Well, good evening. Before we
look at our text tonight, turn back to the Psalm that Eric just
read to us, Psalm 126. And I didn't know he was going
to read this tonight, but as he read it, I noted that I'd
underlined verses 5 and 6. I'm sure all of you do the same. For texts of Scripture that at
a particular point in time the Lord has blessed you with for
some reason, and it called to mind many tears. that Robin and I shared in the
early years of the work in Papua New Guinea. And that's why I
underlined it. I don't even know, probably 15,
20 years ago. And it just was a blessing to
me to think about that right now. How true this scripture
is. Here, let me read it. Those who
sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth
weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. And what a blessing
it is for us to see how the Lord has worked. And now, look at
the next psalm. And I think these psalms go together.
Why is it? Why is these two verses that
we just read so true? Look at the next verse in Psalm
127. Unless the Lord builds the house,
they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the
city, the watchman stays awake in vain. And that's why, that's
why I can say today that we can come with rejoicing. With rejoicing at the work that
the Lord has done. And, you know, I've said this
more than once and I'll say it again. You know, anything that
I've done there in Papua New Guinea is just chaff. It's nothing. It's dross. It'll be burned up. The only thing that matters is
what the Lord has done there. And we truly pray and believe
that the Lord has done a work and is continuing to do a work.
But how thankful we are for God's grace to us and to his people
there, as Eric said. Why are we there? because he
has a people, and he sent us there for that reason, and no
other, and we're thankful. So turn with me to Luke chapter
8. Luke chapter 8. We'll be looking at a very familiar
passage, I'm sure, to all of you, beginning in verse 40. Now,
in the Gospels, we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We're given
an account of the life and ministry and the words of Jesus over a
relatively short period of time. It's remarkable, then, that so
much of each of these books is given to recording the events
and incidents and interactions that Jesus had with a number
of different people. I don't know if you've ever thought
of this. In these Gospels, we have a broad collection of stories
of the incidents which occurred, sometimes in startling detail,
which is the case here. Now, why would the Holy Spirit
choose to reveal Christ to us in such a way at such a critically
important time. Think of this. The three years
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ on this earth. If it was
up to us, would we have chosen to reveal the truth in this way? I don't think so. I don't think
so. Well, why? I'm not sure that
anyone can answer that except to say that the Holy Spirit has
chosen to reveal Christ to us in the Gospels in this particular
way, because it's the best way to accomplish the purpose of
God, and that is glorifying His Son. But I think too that we can say
that one of the reasons the Gospels were written in this way, under
the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was to reveal a
person. Reveal a person. To portray before
our eyes not just truth about Jesus, but to portray the person. Salvation is not knowing about Christ. Salvation is knowing Christ,
knowing the person. And isn't that what we see as
we look at these Gospels, as we read through them? Isn't that
what we see held up before our eyes? The person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, often in these circumstances which in God's
providence are brought out, brought about to work perfectly to accomplish
His ends, and His ends in particular of the salvation of His people,
particular individuals, and to see how He works in such unique
and unusual ways, but yet in ways that are very specific,
very specific. Now, How important it is for
us to know this. To know that salvation is not
just knowing certain truths. Salvation is knowing Christ. And this is the desire of every
believer, isn't it? Not only that we know Christ
in terms of seeing Him as our Savior, as our Redeemer, but
to know Christ. To know Christ every day. Every
day in our lives. This was what was so startling
to the Apostle Paul with respect to the Galatians. You remember
that here these believers had been gathered together under
the ministry of the Apostle Paul and very shortly afterwards these
men came in propagating a false gospel. Primarily a gospel of
works. A gospel of man's works. And these believers were being
deceived. And Paul comes to them. Now note
what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, oh foolish Galatians,
I taught you fully all the truth about justification by faith
alone, in Christ alone. Well, he did, didn't he? He most
certainly did. And don't misunderstand me. I'm
not denigrating Doctrine. It's vital. It's important. It's
the word of the truth of the gospel. These are vital. But we must know the person.
