The Amazing Christ, Part 1

Father, we thank You for today. I thank You, Lord, for the opportunity we have to study Your Word. We thank You that You are in control of all things. And today, we will learn a lesson that really speaks to the heart of man, to help us understand where we stand with our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we might truly be followers of Your great glory. We pray in Your name, Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 9.

Luke chapter 9, and we're going to look at a story that tells us about Christ and His wonderful, amazing glory.

We're going to look at a story that begins with His amazement and ends with His amazement. It begins with His glory radiating from His being, and it ends with His glory revealed, revealed to humanity. It's a wonderful story about Christ. Now, if I was to ask you that if you believed in the amazing Christ of the Scriptures, most of you would say, yes, I do. But the question comes, how far-reaching is that amazement in your life? For if I was to ask you, do you have faith in that God? Do you have faith in Christ, that amazing Christ?

Most of you would raise your hand and say, yes, I do have faith in that Christ. The question comes, what does that mean? What does it truly mean to have faith in God, to truly believe in God? What is faith? We describe ourselves as people of faith. You hear people say, well, I'm a person of faith. Well, what does that mean? If you ask them to define that, they would probably have a difficult time articulating to you what exactly it means to be a person of faith. If someone was to say to you, are you a person of faith, how would you respond to that?

Well, the question comes, what is faith? And faith simply is this. It is believing in what God has already said. That's faith. Faith is believing in the revelation of God. We don't believe in it because it's been proven to us. We don't believe in it because we experience it. We believe it simply because God said it. That's what faith truly is. We don't believe just in believing. We don't make things happen because we have this faith in believing and hoping that it might happen. That's not what faith is.

Faith truly is believing in what God has already revealed to us in his word. For example, if someone says, I have faith to believe that I am going to be made well, that statement is an inappropriate statement because you have no guarantee in Scripture that you will be made well. You might want to be made well, but that would not be true biblical faith because God has never said anything to you in his word about your physical condition. People say, I have faith to believe that I will be healed from cancer.

That, again, would be an inappropriate statement. Why? Because you have no guarantee in Scripture. You have no exact word in Scripture from God for that to be true for you to hold on to. When I have faith in what God has said, I believe what he says, and I stake my life on what he has already said. You have no guarantee of a better physical condition this side of eternity. People say, well, what about Isaiah 53? When it says, by his stripes we are healed, Peter quotes that in 1 Peter 2.24. By his stripes we are healed.

So I'm going to claim that verse. I'm going to have faith in that verse that I will be healed of my physical disease or my physical condition, whatever it may be. Or I can believe Psalm 103, which says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, who pardons all my iniquities and who heals all my diseases. See? So I have a verse of scripture that proves that God will heal my disease. The only problem with that is that in context of Psalm 103 and Isaiah 53, as well as 1 Peter 2.24, it all deals with the healing of the soul and not the body.

You must always interpret in context. If not, you misappropriate the verse. And there it is true that one day there will be a complete remedy for your physical being. You will have a glorified body. You will never be sick. You will never be ill. You will never have anything wrong with you in your glorified state. But God has not promised to anybody this side of eternity that they will be made physically well. The Bible never says that. So it would be inappropriate for me to say, I have faith in God that he will heal my physical condition because I don't know what God's will is for my life tomorrow.

And I don't know what God's purpose is for my life tomorrow. The apostle Paul had an illness that he asked God on three occasions to remove and God never did. Because God said my grace is made perfect in your weakness. And the apostle Paul who had the gift of healing let many people remain ill, remain sick and did not heal them like Trophimus. He left in Miletus sick. He didn't even heal him. Why? Because God has a purpose. Everything about your life is about his glory. And if it's about his glory, it'll be ultimately about your good.

Faith is so misunderstood today in the realm of the church. And so therefore we must understand what the Bible says about faith.

Because my faith is based, listen, on how I view the Christ and his word. The story we're going to view today is gonna tell you a lot about your faith and how you view the Christ of the word. We must believe exactly what God says.

