If you take your Bibles and turn
with me again to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. We went over this healing of
the woman with the issue of blood on Wednesday. But I desire to
take this passage as a whole, as it was intended, I believe,
by the Holy Spirit to teach us something of God's delayed mercies. God's delayed deliverance. And
that's what I've entitled the message. Delayed Deliverance. I know as believers in Jesus
Christ, we look at the providence of God. We look at the providence
of God and we are often perplexed. We're often perplexed. We read
of God's Word and His promises and we believe them with all
our heart, but how often Do our circumstances, how often do the
providences of time appear? Listen, that word's very important.
They appear contradictory to what God promised. They appear
that way. They appear to oppose. Providence
and promises often appear to oppose one another. We look at
our situation, it's dark, it's full of sorrow, it's full of
grief, it's full of trouble. And then we go to God's Word,
and what do we read? We read of God's love. We read
of God's mercy. We read of God's kindness. We
read of His gentleness. We read of His promises to do
us good. And yet we are experiencing very
bad providences. And I'll tell you why this is.
It's because we really have a very narrow and confined view. providence
we only see providence from our point of view our point of view
is very narrow it's limited it's finite really we're only concerned
about ourselves we're only concerned about our troubles our difficulties
and we're not concerned so much nor can we see what God is doing
as a whole we're only one small piece in this very large providence
But God, remember God that has a perfect view. God has a perfect
view. Why? Because everything that
is done in time is according to the will and decree of an
infinitely wise God. Infinitely wise, perfect. Everything
that God does is perfect. And now, in this history, this
is my purpose of the message today, is to show you how all
things work together for the good of God's people. This is
one instance in Scripture, but it is a very good instance to
show us what is God doing when He delays deliverance. When His promises say one thing
and our experience is another. I want to see how all things
God works together for His people and how His delayed deliverance
better manifests His glory and power for our comfort and for
our good. Now, I'm going to take this passage
and we're going to break this down and I'm going to go over
the history and then I'm going to explain it to you. First of all, let's
look at verse 21. And when Jesus passed over again
by ship into the other side, Much people gathered unto him,
and he was nigh unto the sea. Remember, he had just come back
to Capernaum from that great miracle of delivering the demoniac
from that legion of demons. And no doubt this word came across
before he got there. That was a great event, Heard
a swine going off into that. Can you imagine the noise that
that made in that community? That word traveled fast. And
when Jesus comes to this other story, steps off the boat, and
there is a large crowd waiting. There's a large crowd waiting.
And as soon as He steps off the boat, look at this. In verse
22, behold. Scripture wants us to see something.
When it says that, behold, the Spirit of God says, There cometh
one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, And when he saw
him, he fell at his feet." I want you to know that this man Jairus
was no poor man. This was no mean man. This was
no regular fellow. He was a ruler, a well-known
figure. He was wealthy. He was a ruler
of the synagogue. He was a man of great importance.
But as you see Him coming, you're going to find out none of that
mattered to Him. When He came, He didn't come in His pomp, in
His circumstance. He didn't come in His robes of
wealth. He didn't come displaying His
authority. This man came with an urgent
need, bowing down at the feet of Jesus. Can you imagine falling
down in that sand, on that ocean, near that seashore? He fell down
at His feet, begging. None of that mattered to Him. He besought the Lord greatly,
verse 23, besought Him greatly, urgently. This was an urgent
matter and here it was. 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 came with an urgent
message. My baby is dying. My young daughter, is at the
point of death, and she is dearest to His heart. And so what does
Jesus do? At this begging, at this pleading
of this man, at this man who prostrates himself, verse 24,
Jesus went with him. What Jesus here by this verse
is telling us is this. He agreed to heal her. When He went with Jairus, it
was a promise He had intent to heal this little
girl. How happy do you think he was
at this time? Jesus agreeing, he said, let's
go. Let's go. I'll heal her. Let's go. And all of a sudden,
you imagine how he felt. The lady just, oh, he's coming. He's coming. He's going to heal
my, he's going to heal my girl. But notice the providence that
comes up. Notice the providence. Jesus
went with him, but what happened? And much people followed and
thronged him. This man Jairus had faith, didn't
he? He had faith. He had faith when
he heard of Christ and his ability, he came in faith believing Christ
could heal his daughter. And he came asking. He didn't
come telling. He didn't come demanding. Isn't
this how believers come? We come to Christ not demanding. We don't care about our wealth.