See, Paul doesn't say that. What does he say? What does he
say to them? Oh foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose
eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This is what Paul is saying,
isn't he? He held up before these people
the Lord Jesus Christ, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he can't believe it that
they're so soon turning away from Christ. See? His point is
they're not just turning away from the doctrines, the truths,
they're turning away from a person. And how we need to understand
that. Well, here in Luke, we're given
a portrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the story of
a man whose daughter is dying and he comes to Jesus for help. We see a man who comes to a place
in which all hope is lost. But Jesus says to him, do not
be afraid, only believe. These circumstances which occurred
here were written to teach us, among other things, and there's
many things here, They're written to teach us, among other things,
something about faith. Something about the faith of
God's elect. They were written to you and
to me that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing we might have life in His name.
We know that. We know that to be true. The
Word of God tells us. Now read with me then, beginning
in verse 40. So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude
welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And behold,
there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet
and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter,
about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went,
the multitudes thronged him. Now a woman, having a flow of
blood for 12 years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians
and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched
the border of his garment, and immediately her flow of blood
stopped. And Jesus said, Who touched me?
When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, Master,
the multitudes throng you and press you, and you say, Who touched
me? But Jesus said, Somebody touched me, for I perceived power
going out from me. Now when the woman saw that she
was not hidden, she came trembling. And falling down before him,
she declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason
she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. And he
said to her, daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made
you well. Go in peace. While he was still
speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house
saying to him, your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher.
But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Do not be afraid,
only believe, and she will be made well. When he came into
the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James,
and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept
and mourned for her, but he said, Do not weep, she is not dead,
but sleeping. And they laughed him to scorn,
knowing that she was dead. But he put them all out, took
her by the hand and calling, saying, little girl, arise. Then her spirit returned, and
she arose immediately. And he commanded that she be
given something to eat. And her parents were astonished.
But he charged them to tell no one what happened. Now, as we
read this, you'll be reminded that Christ's interactions with
this man Jairus were interrupted by this event of this woman who
had had this flow of blood for 12 years coming in and touching
the hem of Christ's garment. and being healed, being healed
immediately. And rather than detract from
this account of Jairus, this only enhances an important element
of faith, which we'll see, I trust, as we go along. But what I'd
like to do is just work through this passage then, and let's
look at what the Lord has revealed to us here particularly about
his son, about his son. But here, so there, in verse
40, let's look there again. And we read, so it was when Jesus
returned that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting
for him. And behold, there came a man
named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue, and he fell
down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house. Now,
three times in this passage we hear of a multitude of people. This was no small crowd, but
a great number gathered, just as we see so often in the ministry
of Christ. Great numbers of people often
gathered to hear the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here,
truly, was the prince of preachers. And men came. Men came, didn't
they? Thousands, many, many thousands
at points in time came and thronged Jesus. But of all these great
multitudes, the Word of God shows us that he's interested in, in
the great multitudes that are here, he's interested in just
two people. Jairus and the woman who touched
the hem of his garment. That's all. That's all. As Jesus
went throughout Israel preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God, so often we see this again and again. Multitudes thronging
him. But out of this great multitude,
how many repented? How many believed? Everyone whom God was interested
in. Everyone whom God purposed to
save. And that's what I was just saying
in terms of our work in New Guinea. We're not in New Guinea, out
there, preaching the gospel, hoping that someone might hear. We're preaching the gospel confident
and assured that the Lord's people will hear. They will hear His
voice and they will come. They will come. Everyone whom
the Lord purposed to save. Now, no man, no man can come
to Christ believing him unless the Father draws him. That too
we know to be true. The Word of God specifically
tells us so. This is what Jesus himself said,
no one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws
him and I will raise him up at the last day. Now here we have
this man, and we read there, there came a man named Jairus. Now why would he be coming? Why
would he be coming? Could it be that the Father is
drawing him? Well, this story certainly tells
us something about the work of the Father in drawing his people
to his Son. What are we told about Jairus?