Faith is not a spiritual miracle or a spiritual power whereby you are able to make things happen for yourself. That's not what faith is. It's putting your confidence and trust in what God, listen carefully, has already said. That's what faith is. You can't have faith in something that God has not said. You can only have faith in what God has already said. Let me give you an example.

If you have your Bible, turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, verse number one, says in that very familiar verse, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is an assurance of things that have not happened yet. But I know they're gonna happen because God said they're gonna happen. I know that Jesus is gonna return because God said his son was coming back. So I have an assurance of things hoped for. I have a conviction in things not seen. Therefore I am convinced of what I don't see because I am convinced of what God has already said. That's what faith is. And that's why it says in verse number two, for by it the men of old gained approval.

Why? Because they believed in what God had told them. Now look at the next verse. It says, by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Why do we believe in creation and not evolution? You do believe in creation, not evolution, don't you? We believe in creation because the Bible tells us very simply that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. We know that everything came into existence by God. We know from Hebrews chapter one verse number three that it's God who holds all things together by the word of his power.

We know how the stars hang in space. We know how the planets hang in space. We know how this earth hangs in space. Why? Because it's held together by the word of his power. We know from Colossians 1 verses 15 to 17 that it's Jesus Christ who made everything visible and invisible. And it's him who is actively involved in keeping it all together because if he wasn't involved in keeping it together they would automatically disintegrate. How do we know that? Because God said so. We can't see how he does all that.

That's irrelevant. What is relevant is that God has said that he created the worlds. God has said he holds them together. God has said he's in charge and faith is believing in what God has already said. My faith is built on the words of almighty God. I have an assurance of a home in eternity. Never been there. Never experienced that. But I have the assurance of things hoped for because God says that I have eternal life and I believe that.

The Bible says these words. Verse four. By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain. How did he do that? Because he knew what God said and obeyed what God said and Cain disobeyed what God said. Abel believed in what God had told him. Cain did not. Abel was a man of faith. Cain was not. The Bible says in verse number five.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God took him for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it's impossible to please him. Folks listen.

You cannot please God if you don't believe in what he says. Can't do it. You might think you can but you can't. Without faith it is impossible to please God. And my faith is based on what God has revealed to me in his word. So I take his word at face value. I believe exactly what he says and I trust it and I lay my life on the line for what God has said because that is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. My faith has an assurance, an ironclad assurance. And it has a deep conviction because God said it.

And that's the only thing that matters. It says, these words. By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen. Noah had not seen rain. Noah had never seen a flood. But he believed God when God said, Noah it's going to rain and Noah there's going to be a flood. Noah said, okay, I believe that. He didn't say, what's rain? What's flood? God said, build an ark. What's an ark? Didn't ask questions. He believed in what God had said to him and that's why he was a preacher of righteousness. And for 120 years as God's patience would be seen, as Noah would build this ark with his boys and they would receive the ridicule and the mockings from all those around them, what kept them going for 120 years?

They believed in what God said even though they had never seen it. Most of us can't even go for 120 minutes in an environment that criticizes us and mocks us without crumbling. They did it for 120 years simply because they believed in what God had told them although they had never seen it. Because faith is believing in what God has said. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going. He had no idea.

He had no idea where he was going. But God said go and so Noah went. I mean Abraham went. He believed in what God said. And as you go through the Hebrew Hall of Faith, it's this over and over again. Verse 20, By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped leaning on the top of a staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. He was a man who, by the way, like parents, like child. His parents had faith. They weren't afraid of the king's edict and that translated over to their son, Moses, who did not consider his life as important.

He would choose to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin for a season because he had modeled to him parents who believed in what God said. And Moses was a man who would have to believe in what God said concerning the exodus, concerning Pharaoh, concerning the plagues. He had to take God's word at face value. And Moses was a great man of faith, like Abraham, like Isaac, like Jacob, like Joseph, like Abel, like Noah. They were men of faith. And the Bible goes on to say words like this, verse 30, by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

They believed that what God said was going to happen. They had no idea how it was going to happen, but they believed that if they walked around the walls and obeyed God, the walls would come tumbling down, and they did, simply believing what God said, even though it didn't make any sense to them at all. By faith they pleased their God. And it goes on to say about Rahab in verse 31, by faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

And it goes on and says, And what more shall we say, for time will fail me if I tell about Gideon and Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection, and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection.

