The Purpose of Delayed Promises Mark 5:21-43

Q: What does the Bible say about God's promises during suffering?

The Bible teaches that God's promises remain true even when we face suffering or opposition in our lives. Scripture teaches us that God's promises, which include love, peace, and forgiveness, hold firm regardless of our circumstances. In Mark 5:21-43, we see Jairus' faith is tested when his circumstances seem to contradict Jesus' promise to heal his daughter. The reality is that God is sovereign over every providence in our lives; He orchestrates all experiences for our ultimate good and His glory, as highlighted in Romans 8:28.

Q: Why is faith important when facing challenges?

Faith is crucial as it helps believers trust in God's plan when circumstances appear dire. In times of trouble, faith serves as the anchor for believers, reminding us to trust in God's promises despite our circumstances. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, exhibited faith when he sought Jesus to heal his sick daughter. However, his faith was tested when delays and negative news arose. Jesus encouraged him, saying, 'Be not afraid, only believe.' This emphasizes that true faith perseveres and remains steadfast even amid trials, revealing the character of God in bringing about good from difficult situations.

Q: How does God use delays in fulfilling His promises?

God often uses delays to build our faith and to display His glory in ways we can't foresee. Delays can be a part of God's sovereign plan to accomplish multiple purposes simultaneously. In the case of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood, the delay in healing resulted in both a miraculous healing of a woman and the demonstration of Christ's power over death. Such events illustrate that when God seems to delay answering our prayers, it is often for our spiritual growth and for the glory of His name, as He orchestrates events that we may not fully understand at the moment.

Q: What can we learn from Jairus and the bleeding woman?

Both figures teach us about the importance of humility and faith in God's ability to heal and restore. Jairus approached Jesus in humility, risking his status as a synagogue ruler to seek help for his dying daughter, while the woman with the issue of blood demonstrated faith by pressing through the crowd to simply touch Jesus' garment. Their stories exemplify that true faith often requires a stepping down from pride and a reliance on Christ's power to heal. Each of their situations illustrates the depth of despair turned to hope through faith in Christ, emphasizing that no one is beyond the reach of His grace.

We'll begin the message. We'll go to God in prayer again. I want to mention Joan. She's the lady out in Seattle. And she's had cancer. I've mentioned this before. And had good news today. So they said that the chemo is shrinking them. So it's not gone. gives some relief. We wanna thank God for that. She has been a very faithful lady in the service of our Lord, and I'm encouraged every time I get a letter from, she writes Joanne, but I read the letters, and I love them. They're just so wonderful, and they're encouraging. Just blesses my heart. I ask for your prayers as I desire to preach this message.

I don't like sitting on a message very long and, you know, I don't think I'm ever comfortable with when I finish a message. If I finish too early, I'm sitting on it too long. If I finish it right at the last, I'm tired. I don't know, maybe I just... Stop complaining.

Lord's been gracious to give me the message and it's been a blessing to me. And I hope it'll be a blessing to you. I pray that God would use it and help us. I just preached to you that message. The Lord is a very present help. And what believer does not need help? That second that you think you don't need help, that's when you need help the most. dancing on the edge of a cliff, thinking all is well. We need his help constantly, I do. Constant need of his grace.

And I want to tell you how much I appreciate this congregation. What a gift. What a gift. God has given us unity and love and a desire to hear the gospel. I'm sure that it's every pastor's dream. It's not our dream to have multitudes and myriads of people. When I was first started, that seemed like the goal. If there was a million of us, or there's just what we have, I would desire this unity, this love for the gospel, love for Christ, love for each other.

And I pray that God would help us with this and strengthen us in our faith and love. Pray for those churches without pastors and those that are sick, those that are traveling. Pray for Mitch and Carla. They'll be gone probably another week or so, but pray for them. Miss seeing them.

Good to see Rick on Sunday. Pray for him. And Mariah, it was good to see her too. Very nice to see others that haven't been here in a while. Pray for the ministry as it goes out. It is going out. I want you to be encouraged by that because God has a people and there's so many that love this message. We may not see them, but that doesn't matter, does it?

