Alright, if you take your Bibles
now and turn with me to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. Now, text will be found in verse
36. But as you're turning to Mark
chapter 5, I want you to also turn to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8 and verse 50. You're going to see two of these
places are actually almost identical, except they're not. They're a little different in
each one of them. Let's read, first of all, this text here
in Mark chapter 5 and verse 35. It says, While he yet spake,
there came the ruler of the synagogue's house, certain which came from
the ruler of the synagogue's house, certain which said, Thy
daughter is dead, why troublest thou the master? And as soon
as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said unto the
ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. Only believe. Now if you'll go
over to Luke chapter 8, And look at verse 50. It says, And when
Jesus heard that, that man that came from Jairus' house, when
he had heard, he answered and said, Believe only. One says, Only. And the other
says, Believe only. And I want, by the grace of God,
to see the distinction here. This is intended by the Holy
Spirit to show us two aspects of faith. The first one has to
do with continuance. Only believe. Only continue to
believe. And the second has to do with
the object. Believe only. in Me. Believe only in the object of
faith. Now then, this history of Jairus
and the healing of his daughter, raising from the dead, is only
one of three instances in which the Lord Jesus Christ raised
someone from the dead. The Scripture gives us each one
of these events, but it also gives us the motive. the motive
behind His resurrection. The most popular, of course,
is Lazarus. When the Lord raised Lazarus
from the dead, you remember, before He raised him from the
dead, He told His disciples, Lazarus sleepest. And they didn't
understand He was dead and He had to tell them plainly, Lazarus
is dead. Then He told them why Lazarus died. He said, this is
for the glory of God. And he said that to Martha in
chapter 11 and verse 40. He said, this is for the glory
of God. So we understand the resurrection
of Lazarus has a purpose. It was so that God should be
glorified. The second instance is found
in Luke 7, and that's the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain. Remember, this widow had no one. She had this only son. And this
son had died. And you've got to understand,
there was no welfare system. There was no one to take care
of her. When that son died, she was as good as dead. She had
no one. And our Lord, seeing this procession,
He had compassion on her, the Scripture said. So we see the
motivation of Christ in resurrecting this widow is this. He had compassion. He had compassion. Shows us the
aspect of Christ's compassion to give life to her only Son. And now then, this daughter of
Jairus, in Mark chapter 5, we see this. The motivation of Christ's
coming is to show the necessity of faith. The necessity of faith. He says in this to Jairus, now
Jairus believed that Christ was able. In Mark chapter 5, he believed
Christ was able. He comes to Christ to raise his
daughter, to heal his daughter. And as they're going, you remember
there's something that happens and transpires in between where
Christ stops and heals that woman that had the issue of blood. And then they come and say, well,
she's dead. And what is he saying here? Only believe. He said,
look, continue to believe. Don't quit believing. Don't quit
believing. He's showing us the necessity
of faith, necessity of faith. Now, all these miracles of Christ
speak to us surely of a greater resurrection. He physically raised
these from the dead. But there is these are only meant
to picture something greater. Our Lord could have raised everyone
from the dead, could he not? He had the power and one day
He will. One day He'll speak and everyone
will come up. Why then these three instances? He shows us this so it is a picture
of the resurrection of a sinner. The resurrection of a dead sinner. All men by nature are born dead. We're born into this world dying
and dead. Dying physically and dead spiritually. We're born in this world physically
dying. The moment you come into this world, your cells begin
to die. You die, you are beginning to die. Adam, when he was made, made
at the beginning, he was made not to age. Imagine that he was
made to live eternally the way that he was. Had He not sinned,
surely His body to this day would still be without any death, any
decay. But because of sin, the curse
of death fell upon us all, and therefore we are all subject
to physical death, all of us. If you look at these three instances,
you might see that there's a wide range of ages. Lazarus was older. Then you have that son who was
in his prime, and then you have this little girl. She's 12. We're
all prone to death. We will all come to the cold
river of death and no one will escape. No one will escape. Solomon said this. There is no
discharge from this war. You fight it, don't you? We struggle. We struggle against death. We
try to live as long as we possibly can, but there's no discharge
in this war. You will die. If Christ doesn't
come back, you and I will die. We will die. It is certain that
we will all experience this. We will not all die at the same
time or the same way, but we shall all experience death unless
Christ comes back first. We will all die because of one
thing, sin. Sin is the reason people die. But there's something worse than
physical death. Something far worse than physical
death, and that is spiritual death. Spiritual death. When Adam sinned, he began to
die physically, but the moment he sinned, the very moment he
sinned, he died spiritually. Spiritually. Now, what does it
mean to be dead spiritually? It means that you are incapable
of righteousness. It means you are incapable and
unwilling to obey the law of God. It means that you are born
sinners. In the book of Job it says, Man
drinketh iniquity like water. How naturally do we drink water?
