WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:04.500 Father, thank you again for your provisions, 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.640 for your love and for your watch care over each 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:13.759 one of us. Thank you that Aaron did get this 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:20.039 insurance. And now Lord, as we turn our focus 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:23.879 away from the worldly things and toward your 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:27.640 word and our behavior and our reaction and different 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:31.350 things, I pray you just Help us to forget all 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:35.729 the things around us and just to focus just these 00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:40.750 few minutes on you and what you're trying to 00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:45.149 accomplish as we look at these disciples what 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:50.170 you are trying to accomplish in their lives is 00:00:50.170 --> 00:00:52.590 really the same thing that you're trying to accomplish 00:00:52.590 --> 00:00:57.890 in our lives. Thank you again for your patience 00:00:57.890 --> 00:01:02.780 with us. Thank you that you are dependable as 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:05.939 you show through Scripture especially in the 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:09.760 Gospels and in the Old Testament as well that 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:13.760 you were dependable to repeat. We're so so grateful 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:19.980 for that. Help us to be ever dependent upon you. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:31.340 Thank you again. We just pray for their hearts 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:34.879 as well. Thank you again for your patience and 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.439 for your love and for your grace that you show 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.239 to us each and every day. In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:01:44.099 --> 00:01:48.159 I'm going to read our text first of all tonight 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:54.519 and then I'm going to do our, I guess, our review. 00:01:57.099 --> 00:01:59.579 And that way we get a, I think it's important 00:01:59.579 --> 00:02:01.540 to read the whole text because that way we get 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:08.580 a whole flow of the story. It said, and when 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:12.900 he came to the disciples, this is Mark 9, 14. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.680 And when he came to the disciples, he saw a great 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:20.120 multitude around them and the scribes disputing 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.020 with them. Immediately, when they saw them, all 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:27.300 the people were greatly amazed. and running to 00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:31.240 him greeted him. And he asked the scribes, what 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.400 are you discussing with them? Then one of the 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.259 crowd answered and said, Teacher, I brought you 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.939 my son who has a mute spirit. And whenever it 00:02:40.939 --> 00:02:44.000 seizes him, it throws him down, it foams up the 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.259 mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:53.680 So I spoke to your disciples that they should 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.419 cast it out. But they could not. He answered 00:02:57.419 --> 00:03:00.479 and said, O faithless generation, how long shall 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.539 I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:08.800 Bring him to me. Then they brought him to him. 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:13.020 And when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:15.740 him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:20.000 honing half a mile. So he asked his father, how 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:23.819 long has this been happening to him? And he said 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:28.159 from childhood, and often he has thrown him both 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.020 into the fire and into the water to destroy. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:35.680 But if you can do anything, have compassion on 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.539 us and help us. And Jesus said to him, if you 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:44.180 can believe, all things are possible to him who 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:47.080 believes. Immediately the father of the child 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:51.280 cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:56.159 helped my unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.900 came running together, he rebuked the unclean 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:03.360 spirit, saying to it, Death, a mute spirit, I 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:06.840 command you, come out of him and enter him no 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:10.020 more. Then the spirit cried out and bulged him 00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:13.460 greatly and came out of him, and he became his 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:17.579 one death. So that many said, he is dead. But 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:20.980 Jesus took him by the hand. lifted him up, and 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:25.519 he arose. And when he had come into the house, 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.480 his disciples asked him probably, why could we 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:33.800 not cast it out? He said to them, this kind can 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:39.579 come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. By 00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:43.959 prayer and fasting. As we come again to Mark. 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:51.209 We are not too far from the base of Mount Huron, 00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:54.990 where Jesus and his closest disciples Peter, 00:04:55.209 --> 00:04:58.629 James, and John have just came down from the 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:03.089 Mount of Transfiguration. What they arrive to 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:06.430 is Jesus's other nine disciples are in argument 00:05:06.430 --> 00:05:09.810 with the scribes, and a great number of people 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:13.889 are surrounding them. What we find out is that 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:17.829 the desperate father has Has come bringing his 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:22.550 only son who is demon possessed and has been 00:05:22.550 --> 00:05:28.069 has been to be healed by Jesus But Jesus was 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:30.850 not there. So they asked Jesus's disciples to 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:35.569 heal They were known for doing miracles before 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:39.410 As we have found out they could not heal the 00:05:39.410 --> 00:05:43.589 boy. I believe this is where the argument began 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.639 The scribe sees the opportunity to discredit 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:51.899 not only Jesus' disciples, but Jesus as well. 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.360 Naturally, this will bring doubt to the onlookers, 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:59.740 including, I believe, this boy's father. We have 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:06.040 seen where it has caused doubt in him. So as 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.899 the story progresses, there have been some things 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:13.139 we have seen. The boy's father spoke. before 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:17.339 anyone else can and begins to tell why he is 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:21.519 there. I brought my son to you who needs healing 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.779 and is demon possessed. And the father gives 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:29.279 a brief description of why he believes his son 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.939 is demon possessed. He has a mute spirit, he's 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:36.699 thrown to the ground, he foams up the mouth, 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:43.000 he grinds his teeth, becomes rigid, which I which 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:48.759 can mean to waste away, meaning he's lost a lot 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:53.339 of weight and things. And it can mean to stiffen 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:59.000 up. He tells this to Jesus, and that his disciples 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.579 had failed at healing his son. And Jesus' reply 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:07.560 was, O faithless generation, it's as if Jesus 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:11.879 can't believe what has been shown to them all. 00:07:12.170 --> 00:07:15.449 Over the past two and a half years, all the miracles, 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:19.930 signs, and wonders, and teachings like no other. 00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:24.730 Even the religious leaders knew this. And yet, 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:29.269 they are without faith. Jesus says, bring the 00:07:29.269 --> 00:07:33.670 boy to me. As he is being brought, an evil spirit 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:37.769 is wrecking havoc on him. Looks as if it is trying 00:07:37.769 --> 00:07:42.459 to kill him. Mark gives a vivid picture. of what 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:48.220 it looks like. You know, and one preacher I listen 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:53.480 to says if they were going to do a movie, Mark 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:58.439 gives a lot of details in his gospels. He doesn't 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:02.660 necessarily quote a lot of scripture, but he 00:08:02.660 --> 00:08:06.160 gives details where you can make a movie about 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:10.740 where the other two gospels don't, Luke and Matthew. 