Mark 9:14-29

Turn to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

I will begin reading in verse 14.

!

And he answered them,

Immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

And Jesus asked the father,

How long has this been happening to him?

And he said,

From childhood.

And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him.

But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

And Jesus said to him,

If you can, all things are possible for one who believes.

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said,

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together,

he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it,

You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.

And after crying out and convulsing him terribly,

it came out, and the boy was like a corpse,

so that most of them said,

He is dead.

But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up,

and he arose.

And when he had entered the house,

his disciples asked him privately,

Why could we not cast it out?

And he said to them,

This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

This is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it,

to believe its promises,

and obey its commands.

Let's pray together.

Father God, we do praise you for this day,

and the opportunity to come together with the congregation,

those whom you have called your own,

and to learn from your word.

And I pray, Father,

that will be the very thing that happens this day,

that all of us will submit ourselves willfully to it,

that we'll be taught by you, our great teacher,

that you will expose the places of our heart,

that we harbor deep sin,

that we harbor faithlessness.

And Father, we pray that you will help our unbelief.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

We have come a few stories into now the second act of sorts,

kind of a three-act play that Mark writes for us.

So far through the first half of chapter 8,

we've gotten really his lengthy introduction

in which he presents to us story after story after story,

some teaching interspersed,

but primarily stories to say that Jesus is in fact the Son of God.

All of these punctuations of miracles that he performs.

And we've noted he kind of seems to speed us along.

There's a real hastening to the last half of chapter 8,

and chapter 9, and chapter 10.

And this is the second act,

and it's when he begins his journey toward Jerusalem.

We all know what's going to happen when he gets there.

The disciples now have been with Jesus for about two years.

There's about six more months coming,

and he's come to a time in his ministry

where he sets aside largely the public aspect of his ministry,

and he turns his attention fully to the apostles.

They have been with him all this time,

but yet they have so many lessons to learn.

They are getting it, but they don't quite get it.

And so there's a number of lessons that are going to begin happening here.

We first see a blind man healed at Bethsaida,

which is on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee.

Then they move to the area north of the Sea of Galilee,

known as Caesarea Philippi,

where Peter makes the bold proclamation that Jesus is the Christ.

And then there's the immediate rebuke following that,

as he does not understand how it is that Jesus intends

to usher the kingdom of God into place.

And the lesson taught here to the disciples

is the cost of discipleship.

We talked about that two weeks ago.

Then Jesus leads a small band with him,

Peter, James, and John,

up onto a mountain, likely Mount Hermon,

just north of Caesarea Philippi,

and the transfiguration happens.

Jesus comes in his glory.

He gives them a visible manifestation

of what the kingdom of God will look like.

And we see Moses and we see Elijah in fellowship with him there.

And the lesson he's teaching them there

is the surety of the coming kingdom.

This week we're going to see the necessity of faith.

And then in the coming weeks,

the excellence of service,

the seriousness of sin,

the nature of marriage,

the childlikeness of faith,

the difficulty of riches,

and the prominence of humility.

And all of this is capped off in Mark's Gospel

with another blind healing,

the healing of blind Bartimaeus.

All that to say that Jesus himself

is the Lord of spiritual blindness.

It's metaphorical in that way.

And he's bringing about this process of education

with the disciples.

And so we see this fascinating story.

Mark is actually, in this case,

the most lengthy telling of the story

and gives us the most detailed.

Thank you, Mark.

You finally came out of your writing brevity

and you've given us more detail to the story.

And we'll talk a little bit about

Matthew and Luke's account,

some of the things that they add to this.

But we get this very lengthy account.

And for good reason,

because Mark is saying to us,

if you were going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,

it is going to require faith.

It is necessary to be a disciple.

And he does that so beautifully

under the inspiration of the Spirit in this story.

So notice with me, firstly, the scene.

Verse 14 says,

And when they came to the disciples,

remember they have been up on the mountain.

The they here, the pronoun,

the help that we need with that

is to see that this is Peter

and James and John and Jesus.

When they came back,

when they rejoined this band of brothers,

they saw a crowd around them of scribes.

The scribes being the religious elite of the day,

the mouthpieces, arguing with them.

These scribes seem to follow Jesus around

his entire ministry,

hiding behind walls and bushes,

just popping up all kinds of places

at the most inopportune times.

And here they've ambushed the disciples

and they're having a debate with them.

Likely, it's around an event we're going to look at,

but likely on whether or not Jesus is the Christ

and if they should be following him,

if they should even be his disciples.

