Beloved congregation of the Lord, the Lord Jesus was on earth a little more than 2,000 years ago. He met literally hundreds of people. They were just normal people, people like me, people like you, some old, some young. We know that he interacted with children too. And these people all came to Jesus. They had questions for him. They had problems in their lives. All kinds of problems. Spiritual problems. Financial problems. Death in the family problems. All kinds of problems. Some had demons. Some were blind and deaf. burdened with sin and they all came to Jesus and he didn't turn a single one away. No one was turned away. And sometimes it seemed like he'd never be finished with his work. So we read together from Mark chapter nine and the first part of that chapter is all about that beautiful experience on the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus is in the presence of his father and he sees his father's glory. He's talking with Moses and Elijah and James and Peter and John are there and God the Father speaks and they hear his voice. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. And then Jesus and James and Peter and John come down from the mountain. And on the way down, Jesus again tells them of his death and resurrection that's coming for sure. And down in the valley, they meet the other nine disciples. And a huge crowd gathered around them and lots of commotion. An argument has arisen between the nine disciples and the scribes. And the focus of the sermon this morning is going to be on the conversation between Jesus and the man who is at the center of this controversy. There's actually two parts to this history. It has Jesus' interaction with his disciples, who are plagued with unbelief, and Jesus' interaction with one man from the crowd, who's also plagued with unbelief. This morning we listen in on that conversation between Jesus and that lamb. And this afternoon, the conversation between Jesus and the disciples. So our text this morning is Mark 9, verse 17 through 24. And I will read only at this time verse 24. That's where it's all going. Straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. Our theme then this morning is faith mixed with unbelief. First of all, the man with problems. And secondly, the savior with the solution. And then the prayer, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Faith mixed with unbelief, the man with problems. Jesus asked the scribes, what are you discussing with my disciples? What is it that you're arguing about? What are you debating with them? And there's no reply. from the scribes. There's total silence. Not one of those argumentative types, those scribes, dared to speak with Jesus. Just a moment ago, they couldn't stop talking and ridiculing and debating and being sarcastic to the disciples. They were so bold and brave with the disciples. And now, when Jesus speaks to them, now that their master is here, they clam up because they're cowards. But the silence is broken. and it's broken by the man who is at the center of this controversy. Verse 17, then one of the multitude answered and said. I'll also be making reference to the parallel passage in Matthew and Luke. Matthew tells us that this man came kneeling before Jesus, one from the crowd. And it's noticeable, isn't it, that we are not told what his name is. In other places we're given people's names, like Jairus came from the crowd too, but here it's just the one from the multitude. And that's always noteworthy. You could call them the no-name people in the Bible. And that's very helpful for us. Because we can put our name there now. You think about it, we're a crowd of people here. And if it had said, Jairus came, there's nobody here named Jairus, so we could never think, well, that's me. But now it just says, one from the multitude. That could be you. That could be me. It's easy to put our own name there, because there is no name there. But let's hear what this nameless man has to say to Jesus. Master, I brought you my son. He has a dumb or a mute spirit. Do you know what mute means? On the remote control, the mute button. He couldn't speak. A mute spirit, and whenever that spirit seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, and he gnashes with his teeth, and he becomes stiff and rigid. This is the man's problem. It's his son. Luke tells us it is his only son. This man only has one child, and the boy is possessed with an evil spirit, a mute spirit, that demon, as it were, has taken hold on the man's vocal cords, and he can't speak. But he also can't hear, because Jesus, in verse 25, calls it a dumb and deaf spirit. So not only is he mute and deaf, but he also has terrible attacks from this demon. It's like a person with epilepsy, has seizures, and was made worse by the demon. But when he had an attack, then it seemed like that demon would take complete control of him. He would tear into him and throw him down. And there he would lay on the ground, foaming at the mouth and grinding his teeth together, rigid, just like he was paralyzed. And the boy's father tells Jesus all the details of this problem, and we can put ourselves there. His soul loves his boy, and it grieves him that this demon has such power over him, but he believed Jesus could help him. Remember, just to put it back in context, Jesus simply asked the scribes a question, and they had no answer, so this nameless man, with the problem, takes advantage of the opportunity. He seizes the moment to tell Jesus what's