He was a ruler of the synagogue. He was a ruler of the Jews. How did the rulers of the Jews
look upon Jesus? Consider that for a moment. They
despised him, didn't they? When he preached the gospel,
remember, at the beginning of his ministry, when he went into
the synagogue, and he was handed the book of Isaiah. And he opened
it to this place. He specifically opened it to
this place in Isaiah and began to read, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives. and recovery of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." And
you know, remember he closed the book and sat down and said,
today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. And what did
they do? The whole synagogue rose up,
took him out of the city, which was built on this cliff, on this brow of the hill, purposing
to stone him. Think of when he healed the paralytic
who was let down through that roof by these friends who had
brought him. And he said to the woman, your
sins are forgiven. What a wonder, what a wonder
that a sinner could be forgiven. And what did they do? They called
him a blasphemer. When He healed the man whose
hand was withered, they were filled with rage and discussed
with one another what they might do to Jesus. Or you think too, especially
if that man who was born blind, born blind, and Christ comes
and He heals him. And remember how these rulers
of the Jews came and harangued him and questioned him? And finally
they said, give glory to God, we know this man is what? A sinner. A sinner. and when Jesus raised Lazarus
from the grave." What a wonder. Four days in the grave, in those
rotting clothes, and the chief priests following that. The chief priests were told,
and Pharisees gathered a council together and said, What shall
we do? What shall we do? For this man
works many signs. If we let him alone like this,
everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and
take away our place and our nation." And from that time, they plotted
together how they might kill him. The rulers of the Jews hated
Jesus with a violent, and vindictive hatred. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. The religious
world loves religion. And they hate Christ. Nothing
has changed. They build Jesus of their own
imaginations. No different than the prophets
Isaiah and Jeremiah speak about. When a man goes and takes a block
of wood and carves it and sets it up and says, this is my God. The religious world loves religion
and hates the Christ of God. He always has and he always will. We should never be surprised.
Well, here is this man. Here is this man Jairus. He was
a ruler of the synagogue. Well, where do we find him? He
came and he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to
his house. What a wonder! What a wonder! Think of this! He didn't come
to Jesus secretly by night, did he? Jairus came to Jesus in the
bold light of day. He came to Jesus in the eyes
of this great multitude of people. And he fell down at the feet
of Jesus. This ruler of the synagogue,
this ruler of the Jews, humbled himself at the feet of Jesus
of Nazareth. A person of no consequence, no
stature whatsoever. a man who is hated and despised,
mocked and scorned by his fellow rulers. Well, Jairus came. He came caring nothing about
his own esteem, caring nothing about his own position, his place,
caring nothing about his own pride. He cared nothing about
what men might think of him. Oh, how many are hindered just
by that one thing. Just by that one thing. He cared
nothing. Nothing of what others might
think. And he had no fear of the rulers. Isn't that another thing that
hinders so many? Fear of men. Fear of men. But no, Jairus came fearing nothing
from the rulers. And he begged him. Jairus greatly
humbled himself before Jesus and he begged him to come to
his house. Think of this. Jairus is, these
rulers, the rulers of the synagogue, the rulers of the Jews were men
who were highly esteemed. Men of great position in the
society. But here he comes, and he claims
no merit whatsoever for himself, but viewed himself as entirely
unworthy of receiving help from the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, everyone who comes to the
Son comes in just this way. Why? Because this is God's way
of salvation. What had occurred to bring about
such a remarkable transformation in this man? We'll read on, verse
42. For he had an only daughter,
about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went,
the multitudes thronged him. Now we're told that Jairus had
this daughter, it's his only daughter, and she was dying. Now, blind men cried to Jesus
for help. Paralyzed men pleaded for mercy. Lepers begged Him to be healed. But the condition of this little
girl is in a wholly different category. We're told that she
was dying. She was dying. The daughter of
Jairus was dying. Now, if any of you have had experience
of being with someone when they die, you know what this is talking
about. I don't know what it is, but
there's something that occurs when a person is at that place
where they're coming to the point of dying, where something changes. I can't even describe it. You
see it in the face, and you know that the person is Near death. Near death. Well that's what
we're told is the case with Jairus' daughter. She's not severely
ill. It says that his daughter was dying. She was at the point
of death. The situation was desperate. Jairus knew he was in great trouble. And he knew also there was no
one to help. No one to help. Now, the religion of man is just form. The religion of man is just tradition.
