1. Jesus heals a boy with an evil spirit that his disciples could not heal. When Jesus rebukes the spirit, it throws the boy into convulsions but Jesus heals him. 2. The disciples ask Jesus privately why they could not heal the boy, and Jesus says this kind of spirit can only be driven out through prayer. 3. The passage addresses the struggles some have with faith, including the problem of evil, the perceived impotence of Christians, and realizing one's own lack of faith. True faith is ultimately a decision to believe in Jesus.

2. Mark 9:14-29
14When they came to the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and
the teachers of the law arguing with them.
15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they
were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to
greet him.

3. Mark 9:14-29
16“What are you arguing with them
about?” he asked.
17A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher,
I brought you my son, who is possessed
by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.

4. Mark 9:14-29
18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to
the ground. He foams at the mouth,
gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I
asked your disciples to drive out the spirit,
but they could not.”

5. Mark 9:14-29
19“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus
replied, “how long shall I stay with you?
How long shall I put up with you? Bring
the boy to me.”

6. Mark 9:14-29
20So they brought him. When the spirit
saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy
into a convulsion. He fell to the ground
and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

7. Mark 9:14-29
21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long
has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22“It has
often thrown him into fire or water to kill
him. But if you can do anything, take pity
on us and help us.”

8. Mark 9:14-29
23“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything
is possible for one who believes.”
24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed,
“I do believe; help me overcome
my unbelief!”

9. Mark 9:14-29
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was
running to the scene, he rebuked the
impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,”
he said, “I command you, come out of him
and never enter him again.”

10. Mark 9:14-29
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him
violently and came out. The boy looked so
much like a corpse that many said, “He’s
dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

11. Mark 9:14-29
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his
disciples asked him privately, “Why
couldn’t we drive it out?”
29He replied, “This kind can come out only
by prayer.”

12. “ ”
Mark 9:14-29

13. Four Stages In Our Faith Pilgrimage
1. Experienced Faith
2. An Affiliated Faith
3. Searching Faith
4. Owned Faith

14. Remember this follows the
account of Jesus’
mountaintop transfiguration.

15. In the two scenes we get a
capsule of what God and satan
want man to become.
1. God wants you transfigured into
the image of Jesus.
2. Satan wants to destroy you like
the little boy.

16. Some struggle with
faith because of:
1. The problem of evil.

17. Things I stand on…
• Creation demands a creator, a maker.
• I remember that satan is the evil one.
• I remember that God did not make us
bad but He did make us free.
• I decided to take a long look at the cross
and the empty tomb. Together they
declare Jesus’ victory over the evil one.

18. Some struggle with
faith because of:
1. The problem of evil.
2. The impotence of Christians.

19. “Fred, I cuss a lot, and you
preach a lot but we both
know that neither one of us
means what he says.”

20. Ghandi -
“Perhaps we’d all be
Christians if it weren’t for
the Christians.”

21. So what do you do?
 You do what the father did,
press through until you
get to Jesus!
 He never disappoints.

22. Some struggle with
faith because of:
1. The problem of evil.
2. The impotence of Christians.
3. The reality of self.

23. 28When He came into [the] house, His
disciples [began] questioning Him privately,
"Why could we not drive it out?" 29And He
said to them, “This kind cannot come
out by anything but prayer.”
(Mark 9:28-29)
 Did they need to know a new prayer?
 No, their problem was they had
become experts.

24. We can learn our tasks so well that we trust
in ourselves and then our efforts are no
longer visited by His presence.
And He answered them and said,
“O unbelieving generation, how long shall
I be with you? How long shall I put up
with you? Bring him to Me!”
(Mark 9:19)
 It is possible to be an unbeliever like the
disciples and not know it.

25. Want to believe more?
1. Realize faith is ultimately a decision.
 If anyone is willing to do His will,
he will know of the teaching,
whether it is of God or [whether]
I speak from Myself.
(John 7:17)

26. 2. Develop faith building relationships.
3. Define the correct object of your faith.
30Therefore many other signs Jesus also
performed in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book; 31but these
have been written so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing you may have life in His name.
(John 20:30-31)

27. 4. Deposit faith building material in
your mind.
So faith [comes] from hearing,
and hearing by the word of Christ.
(Romans 10:17)

28. 5. Determine what faith would do
and do it.
 John 4 – A man and his son.
Then the father realized that this
was the exact time at which Jesus
had said to him, “Your son will live.”
So he and his whole .
household believed.
(John 4:53)

29. Don’t ever be
ashamed to search!