The Amazing Christ, Part 2

Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful, Lord, for this one more opportunity you give us to study your word. We know, Lord, that in your word, you speak to us concerning what it is you would have us to understand and believe. Today, Father, we understand that your word is so practical to our living every day. And I just ask that as we study it today, we would see what it is you'd have for us to learn, that we might leave this place different than when we arrived. In Jesus' name, amen. Luke chapter 9, verse number 37 is where we are today.

We're looking at the amazing Christ. It's a passage, according to Mark chapter 9, which is a parallel passage, that begins with the people amazed when they see the Christ, and even more amazed at the end after seeing what Christ himself has done. The passage begins with these words, 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 convulsions 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.

They were all amazed at the greatness of God. This passage is not about demon possession, although there was a boy demon possessed. This passage is not about how to cast out demons, although Christ cast out the demon. This passage is not even about the compassion, mercy, and kindness of God, although our Lord is definitely loving, merciful, kind, and compassionate. This passage specifically deals with your faith in what you believe or don't believe about God. That's what this passage is all about.

Let me begin this way. If you were to be in the land of Israel during the time of Christ, you would see the Jewish nation as a very religious nation, a nation that was committed to their rituals, committed to their ceremonies, committed to their festivities, committed to their laws. They were religious to the max. Nobody who has ever lived was as committed to their religion as the Jews during the time of Christ. They were almost fanatical about what it is they believed and how they lived that out on a daily basis.

They believed in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they were right about that. And they were, in their minds, committed to that God. They were deeply offended at idolatry. Anybody who would worship another God in another way, they were greatly offended at. That's why they hated Rome so much, because Rome had infiltrated their land and had set up pagan idol worship. And they just couldn't stand that. They hated anything that was against the one true God. And so they truly believed that when the Messiah would arrive, the Messiah would look at them and commend them for their religiousness, for their self-righteousness.

They truly believed that they would be commended for the validity of their religion. But when the Messiah came, instead of being commended, they were condemned. Not commended for the validity of their religion, but condemned because of the hypocrisy of their religion. They couldn't understand that. I mean, after all, they were, in their minds, so religious. And yet, when the Messiah arrived, he condemned them for their self-righteousness. He condemned them because they were poor, they were blind, they were naked, they were unable to see the obvious.

And that's why they hated him so much. They couldn't understand why this self-proclaimed Messiah, in their minds, he was truly the Messiah, but in their minds, he was a self-proclaimed Messiah, would come and indict them because of their commitment to the one true God. And yet, that's exactly what Jesus did. When he showed up on the scene, he condemned them for their hypocritical lifestyle. In fact, the Bible says, in verse number 41 of Luke, the passage we just read, he calls them a perverted and unbelieving generation.

They saw themselves as a people of faith. He saw them as perverted and faithless. How could that be? In fact, if you read through the scriptures, he called them, this generation, genea, which is contemporary, which is a word that means contemporaries. He called them specifically a generation of snakes. He called them the offspring of vipers. He called them an evil and adulterous generation. He called them a wicked generation. He called them in Mark 8, a sinful generation. And Peter and Acts chapter 2 called them a crooked generation.

Can you imagine? Here was the Messiah coming to them, the religious people of the day, the most religious people who ever existed. And he says to them, I'm sorry, you're perverse. You're faithless. You're crooked. You are adulterers and adulteresses. And they would be greatly offended at that. Thus, they would kill him because he did not see them as they saw themselves. In reality, he saw them for who they truly were. But when Jesus said in verse number 41 of Luke 9, oh, unbelieving and perverse generation, that was something that the Jews would know about.

You know, we can't forget. Sometimes we read the New Testament, we think the Jews were just dumb people. No, the Jews are very knowledgeable of the Old Testament. Jewish people in the days of Christ were fastidious about the law. They knew the law of God. They knew the Old Testament. They knew it backwards and forwards. Well, if they knew it so well, well, why did they miss the Messiah? It's because Satan has blinded their minds. They can't see because Satan has blinded them. Oh, but they knew the Bible.

They knew the law very well. And when Jesus said to them in verse 41, that you are a unbelieving and perverse generation, he wasn't the first one to say that.

Because Moses said it. Way back in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 32. So, if you have your Bible, turn there, if you would, please. You need to understand what's happening here in Luke chapter 9. In Mark 9 and Matthew 17, they are the parallel passages in the Gospels. It says in Deuteronomy 31, verse number 28, Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing, and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you.

And evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of your hand. That's Moses speaking. Now, this is another plug for strong leadership. Moses says, when I die, this is what's going to happen. Remember Paul in Acts chapter 20? When he said, after my departure, savage wolves are going to infiltrate this church. You see, there's something to be said for strong spiritual leadership. It's purifying. It protects.

And Moses knows that when he dies, things in Israel are going to change. He says this. Oh, by the way, fathers, that's why you got to be strong. Can't be weak. You got to be strong. Spiritually. You can't afford to be weak. You got to be strong so that you can protect your family from the infiltration of falsehood. Weak men can't do that. Strong men can. You need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You need to know the Word of God and hold to your convictions with great passion.

That says this in verse 30. Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete. So Moses writes a song. So it makes it easy for them to remember.

You know, you can remember things when you put them to a tune, right? And so Moses writes this song so they don't forget. That's a good thing. Maybe I should sing my sermons so you don't forget. Okay, let's read on. Verse one of chapter 32. Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass, as the showers on the herb. For I proclaim the name of the Lord and ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock. His work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice. Righteousness and upright as he. They have acted corruptly toward him. They are not his children because of their defect, but are a, what's next phrase, perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people?

Is not he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. So Moses explaining to Israel what's going to happen after his departure explains to them that they are a faithless and perverse generation. Read on. Verse number 16. They made him jealous with strange gods. With abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God. To gods whom they have not known. New gods who came lately. Whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begot you and forgot the God who gave you birth.

And the Lord saw this and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and daughters. Then he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be. For they are a perverse generation. Sons in whom is no faithfulness. So when Jesus says in Luke 9, verse number 41, that they are an unbelieving and perverse generation.

These people, this multitude at the base of the Mount of Transfiguration knew exactly what he was referring to. We might not know it, but believe me, they knew it. He simply says, you know the song of Moses and you have fulfilled his prophecy explicitly. He says simply, you who pride yourself on your religiosity, you are no better than those in the days of Moses. Your faith is defective. Your knowledge of God is twisted. It's diminished. Your lack of faith is extremely evident by your unwillingness to believe in all that I have said.

You understand the context of Luke 9. And I think that the flow of thought is so, so beautiful. Because it all begins in verse 18 with the identity of the Messiah. Then it moves to the centrality of his mission. He will die. If he dies, you too will die. Then it moves to the reality of his message. From the reality of his message to the glory on the mountain, from the glory on the mountain to the tragedy among the multitudes, to the majesty of the master. The flow of thought is perfect. And on that mountain, it was God the Father who spoke from the cloud and said, this is my beloved son.

What's the next phrase? Listen to him. Listen to him. Because you see, that's the essence of what the New Testament's all about. You gotta listen to the Lord Jesus. Once you listen, you must believe in what he has said. If you listen to him and you do not believe in what he has said, you will be a faithless and perverse generation. You must understand him. You must listen to him. You must believe him. Because that's what faith is all about. Faith is believing in what God has already said. Faith is believing in the revealed word of God.

Faith is believing in the revelation of God himself. Faith is believing in all that the Bible says about who God is and what he's done.

So I know that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by a word about the Christ. So I hear the word about the Christ. I hear it. I listen to it. I believe it for no other reason, not because I experience it, but because God said it. That's why I believe it. And I'm committed to following that what God has said. Faith is believing in the God of the Bible and all that he said. Faith is not believing in what I want God to be or what I wish God to be or what I hope to one day experience. That's not faith.

That's foolishness. That's stupidity. Faith is believing specifically in what God has already revealed to you in his word. And that's what this text is about. It's about believing what God has already said. Having listened to him, the question comes to you. Do you believe him? Do you follow him? Having come down from the mountain, there comes an experience in the valley that speaks directly to you and me. An experience that will cause us to question what we truly believe and to ask ourselves, would we be numbered among the perverse and unbelieving generation?

By the way, the disciples were. Hard to believe, isn't it? Because when Christ makes a statement, he makes it to all who are there, which includes the nine that were in the valley. And so we talked to you last time about demon possession because that's where the story begins. They come down. There's a tragedy among the multitude. There is a young boy who is demon possessed. He's been that way from his childhood. We don't know why he is the way he is. We don't know what's taken place in their life.

We don't know how long it's been. But we do know this, that the demon would throw him into the water or throw him into the fire to kill him. But God protected him for this day. God preserved that boy for this day. It is a tragic event. It is a serious problem. And the Bible says in Luke chapter 9 that this boy would be slammed to the ground.