It's how naturally we sin. David said, In sin did my mother
conceive me. We were conceived in sin. And we came forth from the womb,
speaking lies. Nobody had to teach us to sin.
This is because we were born spiritually dead. The spiritual
death, therefore, is then passed to all men, just as surely as
physical death, and none of us escape it. None of us escape
this. Because we are created in the
image of God, we must understand that though our bodies die, we
have an immortal soul. Every one of us has an immortal
soul that will continue to exist long after the grave. It is appointed unto man once
to die. This is something men do not
like to talk of, but it is necessary to speak of it. It is appointed. I know you know Brother Lindsey,
I'll use him as an example. Lindsey was a fit man. Lindsey
was a lot healthier than me. He was older than me, but I tell
you what, he got up every morning, he did his sit-ups, and he was
physically fit. So when he got COVID, I never
really thought anything about it. His wife got it, and she's
not as healthy as he was, and she got over real fast. You know
why he died? It was appointed. There was no
way to move it. God set the bounds of His habitation
like He set the bounds of our habitation. And we will not pass
that bound. It's appointed unto men once
to die, but that's not the hard part. What is the hard part?
After this, the judgment. After this, the judgment. Those
then who are righteous, those who are holy, Those who are without
sin shall live then eternally with God. They will be blessed. But those who have sinned, those
who are wicked, those who are not righteous, they shall die
forever. They shall be eternally damned. Yet men by nature have little
to no interest in eternal matters. They'd rather talk about what's
on YouTube, or what's on Facebook, or jokes. Why? To avert themselves from this
topic. They want to avoid the matter
of death, eternity, the soul, sin, righteousness, judgment. And yet they are rushing madly
along to hell. They're rushing blindly along
to their death, having no hope, trusting in some vain attempt
at self-righteousness, trusting in some works religion they've
given themselves to in order to justify them before a holy
God. Consider then death is coming.
I don't care who you are. Death is coming for us all. It is. It is a solemn thing,
and hell is moving. Men wake up in the morning with
hopes and dreams of tomorrow. They have plans for the future,
but no concern for eternity. No concern for eternity. and how they will stand before
a holy God. And then all of a sudden they
are ushered into eternity having no hope of salvation. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, shall be eternally,
constantly, ever presently saved. Wonderful. You who believe, that's
the good news, isn't it? We shall be saved. You see, I
am being saved right now, and I shall be saved when I die. You too, if you believe. But
he that believeth not, listen, the same is true, shall be eternally,
constantly damned. You remember that rich man, he
had hopes, he had dreams, he had plans. And Scripture said
the rich man died and lifted up his eyes being in torments.
Friends, he has been there for 2,000 years and it's only just
begun. But God gives hope in His Word
in Ezekiel 18, 31. God says this to sinners. He
says, cast away from you your transgressions, whereby you have
transgressed. Make you a new heart and a new
spirit. Now listen to this question.
For why will you die, O house of Israel? What a question. God is asking, why will you die? Why will you die? Sinner, why
will you die in your sins? God says, cast them from you. Wherewith you have transgressed
against Me, cast them from you. And then He tells you, make you
a new heart and a new spirit. How can the dead do these things?
How can the dead do these things? How can you cast your guilt from
you? Can you? You may hide it from men. Can
you hide your guilt from God? How can you cast your guilt from
God? How can one who is dead make
themselves a new heart or a new spirit? Yet, that's what's required. You need a new heart, you need
a new spirit. How then shall these things be?
