Before we look into the chapter
that we read together, I want to read just a few verses from
the previous chapter in Mark, from chapter 4 and verse 35 to
the end. Chapter 4 of Mark's Gospel, verse
35 to the end. And the same day, when the even
was come, he, that is Jesus, saith unto them, Let us pass
over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in his ship, and there
were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great
storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it
was now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow, And they awake him, and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose,
and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are
ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another what
manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him
so may the Lord help us as we consider that those few verses
in the chapter that we read chapter 5 this evening I haven't got a particular word
as a text as such but the word particularly was on my mind last
week very much the words of my own Bible here verse 26 of chapter 5 sorry my
memory verse 26 and the latter part concerning the woman who
had the infirmity. Chapter 26, the end. But Rather grew worse. Rather grew worse. Who had the
issue of blood, the infirmity. She Rather grew worse. It reminded me of the state of
mankind. Mankind in general. The world talks of evolution.
I don't want to go into that whole matter of evolution and
creation this evening. We only need to pick up a newspaper
tomorrow, or listen to the news, and be reminded the world is
devolving, not evolving. Certainly things are no better
than they were many years ago, many centuries ago. But also,
left to ourselves personally, we don't grow any better, We
talk of maturing as we grow older, but sin doesn't go away. Rather,
if left to ourselves, we grow worse. And our theme this evening
is basically that, that left to ourselves, we have no power,
no strength to come to God, to seek His help, to seek His salvation,
no power even to live, If the Lord takes away our breath, we
cease to live. Isaac Watts, in one of his children's
hymns on creation, speaks of the fact that it is his air that
we breathe. Even the air that we breathe
is not ours. We need it. We cannot live without
breathing in the air. But it is his. It is his air
we breathe. Utterly dependent upon the Lord.
And what we have before us this evening are four instances of
those who were in distress those who were in weakness and infirmity
who couldn't help themselves the things that are impossible
with men you just read in chapter four there at the end of those
disciples a great storm of wind arose and the waves beat into
the ship so that it was now full Once a ship is full of water,
there's only one outcome. It's going to sink. It cannot
float any longer. They cried out. There was no
help for them. I'd call that an uncontrollable
situation. When storms come, we have no
control over them. We have no control over the weather. For that I am thankful. In conversation
with somebody in Guernsey recently I was saying just that. How thankful
we should be. Because there'd be more wars
and arguments over what sort of weather we should have. Farmers
and growers would want more rain. People on holiday going down
to the beach would want more sunshine. And so on and so on. There'd be more arguments about
that. He raiseth the stormy wind,"
says the psalmist in Psalm 107. He raiseth the stormy wind. And that he is the one here,
the Son of God, who also calms and rebukes the wind and says,
Peace, be still. Then we have in chapter 5 the
case of the demoniac, as we call him, the man with many devils
within him called Legion not the name that was given to him
at birth I shouldn't think but his nickname if you like Legion
an impossible situation again he had his dwelling amongst the
tombs we read no man could bind him no not with chains think
of chains as great metal iron things that would normally hold
us down we'd have no strength to break them that he broke them
with ease he'd often been bound with fetters and chains and the
chains had been plucked asunder by him very descriptive language
in our authorised worship plucked asunder by him and the fetters
broken in pieces neither could any man tame him so with the disciples on Galilee
and the Lord an uncontrollable situation Here an untamable man,
again an impossibility. And this woman with her infirmity,
with her issue of blood. An incurable situation. Incurable. She tried her best,
poor woman. Verse 26, she suffered many things
of many physicians. I'll make no comment on that.
The word suffered sometimes is what we go through. But she spent
all that she had and was nothing bettered. She went to this physician and
that physician, this doctor, that doctor. Perhaps somebody
recommended another doctor in another village or another town.
Perhaps he was a bit better, perhaps more helpful in speaking
to her, understanding her situation, but he could do nothing for her.