He would go into convulsions. He would foam at the mouth. This spirit would maul him. And the man says, the father says, it scarcely leaves him. This is a constant problem. It's not like it comes and goes like every once in a while. This is something that happens all the time. There's water, he's thrown into the water. There's fire, he's thrown into the fire. He's slammed down. He goes into convulsions. He foams at the mouth. This is the most serious, serious demon possession in the New Testament.

And so this boy, demon possessed, was taken by his father to the apostles, the nine that were left in the valley. Because he had heard, maybe he had seen what they had already done. We know from Luke chapter 9 verse number 1 that Christ sent them out and gave them power over all demons. Not some demons, all demons. We know from Matthew chapter 10 that when he sent them out, they not only cast out demons, healed the sick, they also raised the dead. Now folks, I don't know about you, that's pretty powerful stuff.

And that's exactly what was happening. And so all throughout the northern part of Israel, all throughout Galilee, people had seen, had heard, and had testified to the power of these men and their ability to raise the dead, cast out demons, and heal the sick. So if I'm a father and I have a demon possessed boy that has a spirit that scarcely leaves him, I need help. Who do I go to? I go to the guys who can do the job. And so he takes them to these nine. And when he sees the Christ, he comes to him and says, I took them to your men because I knew what they could do.

But there was a problem. They couldn't do a thing. That little phrase, they could not, is a very, very pathetic phrase. They could not. You move from demon possession to disciple perversion. And we call it perversion because that's exactly what God called it. Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation. Diastrepho. It's a word that means twisted, distorted, defective. Your belief in me is all messed up. Somehow it's way out there. It's all twisted up. You don't understand who I am. You don't understand what I said.

You are an unbelieving, you are twisted, distorted, defective generation because you will not believe in what I have already said. Now we know that the multitude was that way because they did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah and as their Savior. But also the nine were included in that because they were unable to do what they had already been given power to accomplish. They'd already cast out demons. They'd already raised the dead. They'd already healed the sick. We know that because they came back reporting all the things that they had done and seen great things happen for the glory of God.

But on this occasion, on this specific occasion, this man brings them his boy and says, could you please cast him out? He begged them, can you please help me? And they couldn't help. They could not. They could not. And so we have to ask ourselves a question. How many times are the things that happen in our lives where someone would say, but they could not. I share with the people on Wednesday night about our marriages. We want our marriage to work, but it just, it just doesn't work. We try to make it work, but we just, we could not.

How pathetic is that? Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation. We tried, but we couldn't make it work. Disciples tried, but nothing happened. You ever try and nothing happened? We're all fall in that category, don't we? Sure we do. Today you're going to say, why? Today you're going to say, I am so glad I'm here because now I know why I try and it doesn't work. Now I can get it. Because Jesus has a lesson to teach about believing in him. He has a lesson to teach about, about faith. Maybe they were too self-confident.

Thinking that they had done this before. No big deal. We'll do it again. But on this day, they could not. And so Matthew's account tells us, Matthew 17, verse number nine. When they asked him privately, how come we couldn't? He said, because of the littleness of your faith. That is, you do not believe in what I have already said to you. You have been given the power to cast out all demons. Luke nine, verse number one.

So because you couldn't cast out this particular one, is because of the littleness of your faith. That's your problem. He says, you've seen so much and yet you accomplish so little. Now had they not seen so much? Had they not seen the Lord Christ calm the sea? Yes. Had they not seen him raise the dead? Yes. Had they not seen him cast legion out of the man, the wild man in Gadara? Yes. They'd seen all that. Had they not been given the power to cast out demons, to heal the sick and to raise the dead?

Answer yes. Had they not already done that? Yes. But on this day, they could not. Why? Because of the littleness of your faith. He says simply, how long must I be with you? How much more do you have to see? How much more do you have to experience? How much more do you have to witness? How much longer do you have to go on looking, observing, watching, experiencing? And then you cannot. Bring your son to me. Bring him here. Now he is going to do what the disciples have been told they have power to do.

But they could not. But he will. And so as you look at the story, the point being is that when he says bring your son here, it was all about their lack of belief.

Not belief in belief alone, but belief in what he had already said. Because you can believe in what God has promised. You can believe in the word of God. He keeps his word. Bring him here. It says in verse number 42, and while he was still approaching, the demon dashed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. The demon actually smashed him to the ground. It's a traumatic, traumatic word. It's not that he just fell over. The demon actually took him and slammed him to the ground. And he began to convulse.

