the boy into the fire or into the water
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seeking to destroy him. And so this man is truly
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desperate here, but there is a big crowd around
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him. And Jesus offers this rebuke, doesn't he?
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Look in verse 19. Oh, faithless generation, how
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long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear
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with you? Why is Jesus offering this kind of
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rebuke? What's going on? Well, some have had
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difficulties trying to understand who is Jesus
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rebuking here? Is he rebuking everybody who's
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listening, the whole crowd? Well, I don't think
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that that's the case, because the whole purpose
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of this has been that there is this boy who's
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got this demonic spirit and nobody has been able
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to do anything about it. So we wouldn't expect
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the crowd to do anything about this. Perhaps
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it's the scribes, those religious leaders. They
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can't do anything about this either. They may
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try, but I doubt it. What I really think is going
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on here is that Jesus is rebuking his disciples.
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He is lumping them in with the, oh, faithless
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generation. as if to say, you must trust me.
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You must depend upon me in order to do anything.
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Now, we might say to Jesus here, this this sounds
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a little harsh. Lighten up, Jesus. Why? Why are
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you getting onto their case? But you must see,
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friends, that the entire ministry of the disciples
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will be contingent upon faith. They won't be
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able to do a single thing for Jesus. without
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faith in Him. Without faith, they, we are unable
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to accomplish anything. And what is Jesus doing
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but training them, preparing them for the opposition
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that they will face? The context shows us this.
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What immediately follows this episode? Look at
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verse 30 and on. They went on from there and
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passed through Galilee. he did not want anyone
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to know for he was teaching his disciples saying
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to them the son of man is going to be delivered
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into the hands of men and they will kill him.
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That's what follows. Also look at what precedes
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this episode in chapter 8 verse 31. and began
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to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer
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many things and be rejected by the elders and
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the chief priests and the scribes and be killed.
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Jesus knows one day he's going to the Father.
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He's preparing them for this. But if they don't
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have faith to trust in God, they will not have
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a ministry and it will not continue. And so Jesus
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is giving them on the field training right now.
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That they will be able to do teaching, they will
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be able to do healing, they will be able and
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have been able to cast out demons. But friends,
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we cannot do anything for God without trusting
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in him. We cannot. If you will, just listen to
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this from Matthew chapter seven. Matthew seven,
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21 through 23. And these are words we need to
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pay attention to. Matthew 721, not everyone who
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says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom
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of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
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Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will
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say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
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your name and cast out demons in your name and
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do many mighty works in your name? And then I
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will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart
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from me, you workers of lawlessness. Friends,
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faithlessness and ministry don't mesh. Faithlessness
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and ministry, they don't work. True disciples
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of Jesus trust Jesus and true disciples of Jesus
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feed their faith as the Holy Spirit sanctifies.
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So you might say, well, how is that? How can
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we grow in our faith? I don't have an exotic
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answer here. It's really quite simple. H .B.
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Charles Jr. says, it's scripture intake. Scripture
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intake. It's kind of like exercise. Pretty much,
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I think everybody in here would say, yeah, I
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want to be in good shape from our oldest to our
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youngest and in between, right? We want to take
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care of our bodies, right? But if you never go
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for a walk. If you don't eat well, you're not
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going to see that progress, right? We really
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have to take in the good and cast off the bad,
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right? And that's the way it is with our faith.
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If you will, just listen to 1 Peter chapter two,
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verse one. So put away all malice and all deceit
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and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. So put
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those things away like newborn infants long for
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the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow
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up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that
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the Lord is good. So we have to put off those
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things which do not help our faith, which hinder
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our faith and put on good things like scripture.
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And so friend, have you tasted that the Lord
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is good? Have you? And if so, you might say,
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well, how do I have more? Again, it's the very
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word of God. This is the time of year when people
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make resolutions. Why not make a resolution that
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you can actually keep by the power of the Holy
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Spirit helping you, that you can give yourself
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to the word of God? Now, maybe you're out of
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the habit, kind of like exercise. You're out
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of the habit. That doesn't mean that you should
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go run a marathon right away. It doesn't mean
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that you go to the gym and you You know, you
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get on the bench and you try and bench press
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whatever the previous person had before you.
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Baby steps. And so if you're out of the practice
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of reading scripture or listening to it, just
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take a verse a day, at least a verse a day, just
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to listen, to read it, to meditate upon it, hide
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it in your heart. Recently, I've begun a practice
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of taking one scripture, usually the scripture
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for Sunday. and I print it off on a note card,
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just very small, and I put it in my pocket, or
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I put it in my bag, such that everywhere I go,
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I have immediate access, can pull that card out
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and look at it and reflect upon it. Do something
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like that, small steps, to begin absorbing more
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and more of the Bible. But we also recognize
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that we need the ministry of the word. I'm preaching
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to the choir here, because you are here, but
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we need the preaching of the word. But we also
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need time of strengthening from other believers.