We don't care about our fame, our power. We come begging. That's
what he came. He came begging. So we see that
this man had faith. He had faith. But I'll tell you
what, his faith wasn't big. Very small. Remember that centurion?
Jesus said that guy had faith. What was his faith? He said,
don't even come to my house. If you just say the word, my
servant is healed. And Jesus marveled. He said,
no, I've not found so great a faith in Israel. Why? Because he found
faith like this. He found this man's faith. He
said, no, you have to actually come to my house. You have to
actually put your hands on her. And that's the only way you can
heal her. If he really had Faith, you know, big faith, strong faith.
He would have said, Lord, just say the word. But he didn't have
that kind of faith. Do any of us have really that
strong faith in the beginning? No. Our faith is small like his. But we still see the purpose
of Jesus. We're going to see the purpose of Jesus in this.
In his following this man to his house. And we look at the
great problem, we see this, the crowd begins to press in. This is the first obstacle of
providence. Divine providence ordained that
there should be a big crowd, and there was. And Jairus, he
sees Christ's promise, he sees Christ going, and all of a sudden
there's an obstacle. This crowd begins to press and
slow their progress. Can you not see Him pressing
and struggling in that crowd? Trying to pull Jesus along as
He's going through that crowd. Come on! We've got to go! Come
on! He's pushing and struggling against the crowd. But the greater
He pushes, the greater the crowd pushes back. And His progress
is slowed. He's trying to get Christ to
His little girl. But now in verses 25 through
34, there's a bigger obstacle. Not only is the crowd pressing
in, but look in verse 25, a certain woman, which had an issue of
blood 12 years, suffered many things of the physicians and
spent all that she had and was nothing better but grew worse.
When she had heard of Jesus, she came and pressed in behind
and touched his garment. For she said, if I could touch
his clothes, I shall behold and straightway the fountain of her
blood was dried up. She felt in her body that she
was healed of the plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in himself that virtue has gone out of him, turned about in the
press and said, Who touched my clothes? This woman, this issue
of blood. The Lord gives us a little history
before she anybody knew what would happen. Nobody knew when
she was doing all this. Nobody knew this up front. Christ,
Jairus was just trying to get through the crowd. And this woman,
she comes in by faith, she touches his garment and she is made whole.
And you know what Jesus does? He just surprises everyone. He stops. They are on an urgent,
time-sensitive mission. God promised, Christ promised
He would heal that daughter, and time was of the essence.
So, Jairus thought time was of the essence. And Jesus just plain stopped.
No progress is being made now. He said, who touched me? What
a question. Everybody's touching him. Can
you imagine? His disciples are confused. They're
saying, Lord, didn't you promise to go heal this little girl?
And here you are. You stopped in the middle of
the crowd. You stopped all the progress. And you ask a question. Who touched me when everybody's
touching? Everybody's touching. They were
confused. They were confused. The Lord
in the crowd, he turns about and he's asked, who touched me? They said, who touched you? But
the Lord looking about, knowing who it was that she hid, he knew
this, she had to be exposed. She had to be exposed. So he
stops and he looks about at her. And you know what? He finds her.
And she's afraid. She's fearful because she just
broke the law. She knows that this guy was on
an urgent mission to heal this girl and knows the law. If he
gets touched by me, if I get found out, he's got to go wash
himself and he's not going to heal this girl. So she comes
trembling. He looked around and says, He
looked at her, verse 32, that had done this thing, but the
woman fearing, trembling, knowing what was done in her, she came
and fell before Him, listen, and she told Him all the truth.
Now then, she's going to have to go back and start this story
from the beginning. Can you imagine the patience
of Christ as He's looking at this girl, laying at His feet,
and He's patiently listening to her tell all the truth, while
this man over here Jairus is so afraid, confused as to why
the Lord would stop and listen. Can't we come back to this? Can't
you come back to this? You need to get going. And he's
patiently listening as though he has all the time in the world.
