Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief

By Shawn Reynolds Bible Text: Preached on: Mark 9: ! Sunday, "u#ust ! $%&

Grace Particular Baptist Church '( ' Imperial Lakes Blvd Mulberry, )L &&*+$ Website: Online Sermons: www,onefoldoneshepherd,or# www,sermonaudio,-om.#ra-eparti-ular

Let us pray, Dear heavenly Father, most gracious holy Lord, I thank you, Lord, for the preservation of thy people this week, the preservation of our souls, the preservation of our bodies. And thy great faithfulness, Lord, to bring us here once again. I pray, Lord, according to that faithfulness, asking for thy faithfulness again to provide food for thy sheep, nourishment for our souls, to open our hearts to give us an understanding, to grow us this day in thy grace and knowledge, to reveal to us more of who thou art, O Lord, as we struggle in this wilderness, as we struggle in this world that thou would be pleased to show us who thou art. And, Lord, may you increase our faith to believe in thee. And, Lord, may you, indeed, bring forth thou power that we may do so. less this day and the messages that will come that they be glorifying unto thee, that they be e!alting of thee. Lord, remove the creature and e!alt thyself to the praise and glory of thy name. In "esus# name, I pray. Amen. /urn with me today to the ninth -hapter of Mark, 0e have our te1t found in Mark 9, I2m #oin# to read the a--ount that we2re talkin# about today and then read it down to the fo-al verse of today that the Lord has laid on my heart to speak about, Be#innin# in 9:%!, 3"nd when he -ame to his dis-iples, he saw a #reat multitude about them, and the s-ribes 4uestionin# with them, "nd strai#htway all the people, when they beheld him, were #reatly ama5ed, and runnin# to him saluted him, "nd he asked the s-ribes, 0hat 4uestion ye with them6 "nd one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brou#ht unto thee my son, whi-h hath a dumb spirit; "nd wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and #nasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy dis-iples that they should -ast him out; and they -ould not, 7e answereth him, and saith, 8 faithless #eneration, how lon# shall I be with you6 how lon# shall I suffer you6 brin# him unto me, "nd they brou#ht him unto him: and when he saw him, strai#htway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the #round, and wallowed foamin#, "nd he asked his father, 7ow lon# is it a#o sin-e this -ame unto him6 "nd he said, 8f a -hild, "nd ofttimes it hath -ast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou -anst do any thin#, have -ompassion on us, and help us, 9esus

:a#e % of *

said unto him, If thou -anst believe, all thin#s are possible to him that believeth,; /hen our te1t this mornin# where we will fo-us, 3"nd strai#htway the father of the -hild -ried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; 7ow do you #et here6 7ow does this verse even make any sense6 7ow -an we stand today and re-on-ile, 3Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief;6 I think if we are all in a#reement this mornin#, we know that this is a very dire situation for this man, It seems to be a hopeless situation, a desperate situation, "s he brou#ht his -hild to <hrist, he made one stop off to the dis-iples first, /he dis-iples had -ast out devils, /he dis-iples had healed in the name of the Lord but this parti-ular time they -ouldn2t, "nd so, the man, when he -omes to <hrist, he has an interestin# sayin#: 3If thou -anst do anythin#,; But if you -an do anythin#, Lord, have -ompassion on us and help us, /hen 9esus answered him the way he did, "ma5in#ly when 9esus answered him, somethin# mira-ulously happened, /he man went from 3if thou -an do anythin#2 to -ryin# out 3Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; I want to look at that verse today be-ause, of -ourse, it divides easily, 3Lord, I believe,; and 3help thou mine unbelief,; )or the e1er-ised -hild of =od, they understand where this one was brou#ht, /his is a, what we like to -all, a heaven born prayer, It is not authored by the individual, :rayer, true prayer, is not authored by the individual, it -omes from the Lord, It -omes with power from the soul of the -hild of =od throu#h <hrist who dwells in the -hild of =od, I believe it was Irons on-e who said that 3true prayer is breathin# out the will of =od from the will of =od,; /hat2s powerful be-ause it shows where the ri#htful -rown belon#s, on the author and finisher of our faith; the author and finisher of our prayer life; the author and finisher of our lives, It2s an ama5in# thin# as we look at 3Lord, I believe,; immediately that verse that I >ust shared with you, the author and finisher of our faith from 7ebrews % : -omes to mind, But also one that -omes to mind is what the Lord said, 9esus said, in 9ohn +: 9 when he said, 39esus answered and said unto them, /his is the work of =od that ye believe on him whom he has sent,; /hat2s a powerful statement, 0e try so hard to believe, 0e try so hard to lay hold of somethin# and I2ve #ot to admit to you, years a#o when I read this a--ount, I walked away from it sayin#, 30ow, this person didn2t have any faith at all,; Be-ause my understandin# of faith was somethin# that the Lord #ave it and then I a-ted upon it, So, apparently, this one has no faith be-ause he didn2t a-t upon it, But somethin#, the power of <hrist, to brin# this one to say, 3Lord, I believe,; does he sound like he2s one who believes when he says, 3if thou -anst do anythin#;6 7e -omes to the Lord and says, 3if thou -anst do anythin#,; It seems as thou#h he doesn2t know him,