And verse 15 says that we see a crowd

and nothing amazing happened.

Jesus didn't do anything amazing,

but they knew who he was.

And so they were amazed

and they ran up and they greeted him.

And he wants to know,

he asks a simple question,

what are you arguing about with them?

Now notice they don't get a response.

He doesn't get a response from the scribes.

He doesn't get a response from the disciples,

but rather he ends up getting a response

from a man in the crowd.

And so it's likely that as Jesus comes back

as the great teacher,

they're ashamed in his presence

about the things they were arguing about.

And here he has a great opportunity

to set all of the argument straight.

But Mark here,

going from the telling of the transfiguration,

and again under inspiration,

but moving into this story

of the healing of this boy,

Mike's a stark juxtaposition

between the mountaintop

and the valley down below.

The scene changes

from unimaginable glory on a mountain

to the den of a crowd in the valley.

From the sweetest of fellowship

to the senselessness of an argument.

From the exaltation of the Son of God

to the suffering of another only child.

And Luke adds that detail for us.

I believe that Mark here

means to show us the stark contrast

between the kingdom of God

and this world.

And the great issue at hand

is the issue of faith.

Notice Jesus' response.

Skipping the man in the crowd,

the father,

as he tells Jesus what's going on for a moment.

But verse 19,

Jesus answers,

finding out that the disciples

are unable to heal the boy,

unable to cast out the spirit.

He answers them,

O faithless generation.

He's speaking to all those there,

including the disciples

who were really the object

of this story.

How long am I to be with you?

How long am I to bear with you?

Bring him to me.

I think that this phrasing

is very similar to the sigh we see

in chapter 7, verse 34.

As he just says,

just get it.

Just get it.

You recall back in chapter 6,

Jesus commissions the twelve apostles

and sends them out two by two

to minister the gospel of God.

He's shown them how to do it

as he's been ministering all these years

and then he sends them out to do it.

Mark 6.13 says,

And they cast out many demons

and anointed with oil

many who were sick

and healed them.

Because,

in verse 7 of chapter 6,

we see the record

that Jesus gave them authority

over the unclean spirit.

So they've been able

to do this thing before,

but now we find them

in a position

where they're unable to do it.

Remember in Mark 4, verse 40,

Mark 4:40

after Jesus has calmed

the storm of the Sea of Galilee,

these great 10 to 15 foot waves

on this little body of water,

He's spoken

and the waves,

the wind has obeyed Him.

He says to them,

Why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?

After Jesus feeds the 5,000,

then later He feeds the 4,000.

The disciples are fretting

because they only remembered

to bring one loaf of bread with them

on this boat journey

back across the Sea of Galilee

in one of the many crossings.

And Jesus asks them,

How many baskets full of broken pieces

did you take up

when I fed the 5,000?

And they responded,

12.

And He said,

How many baskets full of broken pieces

did you take up

when I fed the 4,000?

And they say,

Seven.

So 19 baskets of leftovers.

And so He says to them,

So I fed a multitude abundantly.

And then Mark 8, 21,

Do you not yet understand?

Do you still not have faith?

This section that we're in now,

the last half of 8,

chapter 9,

chapter 10,

before the journey to Jerusalem

really sets off

is punctuated by predictions

of Jesus' coming,

suffering,

death,

and resurrection.

We see three passion predictions

that are always followed

by some faithless misunderstanding

on the part of the disciples.

They have yet to fully understand

the power and provision

in Jesus' presence.

They're there with Him

and they still don't get

His power and provision.

How is it possible

that they would come

to understand these things

and experience these things

when He's absent?

This is what Jesus

is setting them up for

and this is what He's going

to teach them

in this story.

How is it that they're

to function when He's gone?

And here we see

the necessity of faith.

So first, that's the scene.

This is what's happening.

Second, the son's situation.

Verse 17 and 18.

As he asks what they're arguing

about, someone from the crowd

answers him,

Teacher, I brought my son to you

for he has a spirit

that makes him mute.

And whenever it seizes him,

it throws him down

and he foams and grinds his teeth.

That's foams at the mouth

and he becomes rigid, tense.

So I asked your disciples

to cast it out

and they were not able.

So we see a boy.

We don't know his exact age,

although when asked

how long this has been happening,

he said from childhood,

so he's potentially

a little bit older boy

who is demon-possessed.

And this is the cause

of all of these other symptoms

that we see listed here.

It's the demon possession

that is causing these things.

Now, as a bit of a side note,

I do believe that this type of stuff

still happens in our world today,

although not in the prevalence

that it happened in this day.

