B-Side - Mark 9:14-29

Jesus and the disciples come down from the mountain, and are immediately confronted with trouble... that's how it goes! This is where many fail.

Why is the crowd amazed ("thrown into a terror") when they see Jesus? Possibly his appearance was changed like Moses' transfiguration, after being in the presence of the Father. They (a faithless generation) may have been afraid of him in the same way the demon is afraid of him later.

"If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" - the parents were in pain with their child... two things:

1. Having sick (or wayward) kids is extremely painful; God knows, and he cares. The prayers of godly parents are heard!

2. Transfiguration account... v6-10. Jesus is the son, identified with sin on the cross. He died in front of an unbelieving crowd. This could be parallelling the story of the boy.

v23-25... Jesus shows up and by the word of his mouth, demons flee! When the power of Jesus enters our lives, evil is brought out of our lives and Satan is not allowed to touch us.

At some point after salvation, the Holy Spirit convicts you of the depths of your sinful nature. The old comes down and the new comes up. 

v24... "help my unbelief":

 - The father is asking for an increase in faith (and this is before Pentecost, before the Holy Spirit is given). Hebrews 12:1 - Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith.

 - Jesus is one day coming back, but we don't always live every day as if that's true. So we pray, "Help our unbelief, increase our belief! Drive out our fears, help us to be totally committed!" The Spirit reveals who we really are... Romans 8:7... we hate God by nature. It's natural for us to sin. If we could lose our salvation, we would! Parable of the sower: many who seem to be regenerate are going to eventually fall away. So we need deep roots, so we don't leave the Lord, leave his word! We must abide in him! Give us more faith, Lord!