He does. He has all the time in the world.
And he listens to her story. He listens to her tell the whole
story in amazement. Jairus listens to this. So Jesus
said to her, daughter, you see what He was doing here? He's
saying, Jairus, look, you have a daughter, so do I. As much more than you care for
your daughter, I care for mine. Daughter. I think that's a very...
He did that on purpose, didn't He? He said that word on purpose
to make sure everyone understands, this is my daughter who needed
to be healed. You have a daughter, Jairus.
I swore I would heal her, but I also have a daughter that must
be healed. Daughter, be of good cheer. It says that, verse 34, he said,
Daughter, thy faith, thy faith in me hath made thee whole. Go
in peace and be whole of thy plague. Oh, how he must have felt, so
distraught, But in verse 35, Jairus' worst
nightmare comes true. All that he had feared now comes
to pass. And while he yet spake, there
came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain that said, Thy
daughter is dead. Why trouble us the master any
further? Jairus, you're too late. Your daughter is dead. The case is now beyond the master's
power. You ever feel that way? Your situation is dead. Why do
you trouble Christ with your prayers? It's too far beyond you So then
it must be too far beyond him. Can you see his face? I could feel his pain. I could
feel his confusion. He promised. He promised. But now she's dead. Now take your face and your eyes
off of Jairus and look at the face of Christ. Do you suppose
there was any discouragement in the face of Christ? Do you suppose there was any
tears in His eyes? Any trouble? You know, we're
confronted with trouble and we're trying to help somebody and now
that the thing is beyond us, we're like, I don't know what
to do. You suppose there's any confusion in his face? Any trembling in his voice? No. Look what he said. As soon as
Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler
of the synagogue, listen, do not be afraid. Be not afraid. This is what you need to do.
Only believe. Only believe. Be not afraid. Only believe. The whole situation here, the
delay, the obstruction, everything that had happened, our Lord purposed
to happen. This is why he's not dismayed.
This is why he is not discouraged. Because he ordained and purposed
these things. Jesus is going now to display His power and grace
in a greater way than Jairus could possibly have imagined.
See, Jairus just thought he'd come and touch her and raise
her from the dead. The Lord says, No, no, no. I've got something
better for you to see. I've got something better for
you. And so in faith, Jesus presses on. He said to Jairus, don't
be afraid, only believe. Let's go. And what does Jairus
do? He follows right along. He follows
Christ, having no other hope than the Word of Jesus to lean
on. He trusted that Christ was able
to raise her from the dead. That's what you can surmise about
this. He trusted that Christ was still able. Even after He
heard that she was dead. But when Jesus gets there, let's
read this on. In verse 36, as soon as He heard
this, He spoke and said, Be not afraid, only believe. And He
suffered no man to follow Him save Peter, James, and John,
the brother of James, And he cometh to the house of the ruler
of the synagogue. And he seeth a tumult. He seeth
that everybody's crying and wailing, and they're all sad. They're
all weeping. This girl had died. And when
he was come in, he saith to them, Why make you this ado? Why are
you weeping? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. Now notice what they did. They
laughed him to scorn. Knows what he did, he put them
out. He said, get out of here. Get out! And he took the father
and the mother of the damsel and them that were with him,
and he entered into where the damsel was laying. Our Lord was often mocked, ridiculed. But I'll tell you one person
that did not ridicule Him, and that was Jairus. Why? He believed Christ. Why do you
think he was in there in that room with his dead daughter and
her mother and those disciples? Because he believed. And notice
what Jesus said. He took the damsel by the hand
and said unto her, Telemachomi, which being interpreted
damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And look what happened. And straightway
the damsel arose and walked. For she was of the age of 12
years, and they were astonished. Now listen, I've taken great
lengths to go through this whole history, even because it is one
event. It is one event, and by this
we see the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to learn
a lesson here. He wants us to learn the lesson
of delayed mercy, of delayed deliverance. in the healing of
this daughter. Let us learn then whatsoever
that God, that whatsoever God is sovereign over all things.
