Monthly Archives: July 2026

Prayers to Increase Faith (Mark 9:24)

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Prayers to Increase Faith (Mark 9:24)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, July 19, 2026

We have been preaching on prayer. We have been focusing on prayer. Do we come to God as needy people? Are we honest with God?

Today, we look at a passage in which a father needed help. He was desperate. He was also honest. He was honest that he needed an increase in faith. Today, and in two weeks we will be talking about prayers for an increase in faith.

Today, my theme is:

Jesus heals and casts a demon out of a boy, despite his father’s unbelief.

My application: Be honest with God. Ask the Lord to increase our faith.

  1. What is the context?
    1. Jesus has just been transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
    2. We see this in Mark 9:1-13.
    3. Now, they come down from the mountain.
  2. The scribes are arguing with a crowd (Mark 9:14-16).
    1. Mark 9:14–16 (ESV)
    2. 14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
    3. Imagine this: they come down from the mountain and see scribes arguing with the disciples.
    4. It seems that they are arguing with the other nine disciples.
    5. Who were the scribes? They were specialists in the law of Moses.[1]
    6. Most scribes did not claim the power to work miracles, in contrast to Jesus’ disciples (6:12–13). Teachers of the law knew the Bible better than the disciples did, so if the disciples could not demonstrate God’s power in other ways, they risked their credibility.[2]
    7. We will see; they are arguing about how to cast this demon out of the boy.
    8. Then, Jesus comes down from the mountain, so they all rush towards Him.
    9. Of course, Jesus asks what they are arguing about (Mark 9:16).
    10. I wonder: did Jesus and the disciples go up the mountain on the same trail they came down? Then, they come down the mountain and see these people gathered, discussing?
    11. Was this a lively discussion?
    12. Where was this demon-possessed boy? Was he nearby? What condition was he in?
    13. Many lessons are here. (1) We see that demons are real beings, not simply mythological creatures. Jesus clearly believes in the demonic. (2) Demons desire to inflict pain and death. (3) Demons are capable of inflicting physical suffering. This boy had symptoms resembling epilepsy (Matt 17:15). (4) In our own strength we are helpless against the supernatural powers of the demonic. (5) Spiritual victories in the past (cf. Mark 6:7–13) are no guarantee we will be victorious today, especially when we operate with faith in ourselves rather than in Christ. (6) When all human efforts have been exhausted, we can turn to Jesus. Counter to our sinfulness and weakness, He is where we should turn from the start.[3]
    14. Dr. Jeremiah Johnston shares:
    15. Sometimes mental illness and demon possession go hand in hand, the former opening up the possibility of the latter, or the latter causing the former. We may have an example of this in the case of the boy and his distraught father (see Matthew 17:14–20; Mark 9:14–27; Luke 9:37–43). The father tells Jesus, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth” (Mark 9:17–18). Should the reference to a “dumb” or “mute spirit” be understood as a sentient being? Or is it a condition? In Matthew’s account (17:15), a Greek word that means “moon-struck” is used. But at the end of the story, Matthew (like Mark) says Jesus spoke and the “demon” came out of the boy. Luke says Jesus “rebuked the unclean spirit” (Luke 9:42). In the case of the tormented boy, we do not know which happened first—the demon or the illness—but Jesus drove out the one and healed the other. (In all three gospel accounts the evil spirit is driven out, then the boy is healed.)[4]
    16. Dr. Johnston seems to be stating that there was both a mental health issue and a demon possession.
    17. One source shares: The symptoms were similar to epilepsy, but Mark says they were the result of unclean spirits (9:17, 20, 25).[5]
    18. IVP BBC NT: The possessed person’s lack of control over his own motor responses is paralleled by examples of spirit possession in many cultures through history and is attested in anthropological studies of spirit possession today. Some writers have noted parallels between this form of demonized activity and epileptic behavior (though epilepsy and demonic possession are distinguished in Mt 4:24); the parallels could indicate that the spirit gained access to the same centers in the brain where seizures could also be induced by other means.[6]
  3. The demon-possessed boy (Mark 9:17-24).
    1. Mark 9:17–18 (ESV)
    2. 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
    3. Now, the boy’s father speaks. He is within the crowd.
    4. How big is this crowd? We don’t know.
    5. He addresses Jesus as “teacher.”
    6. This man’s son has a “spirit” that makes him mute.
    7. This is obviously a demonic spirit.
    8. An angelic spirit would not do harm to a boy.
    9. Verse 18, Mark 9:18, shows that this demonic spirit seizes him. It makes him throw himself down, grind his teeth, and become rigid.
    10. This is a horrible situation.
    11. What was this like for this father?
    12. The man loves his son, and he is helpless.
    13. The disciples were asked to cast the demon out and they couldn’t do it.
  4. Jesus responds.
    1. Mark 9:19–23 (ESV)
    2. 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
    3. We see Jesus respond.
    4. We see Jesus’s frustration with the people.
    5. We know this was not sin, but frustration with the fallen world.
    6. I wonder, was this Jesus hurting for the poor boy?
