Mark 9:24

(ubi sup.) For no man at once reaches to the highest point, but in holy living a man begins with the least things that he may reach the great; for the beginning of virtue is different, from the progress and the perfection of it. Because then faith mounts up through the secret inspiration of grace, by the steps of its own meritsh, he who had not yet believed perfectly was at once a believer and an unbeliever.

Those that complain of unbelief, must look up to Christ for grace to help them against it, and his grace shall be sufficient for them. "Help mine unbelief, help me to a pardon for it, help me with power against it; help out what is wanting in my faith with thy grace, the strength of which is perfected in our weakness." VIII.

And straightway the father of the child cried out,....

Lord, I believe - The word Lord is omitted by ABCDL, both the Syriac, both the Arabic later Persic, Ethiopic, Gothic, and three copies of the Itala. Griesbach leaves it out. The omission, I think, is proper, because it is evident the man did not know our Lord, and therefore could not be expected to accost him with a title expressive of that authority which he doubted whether he possessed, unless we grant that he used the word κυριε after the Roman custom, for Sir. Help thou mine unbelief - That is, assist me against it.

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.

THIS is the case of a man who knew well enough what he wanted and who was full of anxiety to obtain it. Indeed, he was so anxious to obtain it that he prayed most earnestly and most importunately for it. He prayed to the right Person, too, for, after having failed with the disciples, he resorted to their Master, Himself. Yet, not withstanding all this, at the time recorded in our text, he had not obtained the blessing that he sought.

Second, His appeal to Christ for help against his felt unbelief--a feature in the case quite unparalleled, and showing, more than all protestations could have done, the insight he had attained into the existence of a power in Christ more glorious them any he had besought for his poor child.

'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.''Mark 9:24. LAST SABBATH MORNING we treated upon the way by which faith comes to the soul. 'Faith cometh by hearing.' It is our joyful persuasion that on the past Sabbath faith actually came to many, and they were enabled to rest themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ to their soul's salvation.

'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.''Mark 9:24. LAST SABBATH MORNING we treated upon the way by which faith comes to the soul. 'Faith cometh by hearing.' It is our joyful persuasion that on the past Sabbath faith actually came to many, and they were enabled to rest themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ to their soul's salvation. Now, every good shepherd knows that he ought to look very carefully after the newborn lambs, and, therefore, it seemed to me that it would be most expedient this morning to search after those who have just believed in Christ, and to endeavor to strengthen and help them against the very serious trials which are incident to their present weak condition. When a man first lays hold upon Jesus he is very apt to be in distress, if his joy be not always at its full height; he is untrained in spiritual conflict, and easily dismayed; the tremor of his former conviction is upon him, and he is prone to relapse into it. The light which he has received fills him with intense delight, but it is not very clear and abiding; he sees men as trees walking, and is ready to conjure up a thousand fears. The weakness of newborn faith, therefore, calls for the compassion of all who love the souls of men. In addition to their own weakness they are liable to special dangers, for at such times Satan is frequently very active. No king will willingly lose his subjects, and the Prince of Darkness labors to bring back those who have just escaped over the confines of his dominion. If souls are never tried afterwards, they are pretty sure to be assailed on their outset from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Bunyan very wisely placed the Slough of Despond at the very commencement of the spiritual journey.

THIS is the case of a man who knew well enough what he wanted and who was full of anxiety to obtain it. Indeed, he was so anxious to obtain it that he prayed most earnestly and most importunately for it. He prayed to the right Person, too, for, after having failed with the disciples, he resorted to their Master, Himself. Yet, not withstanding all this, at the time recorded in our text, he had not obtained the blessing that he sought. We probably know of many persons who have not yet been awakened to a sense of their need—and much labor has to be expended by the faithful minister in order to show them their danger and to make them realize their true condition in the sight of God. They have many spiritual needs, but they do not know what those needs really are. This man had gone further than that, for he did know what was the great need of himself and his son. Then there are others who have head knowledge as to their spiritual needs, but they do not seem to be anxious to have those needs supplied. They are stolid, careless, immovable. That was not the case with this man. He knew that he needed his son to be healed. He was intensely eager that he should be healed, and healed then and there. His heart was moved with compassion for his child and he was most anxious that the evil spirit should be cast out of him at once. There are some of our hearers who seem to have desire of a certain kind, but they do not use that desire in the right way. They go about seeking salvation where it is not to be found. They are, to an extent, earnest in their own fashion, but to them the Lord might say, as of old, "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfies not?" This man had gone a stage beyond that. He was directing all his entreaties to Jesus—he was appealing to the great Lord, Himself, from whom alone deliverance could come.

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."

His knowledge of Christ's abilities limited his belief. You can't believe any further than you have knowledge.