It seems that in all of history,

there was a great fervor

to demonic activity

in the days of Jesus.

It's my presumption

this was Satan's attempt

to occupy the people,

to destroy their

God-image-bearing ability

because the Son of God

was on the scene.

So it would be irresponsible

to assume that anyone

with similar symptoms

also has a possession.

This would be a bad hermeneutic.

This would be a bad way

to deal with the Scriptures.

But this certainly is

the cause of this boy's infirmities.

The father says that he's mute,

can't talk.

Jesus later adds

that he is deaf

in verse 25.

The father may not have even known

that the boy couldn't hear

what it is he was saying.

This young boy was living

in complete isolation.

Right?

Had the presence of people around him

but couldn't hear a thing they would say.

No comforting words

could enter into his mind.

And he couldn't express

the anguish that he was in.

In complete and total isolation.

Verse 18.

The father says that the demon

that possesses him

throws him down.

If you have an NASB,

the word used here is slams.

The original Greek is a violent word.

Right?

Not tosses him to the ground

but slams him to the ground.

Luke adds in chapter 9,

verse 39,

and shatters him.

Right?

This is a violent,

this is a pummeling.

This boy is being beat

against the ground

again and again

and again.

Matthew 17, 15

says that he has epilepsy.

And this is a Greek word.

The word we use,

epilepsy,

is a Greek word

which means

to seize,

possess,

or afflict.

In fact,

our common use,

our western use

of the word epilepsy

just refers to a group

of neurological disorders.

It's not a particular one.

It's a group

of neurological disorders.

The cause of which

mostly are unknown

although brain damage

can often be the cause

of epilepsy.

And so it's likely,

we don't know this for sure,

but it's likely

that this demon

has been throwing this boy

so violently

against the ground

that he has sustained

head injury

after head injury

after head injury.

And the other things

that are happening

to him

are a result

of the demon

trying to kill him

by throwing him

into the ground.

We know that the demon

was trying to kill the boy.

The father says

that he's trying

to destroy him.

Verse 22,

it's often cast him

into fire

and into water.

The father believes

that the demon

is trying to destroy him.

There would have been

a lot of open fires

in this day.

They didn't go camping

all the time.

They just lived their lives

and open wells.

This father is

following his son around.

I would imagine

at all moments

and all time

to save him

from being burned alive

or drowned

by this demon.

Now, demons

are created beings.

We don't have time

to get into the theology.

I don't have time

to study it right now.

But they're fallen angels.

We know that

they were created by God.

And therefore,

they fall under

the reign of God.

God permitted

this boy

to be possessed.

He permitted it

to happen.

It's not the causation

of it,

but He permitted it

to happen.

And therefore,

He also reigned

over what was happening

to this boy.

And that's a hard thing

to understand.

I don't know why.

I don't know why

any of us deal

with the things

that we deal with

and why this boy

would have to go

through such a terrible thing.

His father as well,

as a loving dad

witnessing what's

happening to this boy.

We can certainly say

that Jesus was exalted

in this situation

and that may be

the greatest reason

that this thing

is happening

to this boy

and to this father.

But what we can say

for sure is that

as God reigns over this,

God did prevent

the demon

from taking the boy's life.

The demon was doing

everything it possibly could

to take this boy's life.

And God,

by His grace,

was preventing it

from happening.

Whether it be through

simply sustaining

the head injuries

that would come to him

or by his father

scooping him up

out of fire

and out of open wells.

This boy is in a

horrible, horrible state.

This is his only son.

I have two sons.

And I know a lot of you

in the room

don't have children,

but when you have children

and you start to see them

get hurt,

it is absolutely

heartbreaking.

When Cade was finally

able to form tears,

babies can't form tears

really early

if you don't know that.

When he could form tears

and the first time

he got hurt

and he cried,

I cried too.

It was so heartbreaking

to me

that he got hurt.

Gosh,

you want to rescue them

from every pain

in this world.

In fact,

I think Sam

had to take Cade

to the bathroom

when we were singing.

When they came back in,

when they got to the corner,

Cade was holding Judas' hand.

I think he thought

it would be funny

to sling him

around the corner.

And my heart like,

because I was looking at,

thinking Judas' head

was going to get slammed

into the wall

the way this boy

was slammed repeatedly

into the ground,

but this by his brother

rather than a possession

of sorts.

But what I'm trying

to point out to you

is that this boy

is suffering,

but the father

is suffering as well.

The father is suffering

as well.