That's a lesson that we must learn here. We must learn that
God is sovereign over all the events of time, that everything
that happens in time and eternity is willed and purposed and decreed
by God and whatever, listen, whatever God decreed, that's
exactly what's going to happen. He will perform everything according
to His own will. And as we see this unfold, what
do we see? We see the will of God being
worked out in providence. Being worked out in providence. Whatever God... And listen, nothing
thwarts the will of God. Nothing. Isn't that what Nebuchadnezzar
said? He said, in the armies of heaven,
the heavens of America, He does whatsoever will, no one can stay
His hand or say unto you, what doeth thou? God is doing all
His will. And what is so plainly displayed
here is the purpose of God is this. The good of His elect and the
glory of His name. What is God doing? You can sum
it up by those two things. He is working all things for
the good of His people and the glory of His name. And so I want
us to see three things by this history here, what God had purposed
to accomplish and did accomplish. First of all, we see by this
the trial of Jairus' faith, the trial and increase of Jairus'
faith. Secondly, by delayed deliverance,
we see the salvation of the woman. And thirdly, by delayed deliverance,
we see the greater manifestation of the deity of Jesus Christ. We see these three things by
delayed deliverance. Let us first of all take hold
of this truth. Before you're going to learn this, we've got
to take hold of this truth. We've got to hold fast this truth
that everything God does in providence is for our good. Go to Jeremiah
chapter 32. Everything, everything, that
God does in time and eternity and in providence is for the
good of His people. Jeremiah 32 and verse 40. Look what God says. God says,
I will. Remember, whatever God wills,
He will do. And this is God's will. He said,
I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And what's the purpose
of your covenant, Father? that I will not turn away from
them to do them good." Now, in order to be comforted in providence,
especially in delayed deliverances, we must understand that whatever
God is doing is for our good. I will not turn away from them
to do them good. What evidence do we have of this?
Our salvation. He said, I will put my fear in
their hearts and they shall not depart from me. That's the manifestation
of God's goodness to us, isn't it? and that he sent his son
to die for our sins and by his grace applied that to our hearts.
We now fear God. We reverence God. And what is
his promise? They will never depart from me.
They will never. This is his covenant. And notice
this. God says, I'm not even going
to do I'm I'm not just going to do you good. I'm going to
be happy to do you good. He said, I will rejoice over
them to do them good. How many times you've done good
to somebody and it really just not been the greatest joy for
you? You've done something and you
had to grit your teeth to do good. God says, I'm not gritting
my teeth to do good. He said, I rejoice to do you
good. I rejoice to do them good and not turn away from them.
And the things I do, look what He's going to do. I will plant
them. I will root them down. in this
land assuredly." What? Root us? What? He said, Paul
said, being rooted and grounded in faith. What causes our faith
to root down? Isn't it affliction? Trials,
troubles? God uses those things to plant
us assuredly. And listen, he said, I'm going
to do it with my whole heart, my whole soul. In other words, all
the person and power of God is engaged in one thing. to do you
good. Can you get a hold of that? That
all God's power, all God's soul, all God's heart is to do you
good. Now, don't you see that when
he saved you? Isn't that the greatest good that he's done
for you is sending his son? And Paul said, look, if he sent
his son, how should he not with him freely give us all things? Behold what manner of love the
Father bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. Is that not good? Is that not the greatest good?
That we, sinners, should be called the sons of God? We are sons
of God by an eternal covenant we were given to Christ, who
is our surety and all our salvation? That by Him and His work, His
righteousness in blood, we should be made holy and acceptable with
God? Isn't that good? Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span, where at Calvary, at Calvary, there's His greatest
good. That's the greatest good that God has ever done for you
and me, is He sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins. That He brought in everlasting
righteousness and eternal redemption. Behold what good God has purposed. Go to Romans chapter 8. You know
this one very well. Romans chapter 8, Paul said this,
we know. Now listen, I don't know much, but I know this. I know this. We know. Everyone
who's saved by the grace of God knows this. We know that all
things, listen, work together for good. To them that love God,
to them are called according to His purpose. Do you love God?
Are you called according to His purpose? Well, who are they? For whom
He did foreknow in love, foreknew in love. He did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son to be made holy. Why? That Christ should receive the
preeminence, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, the elect, whom he did predestinate, who he also
called, whom he called he also justified, whom he justified
he also glorified. Every one of those are past tense.
