Somebody Help the Boy

[0:00] At the end of our previous Mark lesson, Jesus, Peter, James, and John were on their way down! from the mountaintop following the transfiguration. And in our passage tonight, they rejoin the other! nine apostles. When they do, they find quite a commotion. So we have a longer passage to read tonight. Let's go ahead and get into that. It's Mark chapter 9, verses 14 through 29. So here are Mark chapter 9, verses 14 through 29. And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, what are you arguing about with them?

[0:54] And someone from the crowd answered him, teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. And he answered them, oh, faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.

[1:22] And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, how long has this been happening to him? And he said, from childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

[1:48] And Jesus said to him, if you can, all things are possible for one who believes. Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, you deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out. And the boy was like a corpse. So that most of them said, he is dead.

[2:26] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. The contrast between the transfiguration and this passage are striking. The transfiguration happened on a mountain. This happened in the valley below.

[2:55] In the transfiguration, there was glory. Here, there was suffering. In the transfiguration, God dominated the scene. Here, Satan did. In the transfiguration, the heavenly father was pleased.

[3:09] In this incident, an earthly father was tormented. In the transfiguration, there was a perfect son. Here, there was a perverted son. At the transfiguration, fallen men were in holy wonder.

[3:24] In this story, there was a fallen son in unholy horror. Jesus was absent when the incident began, so the disciples were challenged to walk by faith and not by sight, and they failed miserably. They were a work in progress characterized by a lack of understanding and shallow faith. The author of Hebrews tells us, and without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. As we go through this passage tonight, we will see that our faith does not need to be perfect. The key is the direction of our faith rather than the depth of our faith. What is important is the person our faith is in. A little faith in a great Savior gets amazing results. Here's the main idea for tonight's passage.

[4:20] God uses difficult circumstances to show our need for him, to encourage our faith, and to deepen our prayer life. Once again, God uses difficult circumstances to show our need for him, to encourage our faith, and to deepen our prayer life. Because true believers know that God works in all circumstances to make us more like Christ, we can trust him always. We're going to split tonight's passage into four sections, starting with Mark chapter 9, verses 14 through 19. And in those verses, we see frustration.

[5:00] Frustration is the first thing that we'll look at. Here are verses 14 through 19 one more time. And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and the scribes arguing with them.

[5:16] And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, What are you arguing about with them?

[5:26] And someone from the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.

[5:41] So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. And he answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.

[5:56] Take a minute to picture the scene here. Jesus and the other three apostles return to find chaos. The scribes are arguing with the other nine apostles who didn't witness the transfiguration.

[6:10] A large crowd around the scribes and the nine are watching. When Jesus arrives, the crowd runs to him. Jesus, being God himself, knew what the commotion was about.

[6:22] More importantly, Jesus had a purpose for this commotion. Jesus would use the frustration we see here to teach the crowd and his apostles a lesson. So Jesus asked why there was such an uproar.

[6:37] Neither the scribes nor the nine apostles answered Jesus. Finally, a father who had a demon-possessed son stepped up to answer the question. He had a simple plea.

[6:48] That plea was, somebody help the boy. We will see him make that plea in our next section. But in these first few verses, the boy's father described his son's condition.

[6:59] And that father explained what he had tried so far to find healing for his boy. Although the father had discerned that his son's condition was a result of demonic activity, others may have diagnosed him as having some kind of a mental disorder.

[7:14] In fact, in Matthew's account of this incident, Matthew 17, 15, his father describes his son's symptoms as those of an epileptic.

[7:26] So let's look at Matthew 17, 15 to see that description. In that verse, the father says, Luke 9, verse 39 adds these details to the father's description.

[7:50] The father said there, And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth and shatters him and will hardly leave him.

[8:03] Going back to Mark's version, the father's words to Jesus at the end of Mark 9, verse 18, had to have been embarrassing for the nine disciples who were arguing with the scribes.

[8:16] That's where the father said, I ask your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able. The scribes probably were taunting the apostles about their failure to exercise the demon.

[8:28] In that day, apostles were thought to have the same power as the person who sent them, so the apostles' failure reflected poorly on Jesus. J.C. Ryle said, The very same disciples, who a short time before had done many miracles and driven out many demons, had now met with a case too hard for them.

[8:50] They were learning by humbling experience the great lesson that, apart from Jesus, you can do nothing. It was a useful lesson, no doubt, and worked out for their spiritual good.

[9:01] It would probably be remembered all the days of their lives. The things that we learn by experience remain in our memories. Truths simply heard with the ear are often forgotten.