And others experienced mockings and scourging, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

They just lived believing in what God had said. That's it. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? That's all they did. The problem is we don't do that. And we're supposed to be people of faith. And yet all these people in the hall of faith simply took God as word and believed him. So when you come to Hebrews chapter 12, verse number 1, it says, Therefore, therefore, because of all these people, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us. What's the cloud? Hebrews 11. It's not that they're up there in heaven looking down on us.

That's just so ridiculous. That's not the case. We are surrounded by this group of witnesses that live their lives by faith, because all these people placed their life on the line simply because of what God had said. The writer of Hebrews says, Let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us. You know what sin that is? It's the sin, listen, of unbelief. It's the sin that doesn't take God at his word. Let us lay aside every encumbrance, every weight. Those are not sins.

And the sin which so easily entangles us, it's the sin of unbelief. It's the sin of not believing what God has already said. And let us run with endurance the race that has set before us. You wanna know why you're not running your race with endurance? You wanna know why you're faltering on the wayside? You wanna know why you're winded? You wanna know why you gotta stop for water every two seconds because you can't keep going around the track? You can't run the races because you don't believe in what God has said.

That's why. You gotta run the race with endurance. Well, you do if you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. If you believe with an assurance of things hoped for and are convinced of things you don't see, you're gonna live a life of faith. That life of faith is pleasing to God. You'll be like all those in Hebrews 11 and you will run the race with endurance. But if you're faltering in your race, it's because you don't believe in what God has said. It's just that simple. And yet, we don't believe it.

Just like the apostles in Luke chapter 9. If there was anybody who had an opportunity to view the amazing Christ on a daily basis, it was them. And if there was anybody who had reason to believe in all of that amazement and all of that wonder and all of that glory, it was them. But for some reason, on this day, they did not believe in what God had said. And when they didn't believe in what God said, listen carefully, they were mocked and they were embarrassed because they did not believe. Sometimes we're embarrassed, aren't we?

Because we don't believe in what God has said. Just like these men. Folks, listen, how are we saved? We're saved by faith, right? We just don't take this leap into the dark hoping that we land in heaven. No, we believe in a very reasonable, comprehensible truth, facts about who Christ is, what he did, and what that means for me. I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. How do I believe that? Because God's word has revealed that to me. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and for your sins. How do I know that?

God's word reveals that to me. I believe that he died and rose again the third day according to the scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15, because that's what God's word says.

I believe that one day Jesus is going to return because after his resurrection, he walked around in that glorified body, he ascended up into glory, is sitting down at the right hand of God the Father who intercedes for us on a daily basis, on a moment-by-moment basis, and is one day going to return. I believe that because God has said all of that. For by grace are you saved through faith. That is, I am believing what God's word has already said. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word about the Christ.

There's a word about the Christ that I hear, and I hear that word, and I believe that word because that word is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, and I put my trust in Christ, and I base my life on that, so much so that I'm willing to give my life away for that because it's absolutely true. That's faith. So I'm saved by faith. I'm sanctified by faith. I grow in faith. Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God.

That is, I live every day believing in what God has said for me, and that's how I grow spiritually. We are people of faith. We live by faith. We walk by faith, and we don't walk by sight. Simply for one reason, we believe what God has already said. That is faith. We live our lives based on the revealed word of God. We can't see the future, but we know who holds the future, and we trust that one to accomplish his perfect plan in my life. We hope, we believe, we are assured of all that God says, at least on Sunday.

Maybe not on Monday when we go to work, but at least today we can echo, yes, I believe in what Jesus says.

The problem comes tomorrow when you go to work, or for some of you, it comes when you leave church and you gotta go home with your spouse. Now you gotta ask yourself, do I live a life believing in what God has already said? The apostles evidently in Luke chapter 9 didn't, because the Bible says in Luke 9 verse number 37, and it came about on the next day.

