of chapter 8, and just this one
verse, verse 40. And it came to pass that when
Jesus was returned, the people gladly received Him, for they
were all waiting for Him. Now, the title this evening of
this message is, waiting for the Lord. They were waiting for
Him. Now, I didn't read the context
of this, but let me tell you just a little bit about what
happened. Here in verse 1, the Lord had
preached to most of these people. That's what we see here in verse
1 of chapter 8. The Scripture says there that
He He went through all the cities and villages preaching and showing
the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with
him. He preached to most of these
people that were waiting for him. And here in verse 2, he
healed many of their infirmities. We're told there about some of
the women, Mary Magdalene and Joanna, the wife of Herod Stewart. Many of them were healed, and
devils cast from them, and no doubt many that were not told
of here. But the Lord preached in this
chapter to these people, and then we're told here in verse
22 that He gave His apostles, His disciples, instruction, and
they went over the Sea of Galilee. And you remember the great storm
that they encountered there. where the Lord went to sleep
and He woke up and rebuked the wind and the waves of the sea
and there was a calm. And then He entered into this
country of the Gadarenes. And the first thing He did when
He got off of that boat was to save probably the worst man in
that whole country. He lived among the tombs, was
naked, and the scripture says he was full of devils. He had
a legion of devils. Of course the people asked him
to leave. They were afraid and besought him to leave, and he
did, but not until he saved the object of his electing life. Saved him. Put him in his right
mind and clothed him. I tell you, I love to see it
when the Lord faces opposition. There's something about when
you read that incident that takes place, and he faces this opposition,
and he proves himself to be irresistible in his grace. And he went over
here to this country, and he saved that Gadarene maniac, but
he faced all this opposition and overcame all of it. As soon
as he got on that sea of Galilee and went to sleep, the storm
came in and he got up and rebuked it. He overcame the unbelief
of those disciples. He overcame all those devils
that were in that man. Overcame the wretchedness of
that man's own deadness and trespasses and sins and rebellion. What
have I to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Well, you don't
have nothing to do with him, but he's got something to do
with you. He'd come over here to save you from this awful dilemma
that you're in. And that's what he did. He saved
this man by irresistible grace. And the Lord Jesus then was asked
by these people to leave, to depart from their country. But aren't you so thankful? that
though the Lord Jesus Christ is not welcomed in some places,
he's welcomed in other places. The Gadarene said, would you
depart out of our coast? And he did. But our text here
this evening tells us that others were welcoming him and waved
and received him gladly. And there may be churches this
evening in this town, and no doubt there is, that where the
Lord Jesus Christ and his free grace is not welcomed. But God
knows He's welcome here. He's welcome here. We'll be like
those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. We'll beg Him, Lord,
come and dwell with us. Come in here and suffer with
us. Now, here's what I want to look at just this evening for
a few minutes with you. And first of all, I want you
to notice this in our text. The scripture says this, And
it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, the people received
him, for they were all waiting for him. Now here is a beautiful
picture. And the scripture says this,
they were all waiting for him. That's a good thought, ain't
it? They were all waiting for Him. Isn't it a wonderful thing?
Our congregation's not very big, but ain't it a wonderful thing
when we're all here waiting for Him? And I think the Holy Spirit
said this on purpose, to know that all these people were here. You know, you see them out there
on the shore and what an amazing sight it was. But all of them
who were waiting on the Lord, it says, they were there. Everyone
that was waiting on the Lord, he was there. None of them kept
the Master waiting. You know, you'd rather keep Caesar
waiting than the Lord Jesus waiting. They probably thought to themselves,
we don't want to keep our Master waiting. Let's go wait on Him. So that's what they did. They
waited. And you know nobody was coming in late. I know we can't
help that sometimes. Some things happen and we come
in late. But isn't it a beautiful sight when we're all gathered
here and the Lord is not waiting on us, but we're waiting on Him. The Lord was coming and the scripture
says they were all waiting on Him. Can you imagine what a sad
sight it would have been if the Lord Jesus had got there and
He had lifted up His eyes towards heaven and He was praying? And
in comes this guy with his wagon full of kids on his carts and
making all kinds of commotion and the Master praying. No, that
didn't happen with this congregation, did it? They were all there waiting
on Him. Cornelius made mention of this
when Peter was going down to preach to him, when God had turned
to the Gentiles. Peter went in and said, why have
you called me down here? And the first thing that Cornelius
said was, we're all here present. Every one of them. He got his
family together, he got his brothers and sisters, his servants, his
soldiers. Everyone was congregated together. And the first thing he told Peter,
we are all here, present. Can you imagine what an exciting
group of people that was? waiting to hear the gospel. He'll
tell thee words whereby thou can be saved. Oh, how excited
they must have been. What great expectation they had.
