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S1 E2: All Things Possible · First Baptist Church of Tampa Sermons

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: As you're being seated, would you join me?
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 9.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: If you do not have a Bible with you, there are some in the pew back there in front of you, we're going to be on page 906 in that pew Bible.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: 906.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking at the clock.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have time for the bumper, so I just ran right through it.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 9.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Thomas Edison is famous for quoting that when he was reminded that he had failed 10,000 times in his attempt to create the incandescent light bulb, that he actually had not failed 10,000 times, but that he had found 10,000 ways not to create the incandescent light bulb.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: His point was that even in his failures, he found success.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm always looking for teachable moments in my own life, and along the way I've had to learn some tough lessons.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: Lessons from the classroom, lessons from relationships, lessons from a ball field, even tough lessons in ministry.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: Lessons are hard to learn at times.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to make a shocking statement to you this morning.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Followers of Christ often fail him.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Is that very shocking?
1:21
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not, is it?
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Followers of Christ often fail him.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: This truth is self-evident.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: As disciples of Christ, there are times when we do not live up to the name that we proclaim.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' twelve disciples failed him many times.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: In Mark's gospel, we're going to see a time this morning where his disciples failed him.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: That's not the question.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: The question isn't, do disciples fail Jesus?
1:57
SPEAKER_00: We all know that they do.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: The question is, did they learn anything from it?
2:02
SPEAKER_00: Do we learn anything from it?
2:07
SPEAKER_00: Last week we saw that the disciples had been called up to the mounts of transfiguration with Jesus.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Not all of them, but three of them.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: Simon, Peter, James, and John went up on a mountain with Jesus to pray.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: And there, those three disciples got to see something that is almost indescribably incredible.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: Jesus allowed his glory to be unveiled before them, his divine glory that had been hidden by human flesh.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: He allowed them to see his true nature.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: And while he was doing that, two saints from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, showed up and began to have a conversation with Jesus about his journey to Jerusalem and the fact that he was going to go to a cross and deliver his people.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: If that wasn't enough, a giant cloud came in, the Shekinah glory of God settled on them, and a voice from that crowd cried out, This is my son in whom I am well pleased.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: You remember that they were dumbfounded.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: They fell on their faces before God.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: They didn't know what to say, they didn't know how to respond.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: But Simon Peter somehow mustered the courage to say, Jesus, this is good.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Man, this is the good stuff.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: This is what we signed up for.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: The glory of God and Old Testament folks showing up.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: This is, hey, can we just stay right here?
3:28
SPEAKER_00: We'll build three tabernacles.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: We'll build three tents, and let's just stay right here on the glory of God on this mountain.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: And the voice of God said, Hey, Simon Peter, be quiet.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: This is my son.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he has to say.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: The next day they come down off that mountain.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And we read, What happens?
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 9, beginning in verse 14, the Word of God says, When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Jesus, they were amazed and began running up to greet him.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: And he asked them, What are you discussing with them?
4:10
SPEAKER_00: And one of the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought you my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: And whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and stiffens out.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I told your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: And he answered them and said, O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you?
4:33
SPEAKER_00: How long shall I put up with you?
4:36
SPEAKER_00: Bring him to me.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: They brought the boy to Jesus, and when he saw him, immediately the Spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: And he asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?
4:52
SPEAKER_00: And he said, From childhood.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: It has often thrown him both into a fire and into a water to destroy him.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible to him who believes.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe, help my unbelief.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You deaf and mute spirit, I command you come out of him and do not enter him again.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: And crying out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out, and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, He is dead.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him and got him up.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: And when he came into the house, his disciples began questioning him privately, Why could we not drive it out?
5:44
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, This kind can only come out by prayer.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: Father, bless the reading of your word.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: We pray.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: Help us to understand exactly why this is here, why this is recorded.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: Help us to see that even in our failures you're not hindered, and that we can grow as your disciples through our failures.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: As Peter, James, and John came down that hill with Jesus, I imagine their feet barely touched the ground.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine having seen the glory of God and heard the voice of God, having experienced all that they experienced, they were excited, they were pumped up, and they were coming down that hill.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: But as they got to the foot of that hill, all that excitement just kind of withered away because there they saw a crowd gathered around the other nine disciples who had been left behind.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: There's a situation in the valley.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Up on the mountain, there was glory, down in the valley there's chaos.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: And there were some scribes who had come and were questioning the disciples.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: These scribes are the self-appointed protectors of God's word, and they are always lurking around in Mark's gospel.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: We see them all the time trying to find Jesus and try to accuse him of doing something wrong or saying something wrong.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: They didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: They were against him, and so they're always trying to find an opportunity to debate him and to catch him and to trap him.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: But in this instance, when they came to trap Jesus, Jesus isn't there.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: He's up on a mountain praying.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: And so they do the next best thing they can do.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: They attack his disciples.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And as Jesus comes down off the mountain, he recognizes these scribes, he recognizes the situation that his disciples are in.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: He's been there, he's experienced it, and he came to their defense.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that good to know that Jesus will come to our defense when the enemies attack?