    7. The fundamental problem of the people (the opponents, the spiritually oppressed, and even the disciples) is that they are faithless (cf. 6:6; 9:23). Jesus’ burdened expression echoes that of the prophets (e.g., Deut. 32:5, 20; Isa. 6:11; Jer. 5:21–22; cf. note on Mark 8:12).[7]
    8. Daniel Akin: I appreciate the convicting words of William Lane: “The rhetorical questions … express the loneliness and the anguish of the one authentic believer in a world which expresses only unbelief” (Mark, 332). Sinclair Ferguson adds, “Mark vividly captures the pressures and frustrations of Christ’s life in these verses. On the mountaintop he had been faced with the spiritual short-sightedness of his disciples. Here in the valley he was confronted by [their] unbelief” (Mark, 143).[8]
    9. Jesus asks for the boy to be brought to Him.
    10. In verse 20, the demonic spirit saw Jesus and made the boy convulse more.
    11. This is a horrible thing. Imagine your son or your daughter enduring this.
    12. He is rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
    13. Jesus asks the father how long this has been going on.
    14. The father says this has been going on since childhood. The demon is trying to destroy him.
    15. The father asks for compassion.
    16. Notice how the father says, “if you can…”
    17. Jesus says, “All things are possible if you believe.”
  5. Help
    1. Mark 9:24 (ESV)
    2. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
    3. Is that our cry?
    4. Are we honest with our doubts?
    5. One pastor writes: As a pastor, I was called to meet a couple at a hospital. Their daughter had suffered a seizure and was not breathing. When I reached the hospital, neither the parents nor the doctor were with the child. A nurse was unplugging the flat-lined machines.
    6. The Holy Spirit prompted me to do something I’d never done before — pray over the girl’s lifeless body. I asked the nurse if I could pray for a minute, to which she replied, “You know she’s dead,” but allowed me to go ahead.
    7. I asked God to restore the little girl. Then I went to the next room and found the parents witnessing the doctor. About a minute later, we heard a scream, then the little girl crying for her mommy. It’s never happened to me before or since. But Jesus is still healer.[9]
    8. When we pray, do we pray expecting God to do the miraculous?
    9. Can we be honest?
    10. We know some are healed regardless of faith.
    11. Jesus healed the child of this man, who admitted to weak faith.
  6. The demon comes out (Mark 9:25-29).
    1. Mark 9:25–29 (ESV)
    2. 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running 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.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
    3. Notice, Jesus rebuked the demon.
    4. Jesus casts out the demon.
    5. Jesus told the demon to stay out.
    6. Otherwise, maybe the demon would have tried to enter the boy again.
    7. Jesus’s command to never enter him again is unique in all the exorcisms in the Gospels.[10]
    8. Notice, the demon did not leave peacefully.
    9. The boy cried out and convulsed more.
    10. Then, the boy appeared dead.
    11. Jesus helped the boy up.
    12. The disciples ask privately why they could not cast out the demon.
    13. In verse 29, Mark 9:29, that type of demon can only be driven out by prayer.
    14. It seems that they were trying to cast out the demon without prayer.
    15. Their failure is an occasion for encouragement to more prayer (cf. 4:10; 7:17; 10:10), implying that more time and effort in prayer (and therefore in closer fellowship with God) leads to growth in faith.[11]
    16. Exorcists’ methods normally focused on their own power or, more precisely, their ability to manipulate other powers; Jesus here emphasizes prayer instead (9:29).[12]
    17. Notice that, prayer is so very important.
    18. Daniel Akin:
    19. The disciples failed big time. It was public, brought ridicule, cast doubt on their Master and mission, and filled them with self-doubt. So when Jesus initiated reflection and debriefing, they asked, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?” Their question betrays a sense of confidence in their own strengths and abilities. It suggests a spirit of pride rooted in past accomplishments (6:7–13) that they believed should have been sufficient for this encounter. They are saying, “We did it before and we will do it again. But it didn’t work this time. Why?” Failure leads them to question themselves. This is a good thing.[13]
    20. The phrase “this kind” refers to casting out demons and all other spiritual conflicts of this nature. He is not saying some demon exorcisms require prayer but others do not. He is saying that whenever we take to the spiritual battlefield, if we go in our own strength, pride, and self-sufficiency, we have lost the battle before it begins. Faith bridges the gap between divine omnipotence and human weakness, and that faith is experienced and exercised through prayer. Could this be why prayer is one of the most difficult of the spiritual disciplines? Could this be why we don’t see greater things in missions, our churches, and our personal lives? Is this why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing”?[14]
    21. The power of prayer is obviously not going to be experienced if we don’t pray. Tim Keller observes that the prayer of the father is characterized by honesty, helplessness, hopefulness, specificity, and passion (“Mark,” 112). These character traits of believing prayer can be summed up in one word: humility. It all depends on Jesus. If He acts, I’m delivered; if He doesn’t, I am lost. Faith expressed in prayer says, “I would not have it any other way.”[15]