I am sure that many times

in the life of this father

and this son,

this father has desired

to trade places

with his son.

Please,

let me take the beating.

Spare him.

And Jesus says to him,

verse 19,

bring him to me.

He has immediate compassion.

They're arguing over here.

What are you arguing about?

The father tells them

what they're arguing about

and he says,

bring him to me.

In verse 20,

it says,

and they brought the boy

to him.

And when the spirit saw him,

this is the unclean spirit,

the demon inside the boy,

immediately it convulsed the boy

and he fell on the ground

and rolled about,

foaming at the mouth.

And we see here

a picture of darkness

colliding with light.

The demon sees Jesus

and it knows

what's going to happen.

And it tries to get in

its last punch.

It tries to get in

its last damage

to this child.

Such a picture

of evil incarnate.

This great collision.

Verse 21,

and Jesus asked his father,

how long has this

been happening to him?

And he said,

from childhood.

And then we see

the explanation

of the fire

and the water.

We shouldn't miss

at this point

this question

that Jesus asked the father.

How long has this

been happening

to him?

Jesus doesn't need

to know

as if he's got to work out

the equation

of his power.

Let me dial my power

meter up properly

so that I can

put the right amount

of power

into the situation.

Jesus,

we could argue,

is omniscient.

He already knows.

How long

it's been happening

to him?

But what he does

in this great display

of compassion

is he empathizes

with the father's

suffering.

We've heard about

the son's suffering,

but as I pointed out,

the father has suffered.

And he asks him a question.

How long

has this been happening

to him?

How long?

Let me share

in this story with you

before I do

this mighty,

mighty work.

And then the father

makes this request

at the end of verse 22.

This is the father's request.

But if you can do anything,

have compassion on us

and help us.

And you see here

that the father understands

that Jesus is empathizing

with him.

The Greek word for help

is a much,

much mightier word

in the original language.

Boatheo.

It means to run

to our aid.

Help us with urgency.

We need your help.

That's what he's saying.

Right?

And he includes

that plural pronoun

of compassion on us

and help us,

deliver us

from the torment

of this demon.

Fourth,

notice the response

of Jesus.

And Jesus says to him,

if you can,

all things are possible

for one who believes.

He says to him,

I can and I will

if only you will believe

that I can.

The father's response

is the opposite

of the leper's request

in chapter 1,

verse 40 of Mark.

You remember that?

He said,

if you will,

you can make me clean.

The leper says,

I know you can,

but I just don't know

if you want to.

The father here says,

I think you will,

but I don't know

if you can.

And then Jesus follows

with this axiom statement,

this hinging statement,

all things are possible

for one who believes.

The power of God

is accessed, beloved,

by our faith,

by our belief

in his power,

that he has the ability

to do the things

that he said

he's going to do.

This is what he means

by all things.

He means all things

within the will

of the father.

All those things

that are ordained

by God himself.

I think the word all

quite possibly

may be one of the greatest

misunderstood words

of scripture

for modern evangelicals.

If we take this

at its face value

and say all things

are possible

for one who believes,

every Christian

can do anything

they want to do.

Isn't that fantastic?

What a poor,

poor hermeneutic.

What does he mean?

All things.

He means all things

in the will of the father.

John 14.14 is similar.

If you ask me

anything in my name,

Jesus says,

I will do it.

What does anything include?

Things in his name.

Things that exalt him.

Things that are within

the will of the father.

All things are possible

for the one who believes.

For the one who has faith.

Notice fifth,

the sufficient faith

of the father.

The sufficient faith

of the father.

Immediately the father

of the child cried out,

verse 24,

I believe,

help my unbelief.

And I love this statement.

I love it.

I have just meditated

for hours this week

on this statement.

I believe,

help my unbelief.

It's such a beautifully

humble statement.

And doesn't it so readily

sum up the experience

of our lives?

It does mine.

I think it does yours as well.

I'm always working

to get my heart

to catch up to my head.

I know things,

but I just don't believe them.

I'm in constant ebb

and flow in my faith.

For many years,

I ran Appalachian Outfitters

in town here.

On the Chesity River,

there's a bend in the river.

And on the inside bank,

which is how rivers function,

there's a beach.

And we called it

Big Bend Beach.

I'm sure it's still called that

this day.

And that beach changed

all the time.

Every time there's a little change

in the water fluctuation,

the water level,

more sand would be deposited

or some sand would be carried away.

But there was always a beach there.

The beach always existed.

We always would send people down there

and let them camp on it.

We never wondered

if the beach was going to exist or not.

