That song, that last stanza says
prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it prone to leave the God I love.
Now I've sung that on purpose because our title of the message
tonight, if you want to be turning to Mark chapter five is only
believe, only believe. We're so prone to wonder as soon
as, and it's not even when we leave the building. I'm prone
to wonder in preaching to you sometimes. The Lord, if he takes
his hand off, my mind goes away. I've got to come back and try
to recollect myself and what am I doing? I'm wondering again.
We need his spirit. We need his spirit to cause us
to enter into his gospel and give us peace and give us rest.
The first song was talking about our hearts being cold and that's
the truth, isn't it? We need you to warm our hearts
by your gospel. Mark chapter five is where you'll
find our text. And I've already told you the
title is Only Believe. Now, if you ask the oldest believer
that you know, what is their greatest struggle or what has
been their greatest struggle throughout their life? Their
answer is going to be unbelief. Unbelief. Now the Lord's faithfulness
doesn't change. It's us that change, that wander
away, isn't it? He's always the same yesterday,
today, and forever. But if you were to ask, Answer
to the question for believers in general would be, what do
you struggle with? Unbelief. Everything around me is contrary
to the Lord. And every time I look at myself,
it's contrary to the Lord. I struggle with unbelief, struggle
looking to Him, struggle believing Him, taking Him for His word. And what does He do by grace?
He brings us back, doesn't He? Over and over and over. Paul said in Romans 7, for I
know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.
For to will is present with me. He's saying, I want to do it.
I want to do the right thing. I want to look to Christ. I want
to worship. To will is present. But how to
perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would,
I do not. The good that I would do, I do
not. But that, the evil. The evil which I would not. That's
exactly what I find myself doing over and over again. Is he talking
about sin? Certainly. But what's the sin
that doth so easily beset us? It's unbelief, isn't it? It's
unbelief. Can you relate to what Paul said? The evil which I would not that
I do. It ain't what we eat. It ain't what we drink. And it's
not even what we say. It's that we wander away from
Him in unbelief every time our flesh has an opportunity. We're
fleeing away again from Him. Every single opportunity that
we get, that's what we choose by nature over and over. And
the believer knows that that's true. We're so prone to wander,
prone to leave the God we love. If you can relate to Paul, you
can relate to the words that I just told you. I've got good
news for you tonight. It's finished. The Lord's not looking to us
for anything. It's finished. He's not looking
to our faithfulness. He's looking to the faithfulness
of his darling son and what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished.
God's not looking for our intentions. He's not looking for our prayers.
He's not looking at my prayer as justification. He's not looking
for how sincere I am. Men say, well, we need to be
more sincere. We need to do more. He's not looking for our sincerity.
Aren't you thankful for that? It's not about your faithfulness
or my faithfulness. It's his faithfulness unto his
father. He was sincere enough. He prayed
the right prayer. He had the sorrow of heart. His
soul was made an offering for sin. The Lord was satisfied with
him. He's not looking for us and our choice. No, he's looking
at the obedience of his darling son, isn't he? He's not looking for us at all
before He does something. He's looking at what He's already
done. He's already done it. Everything He's done is because
it's already finished. Everything just had to happen
in time. Everything that He looks for you and I as justification
before the Father, He provides. He provides that in the person
of Jesus Christ, in the shed blood alone. He's looking for
one thing. He's looking for one thing, the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one thing he is looking
for. You and I can't get it and you and I can't lose it. It's
bestowed upon us. Isn't that good? Someone says
it's a gift. That means I can reject it. Not
this gift, not this God. Man cannot say unto him, Lord,
what doest thou or hinder him in any way? I can't. sway his
hand one direction or another, can't constrain him or restrain
him. No, it's finished. And every single person that
the Lord died for on Calvary, he's going to bring them to that
knowledge in time and give them faith. And that faith of the
Lord Jesus Christ is our justification before God. The faith of Christ
given to his people is our justification before God, period. The faith
of Christ is our justification. There's nothing else that justifies
us. Nothing. It's the faith of Christ. We
can't merit it. We can't earn it. We can't bribe
God for it or obligate him. We can't choose it. We can't
reject it. Thanks be to God in time. He
bestows his faith unto his people. He says live. And if you're a
dead dog sinner, that's good news. If he don't say live, I've
got no hope. I've got no hope because I'm
dead. Dead, dead. Not a little bit.
We're dead, aren't we? Lord, I need you to make us alive.
I need you to make me alive. Give me this faith. Cause me
to see Christ. It's all according to his will
and purpose. And it was, and we know this second Timothy two,
the second Timothy one nine, it's on our bulletin. We talk
about it often, but it was given us when? Before the foundation
of the world, it was given us in Christ before the time ever
began. There's hope. I can't mess it up. I didn't
get it. I can't lose it. I can't mess
it up. This is the faith that brings
justification and peace. The only thing that brings peace
before the Lord between you and God is this justification, this
faith. Paul said in Romans 5, therefore being justified by
your choice? No. By what you do or what I
do? No. By the good that I've done
outweighs the bad, no, by faith. By faith, you're justified by
faith. Now we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. See, if we're born of his faith,
we're born of his seed, there's good news. Even though we're
prone to wonder, even though we leave the God we love, even
though our hearts grow cold, even though we go back to the
vomit as the dog does, Even if we believe not, he abideth faithful,
and he cannot deny himself. And if you're in Christ, he cannot
deny you. Isn't that glorious? He can't deny those who are in
Christ, whom he put there. When we look at self, when we
look at circumstances, well, we're prone to wonder when our
surroundings change, don't we? The world around us is ever-changing,
the world's Don't turn on the television to the news if you
have any happiness whatsoever. You'll lose it really quick,
I promise. There's no hope in that. We're not looking to Christ. See, that faith looks to him
and there's our joy. David said, Lord, restore to
me the joy of thy salvation. I've lost it. I've lost it. It's all my fault. Everything
that I do is wandering away from you. I need it again, Lord. Give
me that faith. Show me, restore it. Restore that joy unto me.
