SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: It is a joy to hear you sing.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for doing that, Congregation.
SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We are going to continue our series on Questions We Ask Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to look at the same passage that we looked at last week.
SPEAKER_01: So for question three, if you'll turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: Now, last week we looked at the Father and Son and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: That portion of the story as we read a minute in a minute.
SPEAKER_01: If you're visiting with us, we're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
SPEAKER_01: Don't panic because I referred to last week.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to have a different approach to the same story this week, so you haven't missed anything.
SPEAKER_01: You're good.
SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to look at a different group of people.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to actually look at the disciples, the guys that were serving with Jesus, and he was teaching them how to do ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to ask a question from them that looks like a question that we ask often in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we're trying to do with this series is connect with these moments in Jesus' life where you see people ask Jesus questions that are very similar to the questions that we ask in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to set the stage again for you in this story, Jesus has been ministering for quite a while.
SPEAKER_01: His followers have been walking with him, watching him.
SPEAKER_01: He's trained them to do things.
SPEAKER_01: They've done things on their own.
SPEAKER_01: And then if you've been in church any amount of time, you've heard probably the story of the Mount of Transfiguration.
SPEAKER_01: So what that is, is a time where Jesus is preparing for the final stages of that journey to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He takes three of his best, closest friends and disciples, and they go up onto this mountain to meet with the Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_01: And while they are there, the Bible says that Jesus was transformed or transfigured, and what he's talking about there, we're not exactly sure, but basically it's God really touches him and prepares him for that journey.
SPEAKER_01: Meanwhile, down in the regular parts of town, the other disciples are out doing what Jesus called them to do and taught them to do.
SPEAKER_01: They're out doing ministry.
SPEAKER_01: They're preaching, they're impacting people and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: As they are doing that, they find themselves in a struggle.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus and the other three guys come down from the mountain and they meet these guys in this struggle.
SPEAKER_01: So that's where our story is.
SPEAKER_01: So let's pick right up there in verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: When they came to the disciples, that's Jesus and his three guys, they come to this group and this crowd where the other disciples are.
SPEAKER_01: They're meeting up and they walk into this large crowd.
SPEAKER_01: This large crowd is around the disciples, and there are scribes disputing with them.
SPEAKER_01: So what's happening is they're having a major argument.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this word disputing means they're getting with it, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's like if you holler, if you go to a restaurant somewhere and you holler out somebody's in SEC country and you holler out somebody's, you know, theme song, or you holler out their cheer, half the restaurant's mad at you, and then everybody gets into it, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you stand up in a restaurant and you tell somebody what political party you're from, and all of a sudden it's on and everybody's in it.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of argument they're having here.
SPEAKER_01: They are getting after it.
SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Jesus, they were amazed and ran to greet him.
SPEAKER_01: Then he asked them, What are you arguing with them about?
SPEAKER_01: Out of the crowd, one man answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you.
SPEAKER_01: He has a spirit, that's a demon, that makes him unable to speak.
SPEAKER_01: Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, he foams at the mouth, grinding his teeth, and he becomes rigid.
SPEAKER_01: So I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.
SPEAKER_01: He replied to them, You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you?
SPEAKER_01: How long must I put up with you?
SPEAKER_01: Bring him to me.
SPEAKER_01: Now that right there is gonna set up our story in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: When he speaks to them, I believe here he is talking to his disciples.
SPEAKER_01: What are you guys doing?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, come on, you know how to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna be here all that long.
SPEAKER_01: You you guys have got to learn to get this right.
SPEAKER_01: Bring the boy to me, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So they brought him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: When the Spirit saw Jesus, it immediately convulsed the boy.
SPEAKER_01: He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
SPEAKER_01: This is a major, serious seizure that this demon is putting this boy through.
SPEAKER_01: How long has this been happening to him?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus asks the father.
SPEAKER_01: From childhood, the father says.
SPEAKER_01: And many times it has thrown him into the fire or water, trying to destroy him.
SPEAKER_01: But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
SPEAKER_01: So right there is what we looked at last week.
SPEAKER_01: The father who does not know Jesus yet, but is reaching out, trying to figure that out, and he asked this question, Can you do something about this?