I don't mean specific groups out there. I mean all men. All
men. You see it. You see it today. You join a church. You join a
church, you make a decision, you get baptized, you get involved
in the programs of the church and Bible studies, Sunday school. Or like me, you grow up in a
Christian home where the gospel is preached. And it's just a way of life. It's just a way of life. This
is what we do. We get up, we go to church on
Sunday, we do this, we do that. It's just a way of life. And
that's all it was for me until the Lord did a work. That's all
it'll be for anyone unless the Lord does a work. Well, the Lord,
when He does a work, He does a work, doesn't He? Was it just form for Jairus? Was he just going through the
motions? Try to imagine the place in which
we find Jairus. He would have been in a state
of fear, a state of turmoil. He would have been in a state
of desperation and heartache. How He must have been suffering. This was his only daughter and
she's at the point of death. Now this is just a small and
in a way a pitiful illustration of this but my youngest daughter
Jennifer just entered college. But when she was about five or
six years old, she had eye surgery and it was serious eye surgery.
And I remember we were here in Southern California staying with
Robin's parents. in Orange County and we drove
up to Cedars-Sinai for this surgery and you know they said it would
probably be a couple of hours but anyway they came and they
took her into the operating theater and we sat outside waiting and
one hour went by, two hours, three hours, four hours and you
know you, I mean as a parent you know and you have this young
child and they're under in major surgery and you know you had
all of this concern and this anxiety and they finally came
out and called us into the surgery and I remember walking in with
Robin and I walking into this big theater probably bigger than
this room and where they do a number of surgeries and she was the
only one left in there on this table with all of these machines
hooked up to her. And she was screaming in anguish. And, you know, later they told
us this is often the case with someone coming out from under
long anesthesia. But I looked at her and everything
began to close in. And the nurse that was there
with us, she looked at me and she said, are you alright? And
she grabbed a chair and scooted it over and said, sit down. Because
she saw I was about to pass out. Now, I say that because in New Guinea
I can't tell you how much blood I have seen. You know, we work
among a people who are very conflict-oriented people and they fight all the
time, often with machetes. And I've washed out the back
of our four-wheel drive, washed the blood out with buckets of
water. Again, times I can't even tell you. I've seen terrible
things. Didn't bother me a bit. Didn't
bother me a bit. But why? Why wasn't this case
with Jennifer? Because She's my daughter. Isn't that so? She's my daughter. Well here is Jairus and his daughter
is at the point of death. To Jairus this is anything but
form, isn't it? This was real and this was felt. Time is pressing. His daughter
is dying. Each minute that passes by his
daughter is coming closer and closer to death. Now there was
no time for Jairus to try many different things. You remember
reading about the woman, how it said she tried many, many
different things and exhausted all avenues. But there isn't
time for Jairus to do that, is there? There was no time for
Jairus to try this, try that, to see if he could find help
for his daughter. Now, who does Jairus go to for help in the
time of his great need? Why? Why? Because he believed
that Jesus was the one person who could help him. Isn't that true? When a man is
desperate, when he's in deep trouble, he's going to go to
the one he believes in. He absolutely will. He absolutely
will. Well, this is the experience
of everyone who comes to Christ. The whole being of the person
is involved. The heart, the mind, the will,
the emotions. When the Holy Spirit works and
brings someone to faith in Christ, this is real. This is powerful. And this is effectual. Keep your
place here and turn over to Psalm 130 for a moment. Psalm 130. Now with some, the Spirit comes
and He works quickly. And everything is compressed.
And with others, the Spirit moves in different ways, doesn't He?
In different times. But it will all come. But all
come, they all come knowing they're in desperate trouble. They all
come knowing they're sinners. They all come knowing they have
no hope in themselves and no hope in any other. They all come
knowing they're guilty. They all come humbling themselves
before the Lord Jesus Christ. They all come begging for mercy. In the hour of great trouble,
man will turn to the one thing he truly believes in. Oh, I've
seen it many times. Many times. The one thing or
the one person that he believes will save him out of his trouble. When does a person cry out to
the Lord? In his trouble. In his trouble. Look here in Psalm 130. Out of
the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. Here is a man in trouble. Here is a man in the depths.