Tim Keller:

To say, “I don’t have faith, I’m riddled with doubts, I’m not faithful, but help me,” is faith in Jesus instead of you. Jesus says, “When you say that, my power is released into your life, because now, finally, you have faith in me.” Remember the absolute difference between the religions of the world and Christianity. Religion says, “You give God a good record; then God owes you blessing.” Christianity says, “God gives you, at infinite cost to himself, a perfect record through Jesus Christ by grace, and then you live gladly for him.”

They’re absolutely different, totally different. Religion starts by saying, “Look, I’m holy. I’m faithful. I’ve really summoned up all my faith. I’ve gotten rid of all of my doubts. Now you have to work in my life.” I’m sorry. There are many branches of Christianity that talk like that. “Oh, God will only bless me if I get it all together.”

Here’s a man who says, “I don’t have faith. I have all my doubts. I don’t have what it takes, but help me,” and Jesus says, “I can work with that,” because that is saving faith. It’s a way of saying, “Accept me not because of what I am but of what you are.” Isn’t that good news? The first step into access to the presence of God is not holiness; it’s helplessness.[16]

Prayer

  1. William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 206. ↑

  2. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mk 9:14–15. ↑

  3. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 187. ↑

  4. Johnston, Jeremiah J.. Unleashing Peace: Experiencing God’s Shalom in Your Pursuit of Happiness (p. 130). (Function). Kindle Edition. ↑

  5. Ross H. McLaren, “Mark,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1575. ↑

  6. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mk 9:16–18. ↑

  7. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1912. ↑

  8. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 187. ↑

  9. https://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs/healer ↑

  10. Ross H. McLaren, “Mark,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1576. ↑

  11. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1912. ↑

  12. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mk 9:28–30. ↑

  13. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 189. ↑

  14. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 190. ↑

  15. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Mark, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 190. ↑

  16. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

Hezekiah Prays (2 Kings 19:14)

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Hezekiah Prays (2 Kings 19:14ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, July 12, 2026

I love history. I absolutely love history. I love studying and reading about it. I love listening to things related to history. I love watching historical movies. I love watching documentaries. I love history. One thing history shows us is that we are not in charge as much as we think. Think about it: how many times have things not turned out the way we expected? Nations can have the best generals and leaders and still face problems. It looked like no one could stop Japan and Germany, and then the United States was awakened. Even after we were attacked, it took some time for our infrastructure to catch up. By the end of the war, Germany and Japan were soundly defeated. What about the First World War? After the war, Churchill wrote about his surprise at the United States taking a new role in the peace treaties. Think about Churchill. No one would have thought he would rise to power again. In the First World War, he had a brilliant strategy, but it failed. It was called the Gallipoli Campaign. It failed. Yet in the Second World War, he was the leader the Allies needed.

These things show that God oversees world affairs. What about the Civil War? Lincoln never should’ve been president. Read the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is about Lincoln and his cabinet. She also explains how he became the candidate. He was a self-taught man and God’s man for that time. Read about U.S. Grant. No one expected him to be a great general, but he was God’s man for that time. The South should’ve never been a challenge for the North, but the North struggled to win. What about the Second War with England? 