SPEAKER_01: And we looked at that question.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to look at a question from the other group of people, the disciples, next.
SPEAKER_01: So they're watching this unfold, right?
SPEAKER_01: And all of this is in the context of what the dad said.
SPEAKER_01: I brought them to you in verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.
SPEAKER_01: So think about they're watching this unfold.
SPEAKER_01: What is Jesus going to do?
SPEAKER_01: We already tried this and we couldn't get this to work.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus says, if you can, really, you ask me, if you can, and then he tells the Father, everything is possible to the one who believes.
SPEAKER_01: Now think about the disciples for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: We couldn't get this done.
SPEAKER_01: We couldn't make this work.
SPEAKER_01: We tried it, we tried everything, we did exactly what we've seen Jesus do.
SPEAKER_01: We can't make it work, and Jesus just pronounces to the world, everything is possible to him who believes.
SPEAKER_01: And they're feeling all this and watching this unfold.
SPEAKER_01: So the Bible says in verse 24 that the father of the boy cries out, I do believe, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Help my unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.
SPEAKER_01: Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing the boy violently, and the boy became like a corpse, so that many thought he was dead.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him and stood, and he stood up.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the question.
SPEAKER_01: After they went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, Why couldn't we drive it out?
SPEAKER_01: And he told them, This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And another version says, prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_01: So here's our question for today.
SPEAKER_01: Question three is this why couldn't we drive it out?
SPEAKER_01: We ask that question as followers of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's one thing for a father who's getting to know Jesus and he's struggling with all this and he's trying to find out who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: These are his followers, his disciples, and they're asking the question, why couldn't we do this?
SPEAKER_01: Why couldn't we make that come out?
SPEAKER_01: And in our lives, if you're already a believer, we still have moments where we think, why can't I do this?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I make this work?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I defeat this temptation or this sin or this struggle?
SPEAKER_01: I've been praying for this family member and all that, and I'm not getting any openness within.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I do this?
SPEAKER_01: I've been struggling in this work environment or a school environment.
SPEAKER_01: I've been trying to be a witness and I'm struggling with all.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I do this?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I make this work?
SPEAKER_01: We have this idea, like the disciples would, Jesus can do this.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I figure this out?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I do this?
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus gives the answer.
SPEAKER_01: These things, these matters, they are only resolved through prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_01: This kind, this issue, this defeating this evil or defeating this question or answering this situation, whatever it is, it can only come out by nothing but prayer.
SPEAKER_01: And in this story, as we looked at last week, this whole thing is about believing in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This is about this father believing in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's about the failure of the disciples who couldn't get it done.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't you get it done?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Because you're not coming to him in prayer, you're not living by faith, you're not depending on me to do it.
SPEAKER_01: If we were there, you might have heard Jesus ask a question like this.
SPEAKER_01: Fellas, before you tried to cast out that demon, did anybody get on their knees and pray?
SPEAKER_01: Did anybody do that before you tried?
SPEAKER_01: You see, the Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight.
SPEAKER_01: So what does that mean for us?
SPEAKER_01: As we looked at last week, faith is bringing your need and dependence to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So literally what it means is, I am coming to the Lord saying, I can't do this.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to help.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to do this with me.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I'm dependent on you to make this work in my life.
SPEAKER_01: So let's look at a couple of things that'll help us unpack this a little deeper.
SPEAKER_01: Here's truth number one.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus expects a faith-empowered life from us.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has expectations for our life.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to be able to do the things that He can do.
SPEAKER_01: He expects us to have an impact on the life and the world around us.
SPEAKER_01: Look at what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: This question he asks, how long will I be with you?
SPEAKER_01: He challenges their belief.
SPEAKER_01: You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you?
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus has just come down off the Mount of Transfiguration.
SPEAKER_01: He is looking at the cross and he has it in his windshield in front of him, and he's thinking, I've got to get there and I've got to get these guys ready to pick up this ministry when I'm done.
SPEAKER_01: And he's been teaching them, he's been sending them out to witness.
SPEAKER_01: They've even cast out demons before that you get in this story.
SPEAKER_01: And he is trying to get them ready for that, and he comes home, and things that they should know how to do, they have dropped the ball on.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is like, listen, I expect you to be able to cast out these demons.