Would to God that they wouldn't have to listen to me, that they would all have a church. that they could go to. I wish that they would. I wish they'd just sell everything they had, find a church, and go. That would be the best thing for them. I pray that God would do that. Like I said, if I had zero people listening to me, and all of them were sitting in a place where the gospel was preached, I'd be happy. I'd be fine. That'd be fine. But I'm thankful for the means that we have. There are some who are not able. There are some who are trapped.

And pray for them. Let's go to God in prayer. Our gracious Father, again, we bow ourselves before you, standing in need of your grace. We stand in need, Father. mercy. Come with a message of your word, but I can't preach it without you. These that have come to hear can't hear it without you. We are weak, helpless, frail, Creatures of dust and time, open our hearts and minds that we might, in this hour, glorify your son, magnify your work in salvation and providence and the eternal covenant of grace and eternal life and forgiveness of sins, all your promises, pray that you by the Spirit would magnify them in the hearts of your people. Lord, I pray that you'd be gracious to set our minds and hearts from the things of this world, set them on Christ. Pray for those churches without pastors, those who are suffering in the body, those who suffer in the mind, those who are suffering in their families. Please, Father, help. Help them. Restore your people to come and hear your word. I pray you would do these things in the name of Jesus, and for his sake, we ask. Amen. Now, I take your Bibles and turn with me to Mark. Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. I'm going to take a large portion of scripture here, but this is all one instance. This is all one set of history here. We're going to be looking at Mark chapter 5.

Beginning of verse 21, it says, And when Jesus passed over again by ship to 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, Jarius, by name. When he saw him, he fell at his feet and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she shall live. And Jesus went with him.

Now, we as believers in Jesus Christ, when we look at providence, when we look at the things of time, and then we look at the promises of God in His Word, there is an appearance of opposition. This causes us to be confused. perplexed. We hear what God promises and it seems that the circumstances don't match the promises. God's promised his love. God promised us peace. God promises us forgiveness of sins through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. God promised us that he's always with us. That he never leaves us. He never forsakes us.

And yet in time we experience providences that seem in opposition. At times it feels like God doesn't love me at all. It appears by what's taking place in my life that God is out to destroy me rather than to keep me. Isn't that what Newton said? He said, wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? We often feel these providences are in contradiction to God's word, God's promises.

And this is because we have a very narrow view. We have a very self-centered view of this. When our troubles come, we only think about who? Me, self. That's all I've got on my mind. When I'm sick, or when I'm distressed, or when I'm perplexed, or when I'm hurting, I'm only thinking about my providence. I'm not really concerned about anybody else's providence.

But God has a much larger view than we do. He has a perfect view. And He is ruling over all the providence of time. In every circumstance, whether we see it as good or we see it as bad, He is moving all things according to His perfect wisdom. Now, in this history, God will give us a glimpse into His wise and sovereign hand in Providence.

We're going to see multiple things happen. Multiple things happening at one time. God accomplishing multiple things at the same time. Here we're going to see in this story of this man Jairus. He's going to make us to see how he works all things for the good of all his people and for his own glory. Now, I'm going to give you the synopsis of this and I'm going to spend a little time giving it to you. First of all, this man Jairus, our Lord's coming back from healing that demoniac.

He's coming back across the sea and now he comes to the shore and a great multitude standing waiting. for him there. And one of them comes out of the multitude and meets him on the seashore. The scripture says that he's right there in the sea still. He hasn't even made it onto the shore.

And this man Jarius was not just some low person. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He was a high man. He was a rich man. He was a noble man. He was a known man. It's kind of like if you would have saw Elon Musk would have come out of a crack. A noble, rich man. And yet he doesn't come in his nobility. He comes in humility. And the scripture says he bows at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what caused this man to forsake all thought of his rule or his prestige?

