Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
for sending your Son into the world that we might live by Him.
Thank you for making Him the propitiation for our sins. This
is love, and this is the only way we know love. And Lord, we
pray that you would open to us your Word today. Help us to see
the glories of your Son, our Savior, and help us to exalt
Him. And help us to find ourselves
in the same place as these three that we're about to read about
here, needy, and coming to Christ alone. And so we pray, Lord,
bless your word to the hearts of your people, and leave not
one of us unsaved, unredeemed, unbrought, untaught, unperfected,
and without being in your presence, Lord, don't leave any of us out.
We pray that not a hoof would be left behind. In Jesus' name
we pray, amen. Mark chapter five. We're going
to read the entire chapter. It says, in the very beginning
of the chapter, "...and they came over unto the other side
of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes." This is they,
meaning Jesus and his disciples. And when he was come out of the
ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs. And 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. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself
with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off,
he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and
said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the
Most High God? I adjure thee by God that thou
torment me not. For he had said, Jesus had said,
Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit, And Jesus asked him,
What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion, for we are many. That was the devil speaking through
the man. And he besought him much that he would not send them
away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto
the mountains a great herd of swine feeding, swine are pigs. And all the devils besought him,
saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean spirits
went out and entered into the swine, and the herd of swine
ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about
two thousand, and were choked in the sea. And they that fed
the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country,
and they went out to see what it was that was done. And they
come to see Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil,
and had the legion sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind,
and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them
how it befell him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning
the swine. And they, the men of that country,
began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he
was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil
prayed him that he might be with him, albeit Jesus suffered him
not. He didn't allow it, but said
to him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things
the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to
publish in the capitals how great things Jesus had done for him,
and all men did marvel. This is quite amazing, isn't
it? Up to this point, here these people in this country of the
Gadarenes are completely content in their lives until the swine
run off the cliff. A man is wild and untamed and
controlled by devils and they're okay. But when the swine die,
then they're completely out of mind and they tell Jesus to ask
him to leave and they're afraid. There's a huge lesson here which
I'm not going to get into. Let's continue in verse 21. And when Jesus was passed over
again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto
him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh
one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw
him, he fell at his feet. When Jairus saw Jesus, he fell
at Jesus' feet. And besought him greatly, saying,
My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee,
come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and she
shall live. And Jesus went with him and much
people followed him and thronged him. That means there were so
many people that he could barely move. They were all around him. And a certain woman, which had
an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things
of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing
better, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus,
came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she
said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And
straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt
in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his
disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging
thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? It's interesting how the
disciples here are trying to instruct the master. And he looked
round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman,
fearing and trembling, not knowing what was done in her, came and
fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said
unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace,
and be whole of thy plague. And while he yet spake, there
came from the ruler of the synagogue's house..." Remember the man who
came about his daughter? Well, from his house came this
messenger. "...came from the ruler of the
synagogue's house, certain, which said, Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master
any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word
that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be
not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow
him, save Peter and James, and John the brother of James. And
he cometh to 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 saith to them, Why make you this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and
the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and
entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel
by the hand, the little girl, this twelve-year-old girl, because
it was his only daughter, And he said to her, Talitha Kumai,
which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway
the damsel arose, and walked. For she was of the age of twelve
years, and they were astonished with a great astonishment. And
he charged them straightly, that no man should know it, and commanded
that something should be given her to eat. Because when God
raises sinners from death to life, He feeds them. Doesn't
he? Now, I want to bring this message
today on the first, not the first man, the demon possessed man
so much, but the last two, the woman and this man named Jairus. I've entitled this message, Warrant
to Believe. Warrant. The word warrant means
a basis or the ground. The right to believe. Warrant
to believe against all human hope. Warrant to believe. There are several lessons we
can learn here. First thing we learn here is
that Jesus came into this world to save his people from their
sins. But you don't read that in this
text, do you? What you read is Jesus casting devils out of a
man, healing a woman plagued 12 years, and healing this little
daughter, actually raising her from the dead. Where is it said
here that Jesus came into the world to save his people from
their sins? How can you know that? Well,
because in Matthew, chapter 8 of Matthew, he says this. When it
spoke about what Jesus did, he says, He cast out the spirits
in his with His Word. He cast out the spirits and He
healed all that were sick. He healed all that were sick
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet
saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. How
did the Lord take our infirmities? How did He bare our sicknesses?
