Mark 9:19

We never heard him complaining, "How long shall I be in this low condition, and suffer that?" But, "How long shall I be among these faithless people, and suffer them?" IV. The deplorable condition that the child was actually in, when he was brought to Christ, and the doleful representation which the father made of it. When the child saw Christ, he fell into a fit;

The contrast between these verses and those which precede them in the chapter is very striking. We pass from the mount of transfiguration to a melancholy history of the work of the devil. We come down from the vision of glory — to a conflict with Satanic possession. We change the blessed company of Moses and Elijah — for crude interaction with unbelieving Scribes.

He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation--"and perverse," or "perverted" (Mt 17:17; Lu 9:41). how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?--language implying that it was a shame to them to want the faith necessary to perform this cure, and that it needed some patience to put up with them.

The contrast between these verses and those which precede them in the chapter is very striking. We pass from the mount of transfiguration to a melancholy history of the work of the devil. We come down from the vision of glory — to a conflict with Satanic possession. We change the blessed company of Moses and Elijah — for crude interaction with unbelieving Scribes. We leave the foretaste of millennial glory, and the solemn voice of God the Father testifying to God the Son, and return once more to a scene of pain, weakness, and misery — a boy in agony of body, a father in deep distress, and a little band of feeble disciples restrained by Satan's power, and unable to give relief. The contrast, we must all feel, is very great. Yet it is but a faint emblem of the change of scene that Jesus voluntarily undertook to witness, when He first laid aside His glory and came into the world. And it is after all a vivid picture of the life of all true Christians. With them, as with their Master, work, conflict, and scenes of weakness and sorrow will always be the rule. With them too, visions of glory, foretastes of heaven, seasons on the mount, will always be the exception. Let us learn from these verses, how dependent Christ's disciples are on the company and help of their Master . We see this truth brought out in a striking manner in the scene which meets our Lord's eyes, when He came down from the mount. Like Moses, when he came down from Mount Sinai, He finds his little flock in confusion. He sees His nine apostles beset by a party of malicious Scribes, and baffled in an attempt to heal one who had been brought to them possessed with a devil. The very same disciples who a short time before had done many miracles and "cast out many devils," had now met with a case too hard for them. They were learning by humbling experience the great lesson, "without me you can do nothing."

I DO not intend to speak so much upon the whole of this text as to use the latter part of it as a sort of motto for an appeal to Christian people to be diligent in the service of their Lord. If we wish to do good to our fellow creatures, the best thing that we can do for them is to bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ. At the feet of Jesus we ourselves obtained salvation if we are saved—we never had any true peace of heart until we came to Christ—and we never would have had any if we had remained apart from Him. The great Physician, who healed our soul-sickness, was Christ Jesus the Lord! And if we are to be the means of blessing to the sons of men, we must recommend to them the Physician whom we have proved to be so exceedingly useful to ourselves. They cannot be blessed, any more than we could be, until they are brought to Jesus! When any of us desire to be of service to others, it is well for us to learn the best way of setting about our task, for if we do not know how to go to work, all our earnestness may be expended upon that which is useless. But when we understand what we are doing and concentrate all our powers upon wise and proper efforts, then are we likely to succeed. To my mind, the first thing that we have to strive after, in the name of God, and by the help of the Holy Spirit, is to bring men to Jesus Christ—and God forbid that we should ever lift even a finger to point them anywhere else for salvation! Each true Believer, as well as every Christian minister, should say— "'Tis all my business here below To cry, 'Behold the Lamb!'" We are to point sinners to Jesus— all the while looking at Him and praying that they, also, may look unto Him and live. I think I need hardly remind you that every Christian is bound to give himself to the blessed work of bringing sinners to the Savior. Common humanity should lead us to attempt this task.

I DO not intend to speak so much upon the whole of this text as to use the latter part of it as a sort of motto for an appeal to Christian people to be diligent in the service of their Lord. If we wish to do good to our fellow creatures, the best thing that we can do for them is to bring them to the Lord Jesus Christ.