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And so make this the year in which you say, yeah,
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I'm planning to be there for Sunday school. I'm
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planning to be there for Wednesday nights. Join
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in with our wick or our men of the covenant or
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children taking part in those programs that we
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have. Times together of learning scripture. But
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not only that, we need times together of prayer.
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Right? We all need to be people of prayer and
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that's really what Jesus is teaching here So
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we've seen Jesus offer that rebuke, right? But
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then what does Jesus do? He asked for the boy
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And so as they bring the boy to him who's got
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this Demonic spirit within him as soon as that
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spirit is into the presence of Jesus near him
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It sends the boy into convulsions Translations
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will say that this is epileptic seizures, and
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while that's true, it all happens because of
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demon possession. And so the demon possesses
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and makes the boy mute and makes him deaf, and
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yet those things do not hinder Jesus from speaking
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right to that spirit and saying, get out of him.
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Look in verse 22. You can see how desperate the
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father is. It's often cast him into fire and
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into water to destroy him. But if you can do
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anything, have compassion on us and help us.
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Here, we might look at that and say, well, probably
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shouldn't have said it like that, if you can
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do anything. But before we begin to criticize
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this father, Let's think to ourselves, do we
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struggle with unbelief? Do you ever struggle
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with unbelief? I would say that you do, because
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I know at times that I do. Calvin said of this
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passage, he declares that he believes and yet
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acknowledges himself to have unbelief. These
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two statements may appear to contradict each
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other, but there is none of us that does not
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experience both of them in himself. And so the
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Christian can say the very prayer that this man
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offers, help my unbelief. And we know this to
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be true not just of ourselves, but of faithful
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men and women throughout scripture. Perhaps you
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remember Hebrews chapter 11, what's called the
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hall. of faith where you have this listing of
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faithful men and women who loved God and yet
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struggled with sin. People like Noah and Abraham
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and Moses and Samson and Rahab and Samuel and
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David. And yet when we struggle with unbelief,
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is not Jesus compassionate with us? He certainly
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was towards this man because he corrects the
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man But he doesn't offer a rebuke here. Look
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in verse twenty three. Jesus said to him, if
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you can. All things are possible for one who
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believes. This has me reflecting upon Christmas.
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For you remember when Gabriel speaks to Mary
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and she's wondering, how is this whole thing
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going to work? Because I'm a virgin. And Gabriel
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says nothing will be impossible with God. You
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see, friends, nothing can stand in the way of
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what Jesus wills to do. All things are possible
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for the one who believes. And so we need to check
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ourselves here. Do we really believe that? Do
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we really believe that Jesus can do all things?
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Well, if you struggle with that answer, please
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see the remedy here. God gives the remedy within
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the text, prayer with repentance. For you see
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in verse 24 the word immediately the man wastes
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no time Confessing his unbelief. He says I believe
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help my own belief Somebody once said that living
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without faith is like driving in the fog I Would
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say living without faith is like driving 90 miles
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an hour in the fog. It's the most dangerous thing
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you can do to try and live without faith in Jesus
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Christ. We need to read this man's words as prayer,
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because while there were others who could perform
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exorcisms, and there were others who could perform
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healings, who else could help a man with his
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unbelief but Jesus? And so this man now sees
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Jesus as the Savior, as the Messiah. This is
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his prayer, help. my unbelief. And this needs
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to be our prayer, too. For we can do nothing
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to help ourselves here. It must all be from Jesus.
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You cannot help your unbelief anymore that you
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can save yourself. And so friends who struggle,
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friends who struggle with unbelief, have this
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prayer on your lips. Have it at the ready. Memorize
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just this short phrase. I believe. Help my unbelief.
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You've heard Brittany already saying these words,
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I would but can't repent, though I endeavor oft.
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This stony heart can never relent till Jesus
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makes it soft. Help my unbelief. My help must
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come from thee. And so the man needs help, the
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disciples need help, and here is Jesus to help.
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with this boy he casts out this demon and it
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reacts violently such that the boy is laying
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there and people are saying he must be dead but
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remember the compassion of Jesus to reach down
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to stoop down with his hand and to raise the
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boy and everybody is in amazement including the
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disciples but what do the disciples want to know
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they want to know why couldn't we do that We've
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done this before. Why couldn't we do it this
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time? And so you see here their problem. You
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see the disciples have been well trained by the
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master. They have authority over these kind of
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things, but it's ineffective without prayer.