What day? It was the next day, it was the day after the revelation of the glory of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was the day after the glory of the Lord was revealed, that Peter, James, and John were able to receive a glimpse of the glory of God. It was a day in which they were translated, listen carefully, from the world of faith to the world of sight. They were men who lived a life of faith, but for one brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were able to get a glimpse of the coming kingdom of God.

They saw the glory of the Christ, they saw the glory of Moses, they saw the glory of Elijah, they heard the voice of God the Father, this is my beloved Son, listen to him. This was the very next day, the day after that experience, the day after that enlightenment, the day after that wonderful joy, that wonderful experience. It was the very next day. It was time to come down to reality. It was the day after the greatest of all days in the life of the apostles since their conversion experience. It was the greatest of all days on the Mount of Transfiguration.

But there comes a time when you have to be removed from that place of sight to live once again in the realm of faith. It was at Dime they left the place of deep communion to enter into demonic conflict. It was a time for them to come down from the heavenly down to the earthly. It was time for them to come from on top of the mountain down to the valley. It was a time for them to come from glory to tragedy, the high place to the low place, the place where Christ was dominant with all of his splendor to a place where Satan was dominant with all of his evil.

It was time to come down the mountain. It was a time for them to hear and understand the truth and how it applies to their lives every single day. Let me read to you the event.

It says in verse 37 of Luke 9, and it came about on the next day, that when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met him. And behold, a man from the multitude shouted out, saying, Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only boy.

And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into convulsion with foaming at the mouth. And it mauls him. It scarcely leaves him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not. And Jesus answered and said, O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here. And while he was still approaching, the demon dashed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. Now this account is recorded in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and here in Luke chapter 9. And every gospel writer records it following the Mount of Transfiguration because it speaks to the reality of your life and my life. There are times where we are on a spiritual high, but the valley is always next. And the valley is where you flesh out your faith. It's where what you really believe matters. And in Luke chapter 9, we begin to understand what is happening in the lives of the other nine apostles down in the valley.

The story begins with demon possession. It then moves to the disciples' perversion, and then it moves to the divine provision. All of this speaking to the greatness of God. We call this series the Amazing Christ because it begins and ends with the Amazing Christ. It says in verse number 43, and they were all amazed at the greatness of God. If you go back to Mark chapter 9, it begins this way. And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.

And immediately when the entire crowd saw him, they were amazed and began running up to greet him. They were amazed at the beginning and they were amazed at the end. They were amazed at the beginning because of the radiance of his glory. They were amazed at the end because of the revealing of his greatness. But his amazement is that which captivates the crowd. It's that which captivates the people. And it should be that which causes us to live believing in all that he says. But unfortunately, the apostles didn't always live in that realm.

And this story teaches us about these men and how it is they did not live in the realm of believing what God said. Their faith was nonexistent in this story. How can that be? How is it these men who walked with him, who talked with him, who ate with him, who ministered with him, how is it they didn't have the faith to do what God said? The same reason you and me don't have that same faith to do what God says.

The practicality of the Scriptures is so real. It speaks to every person. All you have to do is open it up and read it and begin to understand that God is showing you himself so that you will learn to trust him and believe all that he says. These men receive a stern rebuke from their Savior, from their God, because they had a faith that was perverted, that was twisted, that was distorted. And he asked this question, How long will I put up with you? How much longer is this going to happen, fellas?

How long? How can you miss it? How can you not get it? Christ was frustrated in his humanity with these men. Remember, he left the realm of glory where everything happened as he designed it to happen perfectly. There was perfect obedience, perfect belief. Everything was perfect in glory. Came to earth, dwelt among man, imperfect man. And he would expect his men to learn to follow him and serve him. After all, they had already confessed that he was Christ, the Son of the living God, right? They had already confessed that in Caesarea Philippi.

