Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. A man had asked the disciples to drive out the evil spirit, but they could not. So he asks Jesus if he can do anything to help him. And Jesus replies, What do you mean if I can? All things are possible if a person believes. Carter will explain today why this particular verse changed his life.
Let's join Carter now to learn more. Is there a hope for my future? Is there a way out of my dilemma? Is there a way to change? I don't like what I am. I don't like what I do.
I don't like how I act. I don't like what I've become, but I'm powerless to stop. I can't stop the things I'm doing. I can't stop the way I'm thinking. I can't stop the torment that's in my mind. I can't stop the voices in my head.
I simply don't know what to do and I don't know how to stop and I don't want to live this way. And that's exactly what happened in this story in Mark chapter nine. Jesus had been on a mountain and on that mountain he was transfigured. The Bible says, in other words, the glory of God that was in him changed him before the eyes of some of his disciples who were with him. And Moses and Elijah met with him on that mountain as well and spoke with him about what he was going to do about his coming death in Jerusalem.
Of course, included in that speech had to be a great measure of the victory, the strength of God that was going to be won through him for all people. And as he came down the mountain after this experience, he was met by a man and this man came to him and said, I have a son, I have a child. And he said, you've got to help me. When Jesus set this boy free, the Bible says he had a dumb and deaf spirit. Now, I want to look at it in this context. He was unable to hear things and he was unable to speak.
And because he couldn't hear, there was no future. It was a type of a man who just looked at his son and looked at his future, looked at his family. And it's a situation that some of us face and say, is this the way it's always going to be? Is this my future? In your heart, you say, well, my grandfather was this way and if I even knew him, my father was this way. I'm this way and my son's going to be this way.
Is there any chance that any of this can change? Does it have to be this way? And he said, the spirit that's upon him casts him into the fire. In other words, he's no control. Whatever is the passion of the moment seems to lead him.
The fire of anger, the fire of uncontrolled passion, the fire of vengeance, the fires of jealousy, all these things the Bible describes as fire being cast from one fire to another fire. And that's a testimony of some people. I don't want to go to these places. I don't want to live like this, but I seem to be powerless to stop it.
I can't hear anything that makes a difference and I'm incapable of speaking some other kind of speech. He says he casts him in the waters to destroy him. All kinds of theories, all kinds of philosophies, all kinds of suggestions about how to change.
Everybody has had ideas, but none of these ideas have had any power. And the father said, I brought him to your disciples and they couldn't help him either. And Jesus says a profound thing. He says, oh, faithless and generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I suffer you? In other words, there's a type of religion in the world that has no bearing on what God is able to do. It can talk about God. That's all these disciples at the bottom of the mountain could do.
They could talk about God, but they themselves had really no faith or power at that moment to make a difference in somebody's life. And some of you have had exposure to religion. You've tried different things. You've tried to pray. You've gone to some churches, maybe somewhere.
And it's not been something that really represents the transforming power that is available to every person who turns to Jesus Christ. And he said to Jesus, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Now, some of you, you're not overly filled with faith that your situation can change.
You have a hope in your heart. And your prayer is exactly like this man was. If you can do anything, God, if you're still alive, if you're still real, if you still do anything, if you're more than what people have told me you are or what I've seen and people at least are supposed to represent you. But if you can do anything, would you have mercy on me?
And would you help me? And Jesus said, if thou can't believe all things are possible to him that believes. That is the verse of scripture that changed my life. I remember sitting in a church in my very early twenties and I had just come to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And I remember hearing an evangelist preach on this verse. All things are possible to him that believes incredible. I had the first time I'd ever heard it in my whole life.
All my whole life had been defined by what people said I could or couldn't do or where I was or wasn't able to go, what I was going to become or not able to become. And it's the first time in my life I'd ever heard that all things are possible. All things are possible to him that believes. And I remember thinking, I believe that. I believe that. I sat in church and I just knew in my heart, I believe that. And I started to just simply get up and I started to answer altar calls.
And I didn't care if it was an altar call for Hannah who couldn't have a baby. I'd got up and I literally went to the altar and all things except I didn't quite believe that was possible, but all things are possible to him that believes. And I started to believe that if I would just believe you, if I would just simply start to move forward, that you could take my life and you could do something supernatural through my life. I started to simply believe all things are possible to him that believes. And straight way it says, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.
Now I've always preached this a certain way. The way I've always spoken about this is he said, I believe as much as I can help me where I can't believe. And that's correct.
That's, that's, that's a correct understanding of that. But it's recently, the Lord has shown me something maybe that is just a little bit of a sidebar to this. You see, many people are caught between two belief systems. You're here and you truly believe you do believe that with God, all things, you do believe it.
If I were to ask you, do you believe all things are possible with God and you would look me in the eye, whether or not you're walking with God, whether or not your sins are forgiven, whether you, but you've come to the conclusion. I believe that, but you also believe something else. You also believe that your life is defined by certain borders, by certain boundaries, by certain limitations, by certain bondages, by whether it's by education, by culture, by life experience, by what somebody else has said. So you're caught between two belief systems. You believe that with God, all things are possible, but you also believe what your life has become, what it has been defined by.