Just as we have to pay for doctors in Guernsey, so she had to pay
for her doctors as well in those days. There was no national health
in Israel in that day. But she was nothing bettered,
but rather grew worse. Incurable. And then we have the
most hopeless situation of all with Jairus's daughter. He feared
that she was going to die. And eventually they came from
his house and they said, thy daughter is dead. You can imagine the devastation
that he felt. How his heart would have dropped
at that news. His dear daughter was dead. Why troublest thou the master
any further? Thy daughter is dead. So we have
these four situations. An uncontrollable storm, the
weather. An untamable man, a wild man. An incurable disease. And an utterly hopeless case,
my daughter is dead. What do we learn from this? We
learn that man has his limits. There are things we can't do.
There are things we can't change. Man is very full of pride. We
all have it in our hearts, sadly. Great accomplishments have been
done by mankind, even during my lifetime, with the technology
of the computer and the internet. Various means of travel, getting
quicker and quicker, Advances in medical science which
have helped. There are things that help today
that were not known in years gone by. In the 60s and early
70s, my mum's dad, my granddad, had Parkinson's disease. Apparently
it's not genetically passed on, but he certainly had it. He shook
terribly. There was medication. But I'm
very thankful there is better medication today. So there are
good things. The internet is a very evil thing
sometimes. Or it can be used for evil purposes.
It can also be used for good. The sermons that go out from
here at Salem, in Portsmouth, I listen sometimes, myself and
Guernsey. There's much further afield as well. There is good. For what it's worth, man has
reached the moon. sent various space objects, machinery
into space. But they're very little accomplishments
compared with what God can do. And there are many things that
man can't do. He cannot save himself. Yesterday at Hedge End
I took the Sovereign Grace Union meeting and I drew your attention
to Isaiah 45 and verse 20 to 22 which ends with look unto
me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and
there is none else but there is a comparison there in verse
20 is it or verse 21 with the false gods the false idols and
it says they cannot save they cannot save You can't do anything,
because they're nothing. They don't exist. But that most
important thing, if only people knew it, that most important
thing in life, may we feel it so, is that we are saved for
time and for eternity. Find the favour and mercy of
God, that all the gods and idols and ideologies, imaginations,
plans, whatever man comes up with, He cannot, they cannot
save. Only God can save. So as I say,
the most important thing in life, and in death, to know that we
are safe, will be taken into a glorious eternity, in the presence
of our God. We can't do it ourselves. There
is no help. people may try take this man
with the devils for instance verse 4 verse 3 no man could
bind him no not with chains because that he had been often bound
with fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder
by him and the fetters broken in pieces neither could any man
tame him they tried but their bands of them went out and for
a while they thought they got him they pinned him down they
got the chains on him and just threw open his arms and they
flew apart the chains and broke in pieces and people try people try if
they have any idea that there is a God they believe that there
is a God they try their very best to appease this God often
of their own imagination But there is only one way, and that
is the way that God himself has shown us, and God by his power
accomplishes the salvation of a soul in Christ. We can't deliver ourselves. For
these people here, in these two chapters, there was no hope either. The disciples were getting in
a panic. They were accustomed to this lake. They were accustomed
to the storms that suddenly brewed up, as we say, blew up. But they were scared stiff, and
I can sympathize with that. Naturally speaking, the boat
was filled with water, full with water. The storm didn't abate. Things were just getting worse
and worse. There was no hope. They were going to sink. And
naturally speaking, they would have done. as I said before once
a boat is full of water it's by the laws of nature or creation
as we might call them it's going to sink this man again legion again no
hope they tried their best but there was no hope for the woman
with her infirmity and her inflection there was no hope she was nothing
bettered but rather grew worse, she'd spent all that she had,
all her savings were gone. There were no state charities
or benefits in those days, she couldn't look forward to the
next week and getting some money in that she might try again, another
physician. She had spent all that she had
and there's nothing bettered. All hope was gone. and of course