What about the War of 1812? Do we see God’s providence in that war? Years ago, I watched a History Channel documentary about our history. Do you know that after the British burned Washington, D.C., they were heading to Baltimore? Do you know what stopped them? A hurricane stopped them. How often does a hurricane hit Washington, D.C.?

Forget that war, how did we ever win the Revolutionary War? No one would have expected that.

As we continue our series on prayer, we see Israel being attacked. The king of Israel has already given money to Assyria, yet the Assyrian king wants more. The Assyrian king is named Sennacherib, and he is taunting Israel. He is blaspheming the Lord. Hezekiah prays. The Lord intervenes.

My theme today:

We see Hezekiah’s worshipful prayer asking for God’s help, but his ultimate concern is for the Lord’s honor.

My application: When we pray, remember who we are.

  1. Context:
    1. In 2 Kings 18, beginning with verse 17, Assyria begins threatening Jerusalem.
    2. In 2 Kings 18:13, we see that Assyria takes all of Judah’s fortified cities.
    3. They are advancing.
    4. Hezekiah pays off King Sennacherib of Assyria. He pays him all the gold and silver from the house of the Lord. He even stripped gold from the temple doors. That was not enough.
    5. This is also in Isa. 36:1-22 and 2 Chronicles 32:9-19.
    6. The ESV SB summarizes this well and explains what happened after Hezekiah’s prayer.
    7. Assyria Attacks Judah
    8. 701 b.c.
    9. During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah, Sennacherib of Assyria attacked cities along the western edge of Judah, and he sent officials to besiege Jerusalem and convince Hezekiah to surrender. The Cushite king Tirhakah advanced from Egypt to support Hezekiah but apparently failed. The siege of Jerusalem was broken when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians in a single night. Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh in Assyria, where his own sons killed him.[1]
    10. Breaking it down, in 2 Kings 18:19-35, the Assyrians surround Jerusalem and taunt its citizens, promising them swift and severe punishment unless they surrender.[2]
    11. Following this, in 2 Kings 18:36-19:4, Hezekiah’s officials report this to the king, and he becomes afraid. He dresses in sackcloth and prays in the Temple. He also asks Isaiah to pray for Judah.[3]
    12. Sackcloth was a sign of humility. Hezekiah, the king, and other officials were dressed in sackcloth (2 Kings 19:1-2).
    13. As an application, how do we show that we are humble before the Lord? This is the king of Judah, dressed in sackcloth as a sign of humility. That is super-powerful!
    14. He is the king, and yet, he does this.
    15. Are we humble before the Lord?
    16. In 2 Kings 19:5-7, Isaiah speaks words of assurance. God will not be mocked! This is very prophetic about how Sennacherib will die.
    17. In 2 Kings 19:8-13, Assyria gives a final warning to Hezekiah: Sennacherib [he is the king of Assyria] receives word that he must put down a rebellion in Ethiopa. Before he goes, he warns Hezekiah of the fate of all the nations that have opposed him and says that the same will happen to Judah.[4]
    18. Sennacherib taunts Hezekiah. He asks about the gods of these other nations that he had conquered. He asks if the gods of these other nations helped them.
    19. 2 Kings 19:12–13 (ESV)
    20. 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’ ”
    21. In the previous chapter (2 Kings 18:35) Sennacherib’s officials spoke these mocking words to the people of Judah.
    22. It seems like this is more of a letter that Hezekiah received from Sennacherib.
    23. What does Hezekiah do?
    24. How does he respond?
  2. Hezekiah goes to the Lord with the problem (2 Kings 19:14).
    1. 2 Kings 19:14: Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.
    2. This is powerful! We see here that Sennacherib’s threats are in a letter.
    3. Hezekiah takes it before the Lord.
    4. Can we learn from this? Maybe we should do the same. Take our troubles literally before the Lord.
    5. Remember, prior to this, Hezekiah was already humble before the Lord (2 Kings 19:1ff). He sent other officials covered in sackcloth to Isaiah.
    6. Now, he goes to the house of the Lord and spreads it out before the Lord.
    7. Godly Hezekiah returned to the house of the Lord (cf. v. 1) as he should have, in contrast to Ahaz who in a similar crisis refused even to ask a sign from the Lord (Is 7:11, 12).[5]
  3. Hezekiah depicts the Lord as the sole creator God (2 Kings 19:15-16).
    1. 2 Kings 19:15–16 (ESV)
    2. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
    3. Now, we see Hezekiah pray.
    4. The cherubim were winged creatures associated with the Israelite ark of the covenant and Yahweh’s presence. They also accompanied Yahweh in his travels through the heavens (see Ps 18:11). They appear in Assyrian mythological texts as Karibu, angelic intercessors. In Assyrian art they are shown as various composite creatures with one or more faces (human, bovine, aquiline, lionlike) and two or four legs.[6]
    5. Notice, Hezekiah prays that the Lord is God alone.
    6. In comparison to all these false gods, the Lord to whom Hezekiah prays is God alone.
    7. YHWH, the covenant-keeping God of Israel, created the heavens and the earth.
    8. In verse 16, Hezekiah asks for God to hear and see. Notice the descriptions he uses:
    9. Incline your ear and hear.
    10. Open your eyes and see.
    11. Hezekiah shares that Sennacherib has mocked the “living God.” The Lord is the living God.
    12. Hezekiah is not simply asking for deliverance. He is concerned with the Lord’s reputation.
    13. When we pray, what is most important to us?
    14. Are we most concerned with the Lord’s holiness?
  4. Hezekiah asks the Lord for deliverance (2 Kings 19:17-19).
    1. 2 Kings 19:17–19 (ESV)
    2. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”
    3. Notice, Hezekiah acknowledges what Assyria has done, but he contrasts these gods with the Lord. He contrasts these fake gods with YHWH, the Living Lord.
    4. In verse 19, he makes his requests.
    5. Even with his request, the purpose is not for himself, but so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that YHWH is God alone.
    6. The prayer, the request, is about the Lord’s glory.
  5. Applications:
    1. The prayers in the Bible are worshipful.
    2. They are requests laced with worship. These kings and prophets could not say hello without talking about how awesome the Lord is.
    3. When we pray, we must understand who we are and Who the Lord is.
    4. Are our prayers about us, or about God?

