This sermon focuses on the importance of casting down unbelief and having unwavering faith in God, highlighting the consequences of unbelief and the need to trust in God's power and promises. The speaker emphasizes the impact of unbelief on hindering God's work and the necessity of believing in God's ability to perform miracles and bring breakthroughs in our lives.

Casting Down Unbelief. Casting Down Unbelief. Mark 6 please. And he went out from thence and came into his own country and his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath day was come he began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and of Simon? Are they not his sisters with us? And they were offended at him. Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And if you read on it says that he just went on. He just went on. God helped the people when God, the precious Christ, because of unbelief says, I have to move on. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your presence. Holy Spirit, you were here to warm our hearts. You were here to show the merciful Christ in dark times. And Lord, I need you to speak into me and through me. I'm only a vessel, only a voice. And I stand here in need this morning that I would speak a merciful word from your heart, that I would portray you who you truly are. God of grace and mercy, that a God who cannot work where there is no faith. God, speak to our inner man. Speak to us, Lord, and stir our hearts that once and for all, we will come into the knowledge of this truth. Lord, as simple as it is, we would finally grasp it. We could finally understand the thing that grieves the heart of God. And we say it in mercy and in grace, the grief of God's heart is caused because of the unbelief of those closest to his heart. So Lord, I'm asking you to cast down all unbelief in me. Cast down all unbelief in your servants. Cast out all unbelief in those who are hearing this word, wherever it may be. We glorify you now in Jesus' name. Amen. In Mark 5, don't turn there, but you see Christ going about doing mighty works. You see him cleansing a demonic who has a legion of devils in him. He speaks the word and the devil flees. You see him lay his hands on the sick and they recover. You see him go into the house of a Jewish ruler and lays hand on a 12-year-old girl who's dead and the girl comes to life. And in the fifth chapter, you see a woman who has a terrible hemorrhaging sickness and she touches the hem of his garment and she is healed. And you hear Jesus saying, your faith has made you whole. It's a whole picture of what happens by believing that he is God. When you get now into the sixth chapter of Mark, you see Jesus going to Nazareth. The Bible said it's his hometown, his kinsman, his house. This is where he lived for 30 years. And he comes to his house. This is the second visit to Nazareth. The first visit, he stood in the synagogue and he opened, in Isaiah, probably the 53rd chapter, about the prophecy of the coming Christ, the coming Messiah. And he closed the book and then he stood before these of Nazareth in their synagogue. And he said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled before your eyes. Could you imagine what it would be like to be in a congregation where God himself in flesh opens a prophetic word from many, many years prior? And suddenly, God says, look at me. I'm your God. I am the fulfillment of this prophecy. You see, these people were Bible lovers. They were scripture lovers. They were in the synagogue. They're sincere people. They love to go to synagogue. They would never miss church. And they loved the Word of God. They said, he's a good teacher. He's a good man. We know him. We know his family. He's a good example. But you see, they had heard on this second visit. They had, Jesus had, in that interval, had performed many miracles. And word traveled all over the nation, all over the communities. And the word was that this man is doing mighty works by the laying on of his hands and by speaking the word. And this same Jesus comes again to his hometown. I don't know if he's weary. I don't know if he just wanted to visit with his family. But he went to the synagogue again and began to teach. They said, where did he get this knowledge? This is an incredible, this is a wonderful teacher. But the Bible says that they had no faith. What they had heard was what he was doing elsewhere, what he was doing some other place. And folks, this is the tragedy for many Christians in many churches. You see, they knew his reputation. They knew he was a miracle worker. They had heard these stories where he was working elsewhere, where he had done many mighty works. But there's no one there in that congregation who's saying, why can't we have that here? What we hear happening elsewhere. Why can't we have the miracles here? Why can't we see God move here? Have you heard of what God is doing elsewhere? Elsewhere where God, the Spirit is moving, where people are excited and multitudes are coming to Christ. Folks, we see God move here all the time. And we don't take it for granted. But there's nothing in the hearts of these people of expectancy. There's no faith. And the problem is they will not acknowledge this man is God. They