That's earlier in Luke chapter 9. So, they know who he is. There is no excuse not to believe in what he says. Same like you and me. We know who he is. So, there is no excuse for us not to believe in what he has already said, to have our faith in God alone. We'll begin with demon possession because that's where the story begins. It's a story that you could talk about the demonic activity in the world, and that's true, that's what happens in the story, but that's not what the story is about. You could talk about the compassion of Christ to relieve this boy of that possession and give this boy back to his father and talk about the compassion of Christ, but that's not what the story is mainly about.

The story is about a lack of faith on the part of the disciples. The story is about men who did not believe in what God said and their responsibility to understand who he is and what he said and simply believe what he says. Isn't that not the essence of what Christianity is? We believe in who Christ is and we obey what he says. Christian life can be summed up basically that way, and yet, even though we say he's amazing, even though we say he is great, he is a God, he is a son of the living God, he is God in flesh, and we believe all that, there are times where we operate so much in the realm of the flesh that we forget about believing in what is already said to us, and that's these guys, and that's why the story's here, to help us understand the great divine provision that comes from God himself once you believe in who he is and all that he says.

And so there's demon possession. They come down off the mountain. Remember, demonic activity was accentuated during the time of Christ. There's demonic activity all the time in the world, all the time since the fall of Satan. It was accentuated during the time of Christ, and we won't go into great detail about that because you can go back to Luke chapter 4 when we talked about the man who was demon-possessed in the synagogue and couldn't help but scream out. Why? Because when Jesus was here, he just automatically exposed them because of his holiness, and they couldn't help but come to him and submit to him and fall before him because he is the great God of the universe.

And demon activity is always around, but especially during the time of Christ and especially on this day because in this account, listen carefully, you have the greatest account of demonic possession in the Scriptures. Yes, there was the man, Legion, who was filled with thousands upon thousands of demons, and we've already talked about that story, the man in the land of the Gerasenes where thousands of demons were cast out of him, and they went to the swine and went over into the Sea of Galilee and drowned.

But with the activity of demons in this boy's life, this is the most severe case recorded in the Scriptures, which adds to the emphasis as to why these men had a hard time believing that anything could happen to this young boy. That is, anything good could happen to him because there are times and events in your life and mine where we have faith to believe what God has said except at the extremity of situations when they are so far out of control, and that's when your faith is going to be tested and your belief in God will be manifested or your disbelief in God will be manifested and you'll live a life of embarrassment like these men when they come to Christ and say, how come we can't do that?

We should be able to do that. How come we can't? And Jesus has to explain to them why they couldn't. It's almost like a double embarrassment. There was embarrassment from the scribes who, as the text says in Mark 9, they came down and the scribes were arguing with them. What were they arguing with these nine disciples about? Well, the scribes were the keepers of the law and they were always looking for a way to indict Christ. And so they were looking for ways to diminish these men's authority in the demonic world.

And these men were unable to cast the demon out of this boy and there was a great argument, a great dispute that arose between the apostles and the scribes, so much so that they were embarrassed because they were not able to accomplish, listen carefully, what God had already given them power to accomplish and what they had already accomplished previously in Luke chapter 9. That's what makes the story so amazing. What they've been asked to do, they had already done. What they've been asked to do, they've already been given the authority and the power to do so, which makes it even more amazing as to why they can't do it now that they have the opportunity.

And the same is true in your life and in mine. We have the Spirit of God that indwells us and empowers us to live a life for Christ and we seek to live for Him and we've experienced living for Him, but there comes a time when all of a sudden we don't do that anymore. We have a hard time living by faith. Why? How come? Why does it work one day and not work the next day? That's what this story will reveal to us about the apostles and reveal to us about ourselves and our lack of faith. This man, this young boy was demon-possessed and there was an argument, a debate between the apostles and the scribes according to Mark's account in Mark chapter 9.

Matthew says that the man came up to him. Luke's account says he shouted out to him. He had to shout out to him because the whole crowd was running up to him. If you read Mark's account, the whole crowd of people were amazed at the Christ and they began running up to him. This man also began to run up to Christ and he shouted out to the Christ because he wanted Christ to have his attention. He wanted to be the focus of Christ's attention because of the severity of what was taking place in the life of his son.