How can you do it? Simple answer, you can't. God
is telling you that you must do something that's impossible
for you. Something that is impossible
for you. You cannot resurrect yourselves. Lazarus could not resurrect himself. The son of the widow of Nain
could not resurrect himself. Jairus' daughter could not resurrect
herself. We cannot impute our sins to
another. I can't take my sins and cast
them off of me and give them to someone else. We do that with
blame, don't we? Try to blame other people. The
woman you gave me. See, he tried to cast his sins
off of him. Try to cast blame on someone else. We can't do
that. It's impossible. And we surely can't make ourselves
a new heart or a new spirit. But God asks this question, why
will you die? Why will you die seeing this?
Christ has done all those things. Christ is capable of doing all
of those things. Christ can raise your soul from
the dead. Are you dead? Listen, Christ
can raise you from the dead. Why will sinners stand before
God in the rags of their sin when Christ has Himself accomplished
righteousness for sin? That's the whole message we preach
constantly, isn't it? Christ died for what? Sinners. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but what? Sinners to repentance. They that
are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Who needs life? The dead need
life. Who needs pardon? Sinners need
pardon. Who needs repentance? Sinners
need repentance. You see, He came to give repentance,
give life. Why will the sinner die with
a heart and a spirit of the old nature that is only death? That
old man that you were born with, why will you die with him? Seeing
God promises to give a new heart and a new spirit. Isn't that
the covenant of grace? Ezekiel chapter 36, he says this,
I will cleanse you. I will sprinkle clean water upon
you. And I will cleanse you from all
your idols. Well, who needs cleansing? Anyone
need cleansing? God says to those who need cleansing,
what? I will cleanse you. Those who
need a new heart, God says this, I will give them a new heart. I'll take out that stony heart
that's in them and give them a heart of flesh. What does that
mean? They should feel their need. When God gives you a new
heart, you know what you do? You feel your need. And He said, I will put a new
spirit within you. How can these things be? How
can a sinner have life and righteousness, a new heart? Friends, Christ,
as He raised Lazarus from the dead, I'll tell you why He does
this, for the glory of God. He raised Lazarus for the glory
of God. If He's going to raise a sinner from the dead, it's
for the glory of God, not for your glory. You get no glory
for it. If God's raised you, how much
glory do you get? None. No praise for you. That's
good. We don't deserve any. He deserves
all the praise. As God raised that son of the
widow of Nain, He did it because He was compassionate. Why should
God raise up sinners? Compassion. Compassion. If you were raised from the dead
this morning, know this, it was because of the compassion of
Christ. He had compassion on you. There is hope for sinners because
Christ loves His own. And in compassion, Christ died
for His own. and in compassion He raises them
from the dead. What is then the evidence of
such a resurrection? How should we who are dead and
dying know that we've been raised from the dead? Well, that's what's
illustrated in our text tonight. Faith. Faith in Christ is the
evidence of a resurrected sinner. Last night I wanted to see the
faith of this man Jairus and how it pictures everyone who
believes in Christ, everyone who is raised from the dead spiritually. Go back to your text in Mark
chapter 5 now. Mark chapter 5, look at your
text. I want you to see the first thing
that happened with this man Jairus. is that he worshipped Christ
in faith. True faith always is the first
initial thing in true faith. It always falls at the feet of
Christ. Look then at verse 22. Mark chapter
5 and verse 22. And behold, there cometh one
of the rulers of the synagogue, Jarius by name. And when he saw
Christ, notice this, He fell at his feet, and besought him
greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death.
I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be
healed, and she shall live. This man Jairus, he came, and
he came with a very great need. His baby girl was at the point
of death. She was past all physical hopes
of life. He didn't come for assistance,
did he? He didn't come for just, could
you come and assist me in this giving my daughter life? She
didn't need an emergency surgery, did she? She was past that point. What he needed was something
only God could give. And he knew it. So who did he
go to? He went to God. This man knew who that man was. And he came with a great need
and fell at His feet, beseeching Him greatly to give life. to his daughter. Even so, this is how every sinner
comes to Christ for salvation. They come with a great need.