So you can imagine what's going on here. Jesus says, bring your son to me. And so as the son is coming, the demon slammed him to the ground. And you can see the disciples. See, we told you it was tough. We told you that this was unlike anything we'd ever seen before. We know this is way out there, way beyond us. See, Lord, we told you it was tough. The demon slams him to the ground. He begins to to convulse once again. In Mark's account, in Mark chapter 9, it says this. It says these words. And he brought the boy to him, verse 20, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion.

And falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And he asks his father, how long has this been happening to him? So now we understand what takes place in Luke's account after he falls and convulses on the ground. Christ asks, how long has this been happening? He said, from childhood. And it was often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. And Jesus says, if you can, what kind of statement is that?

What do you mean, if you can? It's not a question of whether or not I can or cannot. It's a question of whether or not you believe. Because he says simply this, all things are possible to him who believes. Believes what? Just believes in believing for believing's sake? No. All things are possible to him who believes in what I have already said. Because faith is believing in what God has already revealed to us in his word. If you believe what God has revealed to you, to you, all things are possible.

All things. All things that he said are possible because he is true to his word. And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the boy's father cried out and began saying, I do believe, help my unbelief. Oh, I do believe. I do. But Lord, help my unbelief, he says. And when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, you death and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again. And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said he is dead.

So you move from disciple perversion to divine provision. Divine provision. It's God who provides the way of escape. It's God who provides what is necessary in the greatest time of need. And the power of God is put on great display. Jesus uses this man to show the crowd that this, listen carefully, that this man's faith would activate the power of God. Rarely at all does God ever require someone to have faith to be healed. But in this occasion, it's required. Why? Because it's a lesson to be taught to the disciples that you must believe in what I say or nothing will happen for you.

If you believe in what I have already promised, in what I've already said, it will happen because there's nothing impossible with me. This is crucial to understand. Jesus, in this context, wants his disciples to believe and to learn that they must trust the power of God as it was promised to them because they were not. The man, the father, out of the crowd had just a little bit of faith. It wasn't perfect faith, but was just a little bit of faith. It was a lot more than the disciples' faith because it was the littleness of their faith that caused them to fail.

But this father said, oh, I believe, but help my unbelief. I don't have perfect belief. I don't have perfect knowledge. I don't know everything, but what I do know, I trust you. I believe. Help my unbelief. So when you read Luke's account, it says in verse 42, and while he was still approaching, the demon dashed into 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. So matter of fact, no fanfare, just very concise clear words, and Christ gave him back to his father.

Very simple language. We read Mark's account that after he rebuked the demon, it threw him one more time to the ground and there he laid and people thought the boy was was dead. Luke's account says that Christ took him by, I mean, Mark's account says that Christ took him by the hand and lifted him up. You want to know why? If you want to know why, raise your hand. Okay, some of you do, some of you don't care. It's important because Mark emphasizes the servanthood of the Messiah. And the key to a servant is the use of his hands.

And Mark has a unique emphasis on the hands of Jesus, unlike any other gospel writer. So he reaches down with his hand as a servant, because that's what the servant does, and takes the young boy by the hand and lifts him up. Isn't that neat? So important to understand why some gospel writers record some things and others don't. Luke is just a matter of fact. Threw him to the ground, the boy was cured, and Christ gives him back to his Father. The miracle simply is to show the faithless disciple's power is available to them only when they believe.

That's crucial to understand. Now, follow this through with me. Mark's account, it says these words. And when he had come into the house, his disciples began to question him privately. Why could we not cast it out? So Mark records the same question that Matthew records. Okay, Luke does not record that question, but Matthew and Mark do. Why is it we couldn't cast it out? Mark says these words. He said to them, this kind cannot come out by anything but what? Prayer. So now we know a little bit more, don't we?

Christ says in Matthew's account it was because of the littleness of your faith. Mark says these things only come out through prayer. Some manuscripts say fasting, but the majority of them just say prayer. So these things only come out by prayer. Matthew says they only come out or it's because of the littleness of your faith. The two go hand in hand. In fact, it says this in Matthew's account. In Matthew chapter 17, verse number 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. For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, move from here to there and it shall move and nothing shall be impossible to you. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean that I can say to a mountain that it be moved? Folks, let me tell you something.

