Okay, let's turn back to Mark
chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. I'm taking the
title for the message from what the Lord says to this father
who just got the news that his 12-year-old daughter had died. Verse 35, while he yet spake,
there came from the ruler came from the ruler of the synagogue's
house, certain which said, Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest
thou the master any further? And as soon as Jesus heard the
word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue,
Be not afraid. Don't fear. Be not afraid. Only believe. Only Believe. That's the title
of the message. Be not afraid, only believe. In Luke chapter 8, where the
story is given there, we read the Lord says, fear not, believe
only. Now, I like that. Only believe and believe only. Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ
is received by this God-given precious faith. Faith, not of
works, lest any man should vote. Only believe. Only believe. You see, true saving faith honors
God, and God honors true saving faith. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. For them, we read in 1 Samuel
2, for them that honor me, he said, I will honor. And those
that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. You see, salvation
is revealed in the word of God alone. You remember the theme
of the Reformation? The word alone. Salvation is
found in Christ alone. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Salvation is by the grace of
God alone. Salvation is to the glory of
God alone. Only believe and believe only. What a precious gift faith is. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the opposite of faith.
That's why I said fear not. Don't be afraid. Only believe. Only believe. The Lord is sovereign
over all things and when we believe the Lord is sovereign over all
things, ruling all things, working all things for the eternal good
of His covenant people, this will calm our fears and increase
our faith. When we trust him as God who
does all things right, shall not the judge of all the earth
do right? True faith gives the Lord all the glory. True faith will calm our fears
and help us to trust Christ only. You remember we studied in Matthew
chapter 8. when the disciples were in the
boat with the Lord, and the Lord sent a mighty storm, and the
boat was taking on water, and the boat was sinking, and the
Lord was over there sleeping, resting, believing, and they
woke Him up and said, Lord, don't you care? We're going to drown.
You remember what He said? Why are you fearful? Oh ye of
little faith, oh ye, don't you think I can take care of this
situation? And the Lord stood forth and
calmed the wind and the waves, and they ceased. And they said,
what manner of man is this that even the wind, calmed the wind
and the seas? He's God, he's God. Oftentimes
in the book of Isaiah, and I love studying through the book of
Isaiah, we've done a complete study in all 66 chapters, and
I went back through many of those chapters a second time. But eight
times in the book of Isaiah, we read that statement, fear
not. Fear not. Let me read two of them to you.
Isaiah 41, 10. This is one of my favorite verses
in the book of Isaiah. Fear thou not, I am with thee.
Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Fear not, I am God. Now, if we trust Him as God,
we have no need to fear. Fear is the natural tendency
of this flesh. We're all fearful, including
this sinner right here. Another example is found in Isaiah
43, verse 1. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not,
I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
you're mine. We belong to the Lord, fear not,
believe Him. It said of Abraham, who was held
forth as an example of faith in Scripture, Abraham believed
God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Blessed is
the man whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works.
It said in Romans chapter 4, Abraham was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that all that God promised,
he's able to perform. Being strong in faith, we give
glory unto God, knowing that everything He said, He'll do
it. He'll bring it to pass. Now,
so far in our study in Matthew, in chapter 8 and in chapter 9,
we have witnessed to some of the Lord's power, His mighty
power, His sovereign mercy, His mighty miracles of grace. is
saving power and sovereign power over demon spirits. This wild
maniac that was going around in the tombs of the cemetery
in his town of Gadara, no one could tame him, no one could
help him. He was possessed with 2,000 demon spirits. And the
Lord Jesus Christ came to him and cast out those demon spirits
and gave him a right mind and clothed him clothed him with
the righteousness of God, and he was sitting at his feet. And
the Lord told him, go declare how great things God hath done
for you. So we have seen the miracle of
the Lord over demon spirits. He has all power over all demons. Someone rightly said, the devil
is not out of control. The devil is God's devil. He
has absolute dominion. over every fallen angel and every
elect angel as well. So we've seen that in our study
in Matthew chapter 8. We've also witnessed to the Lord's
saving and sovereign power over disease. We looked at that last
week where this woman had an issue of blood. She was slowly,
slowly bleeding to death and she had this disease for 12 years
and she said, if I can but touch his garment, I'll be made whole. Do you remember the rest of the
story? In Mark chapter 5 verse 34, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague. The Lord Jesus Christ healed
her. We've also seen in Matthew chapter
8, the leper who came to the Lord and worshipped Him and said,
Lord, if ye will, You can make me clean if you will. He worshipped him as the Lord.