We come seeing our sin against God. We come seeing that we are
under the sentence of divine justice. You suppose that this
man was lackadaisical in his coming. You suppose this man, he cared
how he was dressed when he came. Do you suppose he had any other
concerns that were more pressing? No, this man had a great need
and he came immediately. When he knew Christ was there,
he came immediately and fell at his feet. This is how sinners
come, because we have a great need, our darling. Our darling
is under the sentence of death, our soul. Is there anything more
darling to you than your soul? You remember that story of Dionysus,
king of Syracuse. There was a writer that flattered
this king. He wrote a very wonderful piece about how happy the king...
The king is the happiest man in all the world. And you remember
what that king Dionysus, he was not a good man, but he told that
writer to come to his palace and he spread the king's feast
in front of him. He sat him down in the king's
chair and he said, enjoy all the pleasures of the king and
see how happy you are. And he was enjoying himself until
he noticed a sword hanging above his head that was hung there only by one
horsehair. He may enjoy the feast of the
world in sin until God shows them that divine justice is held
by one hair's breadth over their head. When a sinner comes to
Christ, he sees the wrath of God is held only by the cord
of his life. They need forgiveness. We need
pardon. We need peace with God. But because
of the deadness of our soul, because we are powerless to escape,
We come to Christ suing for life. And only Jesus Christ, who has
the word of life, who is the author of life, can give us life. He's the only one that can give
you life. If you don't have life, spiritual life, I want you to
know that only Christ can give you life. True faith comes to Christ like
this. It falls at His feet. This man, he was a ruler of the
synagogue. Do you suppose that mattered?
No. He fell at His feet. And when
we come to Christ, we fall at His feet and we behold His person. Listen, you will never fall at
the feet of Christ unless you know who He is. Jairus would
have never come to Christ had he not known who He was. You will never come to Christ
apart from knowing who He is. And when you do know who He is, you will fall at His feet. You will fall at His feet. This is the experience of every
safe sinner, isn't it? We come to Christ, we fall and
worship Him because He is the only God-man mediator. He is the only one who can stand
between us and God. He is the only one who can purge
our sins. His blood alone can redeem us. His righteousness alone can clothe
us. His resurrection alone can justify
us. I tell you, religious people
believe many things about Christ, but they don't follow at His
feet because they don't know who He is. They don't worship
Him as He is, God, manifest in the flesh. In order to worship
Christ and believe His work, we must first believe and worship
His person. He is the only mediator. You
got that? The only mediator, Paul says,
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. We don't need a mediator between
us and Christ. The only mediator between us
and God is Jesus Christ. He is the only mediator. You know, Paul said in 2 Timothy
2, 1 and verse 12, he says, I know whom I have believed. Do you
know whom you have believed? Who is He? Our faith must rest in the person
and work of Christ alone. We are not saved by creeds or
confessions or traditions, but by the person, the man, Jesus
Christ. I like how Paul put that in Hebrews.
He said, but this man. In contrast to those priests,
he said, but this man. Why? Because he was a man. But
this man was not just any man. He was the great I Am. He is
God, the God-man. This man by His one offering
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. By faith we come
to Him with our need, by faith in His glorious person. And we
come knowing this, that He alone is able. Do you suppose Jairus
would have come to Him and worshipped Him had he not believed He was
able? That leper, I love that history
of the leper. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me whole. He knew two things. He knew that
he was able to heal him without doubt. Christ was able. Now then,
what he hoped is that Christ was willing. He did not deserve
it. Jairus didn't come seeking what
he deserved. He fell at his feet seeking mercy. He knew Christ was able and he
came to Christ and he fell at his feet. True faith then always
does this first. It worships Christ. It submits
to Christ. It submits to the will of Christ. To the power of Christ. For the
glory of Christ. Second of all, true faith True
faith sees the compassion of Christ. Everyone who comes this
way. This is good news. Everyone who
comes with a need like this and bows before Christ, He never
casts them away. Where's the leopard? Did he find
him, Willie? Lord, if you will, you can. I will. Always. Always, Willie. What an amazing Christ! What
an amazing Savior! He begged, Jairus comes and he
begs for the life of his daughter. Now Jairus, he was not just a
nobody. He was the ruler of the synagogue,
he was wealthy, he was a powerful man, but he did not come demanding. I want you to see it. He didn't
come demanding. Look at your text. He, verse
23, he besought Him greatly. He begged Him greatly. He did not come demanding. He
came in humility, begging for mercy. And this is how a sinner
comes to Christ. Suing for mercy. Suing for compassion. Now, religion
in this generation teaches you that Christ is somehow obligated
to you. That if you do this, then Christ
of necessity will do this other. You know, if you just give, then
God will bless you. In other words, God's obligated
to bless you financially if you give to this ministry. That's
what they teach. Decisional regeneration. If you
just make a decision to believe on Christ, then Christ is somehow
some mystical genie that is obligated to give you life. That's not
how Jairus came. That's not how any sinner comes.