Something happened. The scripture tells us that he beseeched him greatly, saying, my little girl. My little girl is sick, nigh unto death. His precious daughter, 12 years of age, on the brink of death, this man forsakes all his title, all his riches, and he comes to the only man that he knows can help. And I'll tell you this, he being a ruler of the synagogue, this man was persecuted for what he does here. He comes to Jesus bowing before him and saying this, my daughter is nigh unto death. if you will just come and lay your hands on her.

See his faith? He trusted that this was the Christ. This was the one. This was the Messiah. That's what Christ had been saying. I am he. I'm the Messiah. And he believed him. And he bows before him and he says, come heal my daughter. Now, notice his faith is not as great as the centurion. Remember that centurion?

He had a servant that was sick and he told the Lord, he said, My servant is sick. And Jesus said, OK, I'll come to your house. He said, Oh, no, I'm not worthy that you come to my house. Just say the word. And he said, I've not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel.

So Jerry's faith was not as great as that man. He thought that Christ must come and touch her. He must lay his hands on her in order to heal her. That wasn't true, was it? He could have said the word from right there. But this man's faith was low. And notice the patience of our Lord to go with him. The graciousness of Christ not to deride his faith, though it was weak. And yet he goes with him. And so our Lord agrees by this to heal his daughter. We know that he is by this making a promise. But something else happens now. Something begins to happen that seems to contradict his promise. He promises to go with him and heal his daughter, and yet something happens.

Look, the next verse there. It says in verse 24, Jesus went with him, listen, and much people followed him and what? Thronged him. All of a sudden this crowd surrounds them so that now they were on their way and all of a sudden their progress is slowed. This man's in a hurry. This man has an urgent request. His daughter is on the brink of death and all of a sudden providence comes in that seems in opposition to what Christ had promised. And so the crowd begins to throng him. And notice this is not it. Now they've got this crowd thronging him. There's a woman. 12 years ago who had an issue of blood and now she's bankrupt. She has nothing left.

And so she comes in and she doesn't want to stop this progress. She's not trying to stop Christ from going to heal the daughter. And so she creeps in, she crawls in. Scripture says in another place, I think it's in Matthew, if I touch but the heel of his garment, she's trying to get to the bottom. She's crawling. through the crowd trying to touch him.

And she doesn't want any attention. She just wants to touch him and go. She believes if she touches him, she'll be healed. And she didn't want any publicity about this. You know why? She wasn't allowed to. She was an unclean woman. She wasn't allowed to touch him. So she wanted to touch him and just go away. But that's not what happened. Notice this. And when he touched her, she was healed immediately. In verse 29, a straight way, the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt that her body, that she was healed of the plague.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned about in the press and said, who touched my clothes? Isn't that a question, right? Everybody's disciples say, Lord, what a silly question. Everybody's touching you and you're not touching you.

He said, touch my clothes. She just touched his clothes. She didn't even touch him. And so he stops. So not only is the progress slowed, now it's come to a complete stop. Our Lord is not in a hurry here. And he said, who touched me? And he's not going to move until she comes forward. Now he knew who touched him.

But yet she was needed to confess it. He was going to have her confess it. And so she does. She says she being, look at this verse 33, the woman fearing and trembling, knowing it, what was done in her came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. She told her life story. 12 years ago, that's probably how the story went. You know, 12 years ago, I began to bleed and I, and, and then I went to this I did this and scripture says she went from doctor to doctor and got none better, but grew worse. Imagine this.

Jarius is in a hurry. His daughter is dying. The crowd slowed him and now the Lord himself stops it and listens patiently to this woman. And in grace, he said, Daughter, that's not a mistake, is it? Jairus had a daughter. He said, I got a daughter too. Just as much you love, I love my daughter more than you love yours. Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and behold of thy plague. And now then hope now arises, right? It's finished. Surely now we can get moving. Now we can get to my daughter.

And notice what happens as soon as Jesus heard, I'm sorry, verse 35. He said, while he yet spake, there came a ruler of the synagogue house, certain which said, thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further? Does it not seem that the providence was going against what Christ promised? He begged. Christ said, I'll go. They were on their way. And then what? The crowd came in. And then what? The woman came up. And then what? She had to tell her story. And then what? She's dead. All hope is lost.