But they were all there. And that's what we see, sadly,
on this sea coast. They were all there, waiting. But he says something else here,
and we emphasize this part of that. They were all waiting for
Him. I like that. They were waiting
for Him. You see this large congregation
there on the Galilean seacoast, and all their faces were looking
in one direction. They sat like a flint out on
that water. And they were waiting for Him.
They weren't waiting for James and Peter and John. Oh, they
loved them, no doubt. And there would have been time
to give them a hug and welcome them back. But I tell you who
they were waiting on. They were waiting on the Lord. That's what
our text says. He returned, and they received
Him gladly, for they were all waiting for Him. We love our dear preachers. We
love our teachers. We love our helps. Terrence and
I was talking this morning, don't know what we'll do without Glenn.
We just miss him so bad when he can't, when he ain't here,
when he ain't leading the sang. We just miss him. And we love
Brother Glenn. We love helps and helpers and
pastors and teachers. But I tell you, as much as we
love him, they can't heal our broken hearts. They can't strengthen
our poor, weak spirits. They can't lift us up when we're
down. We're here to wait on the Lord,
aren't we? We're waiting on the Lord. And if He doesn't show up this
evening in a song, or a prayer, or if He doesn't show up in the
message, I hope you're somewhat disappointed. I hope you ain't
here this evening just to see me. I hope you're not here this
evening just to hear me. But you're not content until
you see Him and you hear His voice. Mr. Spurgeon told about this lady
that was in London one time. Somebody said, do you want to
go to the Metropolitan Tabernacle and worship? She said, I need
the Lord's visitation so bad. I want to go over there and worship
while we're here. So she went over there and the
Lord blessed her as Spurgeon preached. And a few days later, she said,
I'm going back. I've got to hear that man preach
again. And she went back, and she left very disappointed. And
she told Mr. Spurgeon, she said, I'm very
disappointed tonight. He said, let me ask you, why
you came here the first time? She said, I come here seeking
the Lord. He said, why did you come here the second time? I
came here to hear Mr. Spurgeon. He said, there's your
problem. These men weren't waiting on
James and John and these apostles, as much as they loved them and
valued them, but the scripture says they were waiting on the
Lord. They were waiting on the Lord. Lord, when He revives, when He
arrives, it's like water poured on the dry grounds of our hearts.
It's like light in a dark place. They that sit in darkness have
seen a great light. These people which sit in darkness,
these were waiting on the Lord. That's what our text said. And
this was a sight, no doubt, our Master Himself delighted to see. Because this was a needy people
waiting on Him. They were all waiting for him,
and they were so needy. We're told in this context here,
one man that was in this congregation was Jehios. He's the man who
had the daughter that was dying. And he was there waiting for
the Lord to return. And he came up to the Lord Jesus
and fell right down at his feet and said, Lord, my daughter's
dying. Would you come and lay your hands on her, that she may
live? This was the man in that congregation waiting because
he had this great need. Nobody could help him but Jesus
of Nazareth. That's why he was waiting. Oh
my daughter, he said, come and heal my daughter. Brothers and
sisters, do you feel like I do this evening? What are we going
to do if the Lord don't save our children? Don't you feel
so heavy sometimes that your heart is almost as heavy as this
earth itself? Lord, my dear daughter, come
and lay your hands on my dear daughter. Come and drive the
devil from my son and tell him never to enter. We're needy people,
aren't we? Oh Lord, come and visit us. We're
needy. We're needy. Are we a needy congregation? The Lord loves a needy congregation
that walks up on Him. There's congregations tonight,
I imagine, that don't need the Lord. That's sad to say, but
it's probably so. They have their programs. They
have their pastors who have degrees. And they're good at entertaining.
They don't need the Lord. They're rich and increased with
goods. They have need of nothing. And I'll confess before you this
evening that I need him. I need the Lord. And I'll tell
you who he visits. He may pass by those congregations
that has no need of him, but I'll tell you who he will visit.
To this will I look, he said, even to that man who is of poor
and of a contract spirit. He trembles at my word. That's
a man who needs Him. A congregation who needs Him.