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:15.699 So Mark gives us a very vivid picture of what 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:21.279 this demon -possessed boy looks like. And Mark 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.560 gives us twice as long, if not three times as 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:30.439 long, of a picture of this story than the other 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:35.500 two gospels, which is kind of rare in Mark, because 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:39.259 Mark is usually... Boom right next to the next 00:08:39.259 --> 00:08:42.779 story, but this one gets a lot of attention As 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:45.539 all this is happening Jesus is listening to the 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:48.919 father Tell his story and we talked about that 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.120 before Jesus asked him how long he's been like 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:56.580 that. He wanted the father to tell a story To 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:00.080 where everyone around could hear especially the 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:10.659 disciples Which seems like a hopeless case. At 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:14.899 the end of the Father's story, out of desperation, 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:18.360 he asked Jesus, if you can do anything, have 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:23.759 compassion on us and help us. You know, that's 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:29.960 man's final plea too. Should be the gospel. The 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:34.970 gospel should, when all else fails, And man will 00:09:34.970 --> 00:09:40.269 try everything before coming to the gospel. There's 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:43.389 an empty void that's inside all of us. We're 00:09:43.389 --> 00:09:48.049 going to talk a little more about that. But it 00:09:48.049 --> 00:09:51.710 seems like man will try everything before coming 00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:56.370 to the gospel. And in verse 23 it says, Jesus 00:09:56.370 --> 00:10:00.929 replied, if you can believe, all things are possible 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:05.759 to him who believes. Immediately, the father 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.679 of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:16.379 I believe. Help my unbelief. I love that. I love 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.200 how the father puts it. I mean, he's just, he's 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:23.320 not holding nothing back. He's saying these things 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:27.820 with tears. And he's just putting it out on the 00:10:27.820 --> 00:10:30.960 tape. It doesn't matter who's listening. He just 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.360 needs help and wants help. Well, we can empathize 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.139 with that. We can't, especially with our own 00:10:36.139 --> 00:10:39.799 kids and things. A lifetime with that situation. 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:43.539 Oh, no one knows how long it's been. A long time. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:48.220 You're exhausted. I mean, you are mentally exhausted. 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:53.200 And you're approaching this teacher who by all 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:57.840 rights is supposed to be able to alleviate this. 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.879 I mean, you've seen nothing happen up till now, 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.320 you know. Nothing's worked. And you're out of 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:11.980 your mind. Now this is like the last stop right 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:16.700 here. You're white. Mentally white. And you're 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:21.899 supposed to believe that this man can cast this 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:25.379 demon out of your soul. And to have that kind 00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:30.580 of a response. That is an end of the line response 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:34.730 right there. And the big thing is... I don't 00:11:34.730 --> 00:11:37.009 believe. Help me with my unbelief. That's right. 00:11:37.309 --> 00:11:39.509 I want to believe. How can I believe that you 00:11:39.509 --> 00:11:42.210 can do this? Well, obviously he had some belief 00:11:42.210 --> 00:11:44.149 because he brought him to Jesus. He did. Yeah. 00:11:44.149 --> 00:11:46.509 But he found out pretty quick that it didn't 00:11:46.509 --> 00:11:50.990 seem to help. Yeah, and that's why I think it 00:11:50.990 --> 00:11:54.049 was because his disciples had failed. Right. 00:11:54.389 --> 00:11:56.610 That's right. Why did his disciples fail? Because 00:11:56.610 --> 00:11:58.490 I don't think they were the same thing. They 00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:00.190 were. Jesus had a prayer infesting. They were. 00:12:00.490 --> 00:12:03.240 And we're going to look at that. They forget 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:09.759 to pray? Well, in short, in short, we fall into 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:16.399 this same trap of teaching or doing something 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.860 a certain way and we get self -dependent, even 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:26.179 in our jobs, even in the things that we do and 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:29.399 sometimes we forget where that authority comes 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:32.090 from. And I believe this had happened to these 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:36.029 disciples. They had a certain method of doing 00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:42.090 things. And early in their ministry, they were 00:12:42.090 --> 00:12:44.230 relying on the power of God because He gave them 00:12:44.230 --> 00:12:46.549 the authority. And He hadn't taken that authority 00:12:46.549 --> 00:12:53.049 away. But they just wasn't relying on His strength. 00:12:53.590 --> 00:12:59.029 They were relying on their own ability. You know, 00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:01.610 we talked about that last time. I'm telling this 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:08.429 demon to get out. They only came by fasting and 00:13:08.429 --> 00:13:10.850 praying, right? Getting your mind back where 00:13:10.850 --> 00:13:15.210 it needed to be. That's right. Jesus always fasts, 00:13:15.210 --> 00:13:18.629 always prays. We're going to talk about that 00:13:18.629 --> 00:13:26.700 more toward the end. sicknesses and healings 00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.539 that Jesus gave you, the thoracic that you've 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:31.240 overcome, were gone pretty quickly. It wasn't 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:37.879 a great hassle until then. And we'll talk about 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:42.820 later. Really, this is what looks to be like 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:47.500 a trial run for these disciples. It's really 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:52.100 the first time that they've been away, Jesus 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:56.129 and these three leaders. And it's interesting 00:13:56.129 --> 00:13:59.570 to me that they were gone as well. Peter, especially 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:01.909 Peter since he was, I don't know if you'd call 00:14:01.909 --> 00:14:07.389 him a ringleader, but he was one of the chief 00:14:07.389 --> 00:14:13.149 apostles or chief disciples. And they had been 00:14:13.149 --> 00:14:16.070 called away and this I believe is a little test 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:19.610 for them. They failed. They failed. That's right. 00:14:20.669 --> 00:14:23.350 Because of their self -reliance on themselves. 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:38.230 It was a good learning experience for them. There's 00:14:38.230 --> 00:14:41.110 a reason why this whole context is here about 00:14:41.110 --> 00:14:46.789 them arguing. And you can just see that where 00:14:46.789 --> 00:14:49.370 Jesus and, like you say, your James and John 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:52.659 of God were absent, right? Meanwhile, all this 00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:55.559 gathers and there's healing maybe, probably some 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:57.940 other healing going on perhaps, and then all 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:00.799 of a sudden this situation rises and you start 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:02.720 getting... And when you get into an argument 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:06.240 with somebody, your pride starts... Oh yeah, 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:12.379 I'm... yeah. And then I think you're on the right 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:16.139 target there, that you start getting self -reliant 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:23.220 and you forget where you're... resources and 00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:29.100 Peter who is the one that is primary source for 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:34.639 Mark's account. In his epistle, 1 Peter writes, 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:39.419 God opposes the problem against grace and honor. 