7:43
SPEAKER_00: He came to their defense and he just simply asks them a question: what are you disputing about?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: I can almost hear him saying, What's your problem today, boys?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: What is it this time that you want to bring up, and why are you picking on them?
7:56
SPEAKER_00: What are you disputing about?
7:58
SPEAKER_00: I want you to note the scribes do not answer the question.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: The scribes would much rather debate his disciples than they would debate Jesus.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: They don't answer the question, but I also want you to notice this: the disciples don't answer the question either.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: The disciples do not say, These guys are picking on us because of this, Jesus.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: These guys are saying this, Jesus.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: I think they keep their mouth shut because, quite honestly, I think they're embarrassed.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: We see a dispute taking place.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: And above all of that, we see a lone voice cry out.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: The voice of a father that says, Jesus, I brought my son to you.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: My son, who is possessed by an evil spirit.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: This evil spirit keeps sending him into convulsions.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: This evil spirit is trying to destroy him.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: A single voice crying out, saying, There's a demon in my child.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know this is a right diagnosis.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: The man doesn't come and say, My child has a disease.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: He comes and says, There is a demon tormenting my son.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Now, hear me very carefully.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Demons were very active in that time while Jesus was on earth.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: They were actively against him bringing the kingdom.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And they would attack people.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: But the people of that time did not attribute every disease and illness to demons.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: The Bible differentiates.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: They know the difference between when somebody is sick and when somebody is demon-possessed.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: And just because somebody was diseased does not mean they had a demon.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: But this father rightly diagnosed this isn't just a disease, this isn't just an illness.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: This is a demon.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: This passage, by the way, is not primarily about demons nor demon possession.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: And it certainly is not an instruction manual on how we are to cast out demons.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: That is not the point of this passage.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: The point of this passage is that disciples fail Jesus when they try to do the supernatural with natural abilities.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: That's the point of this passage.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: We fail Jesus when we try to do what he's called us to do in our own abilities, leaving him out of the picture.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: That's the point of the passage.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: So we have this situation in the valley, we have a dispute, we have destruction, we have this demon who is coming to destroy.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Satan would like nothing more to steal glory away from God.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: One way he does that is to attack the image of God in human beings.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: He wants to steal the image of God.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: The battles that we face are not against flesh and blood.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: They are against rulers and powers.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: The battle that is against gender in our country and around the world is not against flesh and blood.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: That is an attack of Satan on the image of God amongst men.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: The horrific rate of abortions is not a flesh and blood issue.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: It is an attack of Satan who comes to kill, steal, and destroy.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: There is destruction taking place.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: In the midst of this, there is disappointment.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: In verse 18, the father said, I came to bring my son to you, Jesus, but you weren't here.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: You were up on a mountain praying, but my son is still demon-possessed.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: I needed help.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: So I brought him to your disciples and I asked them to cast him out.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: But verse 18, what a cold, sad indictment, but they could not do it.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: My son is still hurting.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Your disciples couldn't help me.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: I think this is the source of the dispute with the scribes that day.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: I think the scribes are saying, Oh, your master says he's so strong, and you guys think you're all that, but you can't even cast this demon out.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: How much power do you really have?
12:23
SPEAKER_00: How much authority does your rabbi really have?
12:26
SPEAKER_00: I think they're using this to mock Jesus' followers.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: You know our spiritual failures also have spiritual fallout, right?
12:37
SPEAKER_00: You know that when we claim to be Christ's followers and then we don't live up to his character, it has fallout amongst those that see us.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes they don't just mock us.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Who do they mock?
12:50
SPEAKER_00: The one we claim to serve.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you claim to be a so-and-so, but you live this way.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: You claim to be a Christian, but his father was disappointed.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Because the disciples of Jesus couldn't help him.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: How sad is it when the church tries to accomplish spiritual things in our own natural ability?
13:24
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, we're we're a talented, gifted, resourceful group of people.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: We can do a lot of stuff.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: We can gather together, we have gifts and talents and abilities, we have resources, we can do a lot of good things.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: But we cannot do anything of eternal importance apart from the power of Christ.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Not only was his father frustrated, but Jesus was frustrated.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19, he says twice, O unbelieving generation, how often do I have to put up with you?