Sinner comes with nothing. When I came to Christ, what did
you come with? You come with nothing. No merit. You come with nothing but your
sin. What arrogance is religion? The sinner who comes and bows
and begs for mercy, we come before the living God and we come as
we are. I like that hymn, if you tarry
till you're better, what? You will never come at all. Isn't that a question for a sinner?
Why wait? What are you waiting for? Are
you waiting for some epiphany? Waiting for some vision? Come
now! If you know your need, come now. Come to Christ. Don't come to
the front. Don't come to me. I can't help
you. Come to Christ, pleading for
mercy. I beseech you to come before Christ,
worshiping Him as a sinner in need. Come dead. I'm dead in sins. Well, come
dead. I have no power will come powerless. I have no merit. Good come meritless. I'm hopeless. Good come hopeless. That's how sinners come. If you got something, don't come. If you got something to bring,
don't come. Those are the only ones rejected. Come hopeless, come impotent. Beg Christ, and this is always
the result. He will give you life. Why? Because he is full of compassion. Full of compassion. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. And behold, before you, I set
before you the God-man Jesus Christ, who was before all things,
and who made all things, and by whom all things consist. And
yet He is so full of compassion, so full of mercy, you can never
exhaust His mercy. My mercy, you can exhaust. Can you exhaust your mercy? Our
mercy is very small. Our compassion is laughable. But consider the seed of His
compassion. How He daily bears for us. How He constantly forgives us
our sins. And yet, the sea never runs out. His sea of compassion never exhausted. He's full of grace and truth,
full of mercy towards sinners. Is not His great love manifest?
in that he came to redeem us. Can you not see his compassion
in how he condescended to become a man and die in our stead? I can't even begin to describe
his death. His death was not just physical. He suffered the wrath of God
in our stead, and he did it willingly. He did it willingly so that He
might have compassion on us. This shows us His willingness to be afflicted with our affliction,
to bear our sins in His own body on the tree. Can you find a greater
display of love than when Christ laid down His
life? for sinners? Greater love hath no man than
this, than a man lay down his life
for his friend." How friendly were you? And yet he called me friend. He called me friend. Jairus came
worshiping, seeking life. And he believed in the person
of Christ. He believed in the ability of
Christ to give life. And you know what Christ did? Christ
went with. And this was the result. Look back at your text. Verse
24. And Jesus went with. Jesus went with him. This is always the result of
the sinner who comes to Christ by faith seeking life, seeking
mercy and forgiveness. I came as a needy sinner, I worshiped
Christ as a needy sinner, and I found Christ to fulfill all
my need. All my need. This is the faith of everyone
who comes to Christ. Notice, Jesus went with him. This witnessed of his compassion,
of his willingness to raise this little girl from the dead. So then if sinners come and seek
mercy, if they believe on Him, if they trust His grace, His
redemption by His blood, His resurrection to a place of glory,
you will find Him full of compassion. He said, This is the will of
Him that sent Me, that of all He had given Me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up at the last day. All that the Father
hath given Me shall come to Me, and Him that cometh to Me I will
in no wise cast out. Was there ever a chance Christ
refused Jairus? No, the Lord orchestrated it
all so that He would have compassion. on Jerry. Didn't that happen
to you? Didn't He not orchestrate all things to bring you to Himself? And do you suppose when He orchestrated
all things to bring you to Himself that then He would just, no,
He's not going to cast you off. He said, I won't cast them off.