won't acknowledge that he is God come in the flesh. And this is the problem today. We have a whole generation of Christians, even evangelicals, who acknowledge the manhood of Jesus Christ. They know he's a great teacher, and they believe many of the things that he's written. But they don't acknowledge him as God. And folks, when we do not believe him, if we don't believe what he said, I will be a God to you. That's the true covenant. I will be a God to you, and you will be my children. And if we don't believe that, we can weep over him. We can say I'm a friend of God. But there has to come a time in the midst of our hardships, in the midst of our trials, where we truly let him be God to us. The God of the impossible. We're looking in the face of every incredible hopeless situation, that you don't just come to him as a man. You don't come to him as a teacher. You come to him as your God, as the God of the impossible. And the Bible says about Nazareth, on this visit, and he could do no mighty works there, except lay his hands on a few people. Now I don't know why God has limited himself in this man, because here stands Christ in their midst. Here's the miracle worker, wanting to do a miracle, wanting to bring the healing power to these people, and to bring hope. Because you see, when there's unbelief, there's nothing but a wilderness. Where there's unbelief, there's hopelessness. So these were hopeless people. It's very evident, because Jesus said he marveled at their unbelief. He was shocked, in other words, by their unbelief. He was shocked that they didn't see and hear. They wouldn't even accept the testimony of those elsewhere. Folks, there was no one in that congregation who rose up and said, why can't God do this in my life? Why can't I see the miracle that I see and hear elsewhere? Let me give you a few examples. When I was a boy, I remember stories coming out of Argentina. Tremendous stories of thousands coming to Christ. In fact, they were having stadium meetings, and 200,000 people were coming, and tens of thousands of people were being saved. People were being healed. An unknown evangelist, the name of Tommy Hicks, the Lord told him to go to Argentina. He got on a plane, went to Argentina, knew nobody. But he said God told him that you're going to awake in Argentina, the whole country. He had no place to go. He started little churches and saying, God wants to move. God's moving elsewhere. He wants to move here. He wants to do something in your midst, and I'm telling you that there are going to be millions turned to Christ. God is going to open doors. If you'll trust him, you start believing. You start taking him at his word, and in a simple way. In fact, he never preached with notes. He was not a great preacher. He just had faith. He was a man of faith. And little by little, people began to come together, and God said, I want you to go to General Peron and see if you get permission to get in the stadium. Miraculously, God made an arrangement for him to visit and pray for Peron, and Peron's family, a member of his family was healed. And he found out what Tommy was doing, and so he said, I'm going to give you the football stadium. And they began to start advertising, and people started getting saved. And folks, it wasn't long until there were 200,000 people coming every night. Argentina was swept with a fire of God and the Holy Spirit. And when the brethren in Brazil heard of what was happening in Argentina, they sent men. They went elsewhere, because they were saying, well, he's moving elsewhere. He's moving in Argentina. Why can't he move in Brazil? And these men started flocking to the meetings and seeing what God was doing, and their heart began to burn, and they caught the flame of faith. They went back and began to preach the same thing. God is able. He's still on the throne. Nothing is too hard for our God. Let's believe God now. We have prayed, and we have fasted. Now let's believe God, and let's trust Him, and let us minister to our people faith. And God began to move in Brazil. Another fire broke out, and folks, there are millions and millions of evangelicals now in Brazil, and Brazil is still burning with fire. God is still saving by multitudes. And of course, in Chile, they heard about it. What was happening in Argentina, their neighbor, and what was happening in Brazil, their neighbor. And pastors went to Brazil and to Argentina and got a spark of fire, and the same thing. Fire went all through Chile. And right now, probably 30 percent of the population of Chile are evangelicals. But you see, right next door to Argentina is Uruguay. It's never seen a moving of the Holy Spirit, right next door. See, they hear of what God's doing elsewhere. They hear what God is doing north and south and west of them. I leave tomorrow to go to Uruguay, to Montevideo, and anticipate about 4,000 pastors from the hills and all over. And I'm going to tell them what I'm telling you. It's not enough to hear what God is doing elsewhere. The same God that moves in those countries, the same God that's moving here in Times Square Church, and wherever there is faith, wherever there's a people that lay hold of the promises of God, the Holy Spirit moves. And I believe in God, and