God has already done those things in his purpose and covenant of
grace. And what shall we say then? If God be for us, who can be
against us? When this crowd was rushing in,
do you suppose that was for Jarius or against him? When the woman
stopped him and made him to sit and listen to her story, was
that for Jairus or was it against him? When God delays His mercy,
when God delays His deliverance of you in your dark providences,
is it for you or is it against you? God says in His Word, it is for
you. What could be against you? If
God is for you, don't you know providence is for you? How do you know that? For He
spared not His own Son. He starts from the greatest and
He works down to the smallest. If God spared not His own Son,
the greatest, how then shall He not with Him freely give us
all things that are necessary and good for you? Therefore, all who God has chose,
all for whom Christ died, all of them shall come to repentance,
and they shall never perish. They shall believe on Christ
just like Jairus came. Was his little daughter getting
sick for him or against him? You bet he would never have come
had he not had a need. And so then this man of Jairus
was a man of faith in Christ. This man was one brought to the
feet of God by the providence of God. But notice God's sovereign
will and providence that brought him to Christ. It surely was
God's purpose that his daughter become sick on the brink of death. Therefore Jairus was made helpless. Isn't that how we came to Christ? Wasn't he made us helpless? to
save our darling soul. Our darling soul is on the brink
of death. Our darling soul is on the brink
of hell. And God in mercy revealed that
to us. And we came, regardless of our
station, regardless of our wealth, regardless of our poverty, we
came to His feet with an urgent need. My darling soul is on the
brink of death. And what did He say? I'll heal
it. I'll heal it. This man had faith. He trusted Christ's ability and
power. He bows down before Him. If you will, you can. Isn't that
exactly the same what he's saying? He's saying, look, if you will,
you can heal my daughter. If you will, you can. And so Jesus agrees. He comes
with him. And this chain of events sets out, and I want you to know that Christ
is not trying to destroy this man's faith, He's trying to increase
it. Not trying, He's going to increase this man's faith. That's
His purpose in this. The press of the crowd, the touching
of the woman, the stopping in the process, and even the death
of His child, all were working to increase the faith of this
man, Jairus. Surely, he had doubts. He filled
his mind concerning the promise of God. Surely, his patience
was being pressed to the limits. And then when his worst fears
come true, can you imagine the sorrow and pain? Can you imagine
the fear and the doubt? You said you would do it, and
yet, now it's hopeless. How many times have we read the
promises of God, expecting God to do something in a certain
way, and God's providence seems to contradict what He said He
would do. It fills us with sorrow. We're
filled with pain. We're filled with doubt. But
the same word Jesus said to Jairus is the same word He says to us.
Listen! Don't be afraid. My purpose is
not to destroy your faith, my purpose is to increase it. My
purpose is not to destroy your love, my purpose is to increase
your love. My purpose is not to make you
doubt what you know, it's to show you more of what you know. And so Christ's word now to you
and me is the same. In the midst of our dark providences
that we don't understand, Don't trust what you feel and see.
Trust what I said. Believe Me. Believe Me. You see, it was the Lord's purpose
then. The crowd. It was the purpose of the Lord
for the woman to be healed. It was the purpose of the woman
of God that the daughter die. Not to hurt Jairus, not to frustrate
him, but rather to make him increase in his faith. Didn't that happen
with Lazarus? Remember, they received that
message. Lord, him whom thou lovest is sick. And what was
the promise? The promise was, this sickness
is not unto death. So they took that and they went
back to Lazarus and said, Lazarus, you're going to get better. You're
going to get better. But Lazarus didn't get better. He died. Do you see the promise and the
providence, how they oppose one another? What did Mary say? Martha said, Lord, you've been
here, he wouldn't have died. Isn't that what Jared's saying?