And I see what this father is saying. I believe you Lord, that all things are possible, but help me to not believe this other thing about my life. Help my unbelief. In order to believe something, you have to not believe something else. Does that make sense to you?
And that's what I feel he's saying to Jesus. I believe what you say, but help me not to believe this. Help me not to believe, help me not to believe that this is the future of my family. This is the future of my children.
This is the future of my life. This is my lineage and my heritage. Help me not to believe these limitations that society and religion and counselors have put upon my life and upon my family. I believe you. Help me. Help my unbelief. Help me not to believe what other people have spoken over my life. It's true to lay hold of one thing.
You have to let something else go. And many people are simply caught between two belief systems. You believe God, but you also believe that you'll never be anything. You believe God, but you don't believe you'll ever be free. You believe God, but you don't believe your sins can be forgiven. You believe God, but you really don't believe because you're stuck between heaven and earth as it is. But he cried out, Oh God, help me to let this go.
Help me not to believe this anymore. Help me to put this away and help me to believe that with God, all things are possible. With God, my sin can truly be forgiven. If I truly come to Christ, if I truly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, that he went to a cross, that he truly paid the price for all of my sin. If I believe that the beating he took is for the beating that I deserve, that the rejection he took from God the father is for the rejection that I deserve, the punishment that he paid, the death that he died was for the death that I deserve, that I might go free, that the penalty of sin might be washed away.
The power of sin might be broken. Oh God, help me to believe it and help me not to believe these other things anymore. Help me not to believe that sin has dominion over my life. Help me not to believe that I'm never all of these things that have these barnacles that have attached themselves to me and are convincing me that I'm going to be marginalized, small and significant in the kingdom of God, despised by God, unable to be used by God. Oh God, help my unbelief.
Help me to get up and walk away and say, I don't believe this anymore. I simply refuse to believe it. And I believe with God, all things are possible. And the scripture says the father of the child cried out and said, Lord, I believe, help them in unbelief. I believe as much as I'm able.
And folks, some people just wait until all of their ducks kind of line up in their mind or they have a mental image of what it's supposed to look like and how God is going to act. But there is a moment of faith that just manifests itself as a cry. When you just get up out of your seat and you just say, Jesus, I'm going to trust you for the forgiveness of my sins. I'm going to trust you for the change of my life. I'm going to trust you to break the chains of hell that have been over my mind and over my spirit and over my family.
I'm going to believe you that my future is going to be different than my past and my present. I'm going to believe you that my sons and daughters are going to walk with you and this curse of hell over my family is going to be broken. And Jesus spoke, he responded to that faith and he said, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee come out of him and enter no more into him. The spirit that causes this young man not to hear it, not to be able to speak.
And the spirit cried and rent him sore and came out of him as, as he was as one dead in so much that people said he is dead. The devil will do everything. He'll put on his best display of his ugly broken ability.
He'll do everything to convince you. You may cry out to Jesus tonight and you go home and you're going to fight hell in your mind. Hell will put on its most valiant but broken, bruised and finished display because it's lost control over you. And the spirit cried and read him sore. It's like the devil says, Oh, I've so come to love this house.
I hate to leave it. The Holy Spirit comes to your life with an eviction notice. He says in the name of Jesus, this house no longer belongs to you.
This house is the temple of the living God. And I command you, you deaf and dumb spirit that can't hear the things of God and can't speak the things of God to come out and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried and it says and came out and he was as one dead in so many in so much that many said he is dead.
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose. You know, sometimes it's all you and I can do. You're flat on your back, but you still have enough power to raise one hand and say, Jesus Christ, son of God, this is all I have. And Jesus says, that's all I need.
You know, sometimes you might be among those tonight that just say, that's all I got. I have no promises. I have no strength. I have no boast. I have no pedigree. I have no past.
I have no present. All I have is a heart that says, I do believe that God can change me. All I have is a will to walk away from what has bound my life. And all I have is the ability to reach out to God. And God says, that's all I was looking for. That's all I need. You simply reach out your hand to me and I will grab you by the hand and I will raise you up and you will become a testimony to the power of the living God in your generation.
Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose. And that's as complicated as it gets. It seems too good to be true, doesn't it?
Is there not a formula to this? No. Is there anything I have to do?
Yep. Lift up your hand. What do I do after that? Just let God raise you up. Just let him come into your life by the power of his spirit and let him raise you up. He promises if anyone is in Christ, that person becomes a new creation.
The old things in them are died. He says, I'll put them all to death and everything in you becomes new. You have a new heart. The Bible says you have a new mind. You have a new spirit. You have a new future.
You have a new ruler. You have a new culture. You have everything becomes new. You have a new direction. You have a new voice. You have new eyes. You have new hands.