When He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. You see,
It says this in 1 Peter chapter 2, "...who his own self bare
our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness." And then the next phrase says,
"...by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep
going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls." You see, because the Lord Jesus Christ stood in
the place of God's elect and bore their sins and the curse
of God against them, therefore, by His stripes, we are healed. We are healed from the guilt
of sin and the great plague of the punishment of our sins. Because
Christ died for our sins, it says in 1 Peter 2.24, we are
dead to sins. What that means is that when
He died with His people, they died with Him and so died to
sins. Because they died under the punishment
of sin, therefore the punishment towards them and for their sins
is completely taken away. Death has no more power over
them. They're dead to sins. But what does this have to do
with sicknesses? Well, you see, in the Bible, it says that death
is what God pays back sinners because of their sins. is the result of sin and sickness
and captivity to Satan lead to death. So everything involved
in death is part of the punishment of our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ
struck at the root of the problem. He took away the sins of His
people. In taking away their sins, He took away death and
all that goes with it. And so that's why it says in
Isaiah, He bore our infirmities. He took our sicknesses because
He took away our sins. And the second point to make
here in this scripture that we just read is that there is salvation
in none but the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you notice? There was a man
here. The legions of hell were completely
controlling him. He couldn't control himself.
He was trying to destroy himself, cutting himself with stones,
living in the tombs, crying day and night. He had no relief. No one could tame him. No one
could bind him. No man could tame this demoniac. No doctor
could make this woman who had been plagued for 12 years of
this plague of uncleanness of blood, no one could take away
that long enduring plague. And no man could deliver the
ruler's little daughter from death. Because salvation is in
Christ alone. Isn't it a simple lesson? It
glares at us from this scripture. There is salvation in none but
Christ. He came to save His people from
their sins. He took our infirmities. He took
our sicknesses. And so he says, throughout scripture
we see this is true, but here we see it very prominently. The
legions of Del, the legions of hell, are subject to the Lord
Jesus Christ. As soon as he comes to this place,
the Gadarenes, this man comes and bows and worships him. Because
the devils are subject to Christ. Why are they subject to him?
How could that be? Because he won the battle in
the court of heaven. He took away their sins. And
they have no power over the sinner that the Lord Jesus Christ delivers
from. And so, we see this. He has power over all these things.
The legions of hell are subject to his word. The long-standing
plague of sin in our heart. The consequences of our sin in
Adam. Death, the wages of sin, He raises this little girl from
death. He gives life at His will. Every enemy of our souls is subject
to the Lord Jesus Christ. All must obey Him. And this is
the teaching of this one chapter in the Scripture and throughout
Scripture. That Christ came to save His people and salvation
is in Him alone. And then we see another thing
here. We see that in every case, God by His grace humbles sinners
before the Lord Jesus Christ that He intends to save. This
demoniac had no power. No man certainly could do anything
with him. Have you ever felt that way? You look at your life
and you wonder if you have any control over your own self. The Lord Jesus Christ alone,
no man, but the Lord Jesus Christ alone subdues our iniquities. He alone destroyed the works
of the devil. He alone reigns over death and
hell. But grace humbles sinners. The
woman had been sick for 12 years and she had gone to doctors,
spent all of her money, and she only got worse. And she had probably
just about given up, but she heard about Jesus. And she was
convinced if she could just touch the hem of his garments, she
could be made whole. And then, this ruler of the synagogue,
you can imagine what it was to him. to have to come to Jesus,
a ruler of the synagogue coming to Jesus. Most of the people
who were the rulers and the chief priests and the scribes and the
Pharisees opposed Jesus at every turn. But this man, this ruler,
he comes to Jesus and what does he do when he sees him? He falls
at his feet and he begs him, come and heal my daughter. That's
a humble man, isn't it? When God deals with us in grace,
He always humbles us. He always brings us to a needy
place. Peter said this, Depart from me, I am a sinful man, O
Lord. That was a humble thing to say,
wasn't it? The apostle Paul, when the Lord saved him, said,
Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I'm Jesus, whom
you persecute. It's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. That means the little goads they
use for animals and things. What wilt thou have me to do?
