Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:19-26

He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ Then they brought him unto Jesus. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. ²² And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” ²⁶ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Help me lift up my title “Help My Unbelief”.

The faithlessness of men grieves Christ. Jesus was saddened by a crow of people with little no faith. He rebuked the generation standing before him, but in all honesty every generation was rebuked, for every generation has proven to be faithless. There he was after 42 generation had come to earth because God’s children were without faith. Having no faith saddened and brought sorrow to my Lord’s heart and he expressed that sorrow when he said. “How long shall I be with you? How long shall I (bear with you) or your faithlessness pains my heart”.

Who is being rebuked? Who is faithless? To whom is Christ speaking? The answer is clearly seen. There was not a single person present that helped the child, not the father, not the crowd, not the disciples, and not even the questioning religionist folk. The father was unbelieving. The crowd was unspiritual and worldly. The disciples were ineffective and powerless. The religionist’s folk were self-centered and critical. You know these folk; they always have something bad to say, and not one word of encouragement.

Jesus cared for the father just as much as he cared for the son. The father was hurting in his heart. I came by here today to tell you that you have not felt a pain until your heart hurts. There no medicine for a heart aches. It was his love for the son that drove him to seek Jesus in the first place. Jesus knew this, and Jesus knew something else. The father’s faith was weak and needed strengthening, so Jesus asked the father about the history of the boy’s illness. But note, Jesus was not interested so much in the boy’s case history as he was in getting the father to focus on his desperate need, to focus on Jesus who stood before him, to focus on Jesus who alone could meet his needs, and to focus on Jesus so much that his faith would be stirred. Somebody knows what I’m talking about. Sometime we need to tell Jesus all of our trouble. Just have a little talk with Jesus and it all right with world. When I talk to Jesus my spirit is stirred.

The father said two important things to Jesus. He said “If thou canst do anything have compassion on us and help us”. The man lacked personal knowledge and faith in Jesus power, but he cried out for the compassion, but question if Jesus really did have the power to help. There was no way Jesus would turn away from the man’s cry for mercy. It is not so much our faith as it is our cry for mercy and compassion that arouses God to help us.

Spiritual immaturity must be acknowledged by faith. The father’s faith was immature. Jesus threw the father’s words back at him. “If you can” are words of immaturity. Jesus told him “All things are possible to him that believeth”. All things are possible to the son of God. The power is available, but a person must trust in God’s power and you must believe. The great principle of prayer and faith was being taught to the man.

Spiritual immaturity must be acknowledged by humility and crying for help. The man was weak, but his need was desperate. He accepted the Lord’s word about his being weak (sinful) and needing help personally, about his lack of faith being the problem.

The man responded in humility and cried out with tears, “Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief”. Note that he cried out for Jesus to help him even in his even in his unbelief. He needed help even in believing; but he did the one essential thing, he cried out with all his heart and being, confessing that he needed help. Somebody here has miss a blessing because we were to prideful to confess our need for help.

Spiritual blessings are secured by Jesus’ word and power. Jesus healed the boy when he saw the crowd running toward them. Jesus had apparently pulled the father and boy to the side to help the father’s concentration. It was the word of Jesus that healed the boy. Wrong cannot stand before God’s word. The spirit made on last effort to disrupt and discredit the power of Christ. The spirit apparently attempted to kill the boy. Jesus took the boy by the hand a lifted him up, and the boy arose, being healed.

Why we don't give up?

Mark 5:25-34

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stooped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Help me lift up my title “Why we don’t give up”?

Jesus had freed a demon-possessed man on the other side of the Lake (Sea of Galilee) and how was on his way to help a local ruler of the synagogue, daughter who was dying. A large crowd gathered around as he walked. This woman had been hemorrhaging for a long time, twelve years; and it was uncontrollable. No one could touch her or anything she had touched. The Jews law considered her unclean, so unclean that she was to be divorced by her husband. She was to be totally cut off from society and religious worship. This particular woman had tried all she knew. She had seen “many” doctors, and “spent all the money that she had,” and yet she “grew worse.” “This woman was at the end of her road.” Oh! I know there is a sermon that needs to be preached. So pray with me while I tell you Why we don’t give up?

I need to tell you she had three attitudes that I need to talk about. When you have been brought to the point of helplessness and hopelessness and there is no hope anywhere else, there is always hope in Christ. She had a last resort attitude. This was not the time for her to give up. She was breaking the law by being in the crowd. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her, but she knew that her bleeding would cause Jesus to be unclean, if she touched him. Sometimes we feel that our problems will keep us from God. This woman had a last resort attitude. One reason for why we don’t give up is, when all else fails, there is Jesus. He is waiting for us. “That is why we don’t give up?”

She was shy, embarrassed, and felt unworthy. This woman had a nobody's business but my own attitude. She elbowed her way through the crowd and came up behind Jesus. She wanted to touch Jesus without being seen or noticed. Her hemorrhaging was personal and intimate matter for her, something she did not want others to know or discuss. Somebody knows what I’m talking about, the feeling of guilt and shame. We have had embarrassing matters, personal matters, and secret matters that we want no one else to be aware of. Hear me church, we sometimes get embarrassed and have an nobody's business but my own attitude. We can still approach Jesus. He is waiting for us. “That why we don’t give up?”

This hopeless woman had a believing attitude. She believed what she had heard about Jesus. She believed the gospel that Jesus preached and believed he would care about her plight and would make her whole. “ If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” The believing attitude is important for everyone before coming to Christ. We must have a believing attitude to understand that Jesus, he waiting for us. “That why we don’t give up?”

I live in two worlds, one world where I work as one of God’s servants and a voice in making life better for others there in Durham. The second world where I’m reliving my past. A place where I asked many times “Where are you God?”

The women with the issue of blood and I have something in common. I had to go to Jesus to be made whole. Nothing else worked. There was no need for me to reach the point of hopelessness; no need for me to become depressed, and no need for me to consider giving up. God wants a broken spirit and sincere remorse. We can never please God by our outward action. God looked inward and was pleased by my humility. Jesus, he is waiting for me. “That why we don’t give up?” We often wish we could escape troubles, the pain of grief, loss, sorrow, and failure. My Jesus promises to be “close to the brokenhearted”, to be our source of power, our source of courage, and our source of wisdom while helping us through our problem. When trouble strikes, don’t give up. Instead, admit that you need God’s help and thank him for being by your side. Jesus, he is waiting for us, “That why we never give up.”