You have new feet. Everything becomes new and you become a testimony in the earth to the power of God. And you don't stand around people who are struggling in society like a powerless Pharisee. You just simply go to somebody and say, let me tell you what God did for me and let me tell you what God will do for you. I have confidence in God. I have confidence that it's all things are possible to him that believe. I have the utmost of confidence in God. I've lived through this.
I've seen this. I've been taken places and everyone here who can testify to knows Christ knows that these things are true and they know it by personal experience. You are here and you don't see a way out and you do have a belief system in God. Your heart is stirred.
You do know that what you're hearing is the truth. May I encourage you not to hold back because you fear failure because it's not really up to you to do this. It's up to God to do it and it's up to you to open your heart to the power and the work of God. That's what the cross of Jesus Christ is all about. The penalty is paid.
The price is paid. The promise of new life is given through Jesus Christ. If you're tired of living in sin, if you're tired of the hopelessness, if you're tired of not having a future, if you're tired of being led into the fires of passion, if you're tired of going into the waters of confusion, if you've just simply had enough and you are ready to live for God, you're ready to open your heart to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and all you can do is raise your hand. Would you just do that right now? Would you lift your hand?
God bless you all over. Raise your hand. Raise it nice and high. Now what you're going to experience is the beginning of forgiveness, of being in right relationship with God and of a new life and a changed life. Now Jesus took him by the hand and says and lifted him up. So the next thing I'm going to ask you to do is as we all stand is to get out of your seat and come and meet me here at the front of this auditorium and we're going to pray a prayer. You're going to open your heart to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and we're going to believe God for a miracle in you.
It's a miracle. You're going to wake up tomorrow morning and you look in the mirror, you're just, you might feel the same, but I'm, I'm promising you you're going to see a set of new eyes. When you look in the mirror, the first thing you know when you come to Christ, when you truly been born again is your eyes don't look the same as they used to look.
There's a light in your eye. There's this, there's something of God has come into you. You're hearing the reason that Jesus died, the reason that God sent his son to a cross to enter into a living relationship with you where he forgives the wrong you've done, brings you to himself and changes you from the inside out and promises that you will be a new person. You'll begin to walk into what the Bible tells us is the supernatural.
That means the ability that God gives and you will know it's God and that becomes your whole testimony. You no longer have an argument about God. You have a relationship with God. You don't have to stand on the train platform arguing about who God is. You know who God is. The difference between the three and the one, three thought they knew God and one knew God.
And there's such a difference. Praise God. But I don't want anybody to miss heaven. This is about heaven. This is about living forever where God is.
It's just a way of surrender. It's a way of saying, God, I'm yours and I just thank you so much for dying for me. I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer, but I'm going to ask you to make it your own prayer.
Pray this with me. Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I've done wrong and I've lived wrong and I deserve to be punished for it, but I thank you for knowing that you loved me so much that you came to the earth and you became a man and went to a cross and you paid the price for all the wrong things that I have done.
I don't want to live this way anymore. So I'm opening my heart and Jesus Christ, son of God, I invite you to come into my life. Be the king of my life and the Lord of my life. I give you my future.
I'll give you everything that I am. All I ask of you is to save me and to change me and to help me to become the kind of a person that gives glory to God, that lives right before God on this earth. Thank you Jesus for putting away my wrong, cleaning me out on the inside, giving me hope and breaking the power of all the evil that has governed my life. From this day forward, I believe that you are my God, that every promise you make to me is true and it's mine.
I believe as I pray to you, you are receiving me as your very own, not just for time, but forever. I thank you Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for forgiving me.
Help me to walk with you and to learn what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus, I love you. I love you Lord. God, it's awesome to be able to say those words.
Thank you for loving me and receiving me. I believe at this very moment, I'm saved. I belong to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I belong to God.
That's an incredible thing to be able to say. I belong to God. I belong to God. I belong to God. Hallelujah.
I belong to God and he belongs to me. Glory to God. He took him by the hand. He lifted him up. Hallelujah. And he lifted him up and never again, never again was he the same. Never again, never again, never again oppressed, never again brought down by the power of sin, given the power to live a new life, given the power to be a child of God.
Hallelujah. You've got to get into the Bible, learn the promises of God to you and he'll open it to you. It'll no longer be a book you can't understand. Now that you have the spirit of God, the Bible says that he'll teach you and you'll begin to understand. You're going to be doing things you never ever believed you would do. You're going to be talking to people in a way you never thought you'd talk to them. Somebody is going to get right in your face and instead of just fighting back, you're going to suddenly have a compassion in your heart and you're going to walk away saying, man, that has to be God.
That can't be me. Something has happened inside of me. There's been a change inside of me.
I've become a different person than the person I've been on my life. Hallelujah. And I won't have to convince you that God's alive. You're going to know he's alive. He's going to be alive inside of you. That's all you know. You're going to be a different person than the person you've been on your life. You're going to be a different person than the person you've been on your life.