So Matthew's account says that when he ran up, he fell down on his knees and called him Lord. The question is did he believe that Christ was God in the flesh? There's a part of me that says yes, he did believe that and as we go through the story next week, we'll explain to you how it is he knew that Christ was God in the flesh, but he had definitely heard about Christ. By now everybody had heard about Christ in the Galilee region. They all had known and most of them had experienced firsthand the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark's account says that he was afflicted, this boy was afflicted from his childhood. So this man had lived with his son throughout his whole teenage years, now maybe even into his adult years with this demonic oppression and possession in his life. Mark's account says that he was mute. It says that he had a dumb spirit. He could not speak. He could not hear. The Bible also tells us that as he would go along, he'd be thrown into water. Mark's account tells us he'd be thrown into water, he'd be thrown into fire and there are many pools, many wells in the land of Israel.

As well as at night there are many fires because it gets cold there at night and so there would be fires, there would be pools of water and whenever the demon had the opportunity to kill the boy, he would throw him into fire or throw him into the pool so he would drown. The demon wanted the boy dead. The father throughout his life would have to brush the coals off of his boy or rescue him from the water because of the severity of the demonic possession in this boy's life. The father knew it was a demon spirit.

He knew it wasn't psychological. He knew it wasn't physiological. He knew it was demonic because the text says in Luke chapter 9 very specifically that this was a spirit that seized him and he suddenly screams and throws him into convulsions, foaming at the mouth. It caused him to have seizures. It mauled him. It completely overtook this boy. It reminds us of the satanic involvement in the lives of people on a regular basis. Luke says he calls him teacher. He understands the primary ministry of Christ is to teach.

Matthew's account, he calls him Lord. Luke's account, he calls him teacher. He came to him and he begged him. He begged him to pay attention to him. The word is epiblepo which means to give careful attention to me, to look to me. That's why he would shout out to God amidst all the crowd of people because Lord I want you to pay close attention to me and my need and my situation because it's severe. I need you to attend to the problem that I have. He says simply this is my son, my only son. Luke is the only one who records the fact it's his only son.

Remember we told you there were three occasions in which Luke emphasizes the fact that it is the only one. Here it's the only son. Jairus' daughter, it was the only daughter. And the widow's son at Nain, it was her only son. Luke has great compassion for these parents. And it was his only son, the son of heritage, the son of the legacy of the family. This is my only son and I brought him to your men to cast out the demon. And they couldn't do it. It means they tried. And they couldn't accomplish the fact.

Now why would he do that? Because he had heard. He had heard about these men and the power given to them and how they had already cast out demons, how they had already raised the dead, and how they had already healed the sick. Well, that's who I go to. So I see the men. I go to them. I beg them to cast out the demon and they couldn't do it. Can you help me? I need you, Lord, to help me. I went to your men. They failed. Will you fail me too? I need help, Lord. Can you help me? So he moved from demon possession to the disciples' perversion.

Not that they were morally perverse. That's not the point. But Jesus called them perverse. That's what he says. He says, oh, unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? And put up with you. Now, why does he call them perverted? It's a word that means distorted or twisted. He says, your belief in me is distorted. Your belief in me is twisted. How long will I put up with you? How long will you not get a grip on who I am and what I've called you to do? Now, we know from Luke 9, verse number 1, these words.

Luke 9, verse number 1. And he called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over how many demons? How many demons? All demons. Not some demons. Not the easy demons. All demons, right? And to heal diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And that's exactly what they did. In verse 10, and when the apostles returned, they gave an account to him of all that they had done. So, it worked. It was successful. If you're reading Matthew's account, over in Matthew chapter 10, verse number 8, it says these words about their ministry.

He says, when you go out, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you received, freely give. So, you have the power. You have been commissioned. This is what I need you to do. It was that time in which the disciples would blitz the region of upper Galilee one last time to let everybody know that Jesus is king. And so, that's what they did. They went out. They healed the sick. They raised the dead. They cast out demons. They healed the lepers. They did a great and mighty work.