SPEAKER_01: I expect you to be able to preach these sermons.
SPEAKER_01: I expect you to be able to impact these folks.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to be here, fellas.
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to teach y'all.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go to the cross, I'm going to die for everyone's sins.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to be raised again from the dead, and I'm going to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And y'all are going to have to pick up this ministry, and I expect you to be able by faith, believing, to do everything God calls you to do.
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to give you, I want to give you a couple of verses that just give you another explanation of Jesus' expectation for us.
SPEAKER_01: In John 14, there is a whole meeting where Jesus is meeting with his disciples, and we've preached through some of these verses before.
SPEAKER_01: They would be very familiar with you.
SPEAKER_01: But just think about the expectation that Jesus has for us.
SPEAKER_01: As he is teaching them, he says, listen, fellas, here's what's going to happen.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to prepare a place for you.
SPEAKER_01: And God is going to send the presence of the Holy Spirit, and he's going to be an indwelling person of God in your life.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to guide you.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to teach you.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to convict of sin.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to give you this power.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to think about the Holy Spirit this way, think about Jesus on the cross is God for us.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is God in us.
SPEAKER_01: When you give your life to Christ, when you're saved, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit comes in and saves us.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's where we are now.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus was here and he ascended into heaven, that's when the Holy Spirit came and started this whole journey.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what Jesus says in that context.
SPEAKER_01: Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me, there's our word again, belief in this passage of Scripture, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, if Jesus cast out that demon, they ought to be able to cast out that demon.
SPEAKER_01: If they are walking by faith and allowing Jesus to work through them, it is Jesus' power that does that.
SPEAKER_01: If you believe in me, the works I do, you'll do, and he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is going to come empower you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is trying to tell them, look, fellas, y'all gonna be the preachers, you're gonna be the demon casters, you're gonna be the healers, you're gonna be the shepherds, you're gonna be the ministers, you're gonna be the ones speaking truth, you're going to be the ones leading the churches, you're going to be the ones taking the gospel out to the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so you're going to have to do these things, and you're going to have to learn how to do them.
SPEAKER_01: And I expect you to do them.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at another verse.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 1, this is after the resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus has died for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: He's rose again, conquering death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: He's meeting with his disciples to prove that he's alive, and he has all these different meetings where he engages with all these people.
SPEAKER_01: And here in Acts chapter 1 is the last meeting that Jesus has.
SPEAKER_01: And in this meeting right here, in this setting where he says this, he is about to go and ascend into heaven.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says to sit at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: And then in the next chapter over, we see the Holy Spirit come and begin that process of indwelling Christians.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_01: You wait here in Jerusalem, after I'm gone, you wait here in Jerusalem, then the Holy Spirit is going to come.
SPEAKER_01: And then verse 80 says this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you.
SPEAKER_01: And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You're going to have supernatural power through the supernatural presence of the Holy Spirit, and it is going to empower you, and you're going to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: Greater things than I've done, you will done, you will do through the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's think about that word power.
SPEAKER_01: If you went to the original Greek language, it's the word that becomes the root word for what we say dynamite.
SPEAKER_01: Dynamite.
SPEAKER_01: Explosive power.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is kind of fun.
SPEAKER_01: Baptists, we don't talk a lot about the Holy Spirit as much as we should.
SPEAKER_01: We talk about Jesus, and that's what we're supposed to do.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible tells us that Jesus said the Holy Spirit's going to point people to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, is God.
SPEAKER_01: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We baptize folks that come up out of the water.
SPEAKER_01: We say something like, Baptize you now in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is God.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is a person.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit lives inside us.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is what brings us that Jesus God power, encourages our faith.
SPEAKER_01: It's how we're connected to God.
SPEAKER_01: It's God in us and how the life and power of God and Jesus live through us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: When the Holy Spirit has come on you.
SPEAKER_01: Now that's a fun phrase.
SPEAKER_01: It's fun preaching a lot, and there's a lot of different reactions and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Every now and then, you guys know me enough.
SPEAKER_01: Every now and then I get a little excited.
SPEAKER_01: And every now and then I'll have somebody say, Are you going to do that foot stomping thing?
SPEAKER_01: I had somebody ask me, Are you going to do that out at the Chaffee campus?