I began this message talking about how things don’t always work out as expected. What about George Washington? He should’ve died many times:

Washington should not have survived. He had an incident when he was 23 years old that should have killed him and then Medved writes: Washington’s successful defiance of danger became a notable feature of his leadership during his eight years of service in the Revolutionary War. The general in chief frequently and fearlessly exposed himself to enemy fire, rallying his troops on many occasions by his own incomparable example. At the Battle of Princeton in January 1777, he rode at the head of his troops on a huge white horse as they marched directly on a well-formed British line. When the Americans came within range, both sides fired, and smoke from their rifles temporarily obscured Washington, who rode forward halfway between them. His aide, Richard Fitzgerald, covered his face with his hat in order to avoid watching the inevitable death of his beloved commander. But as the air cleared and he lowered his hat, he saw men on both sides who were dead and dying while Washington, unscathed, rose in his stirrups and urged his men forward against the shattered British line. “It’s a fine fox chase, my boys!” he shouted. A year and half later, in June 1778, the Marquis de Lafayette, the aristocratic Frenchman who became an esteemed general in the Continental Army, recalled the great man at the Battle of Monmouth, where “General Washington seemed to arrest fortune with one glance….His presence stopped the retreat….His graceful bearing on horseback, his calm and deportment which still retained a trace of displeasure…were all calculated to inspire the highest degree of enthusiasm….I thought then as now that I had never beheld so superb a man.”[7]

God is in charge.

We can humbly learn to pray like Hezekiah. The Lord is in charge.

Prayer

  1. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 681. ↑

  2. Ibid., 2 Ki 18:19–35. ↑

  3. Ibid., 2 Ki 18:36–19:4. ↑

  4. Ibid., 2 Ki 19:8–13. ↑

  5. John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), 2 Ki 19:14. ↑

  6. Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 2 Ki 19:15. ↑

  7. Medved, Michael. The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic (p. 81). (Function). Kindle Edition. ↑

Independence Day- Patriotism and the Christian Life

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I want to thank Mrs. Karen Olsen Coy for leading this play.

I want to thank everyone involved in the play.