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:44.139 I think you may be right about that. So I wonder 00:15:44.139 --> 00:15:46.799 about it too, how do they not have the power 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.279 to do this? Yeah, again, you know why why is 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.139 that need to tell him about the argument? I think 00:15:52.139 --> 00:16:02.240 there's there for a reason. Yeah and Yeah We 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.340 looked at this verse last time short version 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:10.700 is the father believed Jesus wants To help but 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:14.019 the circumstances surrounding this event has 00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:19.250 put doubt that Jesus simply can't And that's, 00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:22.269 I say that because of the disciples' prayer to 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:25.830 be able to heal. If the disciples can't do it, 00:16:26.409 --> 00:16:30.990 then most likely Jesus can't do it. I think the 00:16:30.990 --> 00:16:33.730 disciples got used to having that authority, 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:38.730 and then when it seemed to fail the way it had 00:16:38.730 --> 00:16:42.009 done in the past, they were trying to reconcile 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:44.350 that. Then it looked like to the Father that 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:47.389 it was not going to work out. Yeah, I agree. 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:51.269 I agree. The disciples have much to learn about 00:16:51.269 --> 00:16:55.009 their lack of dependence on divine power from 00:16:55.009 --> 00:16:59.470 above. We will say they were not in communication 00:16:59.470 --> 00:17:03.330 with the one who gave them the authority they 00:17:03.330 --> 00:17:07.769 had. And I say that because of that last verse, 00:17:07.769 --> 00:17:12.490 verse 29, this kind can come out by nothing but 00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:16.609 prayer and fasting. You know, we're going to 00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:19.869 talk more about that, but we should constantly, 00:17:20.049 --> 00:17:22.390 the Bible tells us to constantly be in a state 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:27.410 of prayer. And I think that's not simply with 00:17:27.410 --> 00:17:30.809 your head bowed. That's being constantly aware 00:17:30.809 --> 00:17:37.450 of God's presence around you all the time. And 00:17:37.450 --> 00:17:40.789 that communication, just thinking, you know, 00:17:40.950 --> 00:17:44.640 referring back to scripture. and including him 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.000 in your thoughts about different things that 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.579 you're going to do, even your work or your activities 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:54.680 or your play or whatever, just recognizing. You 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:57.859 know, we were out fishing yesterday, me and a 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:01.700 couple of fellas, and just God's beauty, I was 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:07.119 just aware of creation that God had created and 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:12.420 the beauty of it. Pray in or anything like that, 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.900 but just being constantly aware, you know But 00:18:16.900 --> 00:18:21.579 but in certain circumstances I'll mention this 00:18:21.579 --> 00:18:26.359 again, but in certain certain circumstances You 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:29.880 need more prayer. I Mean you need to separate 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:31.720 yourself and I think that's where the fasting 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.420 comes in if you have a hard situation to come 00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:42.150 to That's just not normal every day things or 00:18:42.150 --> 00:18:44.710 incidences, so you need to confront somebody. 00:18:46.390 --> 00:18:48.970 And a lot of us have had to do that. Not just 00:18:48.970 --> 00:18:51.410 about spiritual things, but about other things. 00:18:52.109 --> 00:18:56.430 You want to make sure you spend time in prayer 00:18:56.430 --> 00:19:00.250 about that. I don't always do that. Sometimes 00:19:00.250 --> 00:19:02.829 when I confront somebody, it's on the spur of 00:19:02.829 --> 00:19:06.549 the moment. You know, you're retaliating, I guess 00:19:06.549 --> 00:19:09.250 we did. Better word, but you don't need to do 00:19:09.250 --> 00:19:12.410 that. You need to you need to pray about it And 00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:14.910 then even if that if you don't feel like that's 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:17.869 sufficient Do without something in your life 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:20.329 and that's what fasting is doing without something 00:19:20.329 --> 00:19:24.190 that you normally do For a particular purpose 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:28.109 and that would be pray about that situation And 00:19:28.109 --> 00:19:31.690 apparently they had not considered this prayer 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:35.609 Or he wouldn't have mentioned it down here in 00:19:35.609 --> 00:19:37.740 verse 29 Yeah, I was going to ask that a little 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.759 bit. That fasting is not just food, is it? No, 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:43.720 it could be. It could be anything. Any worldly 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:45.799 pleasure at all. Yeah, it could be anything. 00:19:46.700 --> 00:19:49.559 We associate it with food. You're right. Well, 00:19:49.579 --> 00:19:51.140 food's pretty good, ain't it, Pastor? Yeah, it 00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:53.079 is. That's a tough one. That's one of the toughest. 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:59.079 Yeah. But I guess, yeah, any worldly input, just 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:02.099 stop it. Yeah, the Bible uses that also with 00:20:02.099 --> 00:20:04.220 having a relationship with your wife. Yeah. We've 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:07.599 seen from that whole period. I think they had 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.619 television back in the day. Television would 00:20:09.619 --> 00:20:11.500 be at the top of the list. Exactly. I was thinking 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:14.240 about that too. Fascinating. Because that takes 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:18.519 up a lot of time. Fishing shows. Soccer games 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:25.240 and fishing shows and stuff. Exactly. How worldly. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.119 I believe this man's request was answered. The 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:35.920 Bible doesn't tell us that explicitly. But the 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:41.359 Bible tells us that his son was healed. And I 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:47.960 believe the man's faith had grown from this experience. 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:54.299 Does it say fasting? Oh, okay. That in verse 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:58.180 29? Well, let's look at his prayer translations. 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.980 Well, this is the legacy we got here, but it 00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:19.900 just says prayer. I think this is the King James 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:24.859 version of New King James is this one. I think 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.740 this one is, no I think this one just says this 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:31.299 is the King James, the one that's got all three. 00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:34.329 I like it because it's got all three of them 00:21:34.329 --> 00:21:38.890 right back to back so I can compare them really 00:21:38.890 --> 00:22:10.529 easily. The point is that prayer was needed. 00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:15.589 Apparently the disciples didn't look for it. 00:22:15.849 --> 00:22:18.349 How hard is prayer? Serious prayer, if you're 00:22:18.349 --> 00:22:22.009 not fast. Every time you do the same prayer, 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:26.910 and just like that, you're off somewhere else. 00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:30.920 You're not in prayer at all. Especially if you're 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:33.740 driving and praying. I think more than just prayer, 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:39.380 it was a special kind of prayer because of the 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:43.359 situation. Pretty serious situation. Pretty heavy. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:52.059 I think so. He came humbly asking in a submissive 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:55.819 way, acknowledging Jesus as Lord. If you notice, 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:59.029 he called him Lord there. Jesus will not turn 00:22:59.029 --> 00:23:02.450 away from those asking in this way with the right 00:23:02.450 --> 00:23:07.089 spirit and the right heart. We know God does 00:23:07.089 --> 00:23:10.490 the drawing, and I'm not leaving that out of 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:15.869 the equation, but this man does come with a humble, 00:23:16.289 --> 00:23:19.789 and we can see the humbleness in the words that 00:23:19.789 --> 00:23:25.650 he says. And then Mark jumps quickly to the next 00:23:25.650 --> 00:23:29.670 scene. in verse 25, when Jesus saw that the people 00:23:29.670 --> 00:23:34.730 came running to get him. It seems Jesus does 00:23:34.730 --> 00:23:38.170 his healing away from the crowd. Remember, his 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:42.950 ministry and work for the multitude is basically 00:23:42.950 --> 00:23:48.309 over. He is focused on his chosen twelve. Jesus 00:23:48.309 --> 00:23:52.269 is preparing his disciples as leaders. Being 00:23:52.269 --> 00:23:56.349 a leader often requires being a servant. Mark's 00:23:56.349 --> 00:24:01.049 gospel demonstrates Jesus as a servant. And we've 00:24:01.049 --> 00:24:06.549 talked about that toward the beginning of chapter 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:10.150 nine, the end of chapter eight is where Jesus 00:24:10.150 --> 00:24:15.269 is making his descent toward Jerusalem or toward 00:24:15.269 --> 00:24:19.970 Calvary. And so he's turned away from the people 00:24:19.970 --> 00:24:22.789 more or less, but he's still got some things 00:24:22.789 --> 00:24:27.380 he needs to. to teach his disciples, and I think 00:24:27.380 --> 00:24:37.880 Mark gives us 10 or 11. It's on the back of that 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:41.099 clipboard. I wrote them down on that last page 00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:45.400 there. The last two ones are sticking out. Lessons 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.799 that Jesus will teach his disciples in the next 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:53.960 chapter or two. The first one is faith. The second 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:59.019 one is humility. The third one is offenses. The 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:02.240 fourth one is seriousness of sin, marriage and 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:05.599 divorce, a place of children in the kingdom, 00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:11.759 earthly riches, true wealth, leadership, sacrificial 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.559 service. And then chapter 10, verses 46 to 52 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:21.380 is on faith again. So he begins on faith here. 