And the Lord said, I will. I will be thou clean. And that
leper was cleansed. And all this came to pass to
fulfill Scripture. When the disciples of John the
Baptist came to the Lord asking, are you the Messiah or do we
look for another? And the Lord said, you go back
and tell John, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor
have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is that man that's not
offended in me. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners, didn't He? He came to save such as we are. Now today in Mark chapter 5,
we see the Lord's sovereign power even over death. In the book
of Job 18 verse 14, death is called the king of terrors. Did
you know that? The king of terrors. But our
blessed Lord is the mightier king. He's king of kings. And he's Lord of lords, even
over death. Remember our study in the Revelation?
Revelation 118, the Lord said, I'm he that liveth and was dead.
He died a real death. Raised up the third day. I'm
he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
Amen. And he said, I have the keys
of hell and of death. The Lord has all power over death. I like what he says in John 14.
He said, because I live, you shall live, you shall live also. We're looking at Mark chapter
5, and we're studying how the Lord raised up from the dead
this 12-year-old girl. Remember again in Revelation
from our study, in Revelation chapter 6, verse 2, when it describes
the mighty conquering king, the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, I
saw and behold a white horse, And he that sat on him had a
bow and a crown, was given unto him, and he went forth conquering
and to conquer. The Lord Jesus Christ has won
every battle. Every battle, every enemy is
made to bow at his footstool. In the Lord Jesus Christ we have
victory over sin, don't we? He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. We studied that in our Bible
study this morning, Hebrews 9, 26. The Lord Jesus Christ has
conquered every enemy. He conquered Satan, conquered
and demolished his dominion, crushed his head. The seed of
the woman did that. The Lord Jesus Christ has given
us the victory over the law of God that says, curse it is everyone
that continues not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. We read that Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Well, that's good news, isn't
it? Being made sin for us, he redeemed us from the curse of
the law. We read in that chapter about the resurrection, 1 Corinthians
15, that death has been swallowed up in victory. The last enemy
to be destroyed is death. And it tells us all about the
resurrection glory of Christ and his people. Death was swallowed
up in victory. And then the apostle asked these
questions. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. But, what? Thanks be to God who
has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Death for the believer, the character
of death has been changed for the believer. Now let's take
another look at this story of the Lord showing mercy to this
father and mother. We know his name is Jairus. We
know that he had this little daughter, 12 years old. They
were in great sorrow. They were in great need. This
little girl was sick and she died. And they received great
mercy from the hand of our great God. Our Lord is merciful and
he is gracious. Soon as the Lord heard the request
from that father about the little girl being sick and dying, he
said, let us go to your house. I'll go there. And I'll heal
her and she'll live. Here we see a desperate father
seeks mercy and grace to help in his time of need. Look at
it there in Mark chapter 5 verse 22. Behold, there cometh one
of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and when he saw
him, he fell at his feet. In Matthew chapter 9, it said,
he fell at his feet and worshipped him and besought him greatly,
greatly. Can you imagine the cry of his
heart? My little daughter, lie up at
the point of death. I pray thee, I pray thee, I beg
thee. Come and lay thy hands on her,
that she may be healed, and that she should live. Now, put yourself in that place. You know your heart's breaking.
You know the Lord Jesus Christ is able to do. He came believing. He came worshipping, worshipping
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jairus, we know, was the most
religious Jew, being a ruler of the synagogue, probably was
one of the Pharisees, no doubt brought this matter up in the
synagogue. When they met together on the
Jewish Sabbath, no doubt that Jairus and his wife asked the
brethren there to pray for my little girl. You know, they begged
the Lord for mercy, and they asked God for mercy. But I want
us to notice the way Jairus came to the Lord. He came humbly,
didn't he? When he saw the Lord, he fell
down at his feet and worshipped Him. This too is the way the
leper came to the Lord. The leper came to the Lord full
of leprosy, and he fell at his feet and worshipped the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the proper way to approach
the Lord with humility and sincerity in our heart. He's nigh them
of a broken heart. Save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. This is the way we must come.
May God give us a broken heart of repentance toward God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to seek his mercy where it's
found in Christ. Secondly, Jehiarus came with
a spirit and attitude of prayer. He greatly besought him telling
him about his daughter at the point of death, I pray thee.