Lord, if that crowd hadn't have been there, if that woman hadn't
have stopped you, my daughter would be alive. And what is Jesus'
word then? Don't be afraid. I'm going to
show you something greater. By this delayed deliverance,
I'm going to show you something greater of myself. We have here... Have we not also been afflicted
in this way? We flee to the feet of Christ
in our weakness, And how at first we hear His
promises of joy, and we receive them. Here's His promises, all
things work together for good. To them that love God, them are
called according, I will not turn away to do you good all
the days of your life. God says this, For the Lord thy
God will hold thy hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help
thee. Fear not thou worm Jacob, you men of Israel, I will help
thee. saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Those
words come to us, and we find comfort. Then providence comes,
and it seems to oppose what God has said. So by this trial of our faith,
the Word and the promises of God are what? They're put to
the test, aren't they? Does God really intend to work
this for my good? And so by the trial of our faith,
when the word and promises of God are put to the test, then
and only then are we made to grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul says in Romans
5, isn't it? He said, look, we being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. That's good, isn't it? It's
a good promise, isn't it? You're justified. You have peace with
God. You have access under God by this grace wherein you stand.
But listen, there's something happens in our providence. He
says we also glory in tribulation. Why? Because tribulation has
a purpose. Tribulation works with patience.
That word patience means endurance. And the only way to endure when
God brings tribulation is to submit. That's what Jesus is
telling Jairus. Submit to my will. Submit to
my word. Only believe me. That's what
patience does. Patience takes us out of sight. It takes us out of feeling. And
it sets us only on the Word of Christ. And patience works experience. In other words, this is the experience
of Jairus. He said he's going to experience the grace and mercy
of God in the resurrection of his daughter. And so we too are
going to experience. If we're submissive and endure
in faith, we too will experience His grace. And what do we have
then? We have hope. And hope is not ashamed. Look,
I have hope in Christ. I'm not ashamed of Christ. And
then the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. And so
we only see in the end, we only see in the end the full glory
and power of God. Jairus' faith was made to grow
by this great trial. Jairus first believed Jesus,
but in the end, wasn't his faith greater? He believed Christ was a prophet
at the beginning. In the end, he believed he was God. See the
difference? His faith was made to grow, and
he learned something about Christ. Move on here. Let us in such times then hear
the words of Jesus, be not afraid, only believing. Isn't this what
Peter said? Over in 1 Peter 1, he said this, that the trial
of your faith be much more precious than gold. That perish it, though
it be tried with fire. Do you not suppose this was a
good trial by fire for Jerry? How about your trials? Are they
not tried by fire? Does the fire hurt the gold or
help? The fire only purifies the gold. It doesn't destroy it. It melts
it. Isn't this what His trials do
for us? It melts us to where we can lean on nothing but His
Word, nothing but His grace. And what does tried faith do? It always endures. If it is true
faith, it will always endure. Look what happened. He said,
Be not... Go back to your text, just a
second. Go back. He said in verse 36, Be not afraid,
only believing. And he suffered no man to follow
him, say Peter, James, John. And he cometh into the house
of the ruler of the synagogue. What did Jairus do? He followed
him. He followed him. His faith endured
the hopeless situation. True faith always does. Let me
ask you this in your tribulation. Do you still believe in Christ? I find myself with those apostles
sometimes when everybody else is gone. And he said, will you
go away also? What's your answer? Where are we going to go? There's no one else. You're all we've got. You have the words of eternal
life. True faith always endures. Has
the circumstances of life and the providence of God conflicted
the promises of God? Then hear His word to us. Don't
be afraid. Only believe. Why? Because our
God is in the heavens and has done whatsoever He pleased. Your
trial and mine are in the hands of God. Only, always, set your trust,
body, soul, and mind into the hands of Jesus Christ, and you
pay attention. He will deliver you. He will. He will deliver you. Humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, and what? in due time, His time. He will exalt you. Why? Casting all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. This is why you believe only
Him, always Him, following Him, because He cares for you. He
cares for you. Only then will our faith grow,
just like Gary. The second thing that he was
doing in this delayed was saving his daughter. You see, we can't walk and chew
bubblegum at the same time. Our Lord does. Our Lord is doing
many things at one time. This delayed deliverance had
a purpose not just for Jarius, but for the salvation of his
daughter. We're so fixated on our trouble,
our difficulty, that we fail to see that God is not only working
with us, He is also working with everyone else. That our trouble
actually has effect on others. The Lord was not only going to
heal His daughter, but He was going to heal His daughter, this
woman, who had been for 12 years. Think about that. 12 years ago,
Jairus was happy. And 12 years ago, that woman's
suffering began. So Jairus had 12 years of joy.