SPEAKER_01: Well, we built the stage where I could, rest assured.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's fun.
SPEAKER_01: But here's kind of a fun theory I have in life.
SPEAKER_01: We get this idea of the Holy Spirit come on us, and we think somehow it's the external work of the Holy Spirit, and he comes on us and cloaks us and does some weird thing or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: On some of those Sundays, when I get really loud and preachy, people will come up and say, Oh, I love it when the Holy Spirit comes on you.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit works at a certain decibel level.
SPEAKER_01: And when you that's not what Jesus is saying here.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, listen, the Holy Spirit is going to come and indwell you.
SPEAKER_01: And in moments of quiet, when you're alone with the Lord, you still have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 8 says that the Holy Spirit is our greatest prayer partner.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 8 says, when we don't know how to pray as we ought to, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and helps us in our weakness in how we pray.
SPEAKER_01: When you are alone with the Lord and there is silence, there is still volume in your heart and in your mind as the Holy Spirit stirs your heart and takes your prayers and your praises to the Lord and he brings back the word of the Lord and the presence of the Lord in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And the Holy Spirit is there because he is inside you if you know Jesus as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Paul said in the book of Romans, Know you not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: God resides in us.
SPEAKER_01: When you go and you share Jesus with someone, the Holy Spirit is in you and working.
SPEAKER_01: It's not some external force that sometimes comes and sometimes doesn't.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit is moving and empowering in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why Jesus has an expectation for us that we should be living a life of power because you have everything you need in your life for a supernatural impact on the world around you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus looks at these men and he says, Fellas, like how many times have I got to teach you this?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to be here forever to keep teaching you what you should already know.
SPEAKER_01: We expect you to impact people around you.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is where sometimes as pastors, we don't mean to, but we get pushy and we get a little bit, y'all gotta live better than that.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all gotta.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to do that.
SPEAKER_01: What I want to do is give you an expectation that Jesus has, and I want it to be a blessing to you and stir you.
SPEAKER_01: You see, in all these passages scripture, John 14, Acts 1.8, Jesus is casting vision to them and he's saying, listen, life is going to be incredible.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know what it's going to mean for your life that you are able to walk by faith and have the power of God working through you and what you do.
SPEAKER_01: Like, we need to get a vision for what our Christian life can be.
SPEAKER_01: A vision for the impact that we can have.
SPEAKER_01: Man, if you took your Sunday school group and you just told the Lord, Lord, I'm here, I'm gonna get it.
SPEAKER_01: What can you do through me and then through us?
SPEAKER_01: How many people can we reach as a class?
SPEAKER_01: How many people can we impact?
SPEAKER_01: How can we change the structure of the church?
SPEAKER_01: How can we bring revival and bring the group?
SPEAKER_01: Because you have told us greater works that we can do.
SPEAKER_01: Are we doing that in our group?
SPEAKER_01: God, I want some of that greater works because Jesus promised us that.
SPEAKER_01: So that's what he's trying to do.
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to get these guys' attention to help them understand what he's going to continue to teach.
SPEAKER_01: I have an expectation for what your life can be under this supernatural power that happens.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it this way: when you come to give your life to Christ and you become a follower of Jesus, you become a Christian, what happens?
SPEAKER_01: You recognize that I'm a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: I've sinned.
SPEAKER_01: I can't affect this sin.
SPEAKER_01: I can't change this sin.
SPEAKER_01: I can't make myself not guilty anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I can't deal with this, and my sin's going to be judged.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus dealt with it for me.
SPEAKER_01: And you realize that Jesus stepped out of heaven and he lived a sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: And then he went to the cross and he died there with no judgment attached to his life.
SPEAKER_01: So his death could serve the purpose of being a substitute death for my sin.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus rose again, conquering death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the Jesus that we place our faith in.
SPEAKER_01: I bring my sin to him and I trust him to pay the price for it.
SPEAKER_01: And he pays the price for all of it.
SPEAKER_01: He saves you from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head for all of eternity.
SPEAKER_01: He saves you.
SPEAKER_01: You can never lose your salvation, and no one can take it away from you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did that for us.