He healed those who had need. What a beautiful sight. And this
woman was here that had the issue of blood. Remember her? She was
in this congregation. She was there waiting on the
Lord. Secondly, about this, it's not
always easy to wait on the Lord. It's easy to say it, but oh,
to wait patiently for the Lord. It's difficult. I don't know
how long these people have been waiting. The Scriptures don't
say it, but you know they had no idea as far as I know where
the Lord went to. He left them and went across
the sea that night, and they didn't know where he'd gone or
when he was coming back. It's evident they didn't. If
he had known, they wouldn't have been waiting. Then he showed
up at the same time he did. But nobody knew. They heard that
there had been a great storm in the sea, but they had no idea
when he was coming back. So the scripture says here they
were waiting. Boy, can you imagine how their
legs ached and how their eyes burned looking out over that
ocean with the sun blistering. Their stomachs were empty. Their
mouths were dry. It's not easy to wait on the
Lord. But these people waited on Him. They waited on the Lord. And I think you can see the correlation
here between waiting for Him and receiving Him gladly. Did
you notice that in our text? The Scripture said when Jesus
returned, the people gladly received Him because They were waiting
on Him. See the correlation between waiting?
Sometimes it's difficult to wait. But all the joy when He shows
up. And I'm glad, I'm glad sometimes
when we wait there, when He makes us to wait. He brings us to this
point. If He showed up too quick, we
wouldn't appreciate His return. If he had showed up the day before,
Jairus may have never been there pleasing for his daughter. This
woman with an issue of blood maybe never needed him yesterday. But in waiting, he brings us
to the point where we receive him gladly. when he shows up. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon
the Lord. They were made to wait in order
that their hearts may rejoice the greater. The Lord's absence
is one of the best rods of correction. You ever notice that in your
own experience? He leaves you to correct you. Imagine this
woman here with an issue of blood. Imagine how her thoughts afflicted
her as she waited for the Lord to come back to cross that city.
And she probably began to think, why didn't I come to Him yesterday? Why was I over there paying those
positions of no value who could not help me at all? Now, he may
never come back again. What will I do if he don't return?
Oh, how she was corrected. How she was corrected. Some other
may have said, oh, I've offended him. He may never return. Boy, I tell you, I don't know
if they said this or not, but I have. Oh, if he ever shows up again,
when he does return, I'll appreciate him next time. I'll not neglect
him like I did. Well, sometimes when he departs
from us and don't manifest itself, it's a rod of correction for
you and I. Somehow, Felix's attitude, when
I have a convenient season, I'll call for thee. If God ever takes
a hand to correct those of that attitude, boy, they'll put their
hands over their mouth. They'll wonder if there's any
mercy for such blasphemous procrastinators. He uses his absence to correct
us of our procrastination and unappreciative of his precious
presence. Oh, another said, I would not
have treated him so illy. I wasn't thankful for his presence
when I had it. You ever been there? Oh, one
man said, he fed me and my whole family with those loaves and
fishes, and we walked away and never gave it a second thought. Oh, how unthankful many were,
and how thankful many are. for his presence until they lose
it. And that's one of the ways he
has corrected us. Some who were anxiously waiting probably said,
when he does return, we'll not let him go so easily the next
time. The next time when he departs,
we'll go with him. We'll plead to him with purpose
of heart next time. You say, Bruce, are you sure
they said that? I don't know if they did or not, but I'm telling
you what I see. That's been my attitude. And
boy, when he did finally show up, what did the scripture say? They received him gladly. Don't
that tell you that there was something in their hearts that
was anxious that he show up? that they waited with a degree
of anxiety about it all because they received him gladly. And you read the context here,
they were thorn in him so bad. They were pressing in on him
so bad, they were so anxious that this woman had to press
her way through the crowd. They were so happy. They were
so glad. They received Him with gladness. I tell you, I never pray. I don't
pray for myself, and I never pray for you, for the absence
of the Lord Present. But there's some good in it,
when God's pleased to turn it from that. When David had sinned,
one of the things that afflicted him as much as anything, Lord,
don't cast me out of your presence. Don't take your Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation. Ain't it almost to hell upon
this earth when he's not present? You lose your joy, you lose your
assurance, you lose your patience. And think about this. When the Lord makes us wait for
Him, He proves our true desires, that we really want Him to return.
No doubt in these people here, there were crops that need to
be got in, or tended, or hold. There were cattle that need to
be fed. There were fences that need to be meant. And there's
a time for those things. But more around now, there was
something more important than anything else. And he proved
it to them. Waiting for the Lord. Waiting
for the Lord. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. Why? Because the desire of our
soul is to thy name. Well, I tell you, he proved it.