And now Jesus here gives the remedy for his fear, his doubt, his confusion. And Jesus heard these words that were spoken, he saith under the rule of the synagogue, be not afraid. Only believe. When providence seems in opposition to the word of God, don't look at the providence. It's meaningless. It's not going to affect the promises of God whatsoever. In fact, it's going to further it. Though it seem in opposition, it's not in opposition. So what is the remedy? Don't be afraid. What's the remedy for fear? Believe me. Our Lord said that. Believe me. Trust in me.

And you know what happens here, the Lord goes in and the Lord goes in here and he takes this little girl by the hand, and he raises her from the dead. Now, which gave him more glory? Healing her or raising her from the dead? We know this, that it was for the glory, his glory, that he raised her from the dead. And so as we look at the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, we know this. He was not discouraged. He was not discouraged. Listen to me. He never is. And I'll tell you this. He is never in a hurry. He's always on time. He's always on time.

And so there's three things I want you to see from this tonight. I gave you The illustration has showed you the whole picture of it, but I want you to see the reason behind it. God doesn't leave us without it. It's here in the Word, the cause. And God is performing multiple things in one instance. And that's what He does with us. He is not just performing things for us. It is and does affect every one of the church. So I want you to see this. First of all, Why the delay? That's the title of the message anyway, The Purpose of Delayed Promises. The Purpose of Delayed Promises. Why the delay? First of all, the delay was to increase Jairus' faith. I told you he had small faith when he began.

And God was going to use this to increase his faith. Second of all, God used this instance to save his daughter. God delayed in the promise to Jairus in order to save this woman with the issue of blood. And the third reason is that he might have all the glory. That he might display his power and his glory. So as we see in our life, when things are, are contradicting what the promises of God is seeming contradiction. The first thing we have to remember is this.

God is sovereign in every providence. Everything that happens in this story is ordained by God. Nothing here surprises Him. He purposed every part of this. And so it is with us. Every part of our life, every providence, every dark providence, every sickness, every grief, every sorrow, every joy, time of peace. It's all ordained of our God. Our God rules all things.

And this is not bad for us. This is good. This is good for us. Go to that text I read to you just a minute ago, Jeremiah 32. Why is this good that God is this? This bothers the world. This is really upsetting to them. The sovereignty of God Look at verse 40. Look at what God promises those that believe on Christ. Listen to this. This is a promise to you.

He said, I will make an everlasting covenant. That means it don't end. It don't ever end. It's an eternal covenant with them. And look what he says, that I will not turn away from them to do them good. I will not do it. Now tell me, one time believer, that God has turned away from you to do you good. If you have an answer to that, you're denying His Word. And I say this, let God be true and every man a liar. God says, I will not turn away from them to do them good, and He does not turn away from us to do us good.

Everything that happens to us is for our good. Whether you know it, feel it, or what? It doesn't matter. Does it? God's doing it for your good. And notice that His purpose here. His purpose is, but I will put my fear in their hearts. I'll put reverence in their hearts. that they shall not depart from me.

Isn't that? I tell you what, do you want to depart from Him? Anybody, any believer want to depart from Him? Man, there's no other place I want to be but with Him. I don't want to be anywhere else. I need Him with me constantly. Well, that's good because the sovereign God says you won't depart from Me. And notice that I will rejoice over them, do them good. He's not begrudging this.

Why? Because of Christ. Because Christ is our righteousness. Because Christ made an offering for our sins. Because Christ is risen for our justification. Because Christ is our sanctification. Christ is our wisdom. Christ is our salvation. Listen, God rejoices over us to do us good.

And I will plant them in the land assuredly. Notice it with my whole heart. I'm going to do it with my whole heart. This is a term of affection. I'm going to do this from the recesses of my love to them. I am going to do this. Who's going to stop me? Who's going to stop me?

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Behold the eternal covenant of God that chose us, ordained our salvation, and then sent Christ to be our propitiation, to be our mercy seat, to be our high priest, to be our redeemer. What great love is that? Can you find an end to such love and mercy? To give us everlasting righteousness and redemption. Go to Romans chapter 8. This is the exact same thing that Paul is saying in Romans 8.