Nobody moves mountains except God himself, right? Only God can move mountains, but these people had just seen a mountain move. It's a, it's a metaphor speaking of those things that are seemingly impossible with man, but only possible with God. It was impossible for man to deal with his demon-possessed boy, but it was possible with God. To them, it was a mountain that could not be moved, but with God, it was a mountain that could easily be moved if, listen, if you just believed in what he had already said.

And that's where they fell short. They did not believe in what he had said. Like the man who said, I believe a little. Tell me to believe a lot more. Christ says, nothing is impossible for the smallest amount of faith.

If he has revealed it to you in his will, that is crucial to understanding this text. If he's revealed it and he asks, where did he reveal it? He revealed it in Luke 9 verse number one.

It's already been spoken. It's already been promised. And yet they did not believe. Faith is not some personal power that happens because I exercise some kind of belief in just believing. Believing what God says simply because he said to pray that God will do what he said.

No. What activates the power of God? What activates the power of God is my belief in what he has already spoken to me in his word. That's what activates his power. The word had already been spoken. The promise already been given and his will had been clearly displayed in the lives of these men. Everything had been given to them. And yet, because of the littleness of their faith, they could not. They could not. God promises. God promises that no matter how sinful, how wretched, how depraved an individual is, God promises that if you call upon the name of the Lord, you will be saved.

That's a promise. Revealed to us already in his word, no matter how far gone an individual is, if a person comes to Christ by faith, repents of a sin, and throws himself on the mercy of God, God promises to save that soul. That's a promise. God promises that when you're saved, if in the midst of hatred, you need love, he grants that. In the midst of pain, you need comfort, he promises that. God has stated in his word that if you are weak and you need strength, he will grant that. That's a promise.

If you are foolish and need wisdom, he will grant that. He has promised that in your defeat, if you need victory, he will grant that. He has promised that in your despair, if you need help, he will grant that. He has beckoned us to come before the throne of grace, that we might receive grace to help in time of need. He is the merciful and faithful high priest. God has promised those things. If you are about to lose a spouse, and they are suffering, and you know they're going to die, and you're concerned about your future, you're concerned about your finances, you're concerned about your loneliness, your trouble, God promises that if you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he'll take care of all those issues, he will.

But you got to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And when you do, he is faithful to fulfill his word in your life. That's what he does, because he's already said it, and he wants you to believe it and hold on to it. For the disciples, they may give it a promise, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. He made that promise to his men. And yet, because of the littleness of their faith in this situation, they could not do what God had already promised them they could do. If God promises you love, comfort, victory, help, mercy, grace, and hope, if you don't have it, it's because of the littleness of your faith, because he's already promised it.

He's already granted it. And therefore, you must understand what he has for you. But let me finish the story, because we're not done yet.

It says in verse 43, and they were all amazed at the greatness, greatness of God. Now, in Mark's account, when they saw him coming, they were amazed. And now they're amazed again. They were amazed because it was the Christ who would radiate the glory of God. And now they were amazed because it was a Christ who revealed the greatness of God. Let me explain that to you.

They were all amazed. In other words, they were out of their mind. They were out of their senses. There was no rational explanation as to what had taken place on this day. It was inscrutable to them. It was beyond their comprehension. They did not understand the greatness. It's a word used in 2 Peter 2.1 of the majesty of God. When Peter said in 2 Peter, it's not 2 Peter 2.1, it's 2 Peter 1, verse number 16, I believe it is, where it says, we beheld his majesty. Same word translated greatness here.

We beheld his majesty on the mountain. They beheld his majesty in the valley. What Peter saw of his nature, they saw the effects of that nature. When Peter was able to see the fullness of the glory of God, they saw the fullness of the greatness of God. The glory of the God is his nature. It's his person. It's who he is defined by his attributes, his greatness, his love, his mercy, his grace. They saw his greatness on this day. So I ask this question, how many of you have seen the greatness of God on display in your life?

Because you are willing to believe in all that he said. Jesus said something very unique to his men in Mark chapter 9. He said, these things only come out by prayer. Only by prayer. So here's the question, who prayed? Did the scribes pray? We know from Mark's account the scribes were there. Did the scribes pray? No. Did the multitude pray? They have a prayer vigil? No. Did the disciples pray? Answer no. Did Jesus pray? Answer no. Who prayed? The father. These things only come out by prayer. Who prayed?

