Where are you putting the "IF"

Where are you putting the "IF"
Mark 9:17-29

Over the last few weeks we have listened to Jesus' advice to His disciples before they began their ministries as recorded by Luke in chapter six of his Gospel.
The challenges regarding relationships and our attitude toward ministry in general were convicting.

Today we will see Mark's record of one of my favorite stories in the New Testament.
It is a story that three of the Gospel writers recorded, but Mark includes an aspect of it that the others left out.

It was just this last week that I noticed this important lesson and have looked forward to sharing it with you.

The passage is the Holy Spirit's record of a father bringing his child to Jesus for healing.
Specifically, the child is possessed by a devil, something that is very real and very terrifying.
What made this instance of exorcism especially intruiging is that Jesus disciples had attempted to cast out the devil and had failed.
The text tells the story, se let's read it, and pay special attention to the way the Father asks for help and how Jesus corrects his dilema.

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There is so much sadness and tragedy in this story at the beginning, I have wept as I read it and thought of this poor man's desparation to have his son freed from this bondage and pain.

I do not believe that it is improper to apply such turmoil and suffering to our own struggles in life and our utter helplessness to deal with them.

We too have issues that seem to be completely out of our control, situations and temptations that we seemingly cannot avoid.
Perhaps you, like the father in the text, have sought help from another follower of Christ, only to find that they could not solve your problem.
Perhaps they prayed with you.
Perhaps they gave you advice.
Perhaps they even guided you to Scriptures that showed the error of your ways or the proper path for you to take.
Did you, like the father in our text, find that you still were bound to your situation, still unable to overcome the obstacle in your life?
Perhaps you found that you were still lost, without a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today I want to challenge you to go directly to Jesus.
That is what the disciples did.
They could not solve this poor man's problem, so they sent him to Jesus.

Jesus was able, immediately, to ascertain what the real issue was.
It was not that the demon was exceptionally strong.
It was not that the disciples were exceptionally weak.
The real problem was where the father was putting the "IF."

It is very clear from the text that there was an "IF."
1.) The problem with this man's child was long-standing. V21
Is your problem longstanding?
If so, there is some doubt, an "IF," as to whether your problem is going to be solved.
You may have become so used to it that you think that it is just something that you have to live with.
That is not an assumption that you should readily make unless God expressly leads you to that conclusion.

2.) The problem could not be solved easily. V18
Is your problem difficult?
If you have tried and failed to solve your problem, there is an, "IF."
Perhaps you have tried and failed, others have tried to help and failed.
Perhaps you have reached the conclusion that this one is too difficult to overcome.
Jesus would dissagree.

3.) The problem was serious. V22a
Is your problem serious?
I would challenge you to see the seriousness of it.
Maybe it has brought you to the brink of taking your own life.
Maybe it has taken you to the edge of leaving the faith, falling away.
Maybe you don't know Christ.
If so, your problem is serious, and the very shortness and fragility of life lends an, "IF," to the equation. You may never be free of it.

The father in our text saw a definite, "IF," in his situation.
He had lived with it for some length of time, he had seen failure in attempts to resolve it and he knew that one day this demon might destroy his child and he would never see his request answered.

So he clearly expressed his doubt in the "IF" that he uses in verse 22:
"if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

So often we, like this man, see the "IF" and, like him, we put it in the wrong place.

I. VERSE 22 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE WRONG PLACE

Let me show you first where the "IF" does not belong:
1.) The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.
V22: "if thou canst do any thing"
In the very next verse, Jesus makes it clear, "all things are possible."
God CAN solve your problem.
It is not bigger than His ability.
This is that God who spoke these worlds into existance.
This is that same God who stood on the boat in the midst of the storm and said "peace be still." and the seas were calm.
This is that same God whose powerful hand has brought emperors to their knees and kingdoms to ashes.
Your problem is not more than He can handle.
The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.

2.) The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help you.
V22: "have compassion on us, and help us."
We serve a God whose mighty arm is offered to us to command.
Isa 45:11 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

We serve a God whose provision for escape always matches the temptation we face.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

We serve a God whose willingness to save is promised from before time began.
2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Our God wants to help and save us.
It is not for lack of God's desire that we go unsaved or unhelped.
The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help us.

Now let us see how Jesus corrects the placement of the "IF" in Verse 23

II. VERSE 23 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

The "IF" belongs before our faith and our willingness to believe.

Notice that there is a powerful promise with this verse.
"All things are possible."
However, no victory, no salvation, no freedom, no deliverance will take place until we put the "IF" in the right place.

It is not because God is unable or unwilling to help us that we suffer under the weight of our sin or our situation, but rather because we do not believe.

Allow me to demonstrate how this is so in your own life:
Think of that one thing that you know should change yet you are powerless to stop.
Think of that one situation with which you know God is displeased and yet you are convinced that it cannot change now.
Think of that one sin to which you are enslaved hopelessly.
Why has it not changed?
Why have you stalled?
Why are you not free?
Is it not true that if you wholly believed that God would provide, you would change?
Is it not true that if you were convinced of God's support you would remove yourself from the situation?
Is it not true that if you knew that God would grant you victory over your sin, you would leave it today?
So it is due to a lack of faith that we remain in need.

The "IF" belongs firmly before our faith.
It is faith we lack.
The works are lacking because the faith is not there.

In the next verse we see this poor father break down and weep at the lack of faith in his own heart.
He stopped blaming God for his need and accepted the responsibility to exercise faith.

How did he do this?
How did this father find the faith that he needed to heal his son?

III. VERSE 24 SHOWS THE "IF" REMOVED FROM THE EQUATION

The words, "I believe," show that the "IF" is gone.
What made the difference?
How does faith come?
Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This father heard the word of God from the mouth of God when Jesus said, "all things are possible to him that believeth."

First, we must listen to the word of God.
We must purposefully place ourselves under its preaching, read it for ourselves, listen to its instruction.
It will produce faith in our hearts.

Secondly, we must surrender to Him as Lord.
This father had called Jesus master, didskalos, which implies teacher.
Now he calls Jesus, Lord, Kurios, which implies supreme leader.

A man or a woman lacks the faith needed to be delivered because that person is still lord of their own life.
How can we say we believe Him when we refuse to obey Him?
This step of complete surrender is made with utter abandon.
Often this step of surrender to the lordship of Christ is characterized as a foolish leap off of a cliff.

Know this: Making Jesus Lord of your life is not the leap of a fool but the resting of a child in the arms of a father.
Won't you stop fighting him and let Him hold you?
Obey his prompting, He will never fail you.

Third, Start with a little faith.

Did the father in our story suddenly feel a heart so full of faith that he realized he need no longer fear for his son?

Clearly not, He still saw a need for more faith and asked Jesus to make up the difference.

Jesus does not require a heart full of faith for deliverance.
Mt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

He simply requires a little.

Don't wait until you are sure.
You will never leave your sin if you wait.
You will never overcome your obstacle if you wait.
You will never be saved if you wait.
Faith is not about knowing, it is about trusting.
Won't you take that step today?

God is weary of our lack of faith.
Let us trust him and obey His prompting this morning.