He came with the spirit and attitude of prayer, not demanding the
Lord to act, but rather beseeching the Lord greatly, asking the
Lord to come to his house and asking the Lord, if you will,
you can make my daughter whole. We are told in scripture, our
Lord has instructed us that we are to come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in our time of need. Certainly that was a needful
time, wasn't it? This father was desperate. True
prayer arises from a right knowledge of God, the God to whom we pray. When Jairus saw Him, he cried
out, knowing He is almighty God, holy and eternal, we too call
upon Him, the only just God and Savior. Many times in Isaiah
we read, there is no God else beside me, There is none beside
me, the only just God and Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God,
and there is none else." True prayer arises out of right knowledge
of who God is. We pray unto the true and living
God, who is able to hear, who is able to act and do all things
according to His eternal purpose. True prayer also arises from
a heart of faith. Jairus believed the Lord was
able to do all that he promised to do, was able to do what he
asked the Lord to do. And we pray to the almighty Lord
who was able to accomplish all things after the counsel of his
own will. Would it do any good to pray
unto God who's not able? We pray unto our God who is able
to do all things right and well. My daughter, it says in Matthew
9, 18, we read earlier, my daughter is even now dead, but come, come
and just lay your hand on her. And notice, notice what the father
said, and she shall live. He believed the Lord was able,
didn't he? We pray, we are taught to pray,
Lord, Thy will be done. But think about this, He's able
to do above all that we ask or think according to the power
that worketh in us. He's able to do abundantly above
all that we ask or think. We're instructed to pray continually
without ceasing. Paul writes to the church in
Thessalonica, he says, rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing,
and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. God's people
are praying people. When the Lord revealed Himself
to Saul of Tarsus, and He sent Ananias down to visit with Paul,
remember what He said to him? Behold, he's praying now. before he was persecuting believers. After he met the Lord, it was
made a new creature in Christ. Now he's praying. What's he praying
about? Lord, thy will be done. Now here's
the second thing we see. We see the Lord's willingness
to help. As soon as the Lord heard this,
Look at verse 24. And Jesus went with him, and
much people followed him and thronged him. As soon as the
Lord heard the request of this father, he starts to the house
of Jairus. And then he's interrupted by
this woman that comes by. But here's a lesson for us. The
Lord arose and followed him, and so did the disciples. The
readiness, we see the readiness and the willingness of our Lord
to show mercy to helpless, guilty, vile sinners. The Lord of glory
never turns, and I say that word never with emphasis, the Lord
of glory never turns a mercy beggar away. I've studied this
book for more than 40 years. I've never read one time when
a mercy beggar came to the Lord in need that he turned and walked
away. He always showed mercy. That ought to encourage us to
come to the Lord at all times. Micah writes about it. Who is
a god like unto he that part in iniquity, that passeth by
the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever. Why? He delights in mercy. Remember we read last week in
Luke chapter 9 verse 11, it says there that many came to Him and
He healed all them that had need of healing. Everyone that came
to Him with a need, He healed them. That ought to encourage
us to come to the Lord. And we don't do that physically.
We do that by faith. We come to Him looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ for all things. The Lord is long-suffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but all should
come to repentance. Notice the Lord is long-suffering
to his people, to us-ward. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed, because his compassions fail not. When Jeremiah
writes that in Lamentations chapter 3, what's happening at that time?
Jerusalem being destroyed. The people are being taken away
into captivity, and he prays, it's the Lord's mercies that
were not consumed. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. The
publican in the temple, when the Lord gave that parable, those
two men that went to the temple, the one a Pharisee who bragged
on himself and was condemned, the publican cried out for mercy,
didn't he? And the Lord heard that cry.