in the case here of Jairus's daughter when they came from
his house and said thy daughter is dead there's no hope is there if something or somebody is dead
that's it occasionally sadly as I've been
driving over the years in Guernsey Occasionally I've hit a bird
that has crossed too close to my car, and I still get sickly
feeling as I hit it. You hear the thud. And there
it is lying in the road, dead. There's just absolutely nothing
anybody can do. You cannot breathe life into
something that's dead. You might try artificially to
do it, but you can't do it. You can't do it. There is no
hope. And the human race is dead in
trespasses and sins. If you turn to Ephesians chapter
2, I'm sure you're very familiar with it. It's worth reading these
things to remind ourselves of what the word of God says about
ourselves by nature. Ephesians chapter 2. You hath he that is God quickened. made alive brought to life who
were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world this is what it means to
be dead in sin you can be very alive to this world here he describes
these people all the Lord's people in their previous condition as
walking according to the course of this world to walk you must
be alive People are very alive to education. The various pleasures
that the world offers, whether innocent pleasures as we call
them or sinful pleasures. Very alive to their own health
situation. Nothing wrong with that. Very
alive to the things of this life and this world. Walking according
to the course of this world. Here Paul is emphasizing the
sinful aspect of mankind, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our behavior, our
way of life, in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. Very alive to the things
of this world, people who have desires and lusts are alive but
spiritually absolutely stone dead and somebody that is dead
cannot raise themselves and nobody else can raise them it is given to the people of
God gospel ministers perhaps in particular to preach the gospel
to every creature not to discriminate not to say I won't preach to
that person or that person because I don't think they'll ever be
saved we don't know we are to preach faithfully and zealously
the gospel of the grace of God but we cannot convert a soul
nobody can do that the Lord brings his people in and says that you
are to be witnesses of my grace, of my gospel, of my mercy, of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You are to be ready to give a
reason for the hope that is within you. But you cannot, at the end
of the day, change a soul. Maybe you've been converted or
called by grace under a certain minister, or certain ministers,
and you have a certain affection for them. They were used to bring
the gospel to you. But they cannot take, and should
never take, the place of the Lord himself, who alone brings
about a new birth in the soul, and brings repentance towards
himself and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dead in trespasses and sins. People, I think as Christians,
you know, sometimes we forget that people in this world have
no spiritual faculty whatsoever. because those in Parliament,
states of Guernsey, run the island affairs where I live. There may be some Christians
amongst them, or professing Christians, who have certain moral values. We live in a democracy, so we
can criticise them. But we are to pray for them as
well, of course. But we are never to forget that most of them are
not Christians, They haven't got Christian values. You can't produce them within
them. You can challenge their decisions. You can write to your
MP. But you cannot change their hearts. Dead in trespasses and sins. Your daughter is dead. Going
back to Mark 4 and 5 also. As you read through, I read through
these verses, these chapters again. I was reminded that in
each case here there is no peace. These people didn't experience
peace. Here in chapter 4, verse 38,
the disciples said to the Master, they awake him and say unto him,
Master, carest thou not where we perish? And you can feel the
panic in those words. I wondered sometimes, rightly
or wrongly, what the disciples looked like, what their faces
were like. Not told any of them, of any of them, what their ages
were. I was thinking the other day
that the Lord was very young when he hung on that cross, only
33. My youngest son is now 34, older
than him when he died. But the word pictures we have,
especially, I love our authorised version for these descriptions
here. The wind, they awake him and
say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? The
very alliteration, the words themselves, carest, it's a sort
of hard, care is a soft gentle word in many ways. But in this
sense, you can feel the panic, Master, it's a hard C, carest
thou not that we perish? No peace. Panic. Then this man, of course, amongst
the tombs, he certainly didn't experience peace, did he? Always, night and day, he was
in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with
stones. In utter torment. The woman with her infirmity.