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:25.519 and he ends up again on faith. And then in chapter 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:31.039 11, Jesus enters Jerusalem. So there's several 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:35.680 things that we're going to be looking at that 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:39.500 Jesus is heading towards and he's training these 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:44.099 disciples. It seems Jesus is not looking for 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:47.359 repair or the attention. It may even be Jesus 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:50.569 wanted to get this done. in a hurry before the 00:25:50.569 --> 00:25:55.250 crowd came. He rebukes the unclean spirit. Jesus 00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:58.230 shows authority over the spiritual world, which 00:25:58.230 --> 00:26:03.490 will speak volumes to his disciples. Notice again 00:26:03.490 --> 00:26:09.950 the action that Jesus shows. Say to it, deaf 00:26:09.950 --> 00:26:13.250 and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him 00:26:13.250 --> 00:26:18.640 and enter him no more. Notice Jesus himself speaks 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:24.160 directly to it on his authority from God. Matthew 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:27.619 28, 18, Jesus said to them, all authority in 00:26:27.619 --> 00:26:30.960 heaven and on earth has been given to me. All 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:33.960 authority comes from heaven and is delegated 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:38.259 from heaven. Jesus received that earthly delegation 00:26:38.259 --> 00:26:42.279 and therefore he was able to delegate it as he 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:47.799 wills. We know he did this. to his earthly apostles, 00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:53.240 that's in Matthew 10, 5 to 8, and also to 72 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:59.299 others to heal the sick in Luke 10, 1 to 11. 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:02.839 So he gives certain people, and we know even 00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:06.099 in the New Testament he delegated that authority 00:27:06.099 --> 00:27:11.420 to Paul because he was able to do some miracles, 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:17.680 but it wasn't to everyone. Jesus told us who, 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:21.640 basically, he delegated those signs to, those 00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:26.980 miracles. And it was, again, not for their benefit, 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.440 but to prove who he was, to prove who Jesus was. 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:35.960 We have been delegated, I believe, as believers 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:41.099 to make disciples of all nations. Our job is 00:27:41.099 --> 00:27:45.839 to train followers of Jesus. those He calls out 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.079 of darkness. So we've not been delegated to do 00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:52.140 miracles and things like that, but we have been 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:56.779 delegated to make disciples. You got something 00:27:56.779 --> 00:28:00.859 to say, Dave? He was in constant prayer, so He 00:28:00.859 --> 00:28:03.079 did the will of the Father. And like you said, 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:06.759 we're delegated to make disciples. Now Jesus 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:08.640 didn't just... He did the will of His Father, 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:12.940 and He showed up here. He was totally up to the 00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:16.549 Holy Spirit to... orchestrate the rest of it 00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:21.049 through time to bring all the examples and everything 00:28:21.049 --> 00:28:24.450 right before Christ to use it as an example. 00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:28.230 He's teaching these disciples. I mean it wasn't 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:31.869 just Melee that this guy showed up with his son 00:28:31.869 --> 00:28:36.769 to exemplify the teachings that he just made 00:28:36.769 --> 00:28:39.710 while they were walking along the road, you know. 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:44.400 And as you disciple, ship, others. I believe 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:47.279 those instances come in right in front of you, 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:51.640 too, to be an example or to show them the power 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:55.519 of God. The Holy Spirit, he's never been sitting 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:58.700 down relaxing much, has he? I mean, the more 00:28:58.700 --> 00:29:01.359 that you see these type of events and stuff like 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:04.500 that, and the way he orchestrates these events 00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:11.359 in the life of Christ. We see it easily in the 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:13.599 Father's actions and the Holy Spirit's actions. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:16.519 It's definitely not just the Son and the Father. 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:21.039 You're right. It's the Holy Spirit that does 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.119 it all. It's been done for generations and generations 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:28.700 to make this one point in time. With this man 00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:32.440 and his son, and the son's need and desire. It's 00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:34.579 easy for us to pick these things out of Scripture. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:38.650 We can read on them, re -read on them. we can 00:29:38.650 --> 00:29:40.630 get this visual picture, but when it happens 00:29:40.630 --> 00:29:43.009 to us, it's... But he does that through our entire 00:29:43.009 --> 00:29:45.789 life. We miss a lot of it. Yeah, it's hard for 00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:47.990 us to see. But he brings those examples in front 00:29:47.990 --> 00:29:51.369 of you a bunch, and we miss the mark quite often. 00:29:52.109 --> 00:29:59.190 We miss the point of the hard time. So Jesus 00:29:59.190 --> 00:30:01.650 commands the evil spirit to come out of this 00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:06.009 boy, and that's not all. He says, never enter 00:30:06.009 --> 00:30:09.829 him again. As I read through this story, it is 00:30:09.829 --> 00:30:12.890 one of the most severe cases of demon possession, 00:30:13.829 --> 00:30:17.069 maybe even equal to the man in the tombs in Mark 00:30:17.069 --> 00:30:21.250 5, 1 -20. We have seen how severely beaten this 00:30:21.250 --> 00:30:25.509 boy has been. By all human wisdom, he should 00:30:25.509 --> 00:30:28.690 have been dead. There may have been more than 00:30:28.690 --> 00:30:34.730 one demon to do all this damage. I don't know 00:30:34.730 --> 00:30:38.450 the Greek language here. But it seems he may 00:30:38.450 --> 00:30:43.170 have been Demon possessed more than one time 00:30:43.170 --> 00:30:47.089 With more than one coming in because it says 00:30:47.089 --> 00:30:52.029 enter him no more And I'm not sure if this if 00:30:52.029 --> 00:30:54.170 if he had been demon possessed and the demons 00:30:54.170 --> 00:30:57.490 left You know, there's a I think it's over Matthew 00:30:57.490 --> 00:31:03.410 where it says that Demons can come in and if 00:31:03.410 --> 00:31:06.690 they leave Remember the house is swept clean, 00:31:07.029 --> 00:31:09.730 or you've cleaned up your life, but the house 00:31:09.730 --> 00:31:13.210 is still empty. But there are more demons even 00:31:13.210 --> 00:31:20.329 worse than the first that can come in. The 325 00:31:20.329 --> 00:31:23.450 says come out again and enter him no more. The 00:31:23.450 --> 00:31:27.109 question, can a soul of a person be unoccupied? 