Jerry's believed Christ, he worshipped Christ, and Christ was walking
with him. Now, let me just interject here. Can you imagine the joy of Jairus
at this point? He gets up off the ground and
Christ, come on, let's go. And he gets up, he's shaking
the dust off. The joy is overwhelming him.
The anticipation of him getting to his daughter and his daughter
receiving this healing power from Christ. He was overladen
with joy and hope. You see the tears fading away
and the smile going on His face. Jesus is walking with me. Jesus
is going to do it. He's going to save my darling. Is this not the experience of
every sinner when they first come to Christ? I mean, the joy
is overwhelming. It's amazing. It's full of compassion,
full of grace. And we believe joy is springing
in our hearts. Oh, what a wonderful day, a day
I will never forget. After I wandered in darkness
away, Jesus my Savior I met. Oh, what a tender, compassionate
friend. He met the need of my heart.
Shadows dispelling the joy I am telling. He made all my darkness
depart. Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul. Isn't that what happened? My
sins are washed away. My night is turned to day. Heaven
came down and joy filled, glory filled my soul. But it was soon
that the joy of Jarius and the hope of Jarius, of his faith,
would be confronted by providence. by providence. Now, many separate these two
stories, but I believe that they're intertwined. Look what happens
next. Verse 25, there was a certain
woman who had an issue of blood 12 years. She suffered many things
of the physicians and spent all she had and got better. Didn't
get better, she grew worse. She heard of Jesus. She came
behind Him in the press and touched His garment. And for she said,
If I touch but His clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the
fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body
that she was healed of that plague. Well, that's all good. But notice
what happens next. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in Himself virtue, power had gone out of Him, He turned about
in the press and said, Who touched me? What happened here? Jairus was on his way, Christ
was walking with him, the hope and joy and gladness was in his
heart, and all of a sudden the Lord stopped. All progress stopped. He's being
thronged by the multitude. And he turns around and asks
an impossible, almost a silly question to everyone around him.
Who touched me? Disciples, they turn around and
say, Lord, what do you mean? Everybody's touching you. He
said, no, I perceive power has gone out of me. And he wasn't
going to go anywhere until that person was found out. Can you
imagine the disappointment now of Jarius? All progress is stopped. This woman had need of healing.
She came to Jesus. She wanted it to be secret. She
believed on Him just like Jairus, and she was healed. She was healed. But He stopped. He asked that
question, Who touched me? I can't imagine the shock and
terror in Jairus because he had an urgent need. His need was
very time-sensitive, wasn't it? His daughter was on the brink
of death. Imagine if you're traveling in
an ambulance, and all of a sudden the ambulance is stopped. What's going on? I am in need. This man was in great need. And
Christ stopped. I'm sure he didn't understand
that God in Providence had another person that had the same need. Need of life, need of healing. This woman was 12 years in her
affliction. Imagine that, the little girl
was 12 years old. You find that a coincidence?
I think not. He had 12 years of joy with his
little daughter, and this woman had been suffering for 12 years
with an issue of blood. She had spent all she had. She
had nothing left. In desperation, she comes behind
Christ. And in faith, she touched Him. Where's the hem of the garment?
Isn't that at the feet? Didn't I tell you that every
sinner has to come to the feet of Christ? She came to the feet
of Christ. She came in worship, recognizing
He alone. If I could just touch Him. I know Jairus deserves more.
But if I can just have the crow, She just wanted to be healed
and have be hidden. She needed deliverance too. And
the Lord, when He heals her, He looks about. He said to see
this thing, that the woman fearing and trembling, knowing that what
was done to her, she came and fell down before Him and told
Him all the truth. Can you imagine this? Now she's
telling her whole story. She's telling her history. Twelve
years of history. And He's patiently listening.
There all the while, Jairus is saying, we've got to go. Come
on, come on, let's go. He doesn't understand. She tells
him all the truth. And he said unto her, daughter...