She spent all that she had. There's nothing bettered, but
rather grew worse. Perhaps he'd just given up. But
still there would have been no peace there, and certainly in
Jairus' heart, as soon as he heard those words, my daughter
is dead, why troublest thou the master any further? No peace. Devastation. And there is no peace outside
of God. Outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There may be a certain peace in this world, People who don't know the Lord
sometimes experience peace when things are going well. And their
children are behaving themselves and growing up well and doing
well at school when they have good health and there's a reasonable
amount of money in the bank. They go out perhaps on a Saturday
morning into some country park and the sun's shining gloriously,
the flowers are in full bloom, the birds are singing in the
air, cloudless skies, peaceful things in this world. But it's
not an abiding peace, because things change in life. Even for
a Christian, there are the changing scenes of life in trouble and
in joy. We change. My life changed. It
has recently, so my life has changed even with that. The years go by. We haven't got
the strength that we once had. Illness perhaps comes. Money
gets very short. Wars come. There is no abiding
peace in this world. And if our hearts have been opened,
so that we realise our sin and our guilt before a holy God,
there is no peace. There is no peace. You've been
there. If you're one of the Lords tonight,
you've been there. And the Lord's people experienced conviction
of sin in varying degrees. John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's
Progress, had a very intense and quite lengthy conviction
of sin, William Huntington the same. Others haven't gone through such
depths. I think, I agree with Joseph Hart, I think it is, who
said that it's when we know the Lord, when we've been called
by grace, that we feel sin, even more and even more greatly, because
we appreciate what a horrible thing it is, what an offensive
thing it is in the sight of a holy God. And when we are conscious of
sin, of offending God, and yet the way of salvation and forgiveness
and pardon and mercy is not made clear to us, there is no peace. But once we're brought to the
Savior, there is peace. We have peace through our Lord
Jesus Christ, peace with God. What a blessed peace that is.
One commentator I remember reading many years ago, I may have said
this before here, perhaps others have said it as well, said that
often peace is biblical peace, experimental peace in the heart,
is pictured in some way Perhaps that text we have, Peace with
God, is pictured in some way of a lake, very calm with hardly
a ripple on it. Sunsets, glorious hues of the
sunset, trees lining the lake, very peaceful situation. He says
that's not really Christian peace, peace with God. He described
peace with God as a dove in a terrific storm on a cliff. the waves crushing against the
rocks, the wind blowing with a great blast, that she's sheltered
in a little cleft of the rock, out of the wind, out of the waves.
That's real peace. Peace in the world around us,
in every situation. If we experience peace in all
the situations of life, That's real peace. When things go wrong,
as the world would say. They never go wrong, you know,
for the Christian. All things work together for good to them
that love God and are called according to His purpose. And
to me, the word all means exactly what it says. All things. And for the Christian, we have
that hymn of Joseph Swain, haven't we, in our hymn books? The number's
just gone over my head. Where he talks about the Lord
taking away various things in our lives, our various afflictions.
He said, he never takes away our all, himself he gives us
still. He never takes away our all,
himself he gives us still. Peace with God. But we've looked
at these situations here and the, what we might call the negative
side really, the hopelessness, the helplessness, an uncontrollable storm, an incurable
disease, an untamable man, a wild man, and an utterly hopeless
situation with Jairus' daughter. Of course things didn't end there.
We have a before and after situation in all these things. in verse
38 of chapter 4 the disciples woke the Lord and said unto him
master carest thou not that we perish and he arose and rebuked
the wind and said unto the sea peace be still and the wind ceased
and there was a great calm they couldn't do anything about
the situation and storms come into our lives that we can't
do anything about Only the Lord can bring peace. Only He can
utter those words. Peace be still. We can read them
as print upon the page of our Bibles, but still not know that
peace. If you're lacking that peace
this evening, may the Lord in His grace and mercy speak those
words to your soul. Peace be still. And the wind
ceases. Nobody can do that. Even I can't
do it, I've said sometimes at Bethesda. We could go down to
the nearby bay called Pettibow, on a stormy day, when the tide's
up, we could stand there and rebuke the waves, tell them to
go back, and nothing would happen. There are various places, by
legend, where King Thinoot was supposed to have been told by
his courtiers that he can make the sea go back, the tide go
back. General consensus of opinion is that he went down to the shore
with them to show them that he couldn't do that, he had no such
power. There's a canute road in Sir Hampton, that's one of
the places, perhaps somewhere around here, maybe another place.