And Paul said, What will you have me to do? He was humbled,
wasn't he? Job said, I heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and
repent in dust and ashes. And you know what the publican
said. Standing afar off, not lifting his face toward heaven,
his sin was in his heart, and he knew it, and beat upon his
chest, and he said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And then the
leper. Remember, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. That was a humble man, wasn't
he? He came to Jesus unclean, with no hope, with a disease
deeper than the skin. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. And David, have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgression. There
was a man who had nowhere to turn except to God and His mercy.
Scripture says this to sinners throughout. Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye,
buy and eat. Incline your ear, hear, and your
soul shall live. That's the message of Scripture,
isn't it? To sinners, God always speaks to those who have been
humbled by His grace. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. The scribes, the Pharisees, complained
because he ate and drank with publicans and sinners. And Jesus
said, the whole don't need a physician. It's the sick. They're sin sick. And they need that healing that
only Christ, by his substitutionary sin-atoning death, can give.
But this humbling doesn't occur just once in our lives, but it
occurs throughout our lives. He's always bringing us back
to this place of absolutely needy, helpless, and hopeless without
Christ. That's what faith does. It's a walk, a life. Paul said,
Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. All that I am, no hope, only
one hope, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul said this, at one point
he said, I'm the least of the apostles. And then he said, I'm
the least of all saints. And finally he said, Christ Jesus
came to the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. I am chief. Grace humbles us, doesn't it? This is God's command. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Don't think
of yourself more highly than you want to think. Always think
of others better than yourselves because my grace we see we have
no hope but Christ. And the next thing we see here
is that the faith that God gives is always tried. And it's tried
in order to reduce us to nothing. To decrease all that we have
in ourselves in order to make Christ, to exalt Christ in our
eyes. That's what faith does. God does
by His grace. Christ must increase. But He
only increases in our eyes when we decrease. And so God gives
us this trial of faith. Jairus came to Jesus. Think about what he did. He came
to Jesus. That was humbling. But he bowed
before him. That was more humbling. And he
begged him. Very humbling posture. And Jesus
actually began to go with him. But then there was a trial of
faith. This woman. She comes in and seems to interrupt
what he wanted to have done. Jesus is on his way to his house
and he's interrupted. There's a delay. There's almost
a setback. If I was the father, I'd be very anxious. Anxiety. Rising up because my daughter
is at the point of death. There's an urgent need. And so
faith is tried. And his faith is tried even further
because after Jesus heals the woman, Then a messenger comes
from his house and says, your daughter is dead. Like an anvil
on his heart, weighed it down with messengers of death. And
then he added this insensitive messenger. He said, why do you
trouble the master any further? That's the way the opposition
to faith works. Remember the ten spies entering
into the land of Canaan. They went in and they looked
at the land and they came back and they gave an evil report.
What did they do? They tried to discourage the
faith of God's people. They said, we're grasshoppers. In their eyes we're grasshoppers.
They're giants. We can't go in. And here's this man. Why are
you troubling Christ? Your daughter is dead. Faith
is tried in order to remove everything. all hope in ourselves and leave
Christ as our only hope. That's what faith does. This
is an ongoing work in our lives. Not just once, but continuously. If God has grace on us, He humbles
us. And there's nothing more humbling
than the sense of our sin before God. David said, when I kept
silence, my bones waxed old within me. But then we see something wonderful
here. When all human hope is lost,
the Lord Jesus Christ becomes altogether lovely in his grace
to sinners. Look what he says here to this
poor man. This woman had come to him. She had come and touched
his garment, just the hem of his garment. She believed that
if she just touched his garment, just the very edge of it, she
would be completely whole. And she did, and she was made
whole. And then there's the account
of how Jesus interrogates the crowd, and finds her, and searches
her out, and brings her forward. And then she confesses all. But
here's this man, Jairus. He's on his way. And receives
this messenger of death, bringing sorrow and greater mourning and
even despair. And notice what Jesus says here.