the same thing as this church and pastor goes to Burundi, that the God that's moving in South America, the God that's moving in other African nations, can come within one week and change a nation. But there has to be faith. There has to be something the heart says that I believe God. I'm not satisfied with what I hear helping elsewhere. And Christian, you shouldn't be satisfied of the miracles you hear your Christian brother or sister receiving from the Lord. We stood here and we listened with warmed hearts as Pastor Carter talks about what God is doing in the family. It shouldn't be enough for you to sit here or me to sit here and say, thank God for what He's doing elsewhere. There should be something your heart said, God, you're no respective person. What you've done for Him, you're going to do for me. And I claim the same promises that He claimed. If He's got Psalm 112, I've got it too. And I'm going to believe God in my heart. Folks, there's no such thing as a dead place, just dead Christians who don't have the faith. Nothing's too hard for God. Years ago when the Lord sent me to work with gangs here in New York City, and this next year is the 50th anniversary of that first trip to New York City. And when people heard that I was going to New York City, and at that time there were hundreds of gangs in the city, and on that particular month I was leaving, some, I think 26 had been murdered on the streets. Gang fights, 1958. And they said, gangs won't, they'll just mock you, they'll ridicule you, and they'll try to fight you, your life is in danger. And no drug addict is known that there is no known cure for the drug addict. 1958, that was the medical truth, that was it. No drug addict, no evidence of a drug addict being saved. A heroin addict. But I believed God, there was something in my heart. There was no money, there was no plan, there was nothing but a simple faith in God's Word. God said, I'm going to save gang leaders, I'm going to save alcoholics, I'm going to save drug addicts, and I'm going to do miracles on the streets of New York. So I got in my car and I slept in my car on the street a few nights. A dumb thing to do now I know. So what did God do? First thing he does is save one of the worst gang leaders in New York City, Nicky Cruz will be here Friday night. And then he goes down in Brooklyn in front of a pizza shop and finds one of the worst heroin addicts. Those who said they, you know, supposed to be untouchable, nobody can reach the drug addict. And the first one that comes in is a heroin addict that's saved and called to preach. That's Sonny Argonzoni, who is now a bishop of over 200 churches around the world. I started traveling and God began to move and others came here. They heard what God was doing elsewhere. They came from Chicago. That was the first center. They came down with a delegation and sit in my office and say, what's happening? And talk to drug guys. Went back and they started in Chicago and then Los Angeles and then all over the world. Now 520 of these centers worldwide. Because somebody were not satisfied to hear what God was doing elsewhere. I want to see this. And there has to be something in your heart. Some of you have given up on your family. Some of you have, and I'm not preaching from notes, I'm preaching from my heart. I'm telling everybody there are many that have given up on the prayer, given up on the vision, given up on the hope. Some of you need healing and have given up. So I'm just going to bear the pain. There's a dear sister who wrote to us and she's been in pain for some 10 years. She says, Pastor Dave, you come to the place where all you want in life, your one single desire other than serving the Lord, is to have one hour free of pain. You give anything in the world to have one hour free of pain. And yet you almost hear this resignation. That's the life that I have and that will never change. You've got to believe that God changes things. I'm believing that now. My son is in a hospital right now. Greg is in a hospital in Germany, being operated on probably on Tuesday, and he's fine. But folks, I tell you honestly, I have believed God through this. I have trusted God. I trusted God through the death, the suffering and death of our granddaughter. And I know in my heart, I trusted God. I said, God, you know best. And I surrender that I put into your hands and you will be done. We prayed for healing. But you see, when you set your mind and set your heart, you say, I want to please God. And the Bible said without faith, it's impossible to please Him. And God has spent years and years looking and waiting for people who in any crisis will trust Him. And I'm not railing at anybody now. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not trying to condemn anybody listening to me now. But this is a time in God's earth, in God's creation. This is the only generation left, I believe, that has the possibility of being a people who rise up and fully trust Him. Israel failed. Think of it, only two men came out with faith after 40 years of testing and trying and God pleading and God with mercy leading and showing signs and wonders and miracles. They couldn't even look back to the last miracle, let alone 40 years of miracles. And we've got to look back and see what God is doing and what He's done. And not elsewhere, but here in my heart today. And I'm telling you, in this building right now, in the annex, wherever you are, you can lay a hold of faith. You can lay a hold of the promise of God, whatever you're facing, whatever you're going through. Jesus is in this house. I said, Jesus is in this house. Just as surely as He walked to Nazareth and stood and said, I am here. I am God. I want to heal you. I want to answer you a prayer right now. Those doubts, those fears. You see, the devil watches and he listens closely. He can't read your mind, but he can hear your voice. He hears my voice. And the moment he begins to hear this flow of murmuring and complaining and saying, oh God, where are you? You know, God came to Gideon and the people needed deliverance. And he said, God said a word to him, said, you're a mighty man of valor. Do my work. And he listens to the lie of the devil. And he goes to God and said, if God before us, why are we going through what we're going through? If God is with us and you tell me I'm a man of valor, that I should have faith. But where is the evidence? We're here all these years. We're suffering in the midnights. And he allowed a lie of Satan to hold back his faith until finally he had to try to depend on fleeces. I've never put much faith in fleeces. Putting God to the test all the time. God wants simple, determined faith and confidence in his word. And faith is obeying, simply obeying and believing, laying hold of the promises of God. You see, the devil waits and he hears that. And when he hears this flow of unbelief and how it grieves the heart of Jesus, you remember the story after his resurrection. After Mary reports that she had seen the angel, the angel said, he's gone, he's resurrected. They wouldn't believe it. Another report comes, they don't believe it. And when Jesus finally comes on the scene and he sees and he senses this incredible unbelief, even though they see him in the flesh. You see, if we depend on miracles, on miracles to increase our faith, we will always say, well, one more, Lord. It has to be bigger and better each time. They see him face to face. And the Lord was grieved. He was deeply hurt to the point that he upbraided them for their unbelief. I want to thank God this morning. I just want to give him praise. We're talking about faith. There was a time that I sat where I sit in this church, in that seat. And I was going through a very, very difficult time. Some of the pastors took on other visions and moved on. There were no elders. And remember, and I said here this morning, thinking about it, that day that I sat there. And I said, oh, God, I am hurting. I can't do this. I can't pass this church alone. I can't handle this anymore. And I said, Jesus, by faith, I'm asking you, you had 12, I want 12. And I, I sat here this morning, counting seven elders, seven elders, eight. You mean God's given me 13? Eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, including Teresa. Teresa, well, Lord, you did it. You overdid it. You overdid it. I'm not much interested in my notes. But you know, see, when we begin to murmur and complain, the enemy hears this and he takes advantage of that. We have got to remember there's a devil who's out to destroy our faith. Did you hear what I said? There is a devil who is determined to rob our faith. He can't read your mind, but he hears these things. And when he hears this murmuring, he hears this complaining that God is not moving. And we do voice what's in the heart is going to be spoken. And it opens us to the lies of the enemy. That's when he moves in. Let me just go over a few of these lies that he implants in the mind. He will send principalities and powers and he will come at you with lies. The Bible said that he is the father of all lies. And he works through lies. He does not lie to his own people. He does not lie to God. God, he knows he can't lie to God. Who does he lie to? Let me tell you who he lies to. With the most venom, he comes with the most venomous lies against those who've set their heart to trust God. Those who've set their heart say, Lord, I want to live this life. I am not going to live this up and down faith walk. I want to, whatever the cost is, whatever it takes, give me faith. Lord, forgive my unbelief in the Holy Spirit. Come and give me this faith and the rest. Because you see, the older I get, the less strength I know that I have. And there comes a time, like Sister Billy Graham, who just died this past week, place where he becomes so feeble over the years. You don't have the fire to pray. And you don't have the fire to, or the ability to cry out to God. But there's one thing that I hear from these dear people and have heard is this walk of faith. That God of all these years have been faithful. And I have trusted and believed God. And there's one thing that I know that I can give God to my dying day. And that's my confidence. That I can say, I have trusted you, oh God. I have trusted you. I look over my life. It's 76 now. And I know, I know what God has done. I've been up and down in the valleys of despair and the heights of good faith. But I've asked God not for