Or wherever it happened, if it really happened. King that he
was, he had no power to turn the sea back again. Neither of
you. and here is a helpless situation
where the Lord comes in he says peace be still and the wind ceased
and there was a great calm it's interesting that he goes on then
to say to them why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have
no faith? what faith were they supposed to have? faith in him what did he say in verse 35?
as we have it recorded in verse 35 Let us pass over unto the
other side. If the Lord Jesus says let us
pass over to the other side, we're going over to the other
side. Storms may come, our peace may be shattered, our boats may
be full of water, we may be in the most impossible situations,
but if the Lord has said to his people, let us go over to the
other side, we'll go over. When doubts and fears come and
we need to take them to the Lord, that He may speak those words,
fear not. But He will search us and say, why are ye so fearful? He that begun with good work
will finish it. The Lord's people will never
perish. The righteous shall hold on His
way. Do you believe in the final security? Preservation, perseverance
of the saints. We believe it is a teaching and
yet when we come into certain situations, the devil brings
fears into our hearts perhaps, knocks our faith about. It's
not so easy. But if the Lord has said to his
people, let us pass over to the other side, into glory, into
heaven, they will go, no matter what storms are on the way. The
Lord Jesus makes the difference. The same with this man. This
wild man amongst the tombs. He had been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces. They could do nothing. Hopeless
situation. But strangely, quite mysterious
in some ways, at their request, he sent those devils into swine.
They didn't last very long. They went down into the lake.
but then we find the man a little later on again i'm not used to
this verse 15 they come to jesus and see him that was possessed
with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his
right mind sitting sitting is a posture of rest We've been
hard at work during the day, perhaps on our feet. How good
it is to sit down, have a tea or coffee or whatever you like.
You rest. It's a good posture of rest.
In his right mind, no longer tearing about, no longer wild,
no longer unstable. And clothed. There's gospel here,
of course, isn't there? There's gospel sitting. Peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Clothed by nature, we are not
clothed with the righteousness that pleases God. But when we are brought to Jesus
Christ, we are given his righteousness. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin. that we may be made the righteousness
of God in him. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress. And in his right mind. Then I
turn you to Ephesians chapter 5. Paul is warning the lost people
here against a worldly spirit Ephesians 4 in verse 17 this I say therefore
and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind now that going back
to yesterday we spoke of vanity as often meaning emptiness that
can mean pride or the emptiness of their mind having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who,
being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness. They're not in their
right mind. Spiritually, naturally, again,
they may well be. They may be very clever people
in this world, very educated people, very intellectual people,
who know their subject very well up to a point. But spiritually,
the world is not in its right mind. And the Lord's people were
once like that. Not in their right mind spiritually.
I said that once at Bethesda in Guernsey, and one lady in
the congregation has never returned. I don't regret saying it. I did
explain what I meant, that it was spiritual. She took umbrage
and thought I was saying this. She, in particular, was ignorant
and mentally unstable, which I never said at all. The world can't accept it. But
spiritually, and we've all been there, as I say, we're not saying
that with an element of pride that we've made ourselves better,
changed our opinions and become better. Amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was blind, but
now see. the emptiness of the mind. This
man was now in his right mind. Only the Christian is in their
right mind spiritually. They're right with God. Put a
lot to learn, of course, trip up along the way, but nevertheless
have their right mind. The man at peace. The woman felt
in her body that she'd been healed. There's no doubt of peace now.
then we have Jairus verse 35 chapter 5 while he yet
speak there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain
which said thy daughter is dead again there's a sort of bluntness
there isn't there with those letter repetition of that letter
D thy daughter is dead why trouble to stand a master any further
as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken He said unto
the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. All the compassion of Jesus. Be not afraid, only believe. How we need those words. We need
them drilled into our hearts, our minds and our souls. Faith
is the gift of God. Anything that takes away fear
is the gift of God. Fear not. Blessed fear not's
a scripture, subject in itself. And eventually, of course, Jairus'
daughter is raised from the dead. She did die. I know Jesus says
she only sleeps, but she did die. What he meant was she would
be brought back to life. In verse 41, he took the damsel
by the hand and said unto her, Talitha Kumai, which is being
interpreted, damsel I say unto thee arise and straightway, it's
a mark of Mark's gospel that these words immediately in a
non and straightway are softened there, straightway the damsel
arose and walked as she was at the age of 12 years. Jesus made
the difference and only he can, other refuge have I none, only
he can make the difference. he spoke to the storm and the
storm ceased he cast those devils or allowed them to go into the
swine and the man was left in peace the woman just touched
the hem of his garment just a touch she was healed and it was Jesus
it was the hem of his garment and it was a touch of faith and
then Jairus' daughter was raised from the dead. Not only did Jesus speak there,
but I find it very, to use the word, touching, that he touched
her. He took the damsel by the hand. She was a young girl, 12
years old. He took her by the hand. And
he has a sense of her needs. In that last verse, verse 43,
He charged them straightly that no man should know it and commanded
that something should be given her to eat. She's been in a terrible state.