SPEAKER_01: So I come and I give my life to Jesus and the creator God of the universe, the author and finisher of our faith, the one who conquered death and sin, the one who will save us forever.
SPEAKER_01: He saves us, and now my life is nothing more than going to work and paying the bills and trying to have some fun?
SPEAKER_01: That's all my life is now.
SPEAKER_01: Where is the expectation for what it means to walk with Jesus by faith?
SPEAKER_01: Here's truth number two our failure to live that life has an impact.
SPEAKER_01: Now you got to think about what's happening here.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is casting out a demon.
SPEAKER_01: He walks up on this crowd, and what does the Bible say?
SPEAKER_01: The scribes are disputing demons.
SPEAKER_01: Them in front of the crowd.
SPEAKER_01: Man, there are people who showed up for the show.
SPEAKER_01: There are people who'd heard about Jesus, and this guy's going to bring his demon-possessed son, and I've got this son that can't walk, or I've got a wife who has an issue of blood, or I've got someone in my family who's blind or whatever, and I've heard about this and I've heard about what he does, and I'm going to come check this out, and I'm watching this out.
SPEAKER_01: And then the disciples fail right in front of a questioning crowd.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when we don't live a life of impact, when we don't live a life that Jesus flourishes out of us, it affects the crowd around you in the place where God is planted.
SPEAKER_01: When you invite someone to church, we talked about this at the Chaffee campus this morning.
SPEAKER_01: When you invite someone to church, what is one of the most common responses that you get?
SPEAKER_01: Come to our church.
SPEAKER_01: We love our church.
SPEAKER_01: Our pastor's weird, but the music is awesome and the people are really friendly.
SPEAKER_01: Come to our church.
SPEAKER_01: And people say, I'm not going to go to that church.
SPEAKER_01: It's full of.
SPEAKER_01: You see, it has an impact on the crowd when we're not meeting that, when we're not living that life that we can live.
SPEAKER_01: It also empowers the critics.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you've got to think about what's happening here.
SPEAKER_01: These scribes, man, their world is messed up with Jesus there.
SPEAKER_01: These are religious leaders and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: And they've decided that Jesus is not the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: He's not the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: And they hate him because he claims that.
SPEAKER_01: They think he's a heretic.
SPEAKER_01: They think he's awful.
SPEAKER_01: And all these people are following him, and they are following a version of Judaism that these guys have not been preaching.
SPEAKER_01: It is a major paradigm shift.
SPEAKER_01: It is wrecking their world.
SPEAKER_01: It's causing loss of power and dissension and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: These things are going on.
SPEAKER_01: They hate Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And there are stories all through of scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees, and they're challenging Jesus, and they're trying to trick him and all that.
SPEAKER_01: And here you can imagine with just a little bit of sanctified imagination.
SPEAKER_01: These scribes show up and these disciples are here and Jesus is not.
SPEAKER_01: They're thinking, here's an opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is not here to do this.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to make some hay right here.
SPEAKER_01: And so they start trying to cast this demon's out and it's not working, and all of a sudden those guys are going, here's our chance.
SPEAKER_01: And they start heckling and they start challenging.
SPEAKER_01: We know that there were some of these people who have even accused Jesus of working with the devil.
SPEAKER_01: The only reason that he can cast out demons or heal the sick is because he's empowered by the devil and he's in league with the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Now, can't you imagine that conversation?
SPEAKER_01: See, we told you Jesus works with the devil.
SPEAKER_01: You guys have no power.
SPEAKER_01: He can't give you any power.
SPEAKER_01: The stuff you preach is bogus is all get out.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus were here, the only reason he would cast out that demon is because he is a demon or works with the demons.
SPEAKER_01: And since you guys can't do that, y'all can't do diddly squat.
SPEAKER_01: And he started to tell the crowd, do you see these jokers?
SPEAKER_01: These guys are losers.
SPEAKER_01: Who's gonna follow him?
SPEAKER_01: Nothing that he has changes anybody's life.
SPEAKER_01: You see how poor this is?
SPEAKER_01: This whole thing is a lie.
SPEAKER_01: We live in a culture like that today, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: Every time somebody fails, every time a preacher has a struggle, anything else, you've got all these people who are saying, listen, that's not true, that's bogus, that's not whatever.