It always existed,

but it changed.

Many of you are going to go

to the beach this summer.

I'm not.

Praise God I'm not going

to the beach this summer.

Many of you will.

Watch the sand as it comes

and it goes.

There's always sand on the beach.

There's always faith,

but it ebbs and flows.

It waxes and it wanes.

And this is the statement

that he says,

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

Praise God

that he does not require

of us perfect faith.

But rather he requires

of us humble faith,

which is sufficient faith.

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

And we know that his faith

is sufficient

because Jesus responds to it.

The Father has said,

if you can do this,

if you can do it,

and Jesus' response to him is,

if you can,

all things are possible.

The very thing you're requesting

of me is possible

for the one who believes.

The Father responds,

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

And the evidence

that he actually believed,

that he has faith,

is that Jesus heals his son.

Verse 25.

There's a crowd running together.

So it would seem

that the fact that Jesus is there

is gathering a larger crowd.

And so he quickly rebukes.

His public ministry

has largely completed.

Remember?

Like, he's got to get in these days.

He doesn't want to be taken captive,

to be put in charge,

to be a military ruler.

This was the thing

he's trying to avoid

as he's functioning in secrecy.

So he quickly rebukes

the unclean spirit,

says to it,

you mutant deaf spirit,

I command you,

come out of him

and never enter him again.

This boy is delivered

and he's delivered forever

from the power of this demon.

And after crying out

and convulsing him terribly,

it came out again,

giving him one last go,

it came out

and the boy was like a corpse

so that most of them said,

he is dead.

Mark records for us

the faithlessness still

of the crowd.

See that little detail

he includes for us.

Most of them said,

he is dead,

but Jesus took him by the hand

and lifted him up

and he arose.

In verse 27,

he lifted him up.

And this is what Jesus does.

He takes those who are sin sick

and makes them whole again.

He takes those who were dead

and he makes them alive.

And as I reflected on this phrase this week,

he lifted him up.

My mind was taken to Ephesians 2.

So please go there with me.

Amen.

The metaphor of this boy's life,

this real event that happened,

it points to something greater

that has happened in your life

if you have placed your faith in Christ.

Oh, and I pray that you have.

Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And you were dead

in the trespasses and sins

and once you once walked.

You were dead.

Walking, but dead.

Following the course of this world.

Doing all the things that this world does.

You just go along with the flow.

Following the prince of the power of the air.

You were dead.

You were a worshiper of Satan.

The spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience.

Not that we're demon-possessed

prior to Jesus delivering us.

We're not demon-possessed.

But yet there's a work that's happening in us.

By our nature,

we are enemies of God.

Verse 3,

among whom we all once lived

in the passions of our flesh,

carrying out the desires of the body

and of the mind,

and we're by nature,

there's that word,

children of wrath

like the rest of mankind.

Precious conjunction.

But God,

being rich in mercy

because of the great love

with which He loved us,

even when we were dead

in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

He's lifted you up in Christ

and raised us up with Him

and seated us with Him

in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus

so that in the coming ages

He might show the immeasurable riches

of His grace and kindness

toward us in Christ Jesus.

I read past where I wanted to,

but it's so good.

And then verse 8,

for by grace you have been saved

through faith.

Faith has been given to us

as a gift of God.

This boy couldn't deliver himself

from the demon,

but Jesus delivered him.

Praise God

for the sufficient faith

of the Father.

Sixth,

look at the disciples' doubt.

Verse 28,

And when He had entered the house,

presumably a house

that they were staying at

in the area,

His disciples asked Him privately,

Why could we not cast it out?

And He said to them,

This kind cannot be driven out

by anything but prayer.

Now it would be really,

really dangerous at this point

to try to form some sort of

doctrine about types of demons,

species of demons.

The lesson here ultimately

in this story

is not even about

casting out demons.

It's the lesson of faith

and the power

and how do we access the power

to do the work of God,

more generally speaking.

So it would be wrong

to look at that and go,

What does He mean,

this kind?

What does He mean by that?

He's simply saying

an enemy of God.

An enemy of God,

the demon-possessed person,

can't be exercised

by anything but prayer.

So the question I asked earlier,

how would the disciples

access the power,

presence,

and provision

of Jesus Christ

in His absence?

They would,

as we should,

access it by prayers

of faith.

Prayer is the natural response

of the person of faith.

We believe in the God

who says He will do things

and therefore we ask Him

to do those very things.

How do we know

that I'm right about this?

How do we know

that Jesus isn't trying

to set up a doctrine

of species of demon?