She's been ill and she's died. She needs something to eat. The
tenderness, the thought of Jesus. This is our Lord. This is the
Lord we profess to know and love. So bringing this to a close.
What do we learn from this, just to sum up? We learn our helplessness. We are dependent upon the Lord
for everything. And this is for the Lord's people, as much as
anybody else. Without me, you can do nothing. What a hard lesson to learn,
because we all have independence within us. In worldly things, of course,
we bring up our children, have them educated that they might
go out into the world and perhaps have their own families and so
on. Independent of us. Not totally independent. We like
to think they're still a little bit dependent upon us. But God, our Heavenly Father,
does not bring up His children to be independent of Him. but
to be increasingly dependent upon him. Without me, he can
do nothing, but pride in our hearts. Pride in our hearts. It doesn't go away. As the years
go by, I sometimes thought, maybe it will diminish, but it doesn't.
Now I need to pray against it, and self, wretched self, There are things that we can
do for ourselves, but again, only with the strength that God
gives us. We are dependent upon Him. Do
we trust the Lord for all things? I remember in conversation with
somebody again many years ago, and I often use this phrase now
as I come to preach, many years ago, because the years do go
by. Many years ago, I was told of a Christian lady, I believe
she's certainly still alive today, a very elderly lady now, It was
quite well off, her and her husband were quite well off. And she
was in conversation with the person who spoke to me. And he
said, I pray for certain things, I don't know what he prayed for,
but in her mind some little thing. She said, oh, she said, I wouldn't
bother the Lord with that. I wouldn't bother the Lord with
that. And the man who said it to me
said, I needed to bother the Lord with it. Perhaps because
of her well-off condition, she didn't. I still think it's important
to pray every day. Lord give us this day our daily
bread. I have bread in the cupboard.
I have food in the fridge usually, in the freezer. But I think it's
still a good prayer to pray because it shows our dependence on the
Lord for all things. We are dependent upon him. We learn too that salvation is
of the Lord. I believe that this man, who
was full of devils at one time, called Legion, became a true
follower of the Lord. I find it very sad to read of
the attitude of those who Jesus came to, the man. Verse 16, they
that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed
with the devil. and also concerning the swine. You'd think they'd
have rejoiced. Bands of men, no doubt, had gone
out to tie this man down, to chain him down, to stop him living
the life he was leading, being a threat to them, their children. But this is unbelief, you see,
this is sin in the heart of man. They began to pray him, or ask
him to depart out of their coasts they come to Jesus they see the
result of Jesus compassion and mercy and power and they began
to pray him to depart out of their coasts this is sinful man
we will not have this king to reign over us we will not have
this God to reign over us no matter what wonders he can do
they had the evidence in front of them Shortly after Jesus fed 5,000,
or more than 5,000 people, 5,000 men and others, some of the leaders
of the Jews came to him and said, show us a sign. Show us a sign. Unbelief. Verse 35, again, Jairus's daughter,
thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master
any further? Hopeless situation. Well, of course, naturally speaking,
if somebody passes from this life, they are beyond our prayers.