The father prayed. Oh I believe, but Lord help my unbelief. That was his cry. That was his prayer to the Lord God. I believe, help my unbelief. You see, it expressed his dependency upon God. Oh by the way, which the disciples did not do. You see, they did not express their dependency upon God. Folks, it's like you and me. We get involved in ministry, we get involved in the daily routines of life, and we go through life thinking that we can handle things on our own. We can handle marital conflict on our own.

We can handle rebellious children on our own. We can handle problems at home on our own. We can handle difficulties at work on our own. Answer no, you can't, but we think we can. We think we can, and when we think we can, we can't. Disciples had been given the power to do exactly what they were unable to do on this day because of their independent spirit. Oh we can do that. I brought my boy to your men. Oh yeah, bring him over here. We'll do that. We can, we've done this before. That's no big deal.

We've done this many times before. Bring him to us, but they could not because of their independency from God. You see, they no longer believed to the point where they would fall before the Lord God and petition Him for that need. They acted in their own power and not through the divine provision given to them. How many times do you do that in your life? In your business, do you operate on your own power or through the divine provision given to you by God? Well, I've been doing this business for 60 years.

I don't need God, so I can do this thing on my own. No, you can't. I don't care what your past track record has been. You can't do it without the Lord God. You can't. It all depends on the Lord Jesus, and you need a divine provision from Him. So this man had a prayer that specifically expressed his dependency upon the Lord God. See, the father believed in the promise of Jesus. The disciples did not. He believed, so he cried out to God, I believe, help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Psalm 120 verse number one says this, in my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.

In my trouble, I cried to the Lord, and He answered me. So many times in our trouble, we don't do anything but what? Try to fix it. You can't do that, or you could try. It's not going to work, at least not God's way. And so this man, his father, he prayed, I believe, help my unbelief. Jesus says, these things only come out by prayer.

That's it. They were, listen carefully, powerless because they were prayerless, and they were prayerless because they were faithless. That's your answer. They were powerless because they were prayerless, and the reason they were prayerless is because they were faithless. They refused to believe in what God said, so therefore they didn't have to go to Him in the hour of need, and therefore they experienced impotence, unable to accomplish what God had already promised them they could accomplish. They would simply trust in their past performances.

They would trust in their track record. They trusted in themselves, and therein lies the answer as to why things don't work in your life. It's because you trust in yourself, not in your God. You believe in yourself, not in your God. You are powerless in your life because you are prayerless, and you are prayerless because you are faithless. And folks, if there's anybody who should have been powerful, it was the 12th, or in this case the nine, right? They walk with God. They talk with God. They commune with God.

They were always with Him. If it can happen to them, you can be sure it's going to happen to you and me. Oh, by the way, the Bible says in Luke chapter 22, verse number 39, that on the eve of crucifixion, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane.

The text says, as was his custom, as was his custom, your priority to pray to God is never established in the time of agony. It's always established during the regular days of your life. As was his custom, our Lord was a man of prayer because He knew how important it was to commune with His Father in heaven. This whole story is about faith, believing in what God has already said. Yes, demons were cast out. Yes, people were amazed at the greatness of God. Yes, there was the mercy and kindness and compassion of God.

But this verse, this chapter is for you and me to somehow move us from where we are. If you're sitting here today and your life is miserable in the powerless realm, you've experienced no power from God. You are like the dead battery that cannot function. You've got to remember this story, what happened to the nine apostles as to why they could not. Wouldn't it be pathetic if on your gravestone that phrase was written, he or she could not. He or she could not overcome their anger. He or she could not overcome their sexual addiction.

He or she could not overcome their marital difficulties. He or she could not overcome their bitter spirit. He or she could not overcome an unforgiving life. He or she could not overcome. You fill in the blank. Wouldn't that be just so, so pathetic when in reality, God has promised victory in the realm of your defeat, help and hope amidst your discouragement. They were powerless because they were prayerless and they were prayerless because they were faithless. Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation.

Folks, we don't want to be among those people. We don't want to be characterized by those statements. We want to be characterized by a people who believe in what God says and trust him for everything.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today and the greatness of your word and thank you Lord Jesus for the truth that's there. And I pray that Lord, we would be a people of prayer, that we would believe what you have said and come to you and talk to you about it because we know that you're a God who cares about everything that we, we encounter. And so I pray that Lord, you would deal with us as you see fit and that we would leave this place, not a faithless people and certainly not a prayerless people.

We leave this place more powerful than we've ever been before because we believe in what you've said and we go to you to talk about it. In Jesus name, amen.