See, Jairus had a daughter that needed to be healed, but so did
Christ. He said, this is my daughter that needs to be healed. Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and behold thy plague. And notice this. While he yet
spake, there came a ruler of the synagogue, the certain, and
said, thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the Master? When Christ just finished comforting
her, then comes this news, it's too late. It's too late. She's dead. So it is with our faith. Many
times we are walking with the Lord, He stops all progress. Many times we are halted. Many
times we have needs and beseech our Lord, and it seems as though
He would aid us, but instead we are hindered. Then we are
overcome with many fears and doubts. Our fears become reality. We cry in our desperation, like Martha. Imagine, Jairus,
Lord, if you had not stopped, you could have saved my little
girl. If you would have been there,
if you would have done this or done that, I would not be in such
grief and such sorrow. In our times of doubt, the enemy
comes in and tells us, leave the Master alone. You've sinned
too much this time. Leave the Master alone. Your
sin is too great. Hope is now lost. Leave all following
Christ. He cannot help you. He will not
help you. But now hear the words." Verse
36, Jesus, as soon as He heard this, was spoken. He said to
the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid. Listen. Only. What is he doing here? He is
exhorting Jairus to continue to believe in spite of all he
sees. This is what the Lord is speaking
to His children in the midst of our trials and difficulties. Only believe. Continue to believe. Friends, faith and fear cannot
exist together. Faith and fear cannot exist together. If we have faith in Christ, to
believe in Christ, that He worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, and all things in time and eternity, in providence
and circumstance, are according to His sovereign will, then we
would not fear. because it is only always His
will to save you. Was it not still His will to
heal this daughter of Jairus? Did His will cease? Was it thwarted by the healing
of this other woman? No. It wasn't thwarted. To believe Christ is doing all
things for the good of His people, for the salvation of His people. Consider this, the event of this
woman was both for the good of the woman and the growth of Jairus'
faith. And I'll tell you what, we're
reading it right now, aren't we? So then what? It's also intended
for your good. It's also intended for my good.
God used this same event of Jairus' trial for the salvation of His
people. And hear the word to all who
believe. In joy and pain and sorrow and happiness, in times
of faith and especially in times of doubt and fear, only believe. Continue. to believe. You know,
one of the evidences of true faith is this, it continues.
It continues. And I'll tell you this, I know
we are so full of unbelief, but one thing you can never stop
a believer from doing is believing. You can't. You know that one
girl that came to us one time and she she gave her testimony
of her faith. He said she said I was not believing
then all of a sudden I was believing. That's exactly what happens to
us. We believe because he gives us faith. And if you have faith
today, it is because He gives you faith and He is encouraging
you in this. Only believe, regardless of what
you see, what you feel, what you think, regardless of the
circumstance and the providence that happens to you. Only believe. Continue to believe. Believer,
faith is always a present grace. We that have believed must still
believe and we now believe. I've told you this many times.
Faith ten minutes ago will not help you. Faith ten minutes from now will
not help you. You need faith now. That's what Christ was telling.
Only believe now. regardless of what you see, regardless
of what they say. Your daughter's dead. Leave the
master alone. Don't pay him any attention. Only believe. And we not only believe, continually
believe, but if you go back over in Mark, and you see that the
words in Mark, in loose gospel, in loose gospel, the words are
flipped. Believe only. This has to do
with object. Believe only in Me. It's not just to believe continually.