00:31:28.630 --> 00:31:38.710 And I looked that up on Google. The Bible suggests 00:31:38.710 --> 00:31:42.769 that souls should be occupied ideally by the 00:31:42.769 --> 00:31:46.869 Holy Spirit, and a relationship with God rather 00:31:46.869 --> 00:31:51.670 than being left empty and vulnerable to negative 00:31:51.670 --> 00:31:55.430 influences of worldly pursuits that ultimately 00:31:55.430 --> 00:32:02.140 leave people feeling unfilled. Matthew 12, 43 00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:06.819 -45. These verses suggest that a person's soul 00:32:06.819 --> 00:32:11.700 can be empty, but if so, it is in danger of being 00:32:11.700 --> 00:32:16.440 occupied by evil spirits. And if not occupied, 00:32:17.140 --> 00:32:21.960 influenced by them. Satan or his demons are not 00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:25.160 our worst enemy. You know, and sometimes we think 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:29.920 that. We think that Satan... and his demons are 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:33.420 our worst enemy. But our worst enemy is our own 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:36.920 selves. It's our sin. Our sin is our worst enemy 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:40.799 and it does us the most harm. All that said, 00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:44.680 we all do have an empty place in our soul that 00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:48.519 only God can fill. We try to fill it with earthly 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:54.859 pleasures and we never can. Jesus tells us that 00:32:54.859 --> 00:32:59.970 this evil spirit Will never enter him again He 00:32:59.970 --> 00:33:03.150 was protected from being occupied by evil spirits 00:33:03.150 --> 00:33:08.369 again There's only one way to do that To fill 00:33:08.369 --> 00:33:15.009 the void It would seem like I Don't know I don't 00:33:15.009 --> 00:33:18.450 know if that's the case. I mean Jesus has all 00:33:18.450 --> 00:33:26.460 authority over the spiritual world That was my 00:33:26.460 --> 00:33:30.619 initial thought, Dave, that this boy came to 00:33:30.619 --> 00:33:36.420 a point of salvation. But the Bible doesn't tell 00:33:36.420 --> 00:33:40.400 us that. He just tells us that he commanded that 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:43.119 the evil spirits not go there anymore. It may 00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:48.000 suggest that he was occupied now. It could just 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:53.359 be a suggestion. I mean, and that's a very logical... 00:33:53.390 --> 00:33:57.289 suggestion, but I'm not. I don't know if I'm 00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:02.470 willing to go that far. We've seen the father's 00:34:02.470 --> 00:34:08.250 plea on the boy's behalf, but we never hear from 00:34:08.250 --> 00:34:11.829 the boy. You know, we can go on behalf of our 00:34:11.829 --> 00:34:15.530 children all day long, but they're the ones that 00:34:15.530 --> 00:34:20.130 have to make the final say. I'm sure that had 00:34:20.130 --> 00:34:23.829 an impact on the boy, too, later on. I'm sure. 00:34:24.309 --> 00:34:27.170 I'm sure. I'm sure. You're right. If he does 00:34:27.170 --> 00:34:32.349 it around no go, that's awful. And Jesus shows 00:34:32.349 --> 00:34:34.909 a lot of compassion. He had a lot of compassion 00:34:34.909 --> 00:34:39.170 for people. And it is very possible that he said 00:34:39.170 --> 00:34:43.690 this boy has suffered enough. No more. But it 00:34:43.690 --> 00:34:47.280 doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It doesn't 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:49.800 say either way. It doesn't say either way. He 00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:51.639 just commanded him not to come back. Not to come 00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.460 back. He said he was healed. Yeah. Yeah. It's 00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:56.559 like the moment they get a dog, it goes in no 00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:01.119 more. Yeah. Yeah. But the Bible does say that 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:04.199 if you're occupied by the Spirit, by the Spirit, 00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:07.179 that you can't be occupied by anything else. 00:35:08.440 --> 00:35:11.940 Never. Never. That's pretty cool. So I'm gonna 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:15.360 leave it at that. That's pretty cool. And according 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:17.599 to Mark, he left it at that too then. He left 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:20.000 it at that. And time to move. Yeah, Mark and 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:23.980 Peter, they left it at that. As Jesus commands, 00:35:24.500 --> 00:35:27.519 we can see the resistance of the evil spirit, 00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:32.019 or at least, again, this evil spirit trying to 00:35:32.019 --> 00:35:35.519 kill this boy. In verse 26, it says, then the 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:39.320 evil spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:44.119 and he came out of him. Again, we see the disciples 00:35:44.380 --> 00:35:48.960 see how great the authority of Jesus is. And 00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:55.179 one, they can put their faith in. And again, 00:35:56.380 --> 00:36:02.039 Jesus' ministry here is to these disciples. So 00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:07.079 the healing of this boy is a by -product of Jesus 00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:10.539 working through the disciples, wanting to teach 00:36:10.539 --> 00:36:16.070 his disciples something. And that's okay. If 00:36:16.070 --> 00:36:21.730 God wants to bring good to my life because of 00:36:21.730 --> 00:36:28.590 my wife, then I'll take it. It's okay. It don't 00:36:28.590 --> 00:36:30.769 have to be because of me. If it's because of 00:36:30.769 --> 00:36:38.210 her, it's almost like an unbeliever being married 00:36:38.210 --> 00:36:45.400 to a believer. The unbeliever. sanctified or 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:49.360 set apart. That's right. That's right. The cause 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:54.940 of this bullying. It's almost like that demon 00:36:54.940 --> 00:36:59.719 was unusual and resistive and determined to do 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:03.340 it his own way. He convulsed him and stuff like 00:37:03.340 --> 00:37:07.210 that. for a beginning, for a moment or two until 00:37:07.210 --> 00:37:10.809 Jesus and you come out. Yeah, that was it. It 00:37:10.809 --> 00:37:14.489 probably also displays the great authority that 00:37:14.489 --> 00:37:17.469 Jesus had when we needed this kind of resistance. 00:37:18.670 --> 00:37:23.750 Yeah, John McArthur said at the very least this 00:37:23.750 --> 00:37:29.969 boy should have been severely had brain injuries. 00:37:30.550 --> 00:37:33.659 Yeah. And it gives him... statistics on football 00:37:33.659 --> 00:37:37.599 players that get hit so many times and what do 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:50.780 they call that? CTE. What is it? CTG. Yeah, but 00:37:50.780 --> 00:37:54.699 not necessarily the brain traumatic. Concussions. 00:37:55.380 --> 00:37:57.460 Concussions. Concussions. Having several of them 00:37:57.460 --> 00:38:01.280 can lead to that. Yeah, that's the word I would 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.619 look for. Is that the same thing as sick to you, 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.380 Brian? Sorry? Is that the same thing as sick 00:38:06.380 --> 00:38:11.139 to you? No. Pay attention. I'm just kind of drifting. 00:38:13.380 --> 00:38:21.139 Okay. Yeah, yeah. But you're right. God did save 00:38:21.139 --> 00:38:26.039 him. Save him from that. I think what else is 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:32.159 interesting here is that Jesus says, bring him 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:36.519 to me. So they bring the boy, and then apparently 00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:38.820 he wasn't convulsing and whatever by that point, 00:38:39.239 --> 00:38:45.619 but as soon as the demon, the boy sees Jesus, 00:38:45.820 --> 00:38:49.500 he fills him. And this whole conversation that 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.980 he has with the Father then, how long has this 00:38:51.980 --> 00:38:54.320 been happening? Meanwhile, he's in the background, 00:38:54.519 --> 00:38:56.960 he's convulsing, foaming in the mouth and carrying 00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:58.860 on, and they're just having this little conversation. 00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:03.000 I just, I don't know what to make of that other 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:06.639 than here's another example of where Jesus is 00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:10.340 just completely chill. Yeah. About things that 00:39:10.340 --> 00:39:13.000 I would be freaking out. I'd be like, let's get 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:16.059 this guy quiet. Let's help my son. So that we 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:18.519 can talk. You know, we'll have a conversation 00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:23.480 later. Yeah. Or even the father, you know, let's 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:25.960 talk about this later. Let's heal him now. Yeah, 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:28.199 right. You're right. We talked about that in 00:39:28.199 --> 00:39:32.449 our... one bible study you may have missed it 00:39:32.449 --> 00:39:37.190 but we talked about that how as Jesus is calling 00:39:37.190 --> 00:39:41.690 him that this evil spirit is wrecking havoc on 00:39:41.690 --> 00:39:44.650 this boy and they are just they're having this 00:39:44.650 --> 00:39:47.710 conversation and the father's pouring out his 00:39:47.710 --> 00:39:51.769 heart to Jesus giving him even more detail than 00:39:51.769 --> 00:39:57.210 he did at the beginning you know and again as 00:39:57.210 --> 00:40:02.900 this As the boy would walk by either fire or 00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:07.179 water, this evil spirit would break him down 00:40:07.179 --> 00:40:10.119 to where he would fall into that fire. Where 00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:14.000 he would fall into the water. It was just at 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:17.780 random. I mean, the evil spirit had his will 00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:24.920 and way over that boy. And it was for this very 00:40:24.920 --> 00:40:30.099 purpose, I believe. of teaching these disciples 00:40:30.099 --> 00:40:37.739 about faith. I thank God. Also, when the boy 00:40:37.739 --> 00:40:41.480 was convulsing, and it says that the father kept 00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:46.039 talking to Jesus, it shows that Jesus was not 00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:50.239 desperate or concerned that maybe something would 00:40:50.239 --> 00:40:53.420 happen too severe for him. He was in charge, 00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:56.969 even with all the... Language all the argument 00:40:56.969 --> 00:40:59.730 everything that Jesus knew he was in charge and 00:40:59.730 --> 00:41:03.909 he was not gonna let happen what? That's right 00:41:03.909 --> 00:41:11.409 It says as the spirit came out and he began And 00:41:11.409 --> 00:41:16.510 he became as one dead so that many said he is 00:41:16.510 --> 00:41:22.050 dead It appeared to all witnesses that Jesus 00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:29.119 had lost the battle the boy is dead until verse 00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:33.340 27. Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him 00:41:33.340 --> 00:41:39.760 up and he arose. Luke adds that and he went back 00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:46.320 to his father. Jesus has seen many times taking 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:51.500 people in need by the hand or touching them and 00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:55.019 Mark 1 .31 remember Peter's mother -in -law. 00:41:55.340 --> 00:42:01.219 who Jesus heals. Mark 1, 41, the leper that wanted 00:42:01.219 --> 00:42:05.000 to be cleansed, and Jesus touched him. Mark 5, 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.139 41, the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, where 00:42:09.139 --> 00:42:13.219 Jesus and I think three of his disciples at that 00:42:13.219 --> 00:42:17.239 time, too, went into her. And I think the parents 00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:21.500 went into, and Jesus touched her, and she rose 00:42:21.500 --> 00:42:26.179 from the dead. And then the blind man, who was 00:42:26.179 --> 00:42:34.519 healed in stages, in 823. And then after this 00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:39.019 event, after he rose up, he was healed, he went 00:42:39.019 --> 00:42:44.719 back to his father, Jesus goes into a house away 00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:48.199 from the crowds, verse 28, went in and come into 00:42:48.199 --> 00:42:50.440 the house, his disciples asked him privately, 00:42:51.179 --> 00:42:55.610 why could we not cast it out? And that was a 00:42:55.610 --> 00:42:58.630 good question, a very good question. And he said 00:42:58.630 --> 00:43:02.909 to them, this kind can come out by nothing but 00:43:02.909 --> 00:43:07.469 prayer and fasting. The disciples evidently began 00:43:07.469 --> 00:43:10.190 to trust in themselves and maybe their methods 00:43:10.190 --> 00:43:13.550 of miracles. Their faith had turned away from 00:43:13.550 --> 00:43:17.010 depending on God's authority to their own abilities. 00:43:18.949 --> 00:43:21.929 And you know, I overheard Pastor Peter one time 00:43:21.929 --> 00:43:25.630 tell a missionary, that we supported years ago, 00:43:26.269 --> 00:43:29.789 not to drift from depending on God's activity 00:43:29.789 --> 00:43:35.429 and his ministry to his own abilities. That was 00:43:35.429 --> 00:43:39.190 because he was a very gifted and very interesting 00:43:39.190 --> 00:43:44.750 speaker. Do you remember that? No. I do. I remember 00:43:44.750 --> 00:43:48.730 that very vividly. Just here in the background, 00:43:50.690 --> 00:43:55.349 it was that... That family that went over to 00:43:55.349 --> 00:44:00.590 Rome, went over to Rome, had them kids and then 00:44:00.590 --> 00:44:08.690 came back. He was a very gifted speaker. And 00:44:08.690 --> 00:44:10.449 I remember Pastor Peter telling me, I remember 00:44:10.449 --> 00:44:14.829 when they came to our church and spoke. I remember 00:44:14.829 --> 00:44:17.090 very vividly, Pastor Peter, you told me that. 00:44:17.829 --> 00:44:20.190 That's really stuck with me. And it is true, 00:44:20.190 --> 00:44:23.050 it's very true. You know, it's interesting what 00:44:23.050 --> 00:44:26.489 sticks in your brain when a lot of other things 00:44:26.489 --> 00:44:28.769 don't. But I remember that very, very vividly. 00:44:28.809 --> 00:44:30.750 That's good for any kind of ministry, whether 00:44:30.750 --> 00:44:32.889 it's preaching or singing or whatever it is. 00:44:33.090 --> 00:44:35.150 It's easy to rely on your gifts. That's right. 00:44:35.329 --> 00:44:39.829 Yeah, even teaching. You know, you do it time 00:44:39.829 --> 00:44:43.070 and time and time again and eventually you build 00:44:43.070 --> 00:44:49.389 up a confidence, I guess. And you can, that confidence 00:44:49.389 --> 00:44:53.969 can be... direct it on yourself rather than on 00:44:53.969 --> 00:44:57.989 God and His Word. I don't have that problem. 00:44:58.969 --> 00:45:03.070 I'm not a very gifted speaker. Well, at the time, 00:45:03.150 --> 00:45:06.389 the Holy Spirit would tell the man, not for his 00:45:06.389 --> 00:45:10.469 benefit, but for your eavesdropping. For my eavesdropping. 00:45:10.849 --> 00:45:16.460 So be careful what you say in church. I've only 00:45:16.460 --> 00:45:18.760 been worried where Larry Walker is, been worried. 00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:21.639 I mean, he's spoken to the man. The man might 00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:25.500 have been looking out the window. But just like 00:45:25.500 --> 00:45:28.679 when he's up there at the pulpit, I'm sure you 00:45:28.679 --> 00:45:31.840 can see the faces. You can. And you can see when 00:45:31.840 --> 00:45:35.599 you're speaking, even though it's not even in 00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:37.239 your notes and you're speaking, you don't even 00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:39.599 know why you're speaking it. The Holy Spirit's 00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:43.800 speaking it. And that person's reaction immediately... 00:45:43.869 --> 00:45:48.769 absorb it. And then you get back to your notes. 00:45:49.389 --> 00:45:52.510 Why was that done? That was for that person. 00:45:53.530 --> 00:45:56.389 And he told it to the missionary. For you to 00:45:56.389 --> 00:45:58.690 hear, I mean the other guy probably heard too, 00:45:58.989 --> 00:46:02.610 but for you to hear and for it to affect your 00:46:02.610 --> 00:46:08.630 life. That's just what he does. That says a lot 00:46:08.630 --> 00:46:14.170 about this prayer. Prayer is necessary, so don't 00:46:14.170 --> 00:46:19.510 go before, and I've done it. I've picked up my 00:46:19.510 --> 00:46:23.650 Bible and started studying, writing notes before 00:46:23.650 --> 00:46:29.250 ever praying. I'm guilty of that, and that's 00:46:29.250 --> 00:46:34.650 not the way it needs to be. You need to go humbly 00:46:34.650 --> 00:46:37.969 in prayer, asking the Lord to show you and give 00:46:37.969 --> 00:46:42.190 you direction. and give your thoughts, clarity 00:46:42.190 --> 00:46:47.630 of thoughts, and things like this. And your understanding 00:46:47.630 --> 00:46:53.190 of all these things. No, it ain't. You didn't 00:46:53.190 --> 00:46:56.309 write it. No. And that's why you compare Scripture 00:46:56.309 --> 00:46:59.489 with Scripture. That's why you compare Scripture 00:46:59.489 --> 00:47:04.150 to Scripture. Matthew 17 .20 says it plainly. 00:47:04.150 --> 00:47:11.300 It says, because of your unbelief. And the ESV, 00:47:11.420 --> 00:47:14.079 that's in the New King James, the ESV reads, 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:18.380 because of your little faith. Matthew even says, 00:47:18.500 --> 00:47:22.559 he says a little more, he gives a little story, 00:47:22.719 --> 00:47:25.619 Matthew even says, a little bit of faith can 00:47:25.619 --> 00:47:30.320 accomplish things unheard of. And he compares, 00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:33.599 if you have a little bit of faith as a mustard 00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:38.210 seed. And that is small. I've never seen a mustard 00:47:38.210 --> 00:47:49.110 seed. I don't know if it's a small seed. It's 00:47:49.110 --> 00:47:53.130 a small seed and a small amount of faith can 00:47:53.130 --> 00:47:56.530 move a mountain. That's what it says over Matthew 00:47:56.530 --> 00:48:02.630 concerning this account too. This whole scene... 00:48:02.730 --> 00:48:06.570 was like a trial run. Jesus and the lead disciples 00:48:06.570 --> 00:48:11.289 were absent and they failed. More work being 00:48:11.289 --> 00:48:14.530 needed. It also seems to imply that there are 00:48:14.530 --> 00:48:18.110 situations that may take more prayers and even 00:48:18.110 --> 00:48:23.409 fasting. Our life should be one constantly in 00:48:23.409 --> 00:48:28.409 true communion with God, always being aware of 00:48:28.409 --> 00:48:33.219 His presence and involvement. in our lives. But 00:48:33.219 --> 00:48:37.000 at times, more wisdom is required and should 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.980 be asked for in special prayer and even fasting. 00:48:44.099 --> 00:48:48.300 So the faith was the big issue. So we finished 00:48:48.300 --> 00:48:52.059 that whole section tonight, which I'm glad. Thank 00:48:52.059 --> 00:48:58.059 you. But that's essential. I like your little 00:48:58.059 --> 00:49:01.260 addition there. And so more work to be done. 00:49:01.460 --> 00:49:03.780 More work to be done. More work to be done on 00:49:03.780 --> 00:49:06.380 us. Another failure. More work to be done. More 00:49:06.380 --> 00:49:09.599 work to be done on us and on these disciples. 00:49:11.280 --> 00:49:17.219 So as we read it, we put ourselves in their situations. 00:49:19.579 --> 00:49:21.920 The scripture is speaking to us just like it 00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:24.300 is speaking to them. The disciples just didn't 00:49:24.300 --> 00:49:30.800 have it together like we do. We seem like that 00:49:30.800 --> 00:49:33.980 sometimes. Yeah, we do. We think that. They needed 00:49:33.980 --> 00:49:37.099 some serious work, didn't they? We can look at 00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:41.719 it like that sometimes. I can't believe they 00:49:41.719 --> 00:49:44.380 couldn't just see it. Yeah, they could just pick 00:49:44.380 --> 00:49:47.619 up the Bible and read it for themselves. That's 00:49:47.619 --> 00:49:49.539 right. Because they hadn't written it yet. We 00:49:49.539 --> 00:49:51.599 are very blessed to live on this side of the 00:49:51.599 --> 00:49:57.800 cross. More and more every day I realize that. 00:49:57.900 --> 00:50:02.320 Every time I pick the Bible up, I'm very appreciative 00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:06.059 of living on this side of the cross. I sure am. 00:50:06.159 --> 00:50:09.300 One of our many Bibles. One of our many Bibles. 00:50:10.019 --> 00:50:12.619 That's right. Many, many. I'm glad we also don't 00:50:12.619 --> 00:50:15.199 have to take lambs down to the temple for the 00:50:15.199 --> 00:50:18.599 slaughter. Get some of those places. They get 00:50:18.599 --> 00:50:21.099 a chapter tore out and handed to them, you know? 00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:23.590 Yeah. to pass around chapters, that's right. 