Right?

Matthew,

His explanation

is more explicit.

Matthew 17, 20.

He said to them

in response to their question,

why could we not cast it out?

He says to them,

because of your little faith.

For truly I say to you,

if you have faith

like a grain of mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain,

move from here to there

and it will move

and nothing will be impossible

for you.

Now again,

Jesus is not teaching them

literally,

you guys are going to start

an excavating company

because you're going to have faith

and it's going to be amazing

because you're going to need

no equipment.

You're just going to go out there

and talk

and things are going to get

moved around.

This isn't what He's saying to them.

He's saying if you even just have

a little faith.

The problem in this situation,

the reason that they couldn't

cast out the demon

is because they had no faith.

They had no faith at all.

They thought that they

could exercise demons

and they didn't go to the source

of the power.

They didn't believe that Jesus

is the Christ

and Jesus is the source

for the ability

to do such things.

They had zero faith.

He says to them,

if you have faith

like a grain of mustard seed

and mustard was the smallest

seed in this region.

Maybe ever.

I don't know.

But very small.

They would have gotten

what He meant by this.

And if you've ever seen

a mustard seed,

it's like a little flake.

It's really easy to like

breathe too hard

and it blows off your hand

and you never find it again.

Tiny.

You just have a little,

right?

It doesn't have to be

perfect faith.

It just has to be

sufficient faith.

Humble faith.

Know that the power

doesn't come from you

but it comes from me.

This is the further

juxtaposition

of the Father's faith

and the disciples' doubt.

He believed

and the disciples

did not.

Habakkuk 2.4

God says by the prophet,

the righteous shall live

by his faith.

Paul cites Habakkuk 2.4

in Romans 1.17

and Galatians 3.11.

Again, the righteous

shall live by faith.

The author of Hebrews

does it as well

in 10.38

but my righteous one

shall live by faith.

It is by faith

that we have

our very being,

our access into

the kingdom of God

and it is by faith

we continue

in this life.

So the application.

What areas of your life

do you lack faith in?

What areas of your life

do you have like

no faith?

You have no faith

if you're not responding

properly to the gospel.

You don't have to have

perfect faith.

You just have to have

sufficient faith.

Faith like a mustard

seed.

Another way to ask

the question would be

in what ways have you

failed to trust God?

Do you trust Him

with your very soul?

Do you trust Him

with your very soul?

Have you placed

believing faith

in Jesus Christ?

John 3.18 says,

whoever believes in Him

is not condemned.

But whoever does not believe

is condemned already

because he has not believed

in the name of the only

Son of God.

Whoever believes

is delivered

from the consequence

of his sin.

But the one who doesn't

has already been condemned.

Do you trust Him

in all the circumstances

of your life?

Romans 8.28,

I hope this is not a promise

that grows old to you.

And we know that

for those who love God,

all things,

all things work together

for good for those

who are called

according to His purpose.

Do you trust Him

in all of the circumstances

of your life?

Matthew 28.20,

behold,

Jesus says,

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

Do you trust Him

with your children,

with your wife or husband,

or future wife or husband?

Do you trust Him

with your finances?

Matthew 6.25-33,

Jesus tells us

not to be anxious

about our life,

what we're going to wear,

what we're going to eat,

all these things.

It's ridiculous

to be worried

about these things.

For the Gentiles

seek after these things,

verse 32,

and your heavenly Father

knows that you need them all.

But seek first

the kingdom of God

and His righteousness

and all these things

will be added to you.

Do you trust Him

in your finances?

Do you trust Him

with your plans?

College students,

the transition of life

right now,

do you trust Him

with your plans?

Proverbs 19.21,

this is many of the plans

in the mind of a man.

You all can relate

to that, can't you?

Many are the plans

in the minds of a man,

but it is the purpose

of the Lord

that will stand.

To give some explanation

to that,

James 4.13-15,

Come now you who say,

today or tomorrow

we will go into such and such town

and spend a year there

and trade and make a profit.

Yet you do not know

what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life?

For you are a mist

that appears for a little time

and then vanishes.

Instead you ought to say

if the Lord wills,

we will live

and do this or that.

If God directs,

I will go.

You can rest

and trust,

have faith

in a plan

for your life.

The disciples

of Jesus Christ,

this is what Mark

is driving us to be.

This is the very point

of this.

Believe that Jesus

is the Christ

and follow Him.

The disciples

of Jesus Christ

will be so

by faith.

Let us cry out together

to God,

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

Let's pray.

Let us pray.