Where does he cry? Out of the depths have I cried. Oh Lord, Lord hear my voice. Do you know something of this
experience? Do you know something of this humble, fervent, broken-hearted
cry? Have you been there? Have you
been there? Well, if you have, I think Henry
put it this way, if you have, then you're there today and you'll
be there tomorrow. Isn't that true? Do you know something of conviction
of sin, of brokenness of heart before God, the living God? The publican did in that parable
spoken by Jesus, didn't he? We read of him, where was he?
Not like that Pharisee standing up at the front. He was at the
back. And he dare not even lift his
eyes to heaven. But he beat upon his chest, saying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Well, the Philippian jailer knew
something of this, didn't he? You remember when Paul and Silas
are there in prison and this great earthquake occurs? I wonder
why. I wonder why. Could it be to
bring this man to this place where he came falling, trembling
down at the feet of these men and said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? He knew something of this, didn't
he? Well, this psalmist does. This psalmist knows something
of this too. And the sinful woman who came to the house of Simon
the Pharisee knew something of this also, didn't she? You remember,
this woman came to Jesus. The sinful woman. She too came,
caring nothing what others thought of her. Caring nothing about anyone else
present. She came knowing what? That they
would mock her, that they would scorn her, that they would ridicule
her. She knelt over the feet of Jesus
and her tears flowed. Tears of sorrow for sin and tears
of joy because of her Savior. Tears of repentance for her iniquities,
but tears of thankfulness for with Him there is forgiveness. Look at verse 3. If you, Lord,
should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Oh, isn't that
true? If the Lord would mark our iniquities,
if he would mark my iniquities, your iniquities, who could stand? What hope is there? But listen. But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. Turn back to Luke 8. The man who truly turns to Christ
for salvation is the man who not only sees his great sin and
guilt, but he knows that there's only this one person, one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that can help him. And we read, as Jairus came,
as he went with Jairus, the multitudes thronged him. Their progress
was delayed by this great multitude of people that thronged Jesus.
You know the experience, don't you? Wherever you're in some
huge crowd at some event and you're trying to make your way
to some point, how greatly you're hindered by people. Progress
is slowed, slowed so much by this multitude. Then there's
this further delay involving the incident with the woman who
touches the hem of Christ's garment and is healed. Well, Jairus'
daughter is dying. His daughter is dying. And what
does he say? What does Jairus say? What does
Jairus do? Well, this is remarkable. Nothing. Nothing. No impatience, no exasperation. In fact, the Word of God doesn't
record Jairus doing anything, anything except looking to Christ. Let's continue to read, verse
43, Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who
had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be
healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of his
garment, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus
said, Who touched me? When all denied it, Peter and
those with him said, Master, the multitudes throng and press
you, and you say, Who touched me? Well, as far as Jairus is
concerned, what's happening? Time is going by. Time is passing. Verse 46, But Jesus said, Somebody
touched me, for I perceived power going out from me. Now, when
the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and
falling down before him, she declared to him in the presence
of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she
was healed immediately. Well, what does this woman do?
She gives her testimony, doesn't she? And what a testimony that
would have been! Of this glorious work of being
healed by this power of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as far as Jairus is concerned,
what else is occurring? More time. More time is passing
and his daughter is dying. This is remarkable. From the
time that Jesus began to go with him, we don't read of Jairus
saying or doing anything further. It would seem, despite these
grave circumstances which he found himself in, that Jairus
rested in Jesus, knowing he would help his daughter. He rested
his whole heart and his whole mind upon Jesus. All these many
things were going on around him. Think of Jairus' place here.
All of this occurring. In a sense, chaos as it were.
But not chaos. All controlled perfectly by the
Lord Jesus Christ. But what does Jairus do? He just
looks to Christ and rests in Him. and simply trust him. And verse 49, while he was still
speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house,
saying to him, Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher. Your daughter is dead. Now there
is finality in that, if there ever is finality, isn't there?