troubling him. And he says to Jesus, I brought you my son. Parents, do you hear that? What amazing, beautiful words in the word of God. For all parents, Jesus, I brought you my son. I brought him to you. But there was a problem. He brought a son to Jesus, but only to find that Jesus wasn't there at that moment. We may constantly bring our children to Jesus, and he's always there. But for this man at this moment, Jesus was not there. He was up on the mountain. And when he talked to the disciples who were there, the nine, they tried to help him. That's what he says to Jesus, so I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast it out, but they could not. Four little words at the end of that verse that explains so often what happens in believers' lives, but they could not. We may imagine the man, how disappointed he was that Jesus was not with the disciples there at the bottom of the mountain. and then going to the disciples and saying to the disciples, well, you're Jesus' disciples, you cast this demon out of my boy. I heard you can do that too. But now he's even more disappointed because they could not. And the man tells Jesus all his problems, it's going from bad to worse. But what a huge blessing it is, isn't it? That we may tell Jesus all the details. our problems, all the details of all our struggles, all the details of our impossibilities in our lives, and Jesus listens carefully and he replies to the man. Verse 19, he answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Notice that Jesus answers the man, but he's not speaking only to the man. He says, oh, faithless generation, that's not just one man. That's this whole generation that's before him. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? And the disciples are there too. And we'll find out this afternoon that this refers to them too. How long shall I bear with you? Those words generation, that's plural. The word you is plural. So again, it's not just the man, it's everybody there and it's also everybody here because it's in the Bible and we read it this morning as the very words of God for us too. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? And that implies that time is running out. Our life is for a limited time only. And Jesus is saying, I will not always be here for you to call on me. How long am I going to be patient with you? How long am I going to put up with you? How long shall I bear with you? You almost sense there's something of frustration here and pain. and indignation in Jesus. It's a little glimpse of his human nature, isn't it? Of his humanity. But we also hear his words of love and grace. Because when Jesus sees this hopeless case, this man and his boy, what does he say? Bring him to me. Bring him to me. Jesus doesn't say to the man, why are you bothering me? I've put up with you long enough. I've had it with you. No, Jesus never says that. He says, bring your boy to me. There again, parents, grandparents, is that encouragement. Bring your boy to me. Bring your boys, bring your girls to me, says the Lord Jesus. Bring them to me. And there's a rich promise in that very command because we never bring them to Jesus for him to chase them away or to squash them. We always bring them to Jesus to bless them. And what do they do? Verse 20 tells us, they brought him to him. So that's three times in just a few verses we read of, bring him to me. The man says, I brought my son to you. And Jesus says, bring him to me. And now the people brought him to him. Three times in verse 17, verse 19, verse 20. So we cannot leave here this morning discouraged, somehow thinking, well, my children won't be welcomed by Jesus. Yes, they are. bring them to me," he says, and they brought him to him. And maybe this man needed several helpers to bring his boy to Jesus. What a church family he's for, to help us all. him to me and in obedience they bring the boy to Jesus. So now this boy who's demon possessed is going to come face to face with King Jesus. And if the man thought he had problems before, it's even worse now. When he saw him, when the boy saw Jesus, immediately the spirit convulsed him and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming at the mouth. It's so difficult to keep the boy and the demon apart. It seems like they are one. When you read your Bible carefully, it seems like every time that someone who's demon possessed seems to be one with that demon, and in a sense that's true. The demon takes over, he throws that boy into a convulsion, and there he is, just like the dad described, falling down, rolling on the ground, falling at the mouth. What a terrible scene. Gross power those demons have. But Jesus is here. Surely he will help. And he does in unexpected ways. While that boy is in convulsions on the ground, Jesus speaks to his father. He asked his father, verse 21, how long has this been happening to him? Doesn't that strike you as kind of strange? Jesus knew the answer to this question very well. He knows everything. And that he wants the father to tell him. So that would come as a kind of an unburdening, a kind of confession. How long has this been happening to him? And the father might have been thinking, I would be. Why are you asking questions? Help my boy. But see, Jesus, I wanted to hear it from this man, from childhood. Since he was a little child, since he was an infant, and often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. Oh Jesus, this horrible demon attacks my boy. He throws him into the