[9:12] But for the disciples, it was a bitter lesson at the time. We never love to learn that we can do nothing without Christ. The failure of the disciples to cast the demon out of the boy was surprising, since Jesus had given them power over demons.

[9:30] We saw that back in Mark 6, verses 7 and also verse 13. While the crowd was made up largely of those who did not believe in Jesus, and the faith of the boy's father was weak and incomplete, the Lord's rebuke of, O faithless generation, was aimed primarily at his disciples.

[9:52] The rebuke reveals that the cause of their inability to cast out the demon was their failure to have faith. The interjection, O, expresses emotion on Jesus' part, revealing that the disciples' weak faith was painful to Jesus.

[10:09] In addition to the rebuke of the disciples, verse 19 also reflects Jesus' compassion on the boy and the boy's father. Verse 19 ends with Jesus requesting that the boy be brought to him.

[10:23] We met the demon-possessed boy's father in this first section, but now as we move to the second section, we will see that the boy's father is experiencing much more than just frustration.

[10:37] The boy's father illustrates desperation, and desperation is the second thing that we'll see tonight. This second section covers Mark chapter 9, verses 20 through 24.

[10:51] Let's read only verse 20 through the first part of verse 22 for now. And they brought the boy to him, and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

[11:08] And Jesus asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him.

[11:23] The boy's father was about to get what he so desperately wanted. The demon, on the other hand, would get what the demon desperately did not want. In response to the Lord's command, they brought the boy to Jesus.

[11:37] And while the boy was still approaching Jesus, when the demon saw Jesus, immediately the spirit threw him into a final violent convulsion, and falling to the ground, the boy began rolling about and foaming at the mouth.

[11:52] The crowd must also have been thinking, Somebody help the boy. But while this was happening, Jesus calmly asked the father how long that the boy had been experiencing these issues.

[12:05] We know that as God in human flesh, Jesus already knew the answer to the question that he asked. So think about why he asked the question. Well, John MacArthur gave this possible explanation for the question.

[12:20] He said, Jesus wanted to bear the father's pain, to have the man tell him the heartbreaking story of his son's demonic oppression. The father was not coming to an impersonal force, but to a person.

[12:35] The healing miracles Christ performed reveal the compassion of God, and that he cares about human pain and suffering. Jesus allowed this suffering man to unfold his heart to the sympathetic and merciful Lord.

[12:49] The father's reply from childhood indicates that his son had been in this terrible condition all his life. It was not due to any sin on the part of either the father or the son, but for the glory of God.

[13:03] Although the demon had repeatedly tried to kill the boy by throwing him into the fire, which was commonly used for heating and cooking, and into water, such as wells or pools, to destroy the boy, God preserved him for this moment to bring his son glory.

[13:19] The father's desperate struggle to keep the demon from killing his son was about to end permanently. Let's move on to the end of verse 22 now through verse 23.

[13:31] The boy's father said to Jesus, But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, If you can, all things are possible for one who believes.

[13:47] Encouraged by Jesus' sympathetic concern for his battered son, the man asked Jesus pleadingly, If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

[13:58] And the Greek word translated help there literally means to run to the aid of one who cries for help. The man's faith was weak and incomplete. He correctly perceived that Jesus was willing to deliver his son, but he was not sure that Jesus had the power to actually help his son.

[14:17] But the father was desperate. Jesus' reply of, If you can, was not a question. It was an expression of surprise. Because of his widespread ministry of healing the sick and casting out demons, how could his ability to cast this one out be in question?

[14:37] Jesus' further declaration, All things are possible for one who believes, is the lesson that Jesus intended to teach. This was not the first time he had spoken of the importance of faith, nor would it be the last.

[14:52] The lesson that faith is essential to gain access to the power of God and apply it to the unbelieving crowd, Jesus was trying to show them here. And the father, who was struggling to believe, as well as the disciples, was weak and wavering himself.

[15:08] The disciples especially needed to learn this lesson. After Christ's death, they would need access to divine power through believing prayer. We need to pause here for a minute or two to consider Jesus' comment, All things are possible for one who believes.

[15:26] R.C. Sproul said, This verse has often been ripped from its context and used as a talisman for magic in our age. The New Age movement seeks to manipulate the external world by mind control.

[15:40] For instance, it puts forth the idea that if we can visualize world peace, we can bring world peace. But even in the Christian world, many hold to simplistic ideas about faith healing.

[15:53] They assert that all we have to do is believe, and if we believe strongly enough, we can move mountains and make anything happen. He goes on to say, This kind of thing goes on every day in America and around the world.