But in other situations that seem impossible, we can still
go to the Lord. I remember hearing one preacher
say that we must not pray a prayer more than once on a certain subject. Once you've told the Lord once,
He knows. My scriptures quote the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ask. Seek. Knock. Gets more intense
doesn't it? Ask. You don't seem to have an
answer. So seek. Still don't seem to
get what you're looking for. Knock. Bang on the door. You come into the house of the
ruler of the synagogue. and seeth the tumult and them that wept
and wailed greatly and when he was come in he said unto them
why make ye this ado and weep the damsel is not dead but sleepeth
the damsel is not dead but sleepeth and they laughed him to scorn
they still do that with Jesus today all the evidence for God is around
and within us Then I said yesterday, creation screams at us, screams
at us, God made me. There is a God, we are responsible
to him. So much evidence for a God, a
true and living God. They have the Gospel preached
to them, over the centuries. Our own nation, and I include
Guernsey in a sort of lucid sense there of course, we have the
same Queen, different governments, What mercies over the years? What favours? How many Christians have given
witness in this land? In this city? Martyrs have witnessed? Awakenings? Revivals? We can say in a very, very general
sort of sense that this country has been governed with Christian
principles until suddenly it all seems to collapse because they love God to school
you speak of his laws we will not have this God to reign over
us you speak of his compassion his mercy we don't need it you
speak of the gospel The need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone for salvation, we don't need that. They laughed
Him to scorn. Terrible unbelief. May we never,
as the Lord's people, even within our hearts, laugh Him to scorn. May we take His word very seriously.
May we take Him very seriously with His help. May we remember
that a Christian life is one of dependence upon God. May He
give us, too, thankful hearts for a most precious Savior, a
most precious refuge. What a friend we have in Jesus. Do you know that? Friend of sinners.
What a name. Man of sorrows, what a name.
Friend of sinners as well. What a glorious gospel. And faith. If you have faith this evening,
you may feel your faith's not very strong, but if you have
faith tonight, it is a gift of God. Not something that you've
manufactured, you were perfectly incapable of doing that. You
were dead in trespasses and sins. If you have faith, if you want
faith, if you desire faith, and I can only point you to one place,
to the Lord himself, and yet how unthankful we are.
The old hymn, or Christian song perhaps, says count your blessings,
name them one by one. Do you ever sit down and try
to do that? Perhaps even get a pen out, get
your iPad or whatever you've got, and put your blessings down. The blessings of one day, even the fact that we have liberty
to meet here tonight we have the promise of the presence of
God with his people where two or three are gathered together
he will be there we have the promise of God to
be with his people all through life I will never leave them
nor forsake them we have the assurance that all things are
working for good to them who love God and are called according
to his purpose we have precious promises like golden silver and
jewels throughout scripture we have a hope of glory that when
we put our own afflictions on one side of the balance, the
scales we put that hope of glory on the other side it becomes
an eternal weight of glory and the scales just go down on that
side and it's like a feather on the other side we feel the
pains and sorrows of the way But oh, for that eternal weight
of glory that is promised us, there are people who don't have
that. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will
surprise you what the Lord has done. I know it's an old Christian
song, as it were, but it's very true. And finally, we need prayer. Then we come back to that dependence
upon the Lord. Jairus had a great need Jairus
was a ruler of a synagogue and even in these early days of Jesus'
ministry there weren't many rulers of the Jewish synagogues who
went to Jesus for help they were more likely to confront him or
ignore him but this man had a desperate need his little daughter was
dying was eventually dead and he came to Jesus And Jesus went with him. The
woman did not reward it to start off with, but she touched the
hem of his garment. The arm of faith went out. The
disciples on that lake, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose and rebuked the wind. They came to Jesus. you come to Jesus do you still
go to him? I believe those words come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden I will give you rest apply just as much to
the Lord's people as to somebody who's coming to him in the first
place so often we lose peace we lose
rest because we do not pray I'm going to sing a different hymn
to close if one's just come to mind I'll quote it and then we'll
bring this to a close John Newton's hymns, number 397 in Gatsby's
selection. In themselves as weak as worms,
how can poor believers stand, when temptations, foes and storms
press them close on every hand? Weak indeed they feel they are.
That's a mercy, to feel your weakness. But they know the throne
of grace, and the God who answers prayer helps them. when they
seek his face. The things that are impossible
with men are possible with God. If you feel your situation, yourself,
are growing worse, there is only one who can help. And if as we've
looked at these interventions of the Lord Jesus Christ in these
different situations, with these different people, if that's helped
us, then it's good. May the Lord bless his word.
Amen.