And the Lord said of that man, when the publican cried, Lord,
be merciful to me, thee sinner. Remember what the Lord said about
that man? He went home justified. Rather than the other Pharisee
who bragged on himself how righteous he was, he bragged on himself
and was condemned. The publican, that old sinner,
condemned himself. Remember, he smote on his breast,
said, I'm guilty. He condemned himself and he was
justified. That's mercy. That's the grace
of God. Thirdly, we see the absolute
certainty of sickness and death of this flesh. You realize the
body that you're living in, you have a soul. Your soul lives
in this body, this clay temple. We know something of a certainty
in the sickness and certainty of death of this flesh. It may
be young, it may be old, but this flesh is headed back to
the ground, headed back to the dust. All flesh is grass, Isaiah
40. All flesh is grass and the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field. This little girl was just
12 years old. Why was she sick? She was the sinner. Her flesh
was sinful and depraved just like our flesh. She was sick. She was sick and she died. And
Adam all died. And Adam all sinned. She was
born in sin and iniquity. All we like sheep have gone astray. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And we know the wages of sin
is death. This is the inevitable end of
our flesh. God says, out of the dust, It
was made and back to the dust it will go. The Lord formed man
out of the dust and breathed into him his nostrils the breath
of life and man became a living soul. We believe the immortality
of the soul. And after Adam sinned against
God, in Genesis chapter 3, we read, "...in the sweat of thy
face thou shalt eat bread, for out of it thou wast taken, for
dust thou art, and dust thou shalt return." Back, back to
the dust. When sin is finished with this
body, it will die. We will die at the appointed
time. that our Lord has given unto
us. We studied in Hebrews 9, 26,
it's appointed to the man who wants to die after that judgment. The Lord has appointed the time
of our death. Man's days are determined of
the Lord. He has appointed the means by which we will die. He has appointed the place in
which we will die. by the appointment of God. Now,
two things on this point. Death for the believer, those
who are trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, is not punishment. Death
to the believer is promotion. Promotion. Death for the believer
is a blessed rest and peace. Our Lord calls it many times,
sleep. Blessed are those, remember from
Revelation 14, blessed are those that die in the Lord. The Lord
said to this little girl, she's sleeping, resting in the arms
of God Almighty. Our Lord said of Lazarus, remember
when Mary and Martha's brother died? He said the Lord loved
Lazarus and yet he died, but our Lord When he was called to
go visit them, remember what he said to his disciples, Lazarus
sleeping? He sleepeth. But I go that I
might wake him out of his sleep. Those who die in the Lord rest
in the blessed arms of God our Savior. Those who die in the
Lord. Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7, Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was, and the spirit and the soul shall return
unto God that gave it. The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians
chapter 1, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. When the Apostle Paul was sitting
in a Roman dungeon waiting to be executed, waiting to have
his head removed, He writes back to the young preacher Timothy
and he says, I have a desire to depart and be with the Lord. Paul, where are you going? I'm
going to that third heaven. He'd been there once. Now he's
going back to be forever with the Lord. I have a desire to
depart and be with the Lord, which is far better. David writes
about it this way in Psalm 116. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. And then Paul again writes about
it in 2 Corinthians 5, "...for we are confident and willing
rather to be absent from the bodies than to be present with
the Lord." Dying to the believer is a blessed thing. It's to be
with the Lord forever. On the other hand, death for
the unbeliever is not rest, it's not peace, but rather eternal. condemnation, eternal torment,
and punishment. It to be forever separated from
the love, mercy, and grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes about
it this way in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. To you who are troubled
rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God, that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of His power. You remember, the Lord gave that
parable in Luke 16 of two men who died. The rich man and the
beggar. The rich man died and it says
in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment. It also says
the beggar, he died and was carried away into Abraham's bosom and
there resting eternally in the arms of our blessed Savior. In
John chapter 8 verse 24, the Lord said, if you believe not
that I am, You shall die in your sins. If you believe not that
I am, you shall die in your sins. If you die in your sins, one
old preacher said, you'll be raised in your sins. There is
a resurrection of the just and the unjust. There's a resurrection
of the life and a resurrection of the damnation. If you die
in your sin, you'll be raised in your sin, you'll face God
in judgment in your sin, and forever suffer punishment for
your sin, which is against God. That's why sin is so terrible.
It's against God. If you don't have a mediator,
if you don't have a redeemer to put away your sin, would you
stand before God and brag about how good you've been? You've
not been good. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Here's the last thing I want
us to see in this story. Here we see some shocking bad
news in verse 35. While he yet spake, there came
from the ruler of the synagogue's house a servant that said, Thy
daughter is dead. Why trouble the master? And here's
some good news. The Lord said, Be not afraid. Only believe. Believe only. The shocking bad news, someone
came from the house of Jairus and told him, your daughter's
gone. You know, her heart was broken.
No need to ask the Lord for anything else. The Lord can't help him.