Look in verse 35. While Jesus yet spoke to the
woman, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain
which said, Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master
any further? That's what unbelief always says. Don't trouble Christ. It's hopeless.
Verse 36, if it wasn't hopeless, we wouldn't need a savior. Verse 36, as soon as Jesus heard
the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue,
he speaks to this man, this dear poor father who was so out of
sorts and even in despair, almost as soon as the words from the
messenger come, he speaks this word to this man. Notice what
he says, be not afraid. Only believe. Be not afraid. Only believe. That's an amazing
thing, isn't it? That is a word of comfort. Hearing comes by the word of
God. And the Lord Jesus Christ just spoke to him. Now these
words are most comforting to sinners. Be not afraid. Only
believe. Don't you find them comforting?
Have you ever wondered... Is there anything in Scripture
spoken there to me? I see that God saves His elect.
I see that God loves them with an everlasting love. But is there
anything there for me? Can I point to a place in Scripture
and find any warrant to believe, any basis for laying hold on
the Lord Jesus Christ, like the woman did? Is there anything
in God's Word that would give me, considering all that I am
in myself, and my unbelief, and my filthy thoughts, and my prayers
that seem so empty and infrequent, and my zeal which seems to be
nothing at all, and my obedience which seems to be disobedience,
is there any hope for me? be not afraid, only believe."
Do those words ever fall? Do they ever stop being important?
Do they ever stop having application in our lives? By these words,
the Lord Jesus Christ gives warrant to sinners, to hope, when all
reason for hope is lost. Against all human wisdom, all
human strength and virtue, against all circumstances, the Lord Jesus
Christ directs this poor father and us to himself. He says, be not afraid, only
believe. This is every sinner's warrant
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my warrant to
believe. Do you ever wonder, what's the
basis for me? In Psalm 119 verse 49 it says,
Remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me
to hope. Lord, remember what you said
to me. Only believe. Jairus' home had many mourners
gathered. There was a great wailing there.
Weeping. A big noise. And we should learn
from this. These people did not believe.
They didn't believe that Jesus would heal this girl, could heal
this little girl. She was beyond hope. She was
dead. And so we know they didn't believe because when he said,
your daughter, she's not dead, the damsel is not dead but sleepeth.
In verse 39, they laughed him to scorn. We should be careful. When we
see this, here were these people trying to give comfort. Yet they
weren't trying to give comfort. Because they weren't trying to
give comfort according to God's word. According to Christ's power. According to what He could do.
They only looked at the circumstances and said, oh it's terrible, it's
terrible. And they were crying and wailing.
And Jesus asked, why are you doing all this? Why such a commotion?
We must be careful not to try to comfort others in a time of
great mourning without God's comfort. In 1 Thessalonians 4
it tells us to comfort one another with these words. The words that
God has given us about how those who sleep will be brought again
with the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's not what God's people
do. These miserable comforters mocked Christ in unbelief. But
all temptations in our lives and all trials only serve to
drive us to Christ when the Lord's grace is towards us, don't they? And it doesn't seem like that.
Because it seems like there's no evidence. We can't find something
that says, God has given me something here. Except for one thing. Only believe. Only believe. All enemies are subject to Christ.
He came from heaven. He returned from heaven in victory
to appear in the presence of God for us. He sits at heaven's
right hand. All must bow to Him. Only believe. Only believe Him. There is virtue
in Christ, virtue enough to heal this woman who was unclean for
twelve years and had no hope among men. She came and touched
his clothes. She believed that just his clothes
would be enough to draw virtue from him that she would be made
whole. What are these clothes? Remember Joshua in Zechariah
chapter 3? It says that Joshua was clothed
with filthy garments and stood before the Lord, the angel. And
he answered and spake to those that stood before him, saying,
Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said, Because,
behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with a change of raiment. This is the message
of the gospel. Christ has worked out by his
own obedience unto death a perfect robe of righteousness, and this
is the robe that we are covered in. This is our virtue before
God. This is how we draw virtue from
Him. Ruth told Boaz, she said to Boaz,
she says, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread
therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near
kinsman. You can redeem me because you're
my near kinsman." And she asked him, spread your skirt over me.