00:50:25.590 --> 00:50:36.309 They're excited to get it. So, Diana, if you 00:50:36.309 --> 00:50:38.889 want to close us in first. You got anything to 00:50:38.889 --> 00:50:47.750 add? I was just thinking. Think out loud. That's 00:50:47.750 --> 00:50:49.429 what you're supposed to do, is think out loud. 00:50:51.719 --> 00:50:54.219 Now I was just thinking, Jesus as an example, 00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:58.920 I would say that He prayed before He did none 00:50:58.920 --> 00:51:06.079 of miracles. And as an example, I don't know, 00:51:06.219 --> 00:51:08.659 you know, that the disciples, we were healing 00:51:08.659 --> 00:51:11.039 everything. Does that mean that they weren't 00:51:11.039 --> 00:51:14.820 praying before? You know what I'm saying? The 00:51:14.820 --> 00:51:18.500 healings? Yeah, where they actually, when He 00:51:18.500 --> 00:51:20.519 gave them the authority, where they actually... 00:51:20.780 --> 00:51:24.280 praying before they were doing When he kept when 00:51:24.280 --> 00:51:27.119 he sent him out two by two, is that what you're 00:51:27.119 --> 00:51:34.039 is that what you mean? I Don't know there was 00:51:34.039 --> 00:51:40.800 a more dependence upon Upon Jesus and the authority 00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:44.380 that was given to I think because I think it 00:51:44.380 --> 00:51:47.940 was brand new and it was it was something that 00:51:47.940 --> 00:51:51.630 they They cherished and they realized where that 00:51:51.630 --> 00:51:55.530 authority came from they realized Jesus is authority 00:51:55.530 --> 00:51:57.869 because it's something that they've never done 00:51:57.869 --> 00:52:01.369 before I mean this was I mean if I had the power 00:52:01.369 --> 00:52:05.250 of healing I would Where'd this come from? You 00:52:05.250 --> 00:52:08.849 know it came from Jesus man. You know I'd be 00:52:08.849 --> 00:52:12.730 thanking You know thank you Lord that I can do 00:52:12.730 --> 00:52:16.230 this, but as time goes on You know it's even 00:52:16.230 --> 00:52:19.179 even like when we're first first saved it's been 00:52:19.179 --> 00:52:23.139 said many times when you first saved you're very 00:52:23.139 --> 00:52:25.480 very appreciative and you want to spread the 00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:28.960 gospel and you want to tell people but as time 00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:34.300 goes on it just kind of becomes get over it get 00:52:34.300 --> 00:52:38.639 over it kind of thing you know and i think that's 00:52:38.639 --> 00:52:41.139 what had happened to them i think they were very 00:52:41.139 --> 00:52:43.739 dependent on Jesus in the beginning Jesus also 00:52:43.739 --> 00:52:48.219 identified that spirit by saying this kind So 00:52:48.219 --> 00:52:53.440 maybe it was because of the kind of spirit that 00:52:53.440 --> 00:53:00.159 they were dealing with? Were they dealing with 00:53:00.159 --> 00:53:02.900 health issues? They were dealing with everything. 00:53:03.019 --> 00:53:10.380 They were casting out demons. It could have been 00:53:10.380 --> 00:53:13.800 a different spirit. And that's why I was saying, 00:53:13.960 --> 00:53:19.059 situations in our life... Take more than just 00:53:19.059 --> 00:53:26.300 a casual prayer. Like I said about confrontations 00:53:26.300 --> 00:53:30.159 and things like that which I'm not good at. I 00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:33.360 always pray about a confrontation before I go 00:53:33.360 --> 00:53:36.699 because I don't want to do it. I hate confronting 00:53:36.699 --> 00:53:40.820 somebody about anything. Usually I stay awake 00:53:40.820 --> 00:53:45.000 all night worrying about it. Am I gonna hurt 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:51.000 this person's feelings? And prayer, actually. 00:53:52.940 --> 00:53:58.800 Fighting that, with that boldness. I want to 00:53:58.800 --> 00:54:02.559 be bold and do that, and yet I'm not wanting 00:54:02.559 --> 00:54:07.780 to. So I'm asking God to help me to make that 00:54:07.780 --> 00:54:11.039 choice. I know the choice I need to make, but 00:54:11.039 --> 00:54:13.840 I'm asking for... confirmation for that choice, 00:54:13.840 --> 00:54:16.079 I guess. As well as the church prayed that the 00:54:16.079 --> 00:54:18.940 Lord would give them bonus. Yeah, and I pray 00:54:18.940 --> 00:54:23.500 the same thing. And I think some things require 00:54:23.500 --> 00:54:28.579 a deeper prayer. I think so. And I think that's 00:54:28.579 --> 00:54:34.860 the point here. This kind of spirit requires 00:54:34.860 --> 00:54:38.000 something more. I think that's what fasting is, 00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:40.539 is intensifying self -denial and self -pray. 00:54:43.829 --> 00:54:47.230 That's the missing ministry in the church that 00:54:47.230 --> 00:54:51.989 we don't fancy. I guess we're not desperate enough, 00:54:52.809 --> 00:54:55.730 really. Well, like I said, sometimes I do it 00:54:55.730 --> 00:55:00.150 without... One particular thing I can remember, 00:55:00.690 --> 00:55:06.130 when the guys started putting my roof on, and 00:55:06.130 --> 00:55:09.070 they were friends of family, and when I came 00:55:09.070 --> 00:55:12.380 home, they put four or five sheets. sheets up 00:55:12.380 --> 00:55:14.820 and it looked terrible. I mean, it had big dents 00:55:14.820 --> 00:55:19.119 in it. Screw it. And I knew that evening. I knew 00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:21.619 that day I was going to have to call them that 00:55:21.619 --> 00:55:24.179 next morning and tell them, you know, I don't 00:55:24.179 --> 00:55:26.940 need your services. And I laid awake all night, 00:55:27.679 --> 00:55:31.659 all night, debating over that. How do I say it? 00:55:32.019 --> 00:55:35.199 And I prayed and I lost sleep. And I guess that 00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:38.860 could be a type of fasting without even realizing 00:55:38.860 --> 00:55:44.190 it, you know. You kept yourself from sleep or 00:55:44.190 --> 00:55:49.690 rest. It was. Instead of food, it was rest. It 00:55:49.690 --> 00:55:54.989 wasn't even something that I even thought about 00:55:54.989 --> 00:55:57.769 as far as fasting, but it's just something that 00:55:57.769 --> 00:56:01.670 naturally happened. You deprived yourself of 00:56:01.670 --> 00:56:05.110 sleep or rest. Yeah, and that next day I called 00:56:05.110 --> 00:56:08.780 that fellow that next morning and I said, I hate 00:56:08.780 --> 00:56:10.340 to tell you, but I said, the job that you're 00:56:10.340 --> 00:56:14.739 doing is just not up to par with what I was expecting. 00:56:18.500 --> 00:56:20.380 He said, well, he said, I'll come back out and 00:56:20.380 --> 00:56:23.360 take it down. And he says, we'll be done. I said, 00:56:23.519 --> 00:56:25.739 yeah. I said, I'm going to pay you for a day's 00:56:25.739 --> 00:56:29.099 work, a day's labor. And I think I gave him $500 00:56:29.099 --> 00:56:32.340 for the day for him and the guy. They came down 00:56:32.340 --> 00:56:37.969 and took it. Took it down and that was it. I 00:56:37.969 --> 00:56:40.050 was just thinking about that, I hadn't thought 00:56:40.050 --> 00:56:42.389 about that before, but that fasting coming in, 00:56:42.449 --> 00:56:45.769 laying awake all night, thinking about that, 00:56:45.789 --> 00:56:49.889 praying about that, and some situations just 00:56:49.889 --> 00:56:54.610 take more prayer and doing without something 00:56:54.610 --> 00:57:00.349 to have an outcome that's suitable. And the guy 00:57:00.349 --> 00:57:04.570 wasn't mad, you know, I don't know, maybe... 00:57:04.570 --> 00:57:06.269 I think he would have been mad at himself. I 00:57:06.269 --> 00:57:09.710 don't know, screw it. Yeah, but anyhow, maybe 00:57:09.710 --> 00:57:12.530 he didn't think it was a shot of job, but anyhow. 00:57:13.389 --> 00:57:16.090 But that fasting, that was the point of the story 00:57:16.090 --> 00:57:19.230 there. Kyle laid awake, doing without sleep. 00:57:19.409 --> 00:57:21.909 You beat yourself a little bit. Yeah, I didn't 00:57:21.909 --> 00:57:24.690 even know if I was fasting, but I looked back 00:57:24.690 --> 00:57:29.289 on it. Anyhow, anything else? No, that was a 00:57:29.289 --> 00:57:35.690 very good lesson. It was? On faith. That's what 00:57:35.690 --> 00:57:38.429 I said this morning. in some of the school we 00:57:38.429 --> 00:57:43.610 weren't there for, but we've been introducing 00:57:43.610 --> 00:57:47.090 John 17 where this is Jesus' prayer. It's the 00:57:47.090 --> 00:57:50.869 longest prayer of his recorded in scriptures. 00:57:52.909 --> 00:57:56.909 And I've been studying the armor of God in Ephesians, 00:57:56.989 --> 00:57:59.789 the very end of Ephesians. Thursday Bible study, 00:57:59.969 --> 00:58:03.929 we're entering that. And you see this close parallel 00:58:03.929 --> 00:58:06.420 there where, of course, Jesus... as our higher 00:58:06.420 --> 00:58:09.840 priest is praying for us and receiving for us. 00:58:10.360 --> 00:58:13.400 But we're called to do the same thing in the 00:58:13.400 --> 00:58:17.800 context of spiritual war. Paul, that's where 00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:19.840 we get the believer's armor, right? The armor 00:58:19.840 --> 00:58:23.239 of God. And a lot of people, myself included, 00:58:24.039 --> 00:58:25.900 there's six pieces of armor there, but there's 00:58:25.900 --> 00:58:29.619 seven ingredients. Six of them have armor, but 00:58:29.619 --> 00:58:33.139 the last one is prayer. Paul says this praying 00:58:33.139 --> 00:58:36.119 at all times with all prayer petition in the 00:58:36.119 --> 00:58:39.159 spirit and to this end being on the alert with 00:58:39.159 --> 00:58:43.320 all person and petition for all the saints as 00:58:43.320 --> 00:58:45.760 well as on my behalf that words may be given 00:58:45.760 --> 00:58:48.900 to me and opening my mouth to make known with 00:58:48.900 --> 00:58:52.920 boldness mystery of the gospel which I am an 00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:55.960 ambassador of things that I may choose so that 00:58:55.960 --> 00:59:00.760 in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought 00:59:00.760 --> 00:59:02.699 to speak. It's kind of similar to what you're 00:59:02.699 --> 00:59:07.000 saying. But here, he's talking about each believer 00:59:07.000 --> 00:59:09.980 putting on the armor, but then us, the importance 00:59:09.980 --> 00:59:14.659 of us praying for one another. And I've just 00:59:14.659 --> 00:59:18.559 been, not that you never say, oh prayer's not 00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:20.860 important, we all know it's important, but in 00:59:20.860 --> 00:59:24.739 the context of spiritual warfare, prayer is absolutely 00:59:24.739 --> 00:59:27.139 indispensable as part of God's equipment that 00:59:27.139 --> 00:59:31.309 he's given us. for each other. So you put on 00:59:31.309 --> 00:59:33.929 your armor, but you're praying for God's strength 00:59:33.929 --> 00:59:36.929 and support and blessing for believers as well. 00:59:37.550 --> 00:59:41.210 As Paul says here, to speak boldly, to exercise 00:59:41.210 --> 00:59:46.650 the gifts that God's given each of us. That's 00:59:46.650 --> 00:59:54.960 