:a#e of *

But I have to ask you: what brou#ht him here6 0hat brou#ht this -hild of =od to his Lord6 It2s what, I think 7o-ker -alled it, 3lean faith,; Some -all it 3little faith,; But our Lord says, 3If you have little faith, you -an say to a sy-amore tree, ?p and be thrown into the water, If you have little faith, you -an say to the mountain, Be -ast into the sea,; Listen, none of us are bulldo5ers, so that2s not a literal passa#e, It2s the power of the Lord and what the Lord #ives the soul, "nd this one who is in a dire, dire affli-tion and make no mistake about it, it2s his affli-tion, @ou say, 3Ao, it2s his son2s affli-tion,; But it2s his soul that2s feelin# it, It2s the love that he has for his son, "ll of this has made this one very, very heavy and desperate, But the Lord doesn2t leave his -hildren faithless, "s he told /homas, 3Be not faithless but believin#,; It2s the love of our Savior to impart faith, "nd you say, 30ell, it doesn2t seem like mu-h faith when he -omes and he says, If thou -an do anythin#,; "nd it2s true, It is little faith but that faith as the Lord says in 9ohn % :& , 3"nd if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me,; /he faith of <hrist brin#s the -hild of =od to <hrist, I was talkin# to my -hildren last ni#ht about the world and how to live in the world, Sometimes I think we have it ba-kwards, we think we need faith to live in the world, "nd I shared with them what 9esus said, 3I2ve over-ome the world, Be of #ood -heer, I2ve over-ome the world,; "nd if he2s over-ome the world, I have to view the world as an enemy then, So, I don2t believe that faith leads you to the world, )aith doesn2t lead you out into the world to partake in the world, )aith leads to <hrist, )aith apprehends a Lord and a Savior, 3I2ve over-ome the world,; Sometimes we view it that way, 0e want to do thin#s and we #et e1-ited about worldly thin#s, speakin# for my own self now, "nd I think, 30ell, that2s a #ood thin#, I need to faith to embark upon that,; But faith will never lead the -hild of =od to the world, It leads them to <hrist, It testifies of <hrist, /his one, as he2s brou#ht to the Lord 9esus <hrist, he2s brou#ht with, as I said we would deem it, lean faith, little faith, whatever it is, but that little faith a--ordin# to our Lord, would move a mountain, "nd you know what it did6 It moved a mountain, " mountain of doubt and a mountain of fear, /hat2s what you hear in this, 3If thou -an do anythin#, Lord,; 0ell, he didn2t -all him Lord at that time, 3If thou -an do anythin#,; that2s >ust full of fear, 7ave you ever been there6 7ave you ever been in the midst of that trial or in the midst of that affli-tion, or the midst of that temptation and it be so bad that you -ry out to the Lord and say, 3Lord, why are you doin# this6 If you -an >ust remove this from me, Lord,; 7ow do we #et there6 /hat2s faith, /hat2s faith, @ou say, 3Ao, faith believes that he will do it,; @eah, but faith brin#s you to <hrist, /hat2s the little faith that2s present even in verse , even there when he says, 3If thou -an do anythin#,; that2s the #ift of faith but how did he -ome to the Lord6 3Lord, I believe, Lord, I believe,; It doesn2t sound like you believe, Ao, I believe, Lord, It sounds to me like he2s one wellBversed in the truth, 7e2s wellBversed in the Messiah, 7e knows the do-trines as we do, 7e knows the truth, But I want to tell you somethin#, too, about 3Lord, I believe,; Co you know what2s in that6 "ssuran-e,