13:53
SPEAKER_00: How long do I have to put up with you people?
13:56
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has just been up on the mountain with his father.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: He's been there with Moses and Elijah.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: It's a glorious situation.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: Now he's down in the valley with men that he's invested two years of his life in, and he's watching their faith falter.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: He's watching their faith fail.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: And he's frustrated.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: How long am I going to have to put up with you?
14:15
SPEAKER_00: I wonder how many times Jesus sits up in heaven and shakes his head at me and says, Bob, how often am I going to have to put up with you?
14:26
SPEAKER_00: Before we get too judgy about the disciples failing, how many of us have been walking with Jesus far too long to trip up or get blown back by some of the things we get tripped up or blown back by?
14:43
SPEAKER_00: There are many people who have stopped attending church because of something we label church hurt.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: You know what church hurt is?
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Church hurt is when people come to a body of believers and somehow along the way somebody did something or said something to hurt them or offend them.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And now they won't come back to church because the disciples of Jesus have not represented him well.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Far too many people, listen, it's an excuse.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Far too many people use it to stay away from the from Christ and from his church.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: But our our failures do not hinder God's plans.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And here's what Jesus said.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I don't, I I've tried to imagine the inflection in his voice when he said this.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Here's what he said: bring him to me.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: Just bring him here.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: I know they couldn't do it.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: I know I can.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: I know they may have wanted to do it, but they couldn't.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Just bring him here.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: What better thing can we do than just simply bring people to Jesus?
15:47
SPEAKER_00: When you don't feel adequate, when you don't feel able, just bring them to Jesus.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: He will handle it.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: There is a situation in the valley that I want you to quickly see the compassion of the Savior.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: As they're bringing that boy to Jesus, the demon inside that boy recognizes Jesus, recognizes Jesus has authority over him, recognizes his time is about up, and he throws a hissy fit.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: And he throws the boy into convulsions and throws him down on the ground and he's foaming and he's rigid.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: Something like we might think of as a grandma seizure or a seizure of a related epilepsy.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: He's just, he's on the ground.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus doesn't immediately respond to the boy on the ground.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't respond to the demon.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: He simply asks a question.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: He turns to the father and says, How long has he been like this?
16:40
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to understand something.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew the answer to the question before he ever asked it.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't ask questions to get information.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: Jesus wanted this father to feel his compassion.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: He wanted this father to understand, I feel your pain.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to feel the anguish of the father, and he wanted the father to feel his love and his compassion.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: We see this display of hatred from the demon.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: We see a display of compassion from Jesus.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: The answer is heartbreaking.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: He said he's been like this from childhood.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: This demon has often tried to kill him.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: He's tried to throw him into fire.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: He's tried to throw him into water.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: If you're a parent, you understand the anguish of this man crying out, help my son.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Luke tells us, help my only son.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: He's my only son.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Help him.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: It's been like this from childhood.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: I can't bear it anymore.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: Help him.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse 22, we see this display of unbelief.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: The Father says, but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: If you can do anything, have pity on my son.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: Have pity on me.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Help us.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus' abrupt response is, if you can.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: You're standing before me asking you to help him, and you're saying, if you can.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Now I know you're hurting.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: I know you're confused.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: I know your child is hurt, but let's make no mistakes about this.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: You need to understand who I am.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: I created your child.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: I created you.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: I created that mountain I just walked down off of.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that I cannot do.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Our problem is not my ability, our problem is your ability to believe in me.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: In Mark chapter 1, a leper came to Jesus.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: And he said, If you're willing, will you heal me?
18:49
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, I'm willing, be healed.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: He said, I know you can do it.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Will you do it?
18:59
SPEAKER_00: This father came to Jesus and said, I believe you're willing to do it.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: I see your compassion.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm just not sure you're able to do it.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: After all, your disciples failed.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: What makes me think you can do it?
19:21
SPEAKER_00: And then he just says this.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: I believe.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: Help my unbelief.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I believe, I do believe it, but but there's been so much piled up.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: I just I'm I'm having a hard time truly believing.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: What an honest response that is.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: Many of us would do well to have a similar response to say, God, I believe, but there are times when I still doubt.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: God, I believe, but help my own belief.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: The issue is not the depth of our faith.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: The issue is the direction of our faith.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: God says that with the tiniest of seeds, the tiny seed of faith, he can do great things.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: It's not the depth, it is the direction.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Who do we point our faith to?