the highs and lows, but just that confidence. That confidence to the end of time. To the end of your days. I don't know why lately I've been speaking so much about the dangers of unbelief. But I honestly believe that what is coming to this nation and to the world, you better lay hold of faith. You better lay hold of it now. Because the testing time is coming. The testing time is coming where you will wonder, is this ever going to end? But thank God for a people that have faith. Let me just for a few minutes expose one or two of these lies. One of the biggest, most vicious lies that the devil comes to you, especially when he knows of your consecration. He knows of your walk. He knows of your desire to be everything that he's called you to be. He comes in with this lie. You are too weak for spiritual warfare. You're too weak for this battle. Some of you know what I'm talking about immediately. Because you're in a battle, you're in a struggle, and there's weariness of the flesh and spirit and mind. And the devil comes to you at that time. Just as Absalom tried to come against David, the advice was, let's get him when he's tired and weary. He was hiding in a cave and the word came. And Absalom's advice, let's go after him. Let's get him while he's tired and weary. And the enemy comes almost with a hypnotic voice. The powers of hell and darkness. He has principalities, he has powers. There is an enemy that's coming. The devil has come down having great wrath. And he comes with that wrath against those who God is calling out and bringing out of the body in special faith. And those who are so given to his heart. And he will come with weariness. And he will magnify that weariness many, many times over. And you will hear this voice. You are too tired mentally and physically. I know what this kind of lie. I've had that come to me in my study. A number of times. You can't handle the spiritual warfare. You're too tired. And some of you are hearing that voice. And you've been hearing it this past week, maybe this past day. You can't go on. This is too much. David came to the place where he thought it was too much. And he said, oh, that I had the wings of an eagle. I'd fly away. He wanted to find an island somewhere and just get away. Do you ever want to get away from all your problems? Just get away. Leave it all. Find some nice little hiding place where there are no burdens and no trials. Well, folks, I'll tell you, that's the worst wilderness it could ever possibly be. You wind up in that dead, dry wilderness. But those lies will come to you to rob you of your faith. The devil's after your faith. And I say it just as I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me to say it. There are people listening to me at the annex or the balcony behind me. I was writing these words down last night as the Spirit was speaking to my heart. He said, this is very important to say. I don't know who needs it. Maybe you're here visiting for the first time. But the devil is trying to rob your faith and bring you down and make you give in to a spirit of weariness. And this is the warning that came through Daniel. Remember that he said the devil was going to come and try to weary the saints of God. To weary them. There is a weariness, a spiritual, physical weakness. And I know the hand of God is on me. I know that I'm stepping back and the Holy Spirit is speaking through me. This is not a sermon. This is not theology. God is speaking into your heart. Don't listen to the lie of the enemy. In that weakness, there will be strength come that you could not have imagined. There will be glory come that you cannot imagine. Yes, there is weakness. Yes, there's tiredness. And that's not a sin. That's not the issue whatsoever. But the Lord is saying tonight, will you shut those lies down? Will you turn away from them and say, I will not believe this. I'm going to go in the strength of God. I have to get on a plane tomorrow and fly down thousands of miles. And physically, not in the flesh. There's no way it could be done. But I believe God. And I will not listen to the devil's lies. I'm not going to go around saying, yes, I'm tired. You're just repeating the lies of the devil. Forget that now. In the name of Jesus, while you're sitting in your seat, say, I am the strength of God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. I am not too weak for the spiritual warfare. I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight the good fight of faith with Paul the apostle. And come against those lies. Another lie that the devil uses. And this, I'm just going to close. You're not making spiritual progress. Boy, I hear this in the mail that comes from all over the world. That after all you've heard and all the sermons and everything, all the goodness of God to you and all the teaching, everything, you're still not growing. People are passing you by. And those lies will come that you just, you're not where you should be spiritually. And the devil will try to tell you that you are not growing. Folks, the thing that God is after this morning is that you come to him and say, Lord, I've had enough. I'm not going to measure my spirituality. Not by looking at somebody else. I'm not going to measure