:a#e & of *

3Lord, I believe,; 7as he ever authored this prayer in your soul6 /hat you believe6 3Lord, I know that you2re the healer, Lord, I know that you2re the one who has desi#ned this trial for my soul, Lord, I know that you have made everythin# in a way that you2re not #oin# to #ive me more than I -an bear,; /hat2s the faith of the Son of =od, Sometimes we desire that faith to be so mu-h stron#er, 0e desire to see physi-al mountains moved, 0e desire to see somethin# #one from us be-ause that2s what we believe sometimes is best for us, 3Lord, I believe,; /hat2s the hope of the -hild of =od, 7ope and faith are sister #ifts, they #o to#ether, But that assuran-e that he has the Lord says in 9ohn +:&(, 3"ll that the )ather #iveth me shall -ome to me and him that -ometh to me I will in no wise -ast out,; @ou say, 30ell, that2s kind of odd to say,; But this one was #iven the faith to believe that he would -ome to the Lord and the Lord would not -ast him out, would not -ast him away, "nd we like to look at that and we like to say, 30ell, he went to the dis-iples first,; But, don2t we do that6 Con2t we sometimes share our feelin#s with the people of =od6 Con2t we -ome to them sometimes with our burdens first6 Con2t we desire to hear what they say and what they think6 I do, I share many thin#s with my wife, Sometimes before I even pray about them and that brin#s me shame when the Lord brin#s it to me like he is ri#ht now, "nd that2s the thin#, /he Lord said, 3Ao, today you will -ome to me,; "nd I hope you desire that, I hope you desire that the Lord brin#s you to him where it2s >ust you and him, to deal with whatever it is that he has authored in your life, /hat he has authored, 3Lord, I believe,; @es, it2s small faith, @es, it2s assuran-e, But what else I see in this is what the Lord said in 9ohn +:!', 3It is written in the prophets and they shall be all tau#ht of =od,; /au#ht of =od, 3Dvery man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the )ather -ometh unto me,; @ou see, this one that seems to be in #reat despair has heard of the )ather in his soul, "nd the Lord, even in this perilous time, even in this time that seems like there2s no hope, his door has been shut in his fa-e be-ause the dis-iples -ouldn2t heal him, /he s-ribes now are -omin# over and sayin#, 3?hBhuh, who is this Messiah6 7e doesn2t have power to heal, @ou don2t have power to heal,; "nd that2s why the Lord -alls them a faithless #eneration, by the way, /he s-ribes and the -rowd seem to be rallyin# a#ainst them be-ause the boy is not healed, It is a faithless #eneration, 3Lord, how lon# shall I be with you,; he asked, 3Lord, I hope you2re here to my last breath,; "nd for the -hild of =od, he is, 7e is the #rand prophet that tea-hes, 7e is the one who brin#s you to the end of yourself and at the end of yourself, after bein# stripped of all the pride and bein# stripped of all the worldliness and bein# washed in the laver and bein# washed and purified by the 7oly =host, he shows you, 3Lord, I believe,;

:a#e ! of *

But, see, it2s as :aul said, 3I live by the faith of the Son of =od,; I don2t think this one, if we -ould interview this one, would tell you that he was the author of his faith, =oin# from verse , 3If thou -an do anythin#,; to 3Lord, I believe,; in two verses, But that one very important verse in between, the power, /he voi-e of the shepherd in the day of the Lord2s power, 3Lord, I believe,; But there2s somethin# else in this and it2s -alled deliveran-e, Maybe you doubt that, Maybe you say, 3Ao, no, no, the -hild has not been healed yet,; /hat2s si#ht, I2m talkin# about soul, 3Lord, I believe,; Co you know what2s absent in that statement6 Bonda#e, 3Lord, I believe,; 0hen we are affli-ted, when we are in trials, when the hardness of this life -omes, there is so mu-h bonda#e in it be-ause there2s bonda#e in fear, there2s bonda#e in doubt, 38 Lord, will you be with me6 Lord, will you heal this affli-tion6 0ill you ever make it the way it was maybe a month a#o6 0ill those thin#s ever be6; 3Lord, I believe,; It2s assuran-e, It2s bein# tau#ht of the Lord, It2s faith, as little as it may seem but it2s a revelation of his truth of deliveran-e, 9ohn *:& says, 3"nd ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,; I hope you see that before the Lord heals this -hild in the ne1t verse, whi-h we didn2t even read, the one has already been healed in his soul, 3Lord, I believe, I believe,; Is he enou#h6 <ertainly he is, <ertainly he is, 38 Lord, I believe, @ou have set me free, Lord, )ree from the bonda#e of not believin#,; @ou say, 30ait a minute, don2t you know the rest of this verse6; 8h yeah, I know it, I know it well, I know it real well, So, what about the rest of this passa#e6 0e know that :aul tells us in Dphesians that 3by #ra-e he is saved throu#h faith and not of yourselves, it is the #ift of =od,; "nd we know that this one now has been brou#ht to the end of himself to -ry out, By the way, strai#htway means 3at on-e,; that2s the =reek, "nd strai#htway, at on-e, the father of the -hild -ried out, /hat2s the day of the Lord2s power, "nd he said with tears, /ears of what6 /ears of -ontrition, /ears of humility, /ears of bein# humbled, Be-ause when the Lord strips the -hild of =od in these times, he strips him also of pride, /hat2s why I know that this is a heaven born prayer be-ause our prayers usually don2t admit the depravity that we have, 0e2re not sittin# there tellin# the Lord that I2m an unbelievin# sinner, 3Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; @eah, that2s the absen-e of pride, /hat2s the Lord revealin# our insuffi-ien-y, /hat2s the Lord revealin# to us the depth of the fall, /hat2s the Lord revealin# to us how it will always be down here on this earth, /hat there always will be a stru##le, 0e -an2t #et away from that stru##le in the 0ord of =od, -an we6 It2s all throu#h it, /here is always a stru##le, Dven when faith is present, unbelief is still there, ?nbelief, "nd it2s su-h a small little word and it2s one we #loss over a lot be-ause there2s a lot of times in this life that are revealed that we don2t believe, 0e say it even, 3I don2t believe that, 7ow am I supposed to believe that6;