SPEAKER_01: You turn on the news or whatever, and you got all these people claiming stuff about Christians and all that.
SPEAKER_01: They're mad, they hate Jesus, they're challenging.
SPEAKER_01: And when we are not living a life that is flourished by faith, we are empowering the critics and we're confusing the people around us with our message.
SPEAKER_01: There's an impact.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the final truth.
SPEAKER_01: We exercise our faith by coming to Jesus through prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Now we just did a sermon series on prayer, and we've talked about how to do that.
SPEAKER_01: You can go back and follow some of that.
SPEAKER_01: There's still some of our prayer books around the church.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what Jesus says: They come and they ask this question why couldn't we do that?
SPEAKER_01: You think about those disciples.
SPEAKER_01: They wanted to do that.
SPEAKER_01: They love Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's why they've left their families and their jobs and they're following him.
SPEAKER_01: They're excited about what he does.
SPEAKER_01: They see the crowds and the impact.
SPEAKER_01: They're buying in to Jesus as the Son of God and as the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: And they're more and more and more beginning to understand that.
SPEAKER_01: They want to help this boy.
SPEAKER_01: They love Jesus and they want to love him the way Jesus loves.
SPEAKER_01: And I guarantee you, one of them is like, hey, let's go cast out that demon.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the others is like, dude, like, look around.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus ain't here to help us.
SPEAKER_01: Like, no, we can do this.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you remember?
SPEAKER_01: We've done this.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go do this.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody else says, Yeah, let's go do it.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody else says, Listen, Jesus would do it if he was here.
SPEAKER_01: He loves that boy.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go do it.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the other guys, like, man, I don't know, fellas.
SPEAKER_01: Like, we ain't done this on our own.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not really sure about this.
SPEAKER_01: And they're having this conversation, but they want to.
SPEAKER_01: And they go and they try and they plead with this demon and they call the name of Jesus and they try to cast it out and it doesn't work.
SPEAKER_01: And now the crowds all this, and Jesus shows up and they all turn to him.
SPEAKER_01: And I just know these guys are sitting there thinking, why couldn't we do this?
SPEAKER_01: Let's watch Jesus what Jesus does.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe he did, like maybe he waved his arm deal.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe it goes this way and we did it this way, and it's not like we maybe we didn't do it right.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't we help?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't we do that?
SPEAKER_01: They want to.
SPEAKER_01: And as soon as they get along with Jesus, Jesus, why couldn't we do this?
SPEAKER_01: They want to.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, want to is not enough.
SPEAKER_01: Faith is what is required.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight.
SPEAKER_01: And last week we learned that this whole story was about faith.
SPEAKER_01: It was about believing.
SPEAKER_01: Count how many times it says believing.
SPEAKER_01: And they had to sit there and listen to Jesus say, everything is possible for the one who believes.
SPEAKER_01: And they're thinking, we believe.
SPEAKER_01: And in our lives, we have these moments, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: I know Jesus is real.
SPEAKER_01: I believe in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I got saved.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I do this?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I get victory over this?
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I see something in that dynamic thing that Pastor Greg talks about, and I see in my Sunday school teacher's life, and I see in one of the staff guys, and I why can't I do that?
SPEAKER_01: Somebody in my Sunday school class, man, when they're when they pray, stuff happens and God answers their prayers.
SPEAKER_01: Why can't I do that?
SPEAKER_01: I want to, why can't I?
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus brings them back to how we exercise our faith.
SPEAKER_01: This can only be done through prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is serious prayer.
SPEAKER_01: This is not, now I lay me down to sleep, pray the Lord, my soul to keep.
SPEAKER_01: This is not, God is great, God is good, thank you for our food.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: This is not generic prayer, help this person, help that thing, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive us our sins where we failed you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Like that's not what this is.
SPEAKER_01: This is, as we talked about last week, bringing your need and dependence to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I have this thing in my life and I cannot fix it.
SPEAKER_01: And I need you.
SPEAKER_01: You have to deal with this.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I'm putting this in front of you and I can't do this.
SPEAKER_01: Again, don't you think Jesus is thinking, why didn't one of you guys get on your knees and pray over this before you tried to do that?