This is what God has told us about the Lord Jesus Christ and
His obedience. His garments are garments of
salvation. Isaiah 61.10 says, Do you see
the point here? She believed that just touching
his clothes, everyone who is told by Christ, only believe. What are we to do? Go to him,
lay hold on his righteousness, and draw virtue from him. How? Only believe. What warrant do
I have? His own word. But what do I need
to bring? Only believe. What should I do
in order to gain some assurance that this is for me? Only believe. Look to Christ only. There's
many words in scripture that speak about faith. There's words
that are very comforting. But what are we to believe? What
are we to believe here? This is a gracious command. Don't
be afraid. Only believe. What are we to
believe? If we believe only, then we only
believe Christ. How do I know if I only believe?
Because Christ is the only object of my faith. If we don't believe
Christ only, we don't believe at all. Remember what Jesus told
his disciples? In John 14.1, we could probably
almost quote it, couldn't we? Let not your hearts be troubled.
Remember that verse? What was the situation there?
He had just told Peter, you're going to deny me three times
before the cock crows twice. And he did, but not yet. And
Jesus tells him, let not your hearts be troubled. The greatest
trial, I believe, that ever came upon any people in the world
was the trial that came on the disciples at that time. And it
hadn't yet come, but Jesus tells them in advance, let not your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God. What did
he say after that? Believe also in me. Why did he say that? Why did
he tell them? Because we believe in God, don't
we? We believe God is holy. We believe
God is almighty. We believe God is sovereign.
We believe He does everything. He does everything right. We
believe that. We believe He controls everything. We believe that He
does good. Jesus says, believe also in me,
because believing God as absolute God only is not saving faith. In the book of Hebrews he says,
we need to go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation
of repentance from dead works and faith toward God. What do
we need to go on to then? Believe also in me, Jesus says. Why did he say that? Well, he
was about to be taken. Soldiers were going to come in
the night. They were going to bind him, and take him, and accuse
him, and bring him to the high priest who would hit him in the
face. And then send him to the Gentile
governors. And the soldiers there would
take him and hit him on the head with a reed. They would put a
crown of thorns on his head. They would strip him and beat
him and spit in his face. And they would mock him before
men. And they would condemn him to death by crucifixion. And the disciples all shook him
and fled. They were fearful. And then they
took him and they laid the cross on his back and paraded him through
the crowds in order to make a mockery of him as their captive prisoner. He who claimed to be God. And
who had power over the waves of the sea and devils and he
couldn't even defend himself against these soldiers. And so
they mock him, they put the cross on his back and carry it to that
hill. And then they stretch his arms out and they nail his hands
and pierce his feet. And the blood from the wounds
has been pouring out of his body in this glob of ooze and gore. And he hangs on the cross and
they stick the cross between two thieves. And there he hangs.
It appears that wrong is on the throne and evil rules. And the
sun refuses to shine. And he cries out of the darkness,
My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? You believe in God,
believe also in me. You see what he's saying? Here,
in the midst of all this, this thief on the cross, he sees with
eyes of faith. And he says to him, Lord, yes,
you're hanging here now, and in apparent weakness, the soldier's
at the foot of the cross, dividing the spoils, mocking him, right
there at his feet. No strength, we're going to divide
your goods. And here this thief, he looks
over and he says, Lord, When you come into your kingdom, the
King of glory, the Lord of glory, remember me. You see what faith
does? Believe also in me. You have no basis. You have no
warrant to believe in yourself. All of the evidence opposes faith. All of the people oppose what
Christ has said. Only believe. Believe Christ
only. Believe also in Me. Because the
Lord Jesus came to deal with sin. And dealing with sin, He
established an everlasting righteousness. And having established an everlasting
righteousness, God justifies His people and He gives them
eternal life. Sin reigned unto death. But now
grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. Only believe. Believe Him. Believe
also in Me. He's the One. He's the Way. He's
the Truth. He's the Life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. That's what He said. Believe
Him. Isn't that what Scripture says?