:a#e ' of *

7ow many times do we say it in the re-ess of our mind6 I know that speakin# of the affli-tion that the Lord has #ra-iously brou#ht into my home with my wife, there are days when the day seems to be so free of pain, so free of bonda#e and >ust an absolute day of re>oi-in# but I2ll be honest with you, I doubt those days, 0hen those days -ome, I2m thankful for them but in my mind I2m thinkin#, 30hat does tomorrow hold6 0hat is tomorrow #oin# to be like6 /oday is wonderful, Lord, /hank you, But what about tomorrow6 0hat will tomorrow be like6; Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; :aul said in <orinthians &:', 3Aot that we are suffi-ient of ourselves to think anythin# as of ourselves,; /hat2s so true, 0e -an2t think a hi#her plane and live above this world, 0e -an2t think and have that positive thou#ht that 3I know I -an, I know I -an,; /he -hild of =od doesn2t think that way be-ause he is shown his depravity, /hat2s what we2re seein# here as the Lord reveals the power, I want you to understand that verse & says, 3If thou -anst believe,; /he Lord is sayin# to him, 3If you -an -on>ure up your faith, believe, If you are willin# to do it, If you -an do it, then believe,; But noti-e the rest of that verse, 3"ll thin#s are possible to him that believeth,; 3If thou -anst believe,; as if to say, 3<an you believe on your own6; "nd it2s an interestin# thin# that as he -omes to <hrist with the word 3if,; of doubt, the Lord -omes ba-k with the word 3if,; of power, of stren#th, 3I2ll take your if and I2ll show you where the end of the if is,; Con2t you hate that little two letter word6 Satan uses it all the time with the people of =od, 3If this was the -ase, then this would be the -ase, If you were a -hild of =od, you wouldn2t sin that way, If you were =od2s -hild, you wouldn2t have this on#oin# affli-tion, If you lived better, you wouldn2t be in this position that you2re in,; I was definitely brou#ht up that way, "lways, Somethin# bad happened to somebody, they weren2t livin# ri#ht, Somethin# #ood happened to somebody, they were livin# ri#ht, /hat2s ri#ht out of the pit of hell, /hat word 3if,; that little two letter word, 30ell, if you would have >ust done this, you wouldn2t be in this situation,; I will shamefully admit to you that I #o throu#h this every time we have a flareBup in my home of this affli-tion, 38h, if we >ust wouldn2t have done this, If we >ust wouldn2t have went down this path, 0e2re #oin# to learn that ne1t time, 0e2re not #oin# to do that ne1t time,; 0here is the soverei#nty of my Lord in that6 But even thou#h I believe, and even thou#h I know my Lord is 9ehovah Rophe that will heal, is healin#, does heal and heals the soul, still unbelievin# that he2ll do it, 7ow do these two thin#s #o to#ether6 "re we -apable of faith6 I2ve never found it without him, I2ve never been led to <hrist without <hrist no matter how hard I prayed, no matter how mu-h I read, no matter how mu-h I do, /ruly, without him we -an do nothin#, But as he says in &, 3all thin#s are possible,; to the faith he #ives, 3"ll thin#s are possible to him that believeth,; My faith, the faith that I #ive is the faith to move mountains, the mountain of doubt, the mountain of fear, the mountain of unbelief,