Death. Your daughter is dead. Trouble
the Master no more." Hope is gone. All is lost. His only daughter
is dead. I'll never forget when this Christian
woman there where we work told me of the time when she received
news of the death of one of her daughters, a young girl. And she was coming, she'd been
up in the valley that we live in, in her garden. And she was
coming back, returning in the afternoon, carrying a heavy load
of food in her bag with firewood. And she said this person came
and met her on the trail and told her about the death, the
tragic death, accidental death of this young daughter. And she
told me, when she heard, she said, all my strength left me. and my spirit fled away." That's
how she put it. All my strength left me and my
spirit fled away and I just collapsed. Well, this would have been the
case with Jairus, wouldn't it? Here he hears this message of
the death of his daughter. All his strength too would have
left him. His spirit would have fled away. Until Jesus spoke. Until Jesus spoke. Verse 50. But when Jesus heard it, he answered
him saying, Do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be
made well. Now, who was it that answered
this messenger of death? This man who brought this news
of the death of his daughter. Who answered? Jesus. He doesn't even give Jairus opportunity
to respond. Notice that? Jesus answered. Now who did Jesus speak to? Not
the messenger. He speaks to Jairus, doesn't
he? He speaks to Jairus and what did he say to him? Do not be
afraid. Only believe and your daughter
will be made well. Now is this good news? Is this
good news? What does Jairus say? What does
Jairus do? Nothing. Again, nothing. He just
looks to Christ. He should have given, naturally
speaking, he should have given up all hope. Here he had come
to Jesus, believing that he could help him, and what's the outcome? His daughter is dead! You would
have thought he would have given up. and hopelessness and walked
away in grieving sorrow and the agony of the pain of the loss
of his daughter. But no, no. He hears Christ. Do not be afraid. Only believe
and your daughter will be made well. Whatever Jesus says to him, he
believes and he follows Jesus. Now, wouldn't it be wonderful
if you and I did just that? All the time. All the time. Verse
51. When he came into the house,
he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John,
and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned
for her, but he said, Do not weep. She is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed him to scorn,
knowing that she was dead. Now, it's apparent that a good
number of people, as is customary, in every culture, isn't it? I
mean, this happens here, happens in New Guinea, it certainly happened
in Israel at this period of time. When a person dies, what occurs? Family and friend gather to mourn
for the loss, mourn the death of a loved one, to grieve with
the family. And this is what they're doing.
They've come and they've gathered together to grieve with this
family for the loss, the death of their daughter. Now, why did
they weep and mourn? Because she was dead. She was
dead. What more was there to do except
mourn for the dead? That's all man can ever do. Mourn
for the dead and take that dead body out and bury it in the earth. This is all that man can do.
It doesn't matter how powerful, how wealthy, how wise, how great. This is all that man can do.
But Jesus comes and says, do not weep, she is not dead, but
sleeping. Now was the child dead? The child was dead. Yes, she was. To man, the child
is dead, but not to Jesus. Not to Jesus. Why? To Jesus,
the child is but sleeping because he's the life of men. He's the
life of men. To man, the daughter is dead.
But not to Christ. No, not to Christ. When Jesus
comes, He makes all the difference. All the difference. Turn over
to John chapter 11. Keep your place here. Again,
this is a passage I'm confident that we're all very familiar
with. John 11. And here, look there in verse
21. And you know this story, that
here is this beloved brother Lazarus, the brother of Mary
and Martha, and he was sick. And they'd sent for Jesus to
come and heal their brother. In many ways, it's a very similar
story to what we have with Jairus. But what happened? Christ delayed,
didn't he? He delayed, but they were told
he purposely delayed that they would see the glory of God. but Lazarus died and Jesus comes
and you remember Martha goes out and she meets him and you
can almost hear the heartbreak and the sorrow and the despair
and how she speaks to Jesus in verse 21. Now Martha said to
Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died. But even now I know that whatever
you ask of God, God will give you. You see, It's apparent that
Martha didn't fully comprehend who it was she was speaking to.