[16:08] Blind people are told to believe they can see, and they try their best to do so, but they open their eyes and cannot see a thing. The lame are told to believe that they can walk, but they cannot get out of their wheelchairs, though they exert themselves.

[16:24] So, by implication, the problem is within them. They have inadequate faith, many say. Nobody asks the obvious question. If faith is all that is needed, why doesn't the healer himself have enough faith to bring about all the healings?

[16:39] He closes by saying, The text is simply not a blanket universal promise that whatever we believe can happen will happen. We know that God can heal.

[16:52] However, God in his sovereignty sometimes chooses to defer physical healing until we go to be with him in eternity. In the episode that we're studying tonight, the man's faith is weak and small, but he is at least looking in the right direction and asking the right person for help.

[17:13] Check out verse 24 to see how the boy's father responded to Jesus this time. Mark 9, 24 says, Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe.

[17:26] Help my unbelief. Jason Meyer said, It is hard to bring out the force of this word for cried out. This phrase is used ten times in Mark and it always refers to a strong emotional outburst.

[17:42] Don't think of a gentle rain or drizzle. Think of a thunderclap. This word is something the demons do when they see Jesus and what people in need do when they see Jesus and cry out for mercy or shout Hosanna or even shout loudly for his crucifixion.

[18:01] You should hear this word crying out as a desperate shout, something you do when one thing becomes everything. This desperate desire has seized the boy's father and it has become the only thing that matters to him in this moment.

[18:18] Ironically, this confession of unbelief actually is an example of belief. It is a prayer of faith. The father has faith that Jesus can help him with his lack of faith.

[18:31] Bringing our doubts to Jesus never offends Jesus. After all, Jesus already sees what is in our hearts. He knows the problem. But have we reached the point where we will humble ourselves, confess our need, bring it to him, and beg him to do what only he can do?

[18:49] Listen to what J.C. Ryle said about this verse. What shall we do with our faith? We must use it.

[19:01] Weak, trembling, doubting, feeble as it may be, we must use it. We must not wait till it is great, perfect, and powerful. But like the man in this passage, we must use it and hope that one day it will be stronger.

[19:18] He goes on to say, What shall we do with our unbelief? We must resist it and pray against it. We must never allow it to keep us back from Christ.

[19:29] We must take it to Christ as we take all our other sins and weaknesses and cry to him for deliverance. Like the man in this passage, we must cry, Help me overcome my unbelief.

[19:43] Every true Christian has some level of authentic saving faith in his or her heart. However, the intensity of that faith varies. It waxes and wanes.

[19:54] It increases and diminishes. No matter how strong your faith is, there are moments in this life when your faith is going to be assaulted by the enemy. Sometimes it can seem as if your faith is barely hanging on and you make a prayer much like this man made to Jesus, I believe, but my belief is not perfect.

[20:16] It is not pure. It is not strong. I need help. Help me with my unbelief. When you are assaulted with doubts and your faith seems frail, the cure is to go to the source of faith, that is, the Word of God.

[20:33] Staying close to the Word, listening to the promises of our Redeemer, and opening our hearts to Him are the things that will kill unbelief and build a powerful faith that will hold fast in the midst of our afflictions.

[20:46] in response to the intense cry from the father of the demon-possessed boy, we see our third heading for this passage. Jesus makes an exclamation.

[21:00] Exclamation is the third thing that we see. This section runs from Mark chapter 9, verse 25, through verse 27. And here is verse 25.

[21:10] And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.

[21:27] While Jesus was talking with the boy's father, the word was spreading that Jesus was there. Seeing that a crowd was rapidly gathering, Jesus decided to end the conversation and take action.

[21:41] The compassionate Lord wanted to avoid any further embarrassment for the anguished father and his tormented son. Jesus' public ministry was over and He had nothing left to prove.

[21:54] Overwhelming evidence that He was who He claimed to be already had been given. Jesus' focus now was on instructing His disciples. Verse 25 shows us that Jesus told the demon to leave the boy and to never return again.

[22:11] As we've seen several times in Mark already, the demon had no choice but to obey. Look at verses 26 and 27. And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, He is dead.

[22:32] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. With the final burst of violence and a scream of rage, the demon fled.

[22:44] The boy lay limp in utter exhaustion, looking like a corpse, so that many concluded that the boy had died. But Jesus lifted him up. Mark's parallel wording in the account of the raising of Jairus' daughter suggests that breaking from Satan's power is like passing from death to life.