Verse 28. You know it well. Listen to this. And we know. This is not ambiguous. This is not something that we are guessing. He didn't say, I think. You know, I was flipping through some podcasts and somebody said, why I think Calvinism is wrong. I don't care what you think. See, if that's the premise is your thoughts, your thoughts are worthless. Listen, but we who believe, we know that all things, what?

Work together for good. Why? Because God ordained it to work together for good. To them that love God. Not to everyone. To them that love God. Who are they? To them who are the called according to his purpose. To those who are his elect people. Predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. That's the ones that know all things work together for our good. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Not what He foreknew, who He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, He also called, and whom He called, He also justified, and whom He justified, He also glorified.

What in the world are we going to say to these things? Listen to this, regardless of what happens, listen, regardless of what happens, if God be for us, who can be against us? If God be for us, who can be against us? God chose all that Christ redeemed. They all shall come to Him. The scripture does not leave us to doubt. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. This is what providence is moving for. It is moving toward all the salvation of all the elect. That's what it's moving for. The evil works of man are used in this providence to bring in his people. Isn't that what he raised Pharaoh up for?

He said, I have raised you up for one reason, show my people my power. That's it. That's all he had to live for. And he died in his sins. Men don't like that. God's people do. God's people love it. And so now then we see this man is one of those, one of those men that God said, I'm going to do him good.

And how did he do him good? He made his little girl sing. Best thing that ever happened to this man was his daughter got sick. He never would have come, would he? God used that providence to show this man he had nothing. He had no power, no hope in himself. All of his money was worthless. All of his power as a ruler could not help the one he loved the most. But he heard of somebody who could.

And he forsook every bit of that status and he put his face in the mud before the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, the same as that leper, if you will, you can. If you go to that, my daughter, and you put your hands on her, I know this, she shall live. And the Lord said, okay, let's go. He had a promise. He had a promise. But then providence came in, right? The crowd came in. Was that accidental? was ordained. Our Lord was not upset that the crowd came in.

Agerius was very upset. Isn't that what happened when we have a promise of God and all of a sudden something seems to go against it? We're kind of upset. We're kind of fearful. And then when the Lord stops the procession because of that woman, all the doubts and fears that filled this man's heart and mine. I can identify with that. I know what that is.

And then that last moment when he came up and then all hope was taken from him. Don't trouble him anymore. She's dead. This man had real sorrow. He had real faith. He had real faith to believe Jesus Christ. But what was the Lord doing with this? This is what he was doing. He was trying this man's faith. When anyone professes to believe, the first thing that's going to happen is your faith is going to be tested.

Not for God. God doesn't need to know. God knows if your faith is real. You don't. You and I don't know if our faith was real. How often have we questioned our own faith? Well, how do you know? Because faith is tried. It's tried by what? Afflictions, sorrows, difficulties, crowds, stopping the progress of what we thought we should have, what we thought we were promised. And God takes it away. And you're just standing there, and all your hopes are dashed against the rocks, all your dreams, all that you wanted is gone. The Lord's trying this man's faith, and you know what He said to that man?

He says to us, don't be afraid. I could see the fear in that man's face. But if you looked at Christ, there was no fear. There was no conflict. It wasn't a conflict. It was intentional. All this was intentional. Don't be afraid. Somebody said that that phrase is used 365 times in scripture, one for every day. Don't be afraid. You know what? I need that. Because I'm often afraid. What's the remedy? Only believe. Only believe. Don't believe what you feel. Don't believe what you think. Only believe me. That's what he said. Trust me.

You fall into my arms and I will carry you. So what does he do? At this point, when he goes with Christ to his dead daughter's body, I want you to understand he has the same faith as Abraham. Remember when Abraham offered up his son? He had that knife in his hand, and that son was as good as dead. In his mind, in his heart, that boy was dead. God commanded him to kill his son, and he was ready to kill his son. But you know what? God hold him. He said, hold, don't touch the lad. There's a ram caught in the thicket. What a picture of Christ.