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus in verse 25 sees the crowd swelling and he immediately casts out the demon.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want to make any more spectacle of this than has already happened.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: He casts the demon out, tells him, never return, don't come back here.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: You're forbidden from coming back.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Once again, one final attack of the demon is he throws this child back into a seizure and leaves him there laying on the ground as if dead.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus just simply walked over, took the child by the hand, raised him up.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Luke's gospel says that he gave them back to his father.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: What a beautiful picture it is of what Christ does for us.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: Those of us who are dead in our trespasses and sin, and God takes us by the hand, he raises us up, and what does he do to us?
21:04
SPEAKER_00: He gives us back to our Father.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: And he tells them with God, nothing is impossible.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: I want to finish in the next couple minutes because here's the point of this whole story.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: We have a situation in the valley, we have the compassion of the sailor, Savior, but in verses 28 and 29, we have the consternation of the disciples.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: See, after all this has taken place, I imagine the nine disciples who weren't able to cast this demon out, they're probably embarrassed, they're probably humbled by this.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: I think Simon, Peter, James, and John, I'm just gonna have to speculate that they they're kind of looking down in their noses at the other disciples, going, guys, what was wrong while we were up on the mountain?
21:50
SPEAKER_00: But it says he pulled them away.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: They went to a private location where nobody else is around, and the disciples asked Jesus, Jesus, why weren't we able to do it?
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Why weren't we able to cast this demon out?
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Why couldn't we do it?
22:06
SPEAKER_00: We did it in the past.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, you sent us out before.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: You sent us out in groups.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: The 70 of us went out.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: And you gave us authority over demons.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: And when we returned, we came back celebrating because we had actually cast out demons in your name.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: We did it before, Jesus.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Why couldn't we do it now?
22:26
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus' response is this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Now here's what I don't think he's saying.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I know he's not saying.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying there are certain demons that are more demonic, that they can only come out by prayer, and there's other demons that you can just do whatever you want with, and they'll listen to you.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: He's not categorizing demons.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: What he's saying is this you couldn't do it because you tried to do it on your own.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: You couldn't do it because you were relying on past success, and you didn't take time to realize you were facing a superior opponent, and in order to cast him out, you must rely on me and the power that I give you.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: You didn't stop to pray and say, God, cast this one out.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: You tried to do it on your own.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: That's why you couldn't do it.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: I wonder how often we face that same situation in our lives and our families, in our walk with the Lord, and in our church.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: They didn't fail because they didn't try.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: They tried their very best.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: They failed because they didn't rely on the power of God.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: They tried to do the supernatural and their own natural abilities.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And they failed.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, disciples, disciples, we fail Jesus a lot.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: The question is: do we ever learn from it?
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Do we ever grow from it?
24:05
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 15, I am the vine, you are the branches.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: I abide in you, you abide in me.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: He who abides in me will bear much fruit.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: But apart from me, what can you do?
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, against the powers and principalities.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, put on the whole armor of God.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: You cannot go to battle on your own.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Put on the armor of God, and then when you're done putting on the armor, pray.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Pray and then pray some more.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: I wonder how often the enemy is delighted when we battle him in our own strength, and I wonder how often our Savior is frustrated when we do the same thing.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: This passage is not about demons.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: It's not about trying to manipulate God by saying, God, look how big my faith is.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: I can get anything I want if I just have enough faith.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: That's not what this passage is about.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: This passage certainly is not an instruction manual on how Christians are to cast out demons.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: This passage is about believers failing Jesus because they try to do what he calls us to do in our own power, not in his.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: It's about frustration.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: The father was frustrated, Jesus was frustrated, the disciples were frustrated, everyone was frustrated.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: What was the answer?
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Just bring them to me.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: Just bring them to me.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: I love the Father's response.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: I believe Jesus.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: Help my unbelief.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me this morning?
25:43
SPEAKER_00: Father, we don't try to fail you.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to fail you.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Father, we want to live successful lives.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: We want to be Christ's followers who reflect your glory well.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: But Father, every day, each of us fails.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes we fail because we try to do that which you've called us to do in our own power with our own abilities.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes we fail because in the past maybe we've had some success at something and we don't think it's necessary to bring you into it.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Father, in my own life, the times when I don't pray are the times when I don't think I need you.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray that you'd forgive me because there's not a time in my life that I don't need you.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray that you would help us to learn from the mistake of the disciples that day that we would not battle spiritual battles with our human flesh, with our own mind.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Father, let us cry out, God, I cannot do this.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: I need you.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Father, let us reflect your glory.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Let us learn from our mistakes, learn from our failures, so that you might be glorified in our lives, we pray.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: Amen.