[23:03] Verses 25 through 27 give us a front row seat to watch what Jesus can truly do. These three verses show us three things about Jesus' power.

[23:17] First, Jesus has irresistible authority. We've seen this time and time again in Mark. No one and nothing can resist Jesus' power.

[23:28] When Jesus tells the demon to come out of the boy, it comes out. Second, Jesus has irreversible authority. What Jesus does cannot be undone.

[23:41] Notice how Jesus said, come out of him and never enter him again. Third, Jesus has resurrection authority. Mark does not want us to miss this point.

[23:54] He says, the boy is like a corpse and some people say he is dead. But Jesus takes the boy by the hand. He lifted him up and he arose. In Mark chapter 9, verse 10, the disciples were confused about what it means to rise from the dead.

[24:11] Now they have a stunning demonstration of that very reality. This is a preview of how the gospel of Mark will end and how Jesus will once again show his resurrection power.

[24:24] Literally, the text of verse 27 reads, Jesus raised him and he was resurrected. Jesus here provides insight into the meaning of his own death and resurrection.

[24:38] Satanic powers bring death, but divine power brings resurrection life. And that is what dependent faith can see. We discussed how breaking from Satan's power is like passing from death to life.

[24:52] To accomplish this in a final irreversible sense necessitated the death and resurrection of Jesus himself. And Jesus is giving his apostles and us yet another demonstration of how Jesus' power always is greater than Satan's power.

[25:12] R.C. Sproul reminds us of a valuable lesson that we can learn from this section. Sproul said, Sproul's words about God never breaking a promise to his people are good, but the Bible's words on that subject are even better.

[25:48] God's trustworthiness is emphasized in both the Old and New Testaments. Listen to Numbers 23 verse 19.

[25:59] Numbers 23 verse 19 says, God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it?

[26:12] Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it? Listen to what Paul wrote to Titus in Titus chapter 1 verses 1 through 3.

[26:24] Here are Titus chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.

[26:56] For one more cross reference on the trustworthiness of God, listen to Hebrews chapter 6 verses 13 through 20. Hebrews chapter 6 verses 13 through 20 say, For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you.

[27:22] And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

[27:35] So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

[27:56] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

[28:14] Let's go back to our Mark text now. So far, we have seen frustration, desperation, and exclamation. We have one more section to cover tonight.

[28:28] In Mark chapter 9 verses 28 and 29, we see explanation. Explanation is the last thing that we'll look at. look at verses 28 and 29 of Mark chapter 9 again.

[28:45] And when he, that's Jesus, entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could we not cast it out? And he said to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

[29:01] The boy's healing would have been a perfect way to end this story. It seems like that is the resolution and the climax of this resurrection picture. But this story ends with the comment on the problem with the disciples.

[29:15] They ask why they were unable to do what they had done so many times before. Jesus gives an answer that highlights their lack of prayer. Nearly all major ancient Greek manuscripts have prayer and fasting at the end of Mark 9 verse 29.

[29:33] Perhaps the words were added by some early scribes, but the words, if original, refer to a practical means of focusing our attention more fully on God for a specific purpose for a limited period of time.

[29:49] Jesus replied to their question, this kind, either a reference to a particular kind of demon, a kind of being, and thus a reference to demons in general, cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

[30:04] The implication is that emboldened by their earlier successes, the disciples depended on their own power and neglected to pray. The lesson for them was that humble, dependent prayer is the path that faith takes to the power of God.

[30:22] Nearly everyone who receives help in Mark first sees their need and then asks for help. The disciples, on the other hand, often do not see their need and thus they do not ask, as they showed when they did not ask Jesus to explain about the resurrection earlier in Mark chapter 9.

[30:40] Jesus shows them that their perennial problem is their prayerlessness. They are afraid to ask Jesus for help. They are relying on their own strength.

[30:52] The father of the demon possessed boy modeled something that the disciples are missing. The father had partial faith and partial unbelief and he asked for help with his unbelief.

[31:05] The disciples are in the same position and they need the same solution. They also need to say, I believe, help my unbelief. But they don't do that.

[31:17] Many people truly believe that they need to work through difficulties on their own. If they have doubts, they try to think more or read more or study more until they are convinced.

[31:27] If they struggle with sin, they try to sort themselves out instead of going to Jesus. That, in effect, is the same thing that the disciples were doing here.

[31:40] But let's personalize this a little bit. What about you? Do you despise weakness and desperation or have you reached the surprising insight that weakness and desperation actually are a gift that drives you to Jesus?