It's too late. Too late. All hope is gone. No, it's not. Where there's God,
there is hope. This is every parent's worst
nightmare, isn't it? What must of grief weighted down
Jairus and his dear wife, their little 12-year-old daughter,
was gone. Now, I know something about having
a 12-year-old son. Some of you remember this. In
1996, my little boy was 12 years old. I told them boys of mine
to never cross that highway. He didn't listen to me. He went
across that highway, and I saw him over there in the neighbor's
yard. I walked out there to the edge of the parking lot, and
I yelled at him, get him! Get him! He turned and looked
at me, darted across the road. Car hitting. I watched it happen. A car hit him, he flipped up
and his head went into the windshield, bounced off the windshield and
knocked him 50 feet down the road. That lady that hit him
drove on down the road. She did eventually turn around
and come back. I went out there in the middle
of the road and picked up my little boy. I thought he was
dead. I thought he was gone. I picked
him up and carried him over in the grass. and laid him down. And he opened his eyes and said,
Daddy, I love you. He knew he's in trouble. But
the Lord spared us. But I know something, and we
know something. We know something of that grief
of a parent. I thought my son was dead, watching
him fly through the air, just hit that road. I thought he's
gone. I know what Jairus is feeling
in his heart. Yet the Lord said, don't be afraid. Believe me. Believe me. Some may have thought, as Martha
and Mary did, Lord, if he'd been here earlier, my brother wouldn't
have died. No, he waited on purpose until
Lazarus did die. If only the Lord had gotten here
earlier. If only the Lord wouldn't have
stopped to take care of that woman with the issue of blood.
If he could have just got here sooner, everything would have
been better. If only. You cannot live in that
world, my friend. It would drive you crazy. If
only. What happens in your life happens
by God's ordained purpose. Mary and Martha said the same
thing about their brother. Lord, if you'd been here, he
wouldn't die. Perhaps now Jairus is the point of despair. The
Lord could have healed him, but oh, now he's dead. The case is
hopeless. My daughter's gone. Not at all. With the Lord, all things are
possible. Now, here's the good news. Don't be afraid. Only believe. Only believe. Fear not. Believe
only. And she shall be made whole.
Memory told the woman that had the issue of blood, in verse
34, daughter of thy faith that made thee whole, go in peace
of thy plague. Anything too hard for the Lord?
Anything too hard for the Lord? For with the Lord all things
are possible. who then can be saved? With the
Lord all things are possible. Only believe that we learn from
this that our salvation is received by precious faith. It's the gift
of God. If you would be saved, only believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You mean that's it? Is
there any more? When that Philippian jailer asked
the Apostle Paul, Remember? What must I do to be saved? What
was the direct answer? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe only the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. In John, many times in the book
of John, we read, He that heareth my word and believeth on me hath
everlasting life. What does that mean? Got it.
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. By him all that believe are justified
from all things which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. The Lord's answer to Jairus was
not only do some good works, It was not only be a good person
and all things will possibly. If you're a good person, I'll
raise your son up. If you do some good works or if you obey
the law, I'll raise your son up. No, only believe God. Only believe and believe only. What? Who? Him. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded that he's able to keep. all that I've committed
unto Him against that day. The father that had that demon-possessed
son, he brought him to the Lord, asked for mercy. And the Lord
said to him, all things are possible to them who believe. And the
father said, Lord, I do believe. Would you help my unbelief? That's
why I need help with my unbelief. Now, here's a glorious display
of the Lord's sovereign power over all things. over all things. Verse 39, And when He was come
in, He saith unto them, Why, why do you make this ado? And
why do you weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. They laughed Him. They laughed
Him to scorn. They laughed at the Lord. But
when he had put them all out, he taken the father and mother
and Damsel and them that were with him and entered in where
the Damsel was lying. And he took the Damsel by the
hand and said unto her, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway. Immediately
the damsel rose and walked, for she was twelve years of age,
and they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly
that no man should know it, and he commanded that something should
be given her to eat. The Lord raised her from the
dead, made a rise, Where the word of the King is,
there's power. He has all power to raise up
spiritually dead sinners and to give us life. You have the
quickened who were dead. Everyone whom the Lord raised
up, that widow's son in the city of Nain, Lazarus, And here is
all a picture of God raising us up and giving us spiritual
life in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the same Lord today and
forever. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not a mere invitation. The Lord didn't invite Lazarus
to come out of the tomb, nor did he invite that young man
in the city of Nain to jump up out of the coffin, nor did he
invite this little girl to give herself life from the dead. No,
he spoke the word by command, and it happened. Where the word
of the King is, there is power. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is more than a mere invitation to sinners to give themselves
life, it's command of God to come forth from the grave and
live. When the Lord passes by in the
time of love, he says, live. And we live by the power of God. Just as this damsel, this little
girl, was raised from the dead, even so he raises us up that
we should walk in the newness of life. And it's all by his
sovereign purpose. all by His sovereign grace, that
He called you out of death and darkness, ignorance, gives you
light, understanding, and life, and salvation, forgiveness, all
in Christ Jesus.