But why was Abraham so willing to kill his son? Because he knew that God was able to raise him from the dead. That's what happened here. When Jairus went with Christ, believing he was believing Christ was able to raise her from the dead. And that's exactly what he did. That's exactly what he did.

So in our in these consuming contradictions between providence and promises, when God delays in fulfilling his promise, listen, it is for a purpose. It is to try our faith. Remember what Peter said, that the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold that perisheth. Though it be tried with fire, this man's faith was tried with fire. And what was it found? It was found true. Why? Because all true faith endures. How do you know if a man's faith is real? It'll endure. It'll endure.

You remember that parable, the seed and the sower, right? Some of it fell on stony ground. And the scripture says, and when it immediately sprang up, some people's face like that. They just hear it and they go, oh boy, this is great. This is wonderful. Oh, I love this. Eternal life, forgiveness of sins. God loves me. Wonderful. And then what? When trouble comes, where'd they go? When afflictions come, where'd they go? Why?

Because they had no root. Their faith was only superficial. And then they go away. Then you've got people whose faith is tied up in the weeds of the world. They're thrown in there with the thorns and the thickets not cleared out. And what? They say they believe. And then what? But the world sucks them in. The world has got them. They don't have any interest in the things of God. Well, I believe, but you know what? You just have to wait. I got things to do. Weeds. That's what that is.

And don't, it doesn't matter how much they hold their breath and tell you how much they love Jesus and all this stuff. They don't love the gospel. They don't love God's people. They'd much rather spend it with the world. If they want to spend it with the world, listen to what John said. John said, if you don't love the brethren, you're a liar. John said that, and I don't care. Does it really matter what people say?

No, God's people, when they come, they have fruit, and the fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. It's not the fruit of the flesh. It's not giving money to charity. It's not doing good works. It's not fasting. It's not outward religious ceremonies and rituals. That's not fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love for Christ, love for the brethren, faith in Christ, joy, peace, meekness, temperance. All of these are the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of the flesh. God's people have that. And what do they do? They trust Christ only. They trust Him only. Like this man.

And so when our providences are dark, know this, God will try our faith. And all true faith will believe only, only in Christ. Now, secondly, the purpose of God in the same instance was to save this woman. God was not going to let this instance pass without a gospel message. And that's exactly what was taking place. When this woman come here, she is a picture of every believer in Jesus Christ. She's a picture of us all.

You remember this woman had an issue of blood. Well, I had an issue of blood. Now, under the law, the issue of blood forbid this woman to worship. She was not allowed. In the worship of God, she was not allowed to be touched. Isn't that something? If anybody touched her, they would be unclean. So she was bleeding constantly. What a picture of us, we by nature are unclean. Every one of us.

Not worthy. to touch our Lord, not worthy to come to Him. And we see this, that this woman spent all she had on doctors of no value. The Scripture said she went to many doctors. In verse 26, she suffered many things of physicians and spent all she had, and was nothing better, but rather good worse.

Isn't this what happens when a person is first convicted? The first thing we go to is what? Doctors of religion. I remember Jack Shanks preaching a message on that years ago. I can't find it, but it was a great message. I think it was Doctors of No Value. Dr. Freewill. Went to Dr. Freewill. Made a decision for Jesus and it got no better, but only got worse. Dr. Good Works. Dr. Baptism. Dr. Lord Supper, you can name a whole bunch of doctors. And religion tells us to do this and stop doing this and you'll get better. But I'll tell you this, if God convicts a person, they'll never get better under that. They only get worse.

Until she come to the point where she had no other alternative, no other hope, and she heard that this man was gonna heal that man's daughter, and then she had what? She had hope. And so she creeps in. She wanted to be un... She didn't want anybody to see. Isn't this how it...

Like that publican. He said the publicans prayed thus over in a corner and he didn't even lift up his eyes. He didn't want anybody's attention. You want anybody's attention on your sin? You want anybody to see what's going on in here? Or in here? When God convicts a man of sin, he don't want anybody to see it. He won't even lift up his eyes to heaven.