SPEAKER_01: This can only be done through prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_01: This can only be done when you've gotten up every morning and you spent time with Jesus and you've given him your day and you've given him your life and say, I can't do this without you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You got to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to do this.
SPEAKER_01: And when we do that, Jesus answers our prayers supernaturally, like we saw last week.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus didn't just fool around with this demon.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, You come out, I command you, and you will never enter him again.
SPEAKER_01: He defeats this evil completely and totally, and he casts it out from this boy, and he supernaturally protects him from this ever happening again.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus moves supernaturally.
SPEAKER_01: Man, do you think that that father would ever miss an opportunity to meet with Jesus again after watching Jesus answer his prayer?
SPEAKER_01: Man.
SPEAKER_01: If we just brought our need to Jesus, I need you to do this, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Just one moment.
SPEAKER_01: Think about your love list.
SPEAKER_01: Members of our church, we have what we refer to as our love list, and that's three people that you know need to be saved, that God's put in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And we pray three things for them.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for an opportunity to invite them to church.
SPEAKER_01: We pray for an opportunity to share our salvation testimony with them and open a gospel conversation, and we pray for them to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: This can only be done through prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, here's my love list.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to do this.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, you put me in their life and you expect me to live with power in front of them.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I don't know if I'm confusing or giving voice to the critics.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I need you to do something with my list.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I'm going to bring it here and I'm going to put it in front of you, and I'm going to keep putting it in front of you until you do something because I can't do anything.
SPEAKER_01: Man, when I come and preach, I'm telling you, this is honest truth.
SPEAKER_01: I sit down and I tell the Lord, Lord, our church needs so much more than just Greg.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to speak.
SPEAKER_01: I can't, I don't have enough insight.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have enough whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Even if I stomp my foot, it's not enough.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: When we send out a mission team, there's a reason that we cover them in prayer because we need Jesus to move, and we're dependent on him to open doors and to get people there safely and keep them well.
SPEAKER_01: Or if they get sick to empower them to be able to power through that, we count on the Lord to open doors for us to be able to share Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Our Sunday school classes, we pray over our teachers, our prayer force.
SPEAKER_01: They pray every week over our teachers who are teaching the Word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: When we started our Chaffee campus, when we do church here in both places, it's not any different.
SPEAKER_01: God, we need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: People don't get saved because we're First Baptist church.
SPEAKER_01: They don't come to church because we're First Baptist church.
SPEAKER_01: None of that means anything.
SPEAKER_01: The only thing that means anything is when God moves.
SPEAKER_01: Because when God moves, Jesus Himself said, everything is possible to the one who believes.
SPEAKER_01: God, we need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: God, we're moving into this time.
SPEAKER_01: We call the invitation, and God, I need you to move.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we need a fresh vision of Jesus' expectation for us.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to see what could be through your power.
SPEAKER_01: God, help us to see Jesus in a fresher way.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to hear his words that everything is possible if we believe.
SPEAKER_01: God, call us to prayer like never before.
SPEAKER_01: This cannot be done without prayer and fasting, but when we come to Jesus and allow him to work, we bring our need and our dependence and he works.
SPEAKER_01: You move supernaturally.
SPEAKER_01: God, I ask you now to just to just to, in a loving way, come in the lives of your people.
SPEAKER_01: Just excite them.
SPEAKER_01: Cast that vision that Jesus cast for us.
SPEAKER_01: This is what you want to do in their lives.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, this morning, if there's someone who's never been saved, they never accepted Christ as their Savior, I pray that supernaturally you'll putty the cracks of whatever I said or messed up or didn't say or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: But I pray that you'll take your living, powerful word and you'll show them this picture of Jesus and they'll be like that Father, I believe, help my unbelief.
SPEAKER_01: And they'll come to Jesus as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, give us a freedom to respond to you today.
SPEAKER_01: If there's folks who need a church home where they can encourage each other in faith, where they can pray together and ask God to move.
SPEAKER_01: To serve with us and to believe with us.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we come now.
SPEAKER_01: There'll be people at the altar, there'll be people singing worship.
SPEAKER_01: We come now in this time seeking you, and we ask you to move.
SPEAKER_00: It is in your name we pray, and all God's people say.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.