  1. Should Christians be patriotic?
    1. What does Scripture say about being patriotic? I am glad you asked.
    2. In Romans 9:3, Paul shares: For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
    3. In that passage, the apostle Paul really cared that his people, the Jews, would know Christ.
    4. In a direct way, we can make the application that we must care that our nation knows Jesus. Indirectly, we can apply this to the idea of being patriotic.
    5. We should want the best for our country, right? Of course, we should.
    6. Romans 9 also shows that God can control nations the way He wants to. God has chosen Israel above other nations.
    7. In John 17:18 Jesus says: As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
    8. We are to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:16).
    9. Let’s turn to one more passage. Let’s turn to 1 Timothy 2:1-2: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way…
    10. That passage is telling us to pray for our leaders. Whether we like them or not, we should pray for our leaders.
    11. John Piper shares:
    12. C. S. Lewis wrote a book, The Four Loves, and he distinguishes philia, friendship; erōs, sex; agapē, the love of God; and the one that I think is relevant right here: storgē.[1]
    13. This comes from Piper: Storgē is a kind of affection. We should as Christians have an affection for our country. That is the type of love we should have for our country. When you leave our country, you are likely happy to come home. This is home, we love home. When we see our country losing certain good values, that disappoints us. Some of you may feel like you cannot recognize the country that you love. But this is not the love you have for a spouse, a child, or God (agape); this is an affection. This is a storgē
    14. Yes, in that sense, we should love our country. We should support our country. We should be patriotic. We should be proud to be an American. We should care that our people, the people of our nation, are saved. We should want the best for our nation. Christians should be the best citizens.
    15. We could go to other passages. Romans 13 is about being submissive to the authorities. We also see that in 1 Peter 2:12-17.
  2. The United States has always been different because of our Christian values.
    1. Our Judeo-Christian history makes us stand out.
    2. We were founded on Christian values.
    3. We were founded on Biblical values, and there is a common-grace blessing when we follow His values. Yes, we had sins in our past, but our values, by and large, were Biblical.
    4. We see this in the impact of the Puritans before our founding.
    5. We have many quotes from our founders. See me for the Truth Project lesson 10, which shares much about this. Our founders recognized that we needed to teach Christian values. John Adams: “Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.”[2]
    6. Washington’s Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796: “…And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion… reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”[3]
    7. Benjamin Rush: “The only foundation for… a republic is to be lain in religion.” “…Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise and happy.” (Benjamin Rush, “A Defense of the Use of the Bible as a School Book,” 1796.[4]
    8. The problem is that today the State has replaced God. The State is supposed to surrender to God’s authority. Our founders recognized the importance of a Biblical Worldview.
    9. We were founded on Judeo-Christian values, yet still have freedom of religion. People in the United States did not have to be Catholic, Protestant, or of any one national religion.
    10. We have always supported the Jewish people and later Israel (Genesis 12). Not perfectly, but our pattern has been supporting the Jewish people and Israel.
  • Some applications:
    1. We must understand that God is at work.
    2. We must understand that God is at work in His providence, working through nations.
    3. We must be good citizens, really caring about our people group as Paul did in Romans 9:3.
    4. We must pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-8).
    5. We must not make our country an idol. We must be Christians first and then Americans.
    6. Do you know Jesus?

The Bible uses four verbs to describe the Christian life: Believe, confess, commit, and trust. Let me explain:

  1. The Bible teaches that we must confess our need for forgiveness. This means that we must confess that we are sinners in need of a Savior. In other words, we have done wrong things, and we need to be forgiven (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 10:9-10). We tell God this.
  2. The Bible teaches that we must believe in Jesus. We must believe that He is who the Bible says He is. The Bible teaches that He was born of a virgin; He lived a sinless life and died on the cross for our sins, and He rose triumphantly over the grave (John 3:16; 14:6; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 5:17, and 21).
  3. The Bible teaches that we must commit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. This means we are not simply fans of Jesus but followers of Jesus. Fans stay on the sidelines, but Jesus calls us to be on the field with Him. Jesus told them to count the cost before committing to Him (Luke 14:27-33).
  4. The Bible teaches that we must trust The belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior is not a casual belief, but a firm trust (1 Timothy 1:15; John 3:16).

Firmly make the decision to be with Him in order to become like Him and to learn and do all that He says, and then arrange your affairs around Him.

 

[1] Piper, John. How Much Patriotism Is Too Much Patriotism? July, 3, 2020

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-much-patriotism-is-too-much-patriotism

 

[2] Letter of June 2, 1776, quoted in the Wall Builder Report, Summer 1993. John Adams, “Letter to Zabdiel Adams, Philadelphia, 21 June 1776,” in The Works of John Adams—Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1854), 9:401.Truth Project Lesson 10

[3] The Will of the People: Readings in American Democracy (Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 2001), 38.

[4] Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 93.