And we know this. If I can have Him, I can be healed. That's what she said. If I can just have a thread of Him. I can't tell you how many times I've just... If you want to take me and put me in the corner of heaven over here, in this one little corner, that'd be great, as long as you're there. I'll take the lowest place. If I can have you, I'll take the lowest place. I like this woman crawling on her hands and knees just to have one touch. I know that his blood is sufficient to wipe away 10 million worlds of sin. But my hope is not that. My hope is that he wipes away my sin.

And you know what? The moment a man believes, listen to this, just like her, our issue's dried. She said she felt it within herself that she was dried up. It was all, the issue was gone. And I'll tell you this, everyone who believes is gonna confess it. This woman was not gonna get away without confessing it, right? When a man confesses it, that's what our Lord tells us, that this woman was not gonna, she could not be hid.

You know what? I remember this. Ralph Barna was preaching, and a woman came up after the service and said, Brother Ralph, I think the Lord saved me. And he's tired. He preached for an hour, more than an hour. I think I'm preaching long. He'll preach longer. But he was tired, and he said, that's good, that's good, sweetheart. He said, no, Lord, the Lord saved me, brother, what do I do? And he said this, don't worry, it'll get out on you. It'll get out on you, it will. God's people can't help but confess it. So see what the Lord was doing in Jarius when he was suffering through all of this? God had another purpose. And so when we suffer, we have to understand God has other purposes. You're not the only one. It's like we're part of the body. We're not the whole body. We're part of it. And so our suffering affects others.

Darius was halted and hindered so that he should save this one. And the last thing is this. God delays in delivering His promises to us so that He should get the greater glory. That's exactly what happened here. Instead of just going immediately and touching her and raising her from the dead. See all the glory Christ got from this? Even though these providences hindered Him, even though it became the worst situation possible, He still saved this other woman and raised his daughter from the dead.

What God is doing is giving glory for himself. That's what he's doing. Isn't he worthy of glory? I mean, is He not worthy of glory and praise and honor and dominion and power forever and ever? Amen. Repeat verse 1. That's what we'll do for eternity. We'll be repeating that verse over because He is worthy of our praise and adoration and glory. So when God delays, know this, He's trying our faith. You want to know what he's doing? That's what he's doing. When your faith is tried, listen to his words. Don't be afraid. Only believe. Don't look at the circumstances. I've got things I'm doing. Believe me.

God is going to delay in his mercies because God has a purpose in our suffering to save his people. When I suffer, I don't know how I sound to you. I really haven't thought about it. But I know this, that my suffering affects my preaching. Your suffering affects your hearing, doesn't it?

And then we affect everyone around us. And God is working all of that together to save His people. Why? That He should receive the glory for it all. That's what He's doing. So you don't have to question what He's doing. You now know what He's doing. When He delays in delivering us, His promises are just as true and faithful as they ever were.

I will be with you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I will only do you good. And that promise is sure, regardless of what happens to us. What happens to us doesn't do away with the promises. Listen, it's going to magnify the promise. That's what it's going to do. So the remedy is simple. Don't be afraid and only believe.

May God help us to do that in our times of delayed mercy, delayed promises. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow ourselves again before your throne, seeking grace and mercy. Father, I do pray your spirit would be gracious enough to use the word for the good of your people, the furtherance of the gospel, and the glory of Christ. We should believe only, always, continually on you. Forgive us and lead us and bless us according to your kindness, in Jesus' name, amen. What? Oh. Well, you just did.

The Purpose of Delayed Promises Mark 5:21-43

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's promises during suffering?

Why is faith important when facing challenges?

How does God use delays in fulfilling His promises?

What can we learn from Jairus and the bleeding woman?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

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The Purpose of Delayed Promises Mark 5:21-43

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's promises during suffering?

Why is faith important when facing challenges?

How does God use delays in fulfilling His promises?

What can we learn from Jairus and the bleeding woman?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

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