The Faith Problem

Good Morning Church!

Bible out…Mark 9:14-29 today

The text we are walking through today is going to give us a rock solid practical application for our daily walk…

By addressing a common stumbling block we encounter daily…

He is the thing Church…the practical lesson today is so going to be so simple…as we walk through it you might start to think...

“Well duh! of coarse we have to place our focus there”

Its so simple yet it is the #1 cause of stumbling we see in the disciples in the bible, in the church throughout history, and in every single Christian walk daily.

Today we are going to address the “Faith Problem” and how to solve it…

We are going to take the text today and in it see a central issue that Jesus is rebuking, the root cause of that issue, and how to solve it.

Yall ready?

READ V14-29

Again…See the issue (and its root) and the solution to the issue…

Lets look at the issue Jesus is discussing…

The Issue (v14-23)

“And when He came to His disciples”…Where has Jesus been???

On the mount of transfiguration…

He had been up on the mountain, showing John and James and Peter himself in His glorified transformed state…

Now, while all this was happening on the mountain the other 9 disciples where left to do as the Lord commanded them…to preach and heal and cast out demons

As Jesus returns from the mountain with James, John, and Peter…He returns to the remaining disciples being questioned by the scribes…

He approaches and says “why are you questioning my disciples?”

And a man steps forth and says that he has brought his son, who is possessed with a dumb spirit, to be healed by the disciples…

The issue is…they couldn't do it…

The disciples had been called to do a work and they failed at it…

Why???

Jesus tells us why in verse 19 (READ AGAIN)

O faithless generation…

O unbelieving generation…A people of little faith…

Remember here He is talking to His disciples!!!

THEY HAVE A FAITH PROBLEM…And this isn't the only time…

By the end of this Gospel…Peter denies Jesus 3 times…because of a lack in faith!!!

They are being rebuked by the Lord here….because of their lack of Faith…

Look at the parallel verse here in Matthew…Where He flat out tells them what their issue is…

Matthew 17:19-20 “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”

Church these men walked with Jesus, saw Him do incredible things, even did incredible things through His name…

And they still struggled with unbelief…

If they struggled then, literally walking with God…

Do you think we might struggle today???

Here is what this text should show us…faithlessness is a stumbling block we each will face…

Each of us will battle a Lack of faith in our personal walk with Jesus…

NOW, Im not talking about salvation here…

Im not talking about the faith that you placed in Jesus for your salvation…

Im talking about the daily faith you are walking in…

It is one that is rooted in your salvation, YES…

But its one that develops out of your salvation…

One that is strengthened over your time walking with Jesus…

Faith in the active work of Jesus in our lives…

His presence, His protection, His capabilities, His power, His steadfastness, His faithfulness, and so on…

These men have seen Jesus do incredible miraculous things…

And yet they still lack faith in the daily life…

When they are tempted into unbelief they fall…

This boy they were attempting to heal, they did not believe they had been given adequate power to heal this boy…

That he was either to far gone or to intense for them…

Whatever the reason…their faith in Jesus was lacking…

How many of us have been here???

The hill is to big and steep, there is no way I can climb it!!!

The marriage is to far gone, the cancer is to extensive, the persecution is to great, the job is never going to come, the bills are too big…

Whether we are afflicted by something or meet a challenge in life…our flesh automatically measures it, and when it appears to big to handle, what do we do???

These disciples met their match with healing this boy…They say the task, it was to great or to impossible and in that moment their faith tanked…

Jesus calls Peter out to walk on the water in Matthew 14…and as he steps out to walk on top of stormy seas, he looks at the storm, his flesh measures it…it seems too great, his faith tanks, and he sinks…

And Jesus pulls him out and says “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Church each and everyone of us will hit points in life where something in life will seem to daunting…to big…and our faith will tank…

Like these disciples, our hearts are wicked with unfaith…

SO WHAT DO WE DO???

Lets see the solution Jesus gives us starting in V 24

READ V24-27 AGAIN!!!

The Solution (v24-29)

Jesus says…BELIEVE!!!!

If you can believe, ALL things are possible!!!

If you would just put your faith in me!!!

NOT JUST FOR YOUR SALVATION…BUT IN EVERYTHING!!!!

I mean if you would place your faith in Jesus to save your eternal soul…then why wouldn't you walk in that faith daily!!!!

Believe and continue to believe!!!

NO MATTER HOW LARGE OF A MOUNTAIN YOU COME TO IN LIFE…

NO MATTER HOW GREAT THE AFFLICTION…

KEEP STRONG IN THE FAITH!!!

This was such a massive deal in the Church that Paul wrote a letter and sent a disciple to a church specifically to ensure they stayed grounded in faith during troubled times…

1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 “Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timothy, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and you know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain.”

Paul told them…Im sending Timothy…to check in and see how your walking through tribulation and affliction…

Are you keeping yourselves grounded in your faith?!?!?!

The tempter (satan) will tempt you out of your faith…

He will call you to question the hope you have, the presence of Jesus in your life, the power of God…

When Paul talks to the Ephesians about putting on the whole armour of God to fight Satan and his temptations…

He says Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

Our faith is a defensive weapon to deflect the fiery darts of temptation from the tempter…

We raise up our faith…

How do we do this…

Remember what your faith is founded in…remember what your shield is made of

-The Gospel (your salvation through faith in death, burial, resurrection)

-The Word (God’s perfect word, that He is 100% faithful to)

-The Hope (That your time of fighting is almost finished, that soon the battle will be over! Your sinful flesh will be gone, and evil will be destroyed, the DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING!)

The Gospel, The Word, The Hope…These are the foundations of your daily walk in faith…

As WE ROUND OUT OUR TIME TODAY…

I want to end on the most pratical and applicational movement of the scripture today…

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE ARE MET WITH SOMETHING IN LIFE THAT SEEMS TO GREAT???

How do we “cast out that demon” from our lives…

How do we slay that Giant…

How do we remain faithful in times of doubt…

Look what Jesus says about this…

READ V28-29 AGAIN!

 Prayer and Fasting

First thing we do is pray…

We take this situation to the Lord…

We tell Him how we feel…

If we are afraid…If we think its too big, we tell Him that we know we cant do this on our own…

And if our faith is wavering…we tell Him…and in prayer we ask Him (just as the father of this boy did)

“Lord help my unbelief!”

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians that ur walk through life should be filled with unceasing prayer…

SO I say to you…NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL THE AFFLICTION OR LIFE HURDLE OR BATTLE YOU ARE UP AGAINST…

PRAY…

I know it seems simple… But its the one thing we Christians often fail to do…

When we are met with a mountain in front of us, we either try and scale it on our own and fail…or we give up before we even attempt…

JUST PRAY…

The second thing Jesus calls for us to do is fast…(V29)

He says that their are some demons that need not only prayer but also fasting to remove…

Church, there are some things in life…

Some hurdles, some afflictions that for us to defeat…

The Lord calls us to pray and while we are doing it…deny our flesh desires…

To fast from something…

To stop focusing on our flesh…and place every bit of our focus to prayer…

When you come face to face with that giant in your life…

pick up your shield of faith…place all your focus on Jesus (fast from the flesh) and pray like you never have before…

Jesus tells us today…when you do that…you will see incredible things happen…and He will be glorified

LETS PRAY!