A lot of people have faith and their faith continues. Some people
have faith in their baptism. Some people have faith in their
works. Some people have faith in a false god. And their faith
continues. What good is continuing faith
if it's not in the right object? continually believe, only believe,
and believe only in Me." Believe only in Christ. That's
what he was telling him. Believe only in Christ. Both are necessary. True faith
continually believes and it only believes in Christ. Christ who
suffered the just for the unjust to bring us to God. Christ who
called us and quickened us by His Spirit, He shall not fail
to give us all things that are good for us. Believe only in
Him, constantly in Him. Are you troubled? Believer, are
you troubled? This is obviously a rhetorical
question, because you know you are constantly troubled. Your foes are not only without, but they are within. You are
vexed daily and they are continually telling you, your daughter is
dead. Leave the master alone. Your
daughter is dead. Leave the master alone. It's
hopeless for you. Only believe and believe only. continue to believe and believe
only in Christ. Believe this. He said, I give
unto my sheep eternal life. And they shall never perish. They shall never perish. In times of doubt, when our enemy
comes, It is best for us to constantly hear the Word of Christ. Be not
afraid, only believe. He exhorts us to believe only
in Him and always in Him. And the last thing is this. One day there's going to be a
great divide between us and all who will not believe. When Christ
comes to this house, Go back to your text in Mark and see
this. He comes to the house of the rulers of the synagogues,
and he seeth the turmoil, and they wept and wailed greatly.
And when he was come in, he seeth unto them, Why make you such
an adieu and weep? The damsel is not dead. And they laughed him to scorn. This damsel obviously was one
of his. Of all three of these who were
raised from the dead, I want you to know they were all believers
in Christ. Simply put, because no one gets
a reprieve from hell, no one would receive a resurrection
from eternal damnation to come back into this world. But God
raises his own and he speaks of his own only like this. She's
not dead. My friend Lindsay is not dead.
His body is surely dead, but He is not dead. He sleepeth. He sleepeth. This is true of
all believers who die in Christ. Jesus said that to Martha, didn't
He? He said, I am the resurrection and life. He that liveth and
believeth in Me shall what? Never die. Believest thou this? I told you everyone is going
to die. We don't escape death. But for a believer in Christ,
it's not there. It's actually life. How many
of you believe this evening? I believe Gil Burns is in heaven
right now. No doubt. I believe that with
all my heart that he is there. He confessed Christ, he believed
Christ until the day he died. And when he died, he went straight...
Do you suppose he wants to come back? You suppose he has any
inkling of coming back? Not a peep. He would not ever
want to be back here. He's living. He's actually living. He's living. And notice what Jesus does when
they laugh Him to scorn. I want you to know that. This
world is going to laugh you to scorn. If you believe what I
told you tonight, men are going to laugh at you. They're going
to mock you. They'll probably pity you at
first until you just keep on and then they'll get mad. They'll
laugh you to scorn. They did our Lord. Notice what
He did. But when He put them out, You know what He's going to do
with all those who will not believe? One day He will put them out. He will divide the sheep from
the goats. He will say to them of His sheep, Come, you blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Oh my goodness, isn't that a
sovereign grace message? And He says to those on it, depart
from Me, you cursed, into everlasting darkness, I never knew you. They said, Lord, didn't we do
all these wonderful things? He said, you that work iniquity,
depart from Me, I never knew you. One day He'll cast them
out. But He'll gather in His people. And you know what? When
He gathers them in, He shut everyone else out, and He taketh the father,
the mother, and the damsel, and them that were in there with
Him. And He entered where the damsel was laying, and He took
the damsel by the hand, and He said unto her, Tabitha, Kumana,
which damsel I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel
arrived. She was of the age of twelve,
and they were astonished with great astonishment. One day,
all of us are going to be gathered together, living, in great astonishment. We're standing there gazing at
Christ for eternity, just astonished at the mercy and grace of Christ. And so then the message for you
who believe, listen, only believe. Continue to believe. in spite
of what you see and what you feel and what you experience.
And listen, believe only in Christ. Always in Christ. And though
we will die, this body will die, we will not die. We will not
die. But we shall ever live with Christ.
I pray God will bless this to you. Let's be dismissed in prayer.
Gracious Father, dismiss us with your blessings. I pray that you
give us grace to believe, only to believe in Christ and to believe
only in Christ, always in Christ. Father, forgive our unbelief. Cleanse us of our unrighteousness. I pray that you'd gird us with
the truth of that gospel. Anoint us with the helmet of
that salvation, Father. Teach us to war with the Word
of Truth, Word of the Spirit, praying with all prayer, supplications. I pray that you'd be with us
and strengthen this body, this church, and bless it. And I ask it in Jesus' name and
for the glory of Christ, our Savior. Amen.