And so, this father would say, hey, guys, come here. I beg you, take care of my son. And I went to your men and they couldn't do it. So, I'm coming to you. And Jesus says, oh, my.

Oh, my, my, my, my, my. How long shall I be with you, you perverted generation? You twisted and distorted individual, you. How long am I going? Bring the boy to me. Bring him here. I'll do it. What an indictment. You can imagine the men. Okay, you know. And that's what took them in Matthew 17. In the Mark's account, when they got into the house, they said, psst, Lord, come here. They weren't going to say it publicly. They had to get him alone. Psst, how come we couldn't do that? What happened? I mean, they've already experienced this.

Power had been given to them. They had every right to cast out all demons. Not some demons, all demons. What God had told them had already been accomplished. What God had said to them, they had already believed and already enacted and had seen the work of God accomplished over and over again, but on this day, they couldn't do it. And so in Matthew's account, in Matthew 17, it says these words. Verse 19, then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, why could we not cast it out? He said to them, because of the littleness of your faith.

That's why. The littleness of your faith. You did not believe in what I had already told you. For some reason, you stopped believing. For some reason, you thought you could do it without me. And whenever you think you can run your family without me, you can run your business without me, you can live your life without me, you will fail miserably. You will be embarrassed. You will be ashamed. Although I've given you all the resources, I've given you my spirit, I've given you my word. I've given you everything you need.

If you don't believe in what I have already told you and thus act upon it, you will fail miserably. Now, ask yourself this question. Are you failing today? Are you failing miserably today? Is your life in turmoil? Is your life being shattered? Is your life being ripped apart today? Are you angry? Are you bitter? Are you upset? Are you flagrantly flaying everything around you because you just are just out of control? Because it's not working out like you planned it to, like you designed it to, like you want it to.

God says to you, oh, perverse generation, why is it you have this sort of view of me? Why is it you don't believe me? Why is your view of me all twisted? Why is it you won't depend upon me in every situation? Not just some situations, but in every situation. And they had so frustrated the Lord, he asked them to believe simply in what he had already told them, and they didn't. They simply did not believe. In essence, he says, you know, guys, this is getting really, really old. I'm getting a little tired of your unbelief.

I wonder what it would be like if Jesus said that to you today. You know, I'm really getting tired of how you're trying to run your family without me. It's getting a little old. Aren't you tired of that? Aren't you tired of being frustrated? Aren't you tired of being upset in turmoil? Aren't you tired of living a life of misery yet? Aren't you tired of just kind of doing it on your own? I told you what to do. I've explained to you how it should happen, but why do you keep doing it on your own? Why do you keep moving away from that which you know to be true and say, I'm going to do it all myself.

I can make it happen. See, these men tried to make it happen, and you can't make God happen. You must trust God to do great, great happenings and believe in him alone. You know, it's important to understand that we can't live this life without the Christ. It's what's called the Christ life, the Christian life. We must live completely dependent upon him. For some reason, these men did not believe that all demons included this demon. For some reason, these men had come to the conclusion that this demon was beyond their capability to do a great work.

Why is that? What made this demon different than any other demon? What made this situation different than any other situation? What made this account different than all the previous accounts? Next week, I'm going to tell you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. Lord, I pray for all of us today, myself included, that truly we would believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, that your word has been so clear, and you have explained to us what it is we should do. We live anxious, worry-filled lives, and you have said, don't do that.

Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all human comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds. Yet, we live worry-filled lives. Father, help us to believe everything you've said. Help us to trust in all that you have said. And Father, we would live each and every day dependent upon your glory. And that, Father, you would look at us and not say, oh, unbelieving and perverse generation.

Instead, you'd be pleased. As Hebrews 11, 6 says, without faith, it's impossible to please you. And because we live a life of faith, believing for you to accomplish all things, you would be well-pleased. I pray, Father, that our lives would magnify your name and that, Lord, you would be the supreme ruler of every aspect of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.