:a#e + of *

/his truly is a heaven born prayer, @ou -an2t #et here on your own, I don2t -are how many times you -ry out and >ust say it as a matter of words, 3Lord, I believe; help mine unbelief,; /his is a soul -ryin# out, /his is a =od authored prayer, I2ll show you that in >ust a minute, "nd that2s how we #et from 3if thou -anst do anythin#,; to 3Lord, I believe; help mine unbelief,; 7old your fin#er there and turn over to Romans * for the answer of how he #ot there, Look at verse +, 3Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities,; /he =reek word there is weaknesses, 3Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses for we know not what we should pray for as we ou#ht,; Cid we >ust see that6 /his one in dire need and in total desperation, the best he -ould say to the Lord 9esus <hrist, the ruler of all thin#s, the #iver of life, the best he -ould do is 3if you -an do anythin#,; /hat2s a pi-ture of us, /hat2s the way we feebly -ome to the Lord, but as I said, it is faith, a faith of =od2s own #ivin#, But he knew it was weak, 7e was shown it was weak, 7e didn2t have the stren#th, /his is where the stren#th, 3for we know not what we should pray for as we ou#ht: but the Spirit itself maketh inter-ession,; /he =reek word there is 3pleads our -ase,; 3/he Spirit itself maketh inter-ession for us with #roanin#s whi-h -annot be uttered,; I don2t know about you, but that tou-hes my soul, 0hen the Lord brin#s that with his power, that tou-hes my soul, It2s very revealin# to me, It reveals to me my inability, It reveals to me my insuffi-ien-y but it does reveal to me the suffi-ien-y of my /riune Lord and the ability of my /riune Lord that he is able, 3/hat the Spirit himself maketh inter-ession,; 7e pleads my -ase, 0hatever that -ase may be, 3with #roanin#s whi-h -annot be uttered,; I think about that and I say, 30ell, that means form prayers and all of those thin#s that we put in neat little bo1es to ask for,; /he 7oly Spirit knows and inter-edes and that Spirit dwells in the -hild of =od, Look at (, 3"nd he,; the 7oly Spirit, 3that sear-heth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,; 7e knows the mind of <hrist, he knows the mind of the )ather, he knows the mind of the /riune Lord, 0hat about you and I today6 7ave you ever heard that phrase about prayer tou-hin# the will of =od6 /his is how, /his is when, 3"nd he that sear-heth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, be-ause he maketh inter-ession for the saints a--ordin# to the will of =od,; /hat2s how this poor soul that2s in dire a#ony, that2s how this poor person in this seemin#ly hopeless situation -ould -ry out to the Lord, 3Lord, I believe,; 7e didn2t even know that faith was present, 3But if thou -an do anythin#,; "nd the 7oly Spirit says, 3I2ll make inter-ession for you, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; Be-ause the 7oly Spirit reveals to us what we are without <hrist, "nd as Mary didn2t re-o#ni5e <hrist on the day of resurre-tion, as the two on the road to Dmmaus did not understand the Lord, as the lady at the well was told by the Lord, 3If only you knew the #ift of =od,; as the thief on the -ross sat there and reviled the Lord, we know nothin# until the day of his power, until the day of his revelation,

:a#e ( of *

/hose are really ama5in# passa#es, I used to sit there and #o, 3Man, how -ould you not re-o#ni5e this,; 7ow -ould you not see that, 7ow -an the dis-iples follow 9esus everywhere and him tell them a hundred times over that was #oin# to the -ross and they wouldn2t see him anymore and they #o to him, "re you #oin# away6 0hat are you talkin# about6 "nd that2s left on re-ord by the 7oly Spirit to reveal to us somethin# about ourselves, /hat we2re in -onstant need of our Savior, 0e2re in -onstant need of the 7oly =host, I pray the Lord makes you tender today to see that and for those in this room today who are in the midst of affli-tions and the loved one around them who are sufferin# with them, may the Lord brin# you to -ry out to him, 3Lord, I believe,; I think I have the li-ense to say this, that I know about every one of you in this room, that I know every one of you would say, 3I believe in you, Lord, I know that you2re the healer, Lord,; But if you2re anythin# like me, you2re #oin# to have doubts, @ou2re #oin# to have fears, "nd all this lifetime we2re sub>e-t to these thin#s to brin# us to our Lord as our suffi-ien-y, "nd praise be to him that he does, 3Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,; Dear heavenly Father, most gracious and holy Lord, bring thy sheep to thee this day, author the prayers of faith. Lord, come with power in thy faith to believe. And, Lord, forgive us for our unbelief. $eveal to us, Lord, that you are our sufficiency, that you are our portion, that you are, Lord, our all%in%all. &o the praise and glory of thy name. In "esus# name, I pray. Amen.

:a#e * of *