important. That's why it's important. Vital it 00:59:54.960 --> 00:59:57.340 is, you know, I mean Satan is all about destroying 00:59:57.340 --> 01:00:03.480 relationships And you know, so just pray pray 01:00:03.480 --> 01:00:05.920 for each other's marriages pray for each other's 01:00:05.920 --> 01:00:12.099 relationship with your children parents All these 01:00:12.099 --> 01:00:14.440 areas that are sinking boats come in and destroy 01:00:14.440 --> 01:00:19.880 and attack. He sinks to isolate us. Yes, he does. 01:00:20.199 --> 01:00:23.800 That's what he sinks to isolate us. Just like 01:00:23.800 --> 01:00:27.239 a wild animal would do in a herd. I know you've 01:00:27.239 --> 01:00:30.519 all seen National Geographic where you've got 01:00:30.519 --> 01:00:35.519 this lion chasing this herd of zebras. And one 01:00:35.519 --> 01:00:38.800 will follow back. And that's the one they bounce 01:00:38.800 --> 01:00:41.730 on. That's what saves them. Satan does, he tries 01:00:41.730 --> 01:00:45.809 to isolate us. So if you have something that 01:00:45.809 --> 01:00:48.829 you need prayer for, you don't need to announce 01:00:48.829 --> 01:00:52.389 it to everybody, but find somebody that you have 01:00:52.389 --> 01:00:56.469 confidence in and ask them to pray with you. 01:00:57.510 --> 01:01:00.489 Especially if it's something that you don't want 01:01:00.489 --> 01:01:08.349 to spread. We don't gossip at church, but find 01:01:08.349 --> 01:01:11.380 somebody to share that with. I can share that 01:01:11.380 --> 01:01:14.400 burden, and we'll really pray with you. You don't 01:01:14.400 --> 01:01:17.360 have to share it with everybody. But don't isolate 01:01:17.360 --> 01:01:21.539 yourself, is what I'm trying to say with that. 01:01:23.300 --> 01:01:25.980 Because prayer, prayer is, it moves the hand 01:01:25.980 --> 01:01:28.980 of God. It does. It moves the hand of God. What 01:01:28.980 --> 01:01:33.219 does that mean? I'm signing to husband, so moving 01:01:33.219 --> 01:01:36.219 the hand of God, we can... Have God changed his 01:01:36.219 --> 01:01:39.380 mind about something, right? Yeah. Just like 01:01:39.380 --> 01:01:44.880 Moses? I think so. Who was it that changed God's 01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:47.719 mind? Coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah. 01:01:48.519 --> 01:01:50.460 Remember he was coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah 01:01:50.460 --> 01:01:55.719 and said, Lord, if I can find 50 believers here, 01:01:55.840 --> 01:01:58.139 will you spare them? You know, he got all the 01:01:58.139 --> 01:02:02.199 way down to, what, 10? 10, I think. And he couldn't 01:02:02.199 --> 01:02:05.179 find them. But he said he would if he could find. 01:02:05.179 --> 01:02:07.880 He thought he had. If he could find. But he said 01:02:07.880 --> 01:02:13.719 he would. But he couldn't find. And you know, 01:02:13.800 --> 01:02:17.079 we know that God is sovereign and he knows the 01:02:17.079 --> 01:02:22.639 end. So that's kind of a loaded question. I think 01:02:22.639 --> 01:02:25.940 too what I said to her about that was, you know, 01:02:26.260 --> 01:02:28.880 that scripture uses anthropomorphisms, meaning 01:02:28.880 --> 01:02:33.940 it's a literary term for... assigning, ascribing 01:02:33.940 --> 01:02:37.940 to God human characteristics then. But we have 01:02:37.940 --> 01:02:42.260 to remember He's not human, right? He's divine. 01:02:43.139 --> 01:02:47.719 And so, He doesn't, like the Scripture says that 01:02:47.719 --> 01:02:51.800 He is in the sea of forgetfulness. It doesn't 01:02:51.800 --> 01:02:54.039 mean that God has amnesia, you know, as if He 01:02:54.039 --> 01:02:56.260 never... I don't remember that saying. What it 01:02:56.260 --> 01:02:57.940 means is that He doesn't bring it up again. He 01:02:57.940 --> 01:03:01.039 doesn't remember it before you, before one else 01:03:01.039 --> 01:03:07.119 again. And the situation where Moses interceded 01:03:07.119 --> 01:03:08.920 on God was like, get out of my way, I'm going 01:03:08.920 --> 01:03:12.099 to destroy these people, right? They come out 01:03:12.099 --> 01:03:17.079 of Egypt, and Moses intercedes. It's not that 01:03:17.079 --> 01:03:21.420 God needed Moses to do that, but in that particular 01:03:21.420 --> 01:03:26.039 situation, Moses is like a type of Jesus for 01:03:26.039 --> 01:03:31.349 us, how Jesus intercedes. before the bar of God's 01:03:31.349 --> 01:03:34.769 justice. But Jesus is very clear that He's on 01:03:34.769 --> 01:03:37.449 a mission from the Father, right? He's the priest 01:03:37.449 --> 01:03:41.949 appointed by God to intercede for us. So there's 01:03:41.949 --> 01:03:44.949 this interesting tension in a way. God has to 01:03:44.949 --> 01:03:47.369 execute His judgment. He's getting ready to do 01:03:47.369 --> 01:03:50.429 that. But then God the Son comes and intercedes 01:03:50.429 --> 01:03:55.409 for us. But the point is that He uses... not 01:03:55.409 --> 01:03:58.329 only does He ordain the ends, but He ordains 01:03:58.329 --> 01:04:01.969 the means. And in that particular case, he ordained 01:04:01.969 --> 01:04:06.070 Moses pleading on behalf of the Israelites. And 01:04:06.070 --> 01:04:08.190 Moses did that too, by the way. He also said, 01:04:08.230 --> 01:04:09.750 hey, wait a minute, what about those watching 01:04:09.750 --> 01:04:12.949 nations? You've done all these great signs to 01:04:12.949 --> 01:04:15.349 deliver your people, and now they're going to 01:04:15.349 --> 01:04:20.530 destroy them and wipe them out. Moses wasn't 01:04:20.530 --> 01:04:22.349 thinking seriously about that. But the point 01:04:22.349 --> 01:04:26.369 is, there's a scripture of him where it says, 01:04:26.869 --> 01:04:28.349 God is not a man, and he should change his mind. 01:04:31.139 --> 01:04:33.900 He doesn't need more information to, oh, okay, 01:04:34.019 --> 01:04:37.900 well, I thought this, but now you've given me 01:04:37.900 --> 01:04:40.239 more information, so now I see this is the better 01:04:40.239 --> 01:04:43.579 course of action. It seems to me like Moses' 01:04:43.719 --> 01:04:46.519 intercession was an intercession against real 01:04:46.519 --> 01:04:48.880 judgment. God said He was going to bring judgment, 01:04:49.820 --> 01:04:51.840 and He knew Moses was interceded, and He did, 01:04:51.980 --> 01:04:59.239 and He spared him. We owe a lot of... Thanksgiving 01:04:59.239 --> 01:05:04.239 to the Lord for interceding for us. Against immense 01:05:04.239 --> 01:05:07.739 judgment and anger. He gives us a lot of examples. 01:05:08.019 --> 01:05:10.639 I know. He gives us a lot of examples. Even in 01:05:10.639 --> 01:05:13.519 the New Testament about this lady that comes 01:05:13.519 --> 01:05:18.800 before the judge. That's an illustration. Wanting 01:05:18.800 --> 01:05:21.360 some type of restitution. I don't remember exactly. 01:05:22.019 --> 01:05:26.079 But she comes several times and she keeps basically 01:05:26.079 --> 01:05:29.099 badgering the judge. You know and finally he 01:05:29.099 --> 01:05:32.579 gives in you know, and I think that's that's 01:05:32.579 --> 01:05:38.480 what we've got to do with even prayer You bring 01:05:38.480 --> 01:05:53.809 it before prayer So you keep bringing it. You 01:05:53.809 --> 01:05:56.590 were lost cause to them. And on the same hand, 01:05:56.650 --> 01:05:58.489 you can think, well, why do I even bring it to 01:05:58.489 --> 01:06:01.190 God? Because he already knows what you're going 01:06:01.190 --> 01:06:04.610 to pray for. But he wants you to tell him that. 01:06:04.829 --> 01:06:07.349 He wants that communication. I think that's really... 01:06:07.349 --> 01:06:09.389 What's that? He wants to hear the words out of 01:06:09.389 --> 01:06:22.599 your mouth that you want that new Subaru. He 01:06:22.599 --> 01:06:24.639 knows the beginning and the end. There are some 01:06:24.639 --> 01:06:27.860 people that bring light to the conversation and 01:06:27.860 --> 01:06:31.440 turn the light off. He knows the beginning and 01:06:31.440 --> 01:06:33.840 the end. He knows it by design. He designed it. 01:06:34.460 --> 01:06:39.179 We can move the hand of God during that time 01:06:39.179 --> 01:06:44.380 to create a different situation, a temporal situation. 01:06:45.159 --> 01:06:50.909 It's not going to change the end result. Like 01:06:50.909 --> 01:06:55.489 Moses did, we can ask for this to happen. And 01:06:55.489 --> 01:07:02.190 God can hear you and He can move that example 01:07:02.190 --> 01:07:06.570 situation, not in any way disrupting the end. 01:07:08.750 --> 01:07:12.829 It's amazing how many minute little things through 01:07:12.829 --> 01:07:16.050 life happen to create the end. That's right. 01:07:16.489 --> 01:07:18.449 That's why I say He's... And you can ask God 01:07:18.449 --> 01:07:24.030 to move these. temple issues around. And as it 01:07:24.030 --> 01:07:28.809 turns out, that prayer that you pray, God uses 01:07:28.809 --> 01:07:32.469 that to accomplish the... It still accomplishes 01:07:32.469 --> 01:07:39.230 His absolute... But you can move the hand back. 01:07:39.309 --> 01:07:41.570 We have a privilege of being participants in 01:07:41.570 --> 01:07:45.170 that. So did you pray of your own accord to move 01:07:45.170 --> 01:07:47.929 the hand of God, or did God cause you to pray... 01:07:47.960 --> 01:07:50.980 so that he could use your prayer to move his 01:07:50.980 --> 01:07:56.099 hand in the direction he wanted. That's getting 01:07:56.099 --> 01:08:00.360 complicated. The answer is yes. You probably 01:08:00.360 --> 01:08:04.340 can't figure God out that easily. Prayer, I will 01:08:04.340 --> 01:08:10.699 go in on this. Prayer will always make a difference 01:08:10.699 --> 01:08:13.619 in your life. Whether it makes a difference in 01:08:13.619 --> 01:08:16.659 the other person's life or not. The one you're 01:08:16.659 --> 01:08:19.239 praying for will always make a difference in 01:08:19.239 --> 01:08:22.779 your life. That's exactly right. So pray. Continue 01:08:22.779 --> 01:08:27.560 to pray. Amen. Okay. Thank you. Dear my Father, 01:08:27.680 --> 01:08:30.180 I thank you for this time, Lord, and the study 01:08:30.180 --> 01:08:33.739 of Mark the Lord. And I just thank you for your 01:08:33.739 --> 01:08:38.159 examples for us, Lord. And thank you for the 01:08:38.159 --> 01:08:40.600 example of prayer, Lord, and the importance of 01:08:40.600 --> 01:08:47.710 it, Lord. Just thank you. for that and I pray 01:08:47.710 --> 01:08:54.949 that we will not only in prayer but we will during 01:08:54.949 --> 01:08:57.729 the day think about you and everything that we 01:08:57.729 --> 01:09:06.270 do Lord. I pray for safety as we go home and 01:09:06.270 --> 01:09:10.270 I also pray that we will think about what we've 01:09:10.270 --> 01:09:12.590 talked about tonight Lord and apply it in our 01:09:12.590 --> 01:09:15.640 lives Lord. Pray these things from your sensei. 01:09:15.739 --> 01:09:16.380 I agree.