fire pit. so that he has horrible burns and he throws him into the water so that he nearly drowns. It happens very often, maybe even daily, not just every once in a while, and it's an ongoing struggle to keep him safe. Maybe they had to tie him up at times with restraints for his own safety. Oh, Jesus, this demon is out to destroy my boy. The fathers imply, I am helpless against this problem. My boy is under the power of something greater than me. This demon has been wreaking havoc with the boy and with me, so I brought him to you, Jesus. I had some hope in you, but you were not there. So I asked your disciples to cast him out, and they could not. And so a little hope I had was dashed. This problem of mine needs divine intervention. This problem needs the power of Almighty God. And maybe you recognize something in this story. Not to over-spiritualize matters, but we can't help but notice, can we, Bible teaches that our souls by nature are under the power of demons. Our souls by nature are corrupt. We are conceived and born in sin. From a child we were children of wrath. In our natural state, without the saving grace of God the Father, we are of our father. The devil says Jesus. And we are helpless in our own strength to cast him out. And we need divine intervention in our heart and life. And maybe like this man, you brought your heart problem for years already maybe, praying, save me Lord. I want to be born again, reading the scriptures, using the means of grace, studying my Bible, never missing a church service, and asking believers for their advice, and maybe on family visitation, you've described your problem to the elders, and yet no one has really been able to help you. All the sermons you've heard, All the books you've read, the devotional readings, the Bible studies, the prayer meetings, the talks with believers, instead of being more hopeful, things have become more dark and hopeless. And maybe you've come to the point of saying something like this man says to Jesus. He does not say, I brought my son to you, Lord, because you can do anything. You can cast out this demon. That's not what he says. Read it carefully. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Do you hear with me a tone of doubt and wavering? and unbelief in those two little words, but if. When we say to the Lord, but if you can do anything, then we're telling him, I'm not so sure that you can. And I'm not so sure that you will if you could. But Lord, if you can do anything, or Lord, you can do anything. When we address the Lord with but if, we have very small thoughts of God. The man says to Jesus, but if you can do anything, and then the order in Greek is help us by having compassion on us. Help us. You're not just asking for help for his boy. Help us by summoning me. Maybe he's thinking of the prayer in Psalm 79. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name. Here it is. Help us by having compassion on us. Take pity on us, Jesus. Be moved. with compassion on us. Maybe this man has heard of other occasions where Jesus was moved with compassion, like when he healed the leper. Moved with compassion. We can understand, can't we, this man being plagued with unbelief? After all, Jesus' disciples were unable to help him. And if even Jesus' own disciples didn't have power over this demon, And he knows they tried, but they could not. It's no wonder then that this father's hope is nearly gone. No wonder then that his faith is almost completely wiped out. And yet, and yet there is a spark of faith. There is a glimmer of hope. Because even if he said, if you can do anything, He said it to the right person. He said it to Jesus. And see, that's the amazing grace of Jesus. Even when we come to Jesus, while we're doubting him, he still responds. And Jesus will respond to the man with the problems. Jesus does have the solution to this man's problems and to ours too. Whatever they may be, Jesus has the solution. That's our second thought, the Savior with the solution. That's verse 23. Jesus said to him, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Notice how Jesus turns things around with the man's words. The man had said to him, but if you can do anything, and Jesus says to the man, if you can believe. In other words, it's not a matter of my ability to do anything. It's your believing and trusting my ability that's deficient. You're not believing and trusting that I can cast out that demon. And as long as you're not believing it, I will not cast him out. Anything you ask me to do by faith is possible. Possible to whom? To the one who is believing. To the one who is trusting the Lord Jesus Christ without ifs and buts. If you are able to believe, all things are possible to the one who is believing. All faith that entrusts to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where true faith goes. Believing and trusting. Active faith does not ask wrong things of Jesus. And even if we're not feeling strong faith, and even if we're not feeling that trust in the Lord Jesus, and even if we don't feel that love and zeal for the Lord, and even if we're not feeling that courage, faith can still be active. Faith can still squeak out to the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the response of the man with the problems. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. See, there's this faith. Lord, I do believe. I do believe. First he called him master, right? Verse 17. Master, I brought my son to you. Now he calls him Lord. It's a confession of faith. Jesus is my Lord and my Master. And here he acknowledges his faith in Christ Jesus at the reveal. He acknowledges at the same time the great weakness in his own faith. By contrast to what it should be, he calls it unbelief. Help in my unbelief is what he means. His faith is imperfect. It's beset and plagued by doubts and fears. The same man who says, I do believe, Lord, in the same breath, acknowledges there's so much unbelief mixed in with my believing. Is that true for you too? Earlier, he asked, If you can do anything, help us. And now he drops the if. Help my unbelief. Faith makes the unbelief. Here's how the Lord Jesus Christ helps trembling, feeble, weak believers. He comes and he helps us moment by moment and day by day so that we may overcome our unbelief. In this boy's father, we have such a clear example, isn't it? Of faith mixed with unbelief. Yes, it is faith, we can't deny that. But faith always has a place to go for help. And always does. Oh Lord Jesus, help me to overcome my unbelief. There's no believer anywhere in the world who has perfect faith. Not here either. We all have defects in our faith, but our Lord Jesus Christ, he has the perfect solution. He shows compassion. He helps those who are plagued by unbelief. Oh, take it to King Jesus. Confess what faith you have. I do believe. Lord, come on your knees to the throne of his grace. Even if you have to come praying, help thou my unbelief. Maybe there's someone here this morning who says, I do believe. I have no doubts that the scriptures, every word in it is the word of God. I believe everything it says about me and my sin. I believe everything it says about God and about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that Jesus can save sinners. I believe Jesus can even save me. But I'm not so sure that he has. And I'm not so sure that he will. It seems impossible. And from our side, it is impossible. But Jesus says, if you can believe, all things are possible. Whoever believes shall not perish, but have eternal life. Maybe you see the Lord as an unapproachable God for a sinner like you. But I'm here to tell you that there is place at the throne of God only for sinners like you. only for sinners like you and me. Sinners who exclaim, often with tears, Lord, I do believe. And yet sinners who must often immediately add to that, help thou my unbelief. See, in the Bible, Jesus answered the objections. When we come with our but if you can do anything, There's nothing more for you to do. Believe me now. Trust me now. Jesus says, the problem is not my inability. The problem is your little faith. All things are possible to you who are believing. In our prayers, we replied to the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, I do believe. Help me to overcome. My unbelief. I want to take a few moments yet this morning in our third thought to look at that beautiful prayer, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And I want to try to bring that home to us now here and now this morning with the prayer for the Holy Spirit. to apply it to each of our souls, the children too. Let's ask the question of our text, what was this man's greatest problem? Was it his son? No, that was not his greatest problem. It was his unbelief, his faith that is mixed with unbelief. Yes, he came to Jesus. He brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus, and rightly so. But that son was not his greatest problem. He had a huge faith problem. And so, too, today, believers often bring their burdens to the Lord Jesus, and rightly so. To whom shall we go? That was the words of everlasting life. But what we need to learn is that there is most often an underlying problem of unbelief. Parents here this morning, Jesus says to us to bring him to me, bring her to me. And so we bring our children to Jesus in our prayers, right? Don't we? In our family prayers, we name them one by one. And I don't know how that goes in your family, but in our family, there's some difficulty and waywardness, they get the most prayer attention. But they're all named one by one. If you're never concerned about any of your children's souls, I have to ask you, do you really know your children? These children came forth from us, from sinful parents. Who can bring forth a clean thing out of an unclean? No one. And maybe maybe one or more of your little children or teenagers, shown by their attitudes that they really do not love the Lord God. You hear it sometimes in the words they use. You see it sometimes in the rebellion they display, in their disrespect or their indifference. to the Word of God. And so we bring them all to the Lord. The best place to bring them. And we want the Lord to intervene. And we say, Lord, but if you could do anything with my child, have compassion on us and help us. But what we really need is for the Lord to deal, first of all, with our unbelief. That's also true for church members and church family and office bearers and extended families, whatever it is. We are sometimes confronted with difficult situations and difficult people. And like parents with their children, we speak to them and we counsel them and we admonish them. And it seems like it goes nowhere. Sometimes it seems to go from bad to worse. And so what do we do? We bring them to the Lord in our prayers. And we say, Lord, if you can do anything, if you can do anything, have compassion on us. and help us, and we want the Lord to intervene in their lives, and he must, because