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Sinclair Ferguson says, Jesus is emphasizing
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to them the danger of thinking that because God
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has called you to a certain kind of ministry,
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that you are therefore simply by that call and
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able to fulfill that ministry. You can only fulfill
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that ministry by constant dependence on the Lord
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in prayer to him. Friends, I know many of you,
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you made some really good food over the last
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week for Christmas. In my house, we had a ton
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of cookies, a lot of sugar cookies. What happens
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if you leave the sugar out of a cookie? It ain't
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good. It's not a good cookie. It's barely a cookie.
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Friends, if we attempt ministry without the ingredient
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of prayer, it won't be ministry. It will not.
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Disciples could have done everything right. They
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could have been gentle. They could have been
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pastoral. They could have been confident. They
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could have done everything just like they saw
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Jesus to do. But if they were not dependent on
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God exercising prayer, it would not have been
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effective. And so this is a lesson for them.
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But it's not just that Jesus tells them to pray.
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Jesus has also shown them his own prayer life.
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You might remember how Jesus, ahead of turning,
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ahead of multiplying the loaves and the fish,
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what did Jesus do? He prayed. You might remember,
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and we haven't looked at this one yet in the
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miracles of Jesus, but you might remember Jesus
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raising Lazarus. Before he does that, what does
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he do? He... Praise There's also good news here
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though For the disciples, I think they take this
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to heart because in Acts chapter 4 We see some
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of them praying Before they can do anything so
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in Acts chapter 4 Versus 29 and onward we see
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their prayer and I'll read just part of it And
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now Lord look upon their threats and grant to
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your servants to continue to speak your word
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with all boldness. So this is their prayer. While
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you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and
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wonders are performed through the name of your
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holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed
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the place in which they were gathered together
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was shaken and they were all filled with the
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Holy Spirit. and continue to speak the word of
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God with boldness. It's like I've said many times,
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quoting John Bunyan, you can do nothing until
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you have prayed. And so did they forget prayer?
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Perhaps in Mark chapter six, Jesus gives authority
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to them over the unclean spirits. And so perhaps
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the disciples thought, this is sufficient. I
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have authority from Jesus so we can do this thing.
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They sought to tough it out. on their own. And
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as Americans, I think we like these kind of people.
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We like tough people, gritty people, people who
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can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In
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a lot of ways, that's an admirable quality. But
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not in your walk with Jesus. Not in your walk
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with Jesus. You must depend upon Jesus. Indeed,
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many of you have been gifted beautifully. by
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the Holy Spirit with gifts. Every believer has
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a gift to exercise, but the gift alone is not
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enough. You must depend upon Jesus to exercise
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that gift, whatever it is. Maybe you're a teacher
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within the church of children or of adults. Maybe
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you have musical abilities and you sing in the
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choir. Maybe you're an evangelist and you love
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to tell people about Jesus. Maybe you're an officer
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within this church. These things are wonderful.
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Praise God for them. But you must exercise faith
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in prayer in order to perform those responsibilities.
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And so whatever your gift is, there's something
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you must understand. You can only use your gifting
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with prayer. There is a direct connection between
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unbelief and prayerlessness, right? But prayer
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is an expression of our faith. Prayer is an expression
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of our faith. It puts our faith to words whenever
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we pray to God in the name of Jesus. But you
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might say, well, prayer is difficult for me.
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I really struggle with that. What kind of practical
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help is there for me? Well, from this text alone,
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we see something beautiful. We see something
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very helpful that you can be honest within your
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prayer life. This man is honest because he knows
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that Jesus knows I believe help my unbelief We're
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probably not all that eager To express to one
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another that we struggle with unbelief But you
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can certainly express that to Jesus you must
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express that to Jesus and know That he helps
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those who ask right and so be honest in your
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prayer, pray about prayerlessness and unbelief.
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In the case of this father, something very unfortunate
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led to the recognition of his unbelief. But it's
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the kindness of God to even use the difficult
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things in our lives to draw us back to him. And
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so friends, I know the things that you go through
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are painful, the suffering, the illness, the
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job loss, whatever it might be, but do not waste
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the sufferings that you go through. but instead
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see them as opportunities to draw near to God
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in prayer. This man asked for help and unbelief
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and what did Jesus do? He helped him. Will Jesus
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not also do the same for you? Of course he will.
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And so what's weighing on you today? What is
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too heavy for you? What has you saying, I don't
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think I can go on? You feel like your faith is
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weak. But friend, don't you know that God is
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near? He's nearer than the fog, and He listens
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to your prayer. Don't you know that Jesus is
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the author of your salvation? Don't you know
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that you can call upon God in prayer at any moment,
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at any time of day or night, that God is listening
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for His children? And He, as you pray, He will
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strengthen you, and He will help you, and He
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will help your unbelief.