[31:55] Jesus. The hymn writer Joseph Hart says it well in the song, Come Ye Sinners. One of the verses says, Let not conscience make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream.

[32:09] All the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him. The only thing we really need is to feel our need for God.

[32:21] And Paul Miller summarizes this principle for prayer. He says, We don't need self discipline to pray continuously. We just need to be poor in spirit.

[32:33] Here's another R.C. Sproul quote. He said, Again, we see that the strength of our faith can never be put on automatic pilot. When we face a formidable foe, it is not enough simply to depend on the reservoir of faith in our souls.

[32:50] We have to get on our knees. We have to plead with God. We have to make use of all the means of grace that he has given his people. He strengthens his people through these means of grace.

[33:06] Lessons learned in failure may hurt us, but they can hurt us in a good way if they drive us to Jesus, increase our faith, and humble us in prayer. Today, we do not have Jesus with us in the flesh, but through the gift of prayer, he is only a word or thought away.

[33:26] Remember what Jesus said to Thomas, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. That verse is John 20, verse 29.

[33:40] Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16, reminds us of this important duty. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16, says, In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

[34:00] Remember the main idea. God uses difficult circumstances to show our need for him to encourage our faith and to deepen our prayer life.

[34:12] When we began this lesson, we saw that somebody needed to help the boy. As we end this lesson, we've been reminded that the only perfect help comes from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

[34:27] John MacArthur said, Jesus healed many without faith, but here the miracle is connected to faith because it is the necessary lesson for the disciples in the future.

[34:39] Their power will come by believing prayer. That man's weak faith was sufficient to bring the power of God to bear on his son's situation. In the same way, imperfect but persistent faith is sufficient.

[34:53] Those who do not ask do not receive divine power to overcome life's difficulties. And of course, that's a reference to James 4, verse 2. The disciples' failure set them up for this invaluable lesson on the necessity of believing persistent prayer.

[35:12] Here's how J.C. Ryle summarized this passage. He said, Let us learn a lesson of humility from the failure of the disciples. Let us strive to realize every day our need of the grace and presence of Christ.

[35:28] With him, we may do all things. Without him, we can do nothing at all. With him, we may overcome the greatest temptations. Without him, the least may overcome us.

[35:42] Let our cry be every morning, do not leave us to ourselves. We do not know what a day may bring. If your presence does not go with us, we cannot go up from here.

[35:56] In that last sentence, Ryle paraphrased Exodus chapter 33 verse 15. Then he continued with these words, We may leave this passage with comfortable feelings.

[36:09] He who is for us is greater than all those who are against us. Satan is strong, busy, active, malicious. But Jesus is able to save completely all those who come to God through him, from the devil as well as from sin, from the devil as well as the world.

[36:31] By your endurance, you will gain life, Luke 21 19 tells us. Jesus still lives and he will not let Satan snatch us out of his hand. Jesus still lives and will soon come again to deliver us entirely from the fiery darts of the wicked one.

[36:49] The great chain is prepared. Satan will one day be bound. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet. Ryle's quotes are great, but we would be leaving off an important fact if we neglected to remind ourselves that the promises in this passage are limited to those who have put their faith in Christ alone for salvation.

[37:15] The Bible is clear that all have sinned and deserve God's wrath eternally because of those sins. However, just as Jesus showed compassion toward the boy and the boy's father in this passage, Jesus continues to show compassion on all those who repent of their sins and accept the promise of eternal life for everyone who believes that Jesus is who he says he is.

[37:37] He is the son of God and God himself who came to earth, lived a perfect life, and by dying on the cross willingly paid the price for the sins of everyone who believes in him.

[37:51] God then showed that he accepted Jesus' payment for believers' sins by raising Jesus from the dead on the third day. For everyone who is trusted in Christ for salvation, no difficulties we face in this life can erase God's great promises.

[38:08] Some of those promises are in Romans chapter 8 verses 31 through 39. Listen to what Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verses 31 through 39.

[38:22] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

[38:39] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justified, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

[38:59] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

[39:11] As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

[39:26] For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[39:48] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the reminder that we can come to Jesus with our needs, and he will deliver us eternally.

[40:04] We will be celebrating that soon as we celebrate Resurrection Sunday in a couple of weeks. Let the truth of your words in this passage sink into our hearts and minds.

[40:17] When we become tempted to give ourselves over to doubts and unbelief, let us be like the Father and come to you and ask you to help us with our unbelief.

[40:28] help us also to share your great help for everyone who believes with everyone we come across. In Jesus' name we pray.

[40:39] Amen. Amen.