we can't, but we have a greater problem. It's not that difficult family member or that difficult church member. It is our unbelief. And so in our text, the Lord teaches us to be honest and to come to him and say, yes, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. The same thing is true for individual Christians. We can be sometimes wrestling and grappling and struggling with a besetting sin, striving so hard to overcome a certain addiction, but it is so powerful. And so we bring it to the Lord and we say, Lord, I have this addiction problem. Lord, I'm at my wit's end, I know it's wrong, I know it's sinful, I'm trying so hard to stop, but I just can't overcome this. Lord, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. But that addiction is not our greatest problem. Our unbelief is. Look again at verse 23, Jesus says to him, if you can believe, All things are possible to him who believes. All things, so no matter what situation we are in, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter how impossible it seems, it is not impossible, says Jesus. When we say to Jesus, if you can do anything, and we use the word if, that's the language of doubt. Jesus, as it were, says, if I can do anything, if I'm able, there's nothing lacking in my ability. I would imagine most of us here would say we aren't believers. But the question for all of us is, are we all actually actively believing? What are we believing? When we are believing and trusting Jesus, we know all things are possible. That doesn't mean that the Lord will always do exactly what we think is needed, or exactly what we pray for, or exactly what we would like to have, but he will take away our thoughts of impossibility. The impossibility of our souls being saved. the impossibility of our sins being forgiven, the impossibility of us being reconciled with God. He takes all that away. That impossibility of a wayward child or a difficult church member or an addiction. We will acknowledge, yes, Lord, with thee. Beloved, we all need to be led by the Holy Spirit, according to the Word of God, to come to the place where our statement, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. That statement that shows our faith mixed with unbelief, and our little thoughts of God. That statement is heard by the Lord God, and we know His response. If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. We hear that as a rebuke, but at the same time, as a promise. And that reality brings us again to our knees in sorrow, sorrow because of our distrust of God. this most trustworthy God and his word, the God who cannot lie, who never has, who's always true to his word, the God who specializes in removing impossibilities and tells us if you can believe. You say, that's just my problem. If only I could believe. Well, here's what you do. You do what this man did. And he says, Lord, I do believe. Help thou my unbelief. But notice the little phrase in the last verse, verse 24. He said with tears, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Beloved, it does not go without tears. Maybe not tears flowing down your cheeks, Some of us wish we had that sometimes. But tears of your soul, sorrow over your unbelief, sorrow over your distrust and your mistrust of God and of Jesus. Sorrow of his willingness to help, to do the impossible. Notice, though, that Jesus doesn't reject the man. It's not the end of the story, that's why we're coming back this afternoon, but he helps him. He really casts the demon out of his son, and he causes his faith to grow. And Jesus does the same thing for his disciples. His disciples then, as we'll hear this afternoon, and his disciples now, and his disciples here. Let that be our refrain today, whenever we open our mouths to the Lord. Lord, no longer if you can do anything, Lord, you can do anything. Help us by having compassion on us. Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. O Lord God Almighty, we thank you for the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the precious instruction we received this morning from the Lord Jesus. Lord, to all our objections, you have the solution and you speak it in our ears. Lord, what encouragement we've had today as parents and as fellow church members when we have heard over and over, bring him to me, bring them to me, bring them to Jesus. Even if we have to say, Lord, if you can do anything, bring him to me. Lord, take away our doubts, our fears, our tremblings. Increase our faith, Lord, even thy disciples. who walked with thee on this earth had to pray, Lord, increase our faith. And you did. Lord, increase our faith, too, that we, with this man, may say, Lord, I do believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lord, please take care of us. Feed our souls with the bread of life. Bring us safely to our homes. And back again this afternoon, as we again hope to open thy word and receive more instruction, as we sit at the feet of the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us and bless us, we pray. Keep us from sin, forgive our many sins, in Jesus' name, amen. Before we sing this final song, number 35, there's one announcement. Gerrit Zinke asked me to announce this, and the elders said I could. All senior youth and young adults, married or single, interested in attending a mission trip to Agua Prieta in the coming year, are invited to the home of Everett and Yoni Byer after the evening service. Adults interested in chaperoning are also encouraged to attend.