Who this man was. He wasn't just a prophet whom
God heard. He wasn't just a prophet whom
God spoke to. It appears that she was a little
fuzzy at this point in time. And she says, I know that whatever
you ask of God, God will give you. Not recognizing that here
before her is the living God. And Jesus said to her, your brother
will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that
he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Now listen to
what Jesus said to her. Verse 25, I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in me, though
he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Do you believe
this? Now turn back to Luke, Luke chapter
8. Now this is what Jesus tells
the people who are gathered there together in mourning. She is
not dead. He says she is not dead. Do they
believe this? No. Is this good news? Well, it is. It is to Jairus,
isn't it? But not to them. Not to them. This is good news. But do the
people, what do the people do when they hear this? Do they
believe Jesus? No. They don't believe the words
of Jesus. Yes, to Jairus this is good news. This is great news. This is the
most glorious news. This is the best news he's ever
heard. But to those who were mourning,
the words of Jesus were nothing. They were nothing. They laughed
him. They mocked him to scorn. Now you know. In the beginning
of Paul's first epistle to the saints there at Corinth, this
is what he says. For the message of the cross
is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved, it is the power of God. To those who believe
the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of
God, the power of God. To those who believe the gospel
is the savor of life unto life. To those who believe the gospel
is grace abounding. That the Almighty God would become
man. be born of a virgin, that He
would dwell among men like us, and that we would behold His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of
grace and truth, that in Him would be found a perfect righteousness."
Oh, this is good news, isn't it? This is glorious news that
in him is found acceptance with God. In him is found redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. In him is found pardon. To the believer, this is glorious. This is wonderful. But to those
who are perishing, the gospel is just foolishness. It's just
foolishness. Who would believe this stuff?
To those who are perishing, the gospel is a savor of death unto
death. Verse 54. What do we read? He put them all outside took
her by the hand and called, saying, Little girl, arise. Then her
spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And he commanded
that she be given something to eat." Well, what does Jesus do
with all those who laugh scornfully? You already know, don't you?
He put them out. He put them all out. Now, in
Matthew 8, we read of another man who came to Jesus by faith,
that centurion. And this is what Jesus said at
that time about the faith, this marvelous faith that God had
granted to this man. It says, When Jesus heard it,
he marveled and said to those who followed, Assuredly, I say
to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And I say to you that many will
come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will
be cast into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Then Jesus said to the centurion,
Go your way, and as you have believed, so let it be done for
you. And his servant was healed that same hour." Now what horror! What horror! What unimaginable horror it must
be to be thrust down of the presence of God for all eternity. Why are the sons of the kingdom
thrust into outer darkness? Because unlike the Roman centurion,
they refused to believe in the son whom he had sent. What an awful thing it is to
scorn the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He put them all out. And then Jesus reached down and
took the little girl by the hand. He reaches down in grace and
in mercy. He reaches down in compassion
and tenderness. He reaches down in love and in
power. And he called, didn't he? He
called saying, little girl arise. And what did this little girl,
this 12 year old daughter of Jairus do? Her spirit returned
to her. Her little heart began to beat.
Blood began to flow in her veins. She drew breath. These ears opened. And she heard the voice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Her eyes opened and she saw Him. She, who was dead, was made alive. Immediately. She arose immediately. Now she died, we're not told
of a disease or of what infirmity, but something took the life of
this little girl. But she arose, healed of that
mortal disease, didn't she? Healed! She arose, we could say,
to walk in newness of life. And isn't that true? If everyone
whom God comes in his saving power and raises from death to
life, translates from darkness to light, So it is for all those
who are united together with Christ in His death, and in His
burial, and in His resurrection. This is what Paul says there,
doesn't he? He says, therefore we were buried with Him, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. Amen. Now, Let me just conclude
by asking, did Jairus receive what his faith desired? He did,
didn't he? He did. Did Jairus find help
when he sought it from Jesus? He did. He did. And so it is. And so it is for every sinner
who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ believing in him. Jesus said to Jairus, do not
be afraid, only believe and your daughter will be made well. She
will be made well. Well, Jesus says to all those
who believe in Him, He says, well, He says a lot. He says,
you will be saved. He says, you will have your forgiveness
of sins. He says, you will stand before
God clothed in a perfect righteousness, even the righteousness of God. He says, you'll be reconciled
to God. What a wonder that we who are
his enemies alienated by our wicked works would be reconciled
to God. He says, you will be delivered
from the power of darkness and translated into this glorious
kingdom of the son of his love. He says, you will be made alive
and sit together with me in heavenly places. He says, you will be
presented holy and blameless and irreproachable in His sight. He says, I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in me, though
he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Amen.