This is our warrant. We have a refuge here for the
troubled. and tried, a pillow on which
we may lay our head in the midst of the fighting and wars, within
and without, believe also in me." It's a wonderful thing,
isn't it? How God has used the situation
here, all these cases, impossible cases. No man on earth could
take away the plague this woman had. No man could bind the demon
possessed The poor, crying, self-destroying man. No man could help him. And
no man could help this little girl and her sorrowful dad. Only believe. That's what he
says. Look. Come. Call. Take. Eat. Drink. Hear. Live. Only believe. Isn't that what God says? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we are. We see ourselves
with absolutely no reason to think we have access to God. We look at ourselves and consider
something about ourselves. Sarah did that. Me? A baby? Now? 90 years old? It's impossible. It is impossible. Only believe. Hear Christ's word. That's the only thing we live
upon. The only way we come to God.
This is the warrant. Like Onesimus, take the letter
from Paul to your master and say, Lord, this is what you said.
Only believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
believe he came to earth and took the nature of a man in order
that he as a man might bear my sins and put them away, make
satisfaction before God, establish everlasting righteousness, rise
from the dead in victory, subdue all my enemies, and bring me
to glory, and present me in the presence of God faultless, In
the very presence of His holiness, with great joy, only believe. You can't do it. Is there one
thing in there, one thing of all that Christ did where you
could add some part? It was all impossible for you.
Therefore, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in God. You do believe in God. Believe
also in me, he says to his disciples. And believing him as the mediator
who dealt with sin in his own death on the cross, then you
will be saved. Then your heart will not be troubled.
Look unto me and be ye saved. Look, Jesus told Nicodemus. As they were looking at that
serpent on the pole in the wilderness, so everyone that believes on
me shall live, has everlasting life. Look! Look at Him! Look
as a sinner, coming to look with that gaze in order to see there
your whole salvation accomplished by Christ. Look! Come! Jesus
said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Come! Come! Come to Him! Believe Him! Jesus said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come, and him that cometh I will
in no wise cast out. Lord, bring me, draw me, cause
me to come, incline your ear, eat, drink, And I like this word
in scripture, take. Revelation 22 verse 17 says,
The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. Standing under the waterfall,
just take it in. Christ did it all. He claims
that all who believe Him have everlasting righteousness, are
justified before God. His own spirit dwells in them.
They're sons of God, joint heirs with Christ. Everything is given
to them in Christ. They're complete in Him. Believe,
only believe. And call, whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved." This woman drew virtue from Christ. This man, when all hope was lost
in himself and in his daughter, and the scorners were scorning,
and the doubting messenger was telling him, don't trouble Jesus,
Jesus tells him, look, don't be afraid, only believe. Fellow sinner, brother and sister
in Christ, this is our word, isn't it? Don't
we take this? Lord, only believe. You said,
believe also in me, my entire life and eternity. The satisfaction
for all my sins, my ignorance, My lack of faith, my lack of
prayers, everything. I take it to you, Lord, and I
look to you to bring me and save me to the uttermost. you rose,
you were seated, you now reign, and you intercede by your blood
and righteousness to save to the uttermost all who come to
God by you, Lord. This is my warrant, your word,
my only warrant. Against all evidence, against
all hope, let me find my hope in you. Isn't that what God is
saying here? No man could tame the demoniac.
None could stop the woman's plague. None could raise this man's daughter
from death. Sin reigns like an absolute tyrant
with absolute power to bring men and children and all that
leads to death and to death itself. But the Lord Jesus Christ has
put sin away by the sacrifice of himself. Only believe. Take
this. Drink it in. Draw virtue from
Christ by faith. Let's pray. Lord, we pray that
you would give us this grace to see the Lord Jesus Christ
lifted up to save sinners. And then conquering death and
sin and hell and everything. to bring sinners to himself,
and to have them, and to present them holy and without fault in
your presence. Give us this grace, give us your
spirit, Lord. We ask for things that are beyond
all of our comprehension. We don't have any reason to ask
except your word that tells us, ask. Come, take, eat, drink,
look. and be saved. The Lord Jesus
Christ is our only hope. We pray, Lord, that as you look
to him for sinners, you would look to him for us, and we would
find him to be all of our salvation, all of our desire. Give us this
grace, Lord, in every humbling trouble, in every trial, in all
the bitter guilt of our sin and our conscience. We pray, Lord,
you'd give us this hope that Christ is all of our salvation.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.