Now he had about an hour of misery, didn't he? His little trial lasted
only... This woman's trial lasted for
12 years. She went to all those doctors,
she grew none better, she grew worse and worse, and she was
at the point of bankruptcy, she had nothing, she was destitute.
She couldn't ask Jesus. She feared because He would reject
her according to the law, she couldn't come. She was an outcast,
a rebel. There she is, she comes in and
this press, she comes in behind and she touches Him and what
does she find? She finds healing. She finds
healing. She creeps in. As soon as she
touches him, she's set free of her ailment, and the Lord stops,
and the Lord says, I want you to come and confess it. He don't
ever let a person who believes in Him get out without confession. You're going to display this.
And sure, He picks her out of the crowd, and she tells all
her whole story. Don't you know the Lord was doing
this for Jairus too? He was preaching the gospel, wasn't He? by this
woman telling that story, that gospel was being preached to
Jairus. And so then see the link between
Jairus' trial and the salvation of this woman, that the purpose
of God was unfolding, that God, while using the sickness of His
daughter, the pressing of the crowd, He was saving this woman. And He also was using the trial
Jarius his faith and the sickness of his daughter to bring about
the salvation of this woman See how intimately the whole
church is connected in See how this woman was connected with
Jarius and Jarius was connected this woman Providence connects
us all Because God is working with those who are his and those
who will be his He's working all things for the salvation
of His elect and the growth and edification of His elect. I like
what Paul says in Ephesians 4, he says, "...of whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted, that every joint supplieth
according to the effectual working of the measure of every part."
I mean, when I'm moving my fingers, you know how much that takes?
It takes my brain, it takes everything, the nourishment of my body, it
takes the strength of my muscles. All of these things are working
together for that. So it is with the church. The
church is not just one body part, it's all these body parts working
together. So Christ in providence, see
what He's doing by all of our dark providences, is not only
helping us, He's helping others. He's not only comforting us and
showing us His greater deity, He's also saving His people. So either in the conversion or
growth, in chastisement or great faith, in weakness or in strength,
all things work together for the good of every belief. All
the time. All the time. And thirdly, we
see the glory of Christ revealed by this delay of deliverance. We see Jairus' faith did not
fail. He continued even when his daughter
was dead. You know, the only person I can
think of that was Abraham when he was going to kill his son.
Isn't that the same faith? He believed that he was able
to raise Isaac from the dead. Jairus believed that Christ was
capable of raising his daughter. That's why he followed. He only
believed. He only believed. He trusted. Listen, here's a lesson for you.
Only believe. Only believe. I'm not talking
believing in your faith, because that's not going to work. Believing
in Christ. Trusting Christ. Whatever Jesus
will do, it will all eventually redound to His glory and the
greater good of His people, whatever it is. Which was the greater display,
healing the daughter or raising her from the dead? May the Holy Spirit teach us
then that when God delays in deliverance, it is only to manifest
a greater view of His glory. Greater view is power. Believer, when we are tried and
pressed out with measure, let us like Jairus walk in faith,
for the just shall live by faith, not looking to what we feel,
not looking to what we see, but rather knowing this, that delayed
mercy is greater mercy. In delayed deliverance you will
find greater deliverance. The crowds may press in, Christ
may stop all apparent progress in delivering us. Our purpose
is this. Be not afraid. Only believe. I'm just so glad He doesn't give
us a list of things to do. What turmoil are those that give
lists of things to do? Be not afraid. and I will manifest a greater
thing than you could possibly imagine. Do you feel downcast because
of your sins? Do you feel delay in His forgiveness? When you receive it, it will
be greater. That's His purpose. To cause
our faith to grow. That's delayed mercy. That's
why He's doing it. His purpose in delaying our deliverance is
to save his people and his purpose in delaying deliverance is to
show us a greater glory of himself. I pray that God would teach us
these things in the midst of our great troubles and give us
grace only to believe, only to believe in Christ.