anything about spiritual growth. I'm going to thank you for the past. And I'm going to believe you that I'm right where you want me to be. Because I've been walking with you and I have been loving your word. And I'm going to leave the growth situation up to you. I'm just going to be happy in Jesus. And I'm going to walk in faith. I am going to walk in faith. Would you speak it out right now? I believe in the God of the impossible. Stand. We are not much of a homiletical piece, but I know God is speaking. If you're here this morning, listen to me closely, please. Will you hold steady for just a moment? Please just hold steady because we don't want to interrupt the work of the Holy Spirit. Did God speak to you this morning? I don't know where in this discourse this morning that God was speaking directly to you. But if there's been unbelief, terrible fear, I want you to get out of your seat and come humbly before the Lord and say, Lord, today, make this the crossroads. Let me cross the line. And let me just submit now. I come back to you, Lord, in simple faith. I'm going to believe you. If you don't know Christ, you come with these. Or if you backslid and come with these that are coming from the balcony, go the stairs on either side. And in the balcony, you can just walk up front between the screens and I'll pray for you there. But if the Spirit's speaking to you in any manner, I can't, I'm not going to try to describe or define how the Spirit is speaking to you. But if he's been speaking to you and you need a revitalization, your faith may be revitalized by the Holy Spirit. You want a new baptism of faith. I know we could just plug this altar, but why don't we just now, everybody in this building, reach out for just a moment before we begin to praise him. Let's ask him to forgive us of our unbelief. Lord, I'm asking you to forgive my unbelief. Forgive my unbelief. Lord, if you're God and we say that, let us believe it. God says, I will be a God to you. I will be God to you. You'll be my servant. You'll be my child. Lord, let us believe that. Let us bring the hardest thing in our life. Let us bring the present crisis to you this morning. Lord, and let us bring all these lies to the foot of the cross. Let us not allow the enemy to rob us and steal our faith, our confidence in you, because of the days that are ahead. Lord Jesus, right now, come by your Holy Spirit and implant fresh faith, the fresh fire in our souls to believe God for the impossible. Hallelujah. The Bible says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. That is not only the written word, it's the preached word. So the Bible says, you mix what you have now with faith and this will increase your faith. He said, if we don't mix the word that we hear with faith, it's of no value. It just drops in front of us. So he wants you to leave this place with the determination to search your heart and say, Lord, help me. Help my unbelief. We've all known hard times. We've all known crisis times. But there is a faith, a crisis faith that holds steady. And I see God raising up many, many people like that. We're hearing this in our mail from all over the world now. It's happening in the Christians in Iraq. There's a faith rising that God is going to undertake. You hear of this faith rising in Israel, you hear it all over the world now. But there should be something like in my heart, Lord, I want this. I want to be one that trusts you. I want to come through this, not saying, oh, if I'd only held on a little longer. You've heard me say over and over again, the hardest part of faith is the last half hour, just before Jesus comes. Jesus answers prayer. Gwen keeps reminding me that, David, you said last half hour is the hardest. Hold on. Lord Jesus, I pray right now. We don't have to work it up. It's something we determine in our hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit. When he sees that determination, that will, it says, I want to, I want this kind of faith. It will not cower to the enemy. I want this kind of faith that says, Lord, I believe you. I ask for a miracle. And then having committed that prayer to you, we would step back and say, Lord, it's in your hands now. Do as you will. We know our God is able, but if we have to go through the furnace, you'll meet us with a revelation like we've never seen before. You will walk through the fire with us and you'll go with us through the flood. You will be God to us. Lord, that is the heart of the new covenant. I will be God to you. I'll write my laws, my promises into your heart. And if you'll pull out those promises, if you'll just lay hold of those promises, I will answer you. Pray this prayer with me, Lord Jesus. I want to trust you through my present trial. Hold me. Come Holy Spirit. I need strength. I need divine strength. Holy Spirit, I trust that you live in me. And if you live in me, you will not withhold from me. Give me this continuous faith, this unwavering faith that I may please God and glorify his name in the midst of my fire. Now, just raise your hands and thank him. He does hear. He does answer. Lord, we worship. Let's praise him. Just give him praise. Lord, thank you. You're alive. You're at work. You're with us. Jesus, you are here.