He proved it. And I can't understand this point
But there's something in waiting on the Lord that increases our
confidence. I don't know what it is. But
Jairus was waiting on the Lord, and when the Lord showed up,
Jairus said this to the Lord Jesus, Come and lay your hands
on my daughter, and she shall live. She shall live. And here this woman with an issue
of blood said, If I could just touch the hem of his garment,
I'll be made whole. These were two people who were
waiting on Him, and sometimes waiting increases our confidence. I don't understand that, but
it does. Listen to what David said. I wait for the Lord, my
soul doeth wait, and in His word do I hold. Waiting increases
our hope, and it also increases our confidence. Hope and confidence. And this point, as I looked at
this, I thought of this, some instructions to help us in waiting. What will help us to wait? Well,
one thing, I'll encourage us to stay where we know the Lord's
going to show up. It won't do any good to wait
on Him if you're not where He's coming. I had no idea how these
people knew where the Lord was coming to. I don't know if there
was a dock there, or a large clarion. I don't know if it was
just customary, this is where they docked their boat at. But
some way or another, they knew this was the place that he was
coming to. So they got right there, and
they waited. You know where's the best place
to wait on the Lord Jesus Christ at? Wait on Him in the way of prayer.
Call on His name and wait on Him. Wait on Him in His Word. Find you a precious promise and
wait right there until it's fulfilled. Wait on Him here among the assembly
of the saints, where His gospel is taught, where it's believed,
where it's loved, where He is worshipped, If he's going to
show up, you know he's going to show up, where his people
are. And where's his people? Some
of them right here, in his gospel. Wait on the Lord and keep his
way, and he shall exalt thee to earth's land. Keep his way.
That's where we wait on him at. And secondly, let this encourage
us, don't be envious at those who are not waiting on him. and
they seem to prosper in the way. David said, Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for him, and fret not thyself because of him
who prospereth in his way. For the evildoers shall be cut
off, but they that wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth.
Brothers and sisters, I've got no envy in my heart. for the rich, wicked people of
this world. God bless them. This is the best
life they're going to know. I'd rather be sick, I'd rather
be weak, I'd rather be flat on my back waiting on the Lord as
to enjoy all the advantages of this world and be cast out when
the Lord comes. Wait on the Lord, David said.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers. And let this encourage
us to seek the Lord and instruct us and help us to wait on him. The Lord Jesus has a habit of
returning to those who wait for him. He has a habit of returning. And you notice that's what our
text said, wasn't it? In verse 40, he says this, And
it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, he had been there
before, hadn't he? That's the way he works. If he's been there before, and
he started to work there, he'll return again. He won't let his
work go unfinished. He had a work to do, it's evident. I gave you two examples of it,
in Jairus and this woman. And here is a blessed truth.
Listen to this. If a man is truly waiting on
the Lord, it's because the Lord has already been there before. That's why you're waiting on
Him. If the Lord had not visited you
first, you'd never be waiting on Him. These were waiting, expecting
His return. If we have a desire to learn
of the Lord, it's because he's already been teaching us and
measuring. If we have a desire to come to
him, it's because he's already drawing us. If we're hungry for the bread
of life, it's because he's already put that hunger there, and he'll
return and he'll satisfy that hunger with himself. If a man
is thirsting for the water of life, then Christ has already
put that thirst there. And be assured of this, where
he makes a man thirsty, he'll satisfy that thirst with himself.
He never starts a work and leaves it unfinished. He never visits
a people and puts them hoping and waiting for Him and then
refuses to return. He had been here with these people.
He had taught them His gospel and now He is returning to them
because they were waiting for Him. Are you waiting on the Lord
this evening? Are you waiting on Him? Then
you can be encouraged in this. It's His custom to return where
He's been before. Therefore, wait patiently for
Him. Don't be discouraged. Don't give
up. Wait patiently. He'll strengthen
your heart. David said, I waited patiently
for the Lord. And he was in an awful, awful
pit. But he said, I waited still. And what happened? He lifted
me up and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings and
put a song in my heart. Wait, he said upon the Lord.
He'll return. He'll return. There has been a time when you
and I, we didn't need him any more than these Gadarenes needed
him. We basically told him, depart from us, did we not? We just
are not the knowledge of thy ways. But what did he do? He visited us. He visited us
with his rod, he visited us in his grace, and he put us forward
and waited. And how often now do we have
to wait? But we've always found Him faithful
to return. May God bless His Word.