And how does he do that? He just sits us down and points
us right to the one where true joy comes from and peace, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We must believe him and take
him at his word. Thanks be to God, he gives us
the faith that does just that. Faith believes God. You know
why Abraham believed God? He had God's faith. He had the
faith of God. He was given to him. And Abraham
just believed God because of that. You take away God out of
the equation, Abraham would have never believed God. God had to
appear unto him. God did the entire work for Abraham
and made a promise unto him. And it was all by the covenant
of grace. He said, you're going to have See the stars in the
heaven, the sands in the sea, nobody's gonna be able to count
them. And it was all by faith, wasn't it? That's what he gave
to Abraham. And that's what he gives to all these people. He
calls us in time and he makes us look. And he keeps us looking,
doesn't he? Hebrews 12 says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. That word hour right
there is in italics. It's his faith, isn't it? But
looking is continual, isn't it? It's constant. It's consistent. The faith that he gives cannot
fail, and it has one purpose, to point us to Christ, to look
to the finished work of the cross alone for our salvation. Because
he gives that, we're looking unto Jesus. When? Well, right
now there's no condemnation, we're looking right now. And
right now there's no condemnation, we're looking right now. And
it never stops, does it? Every second that goes by, our
new man believes God, believes that it is finished. You ask
a believer, do you believe you're his? They'll say, I hope so. I hope so. I believe this gospel
is the gospel. You ask them, do you believe
Christ successfully redeemed his people? They'll say, yes,
absolutely. There is no doubt. Everything
that he did was on purpose. He didn't try to do anything.
It was all purpose before time and it had to come to pass because
he's God. You ask a believer, do you see
yourself in him? I hope so. I hope so. I see this sinful flesh. I see
my heart that's prone to wonder. I want to believe. Lord, I believe. I believe that
you're the Christ. I believe that with all my heart
that you've given me, Lord. But I look at myself. I don't
see the evidence I want to see. Well, that's looking to ourself,
isn't it? That's wrong. Look to Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down on the right hand of the throne of God. It's finished. It's finished. Now here in Mark
5, I think I'm starting to give you intros every time I stand
now, and I don't mean to do that, but it's just how the Lord's
been doing it, so I can't apologize for that. But in Mark 5, it is
an issue of faith. And that's the reason faith had
to be mentioned very specifically so we understand exactly every
time faith is mentioned is exactly what I said. It looks to Christ.
Where does it come from? It comes from Christ. Who gets
the glory for it? Christ gets the glory for it.
That's faith, isn't it? That's saving faith. It always
looks to the Father. He is the author of it. He is
the finisher of it. It's all about Him in every way.
Everything wrong in religion, everything wrong in man's false
religion, is an issue of faith. It's always an issue of faith.
But if we ask the three questions, whose faith is it? Where does
it come from? Who's the source of it? Who does
it belong to? Where does it come from? Who
gets the glory for it? Unless Christ is the threefold
answer to that question. It's his, he produces it, he
gets the glory for it. Unless that's the answer, see
men say exercise your faith, as if it's something we can produce
or to change or to grow. Growing in grace is down. It's
not up. It's not gaining strength according
to the flesh. I wrote an article for Sunday. Everything according
to the flesh that we have confidence in is going to show that it means
nothing spiritually, nothing. But everything that we've gained
confidence in according to the spirit by his grace is going
to prove that the flesh is nothing. It's completely impotent pertaining
to things of God. Why? so that no flesh can glory
in His presence. His faith always looks to Him. And any other kind of faith that's
talked about is dead faith. Only His faith produces life.
Only His faith produces life. Now in chapter five of Mark,
starts out speaking, and I preached a message to us Matter of fact,
when I was coming up, I believe back early on, maybe early 22,
I can't remember, but I preached a message that was the Master
and the Maniac. It's the same message or similar message I
brought at Terry's memorial service. That's the one he said, I want
you to preach that one. I said, okay, well, I'll re-look
at it. The Lord gave me new words on
it. I didn't just use the same outline. I felt like the Lord
blessed it. We're not going to look at the
maniac tonight of Gadara. I'm just going to mention to
you briefly, you know, the account, the Lord sails from the top of
the sea of Galilee down to the very bottom of it, just for one
man, just for this maniac. Nobody else believed after, at
least not at that particular time. He was the only one he
was, where the, how did they find him? They found him seated and
in his right mind and clothed worshiping God. And they, they
saw the hogs that had drowned and they said, depart from the
coast. We don't want you here. We'll take the hogs any day over
you that you're messing with our livelihood. Leave. The maniac
said unto him, Lord, I want to go with you. And he said, no,
no, you go and tell good things that the Lord has done unto you.
And he got in the ship and he left. He went all that way for one
man. Is that your hope? That's my hope. Lord, don't pass
me by. Let me be the one man. May you be the one woman. That's
that's our hope, isn't it? That's Lord, don't leave me the
maniac in the in the tombs, cutting myself, thinking I'm doing you
a service. Don't let me do false worship. Lord, sit me down and
put me in my right mind. And that's what faith does, isn't
it? That's what faith does. After he departs, the maniac
at Gadara, he goes into his ship. He's coming back across the Sea
of Galilee. And as he begins to land, people
come to him because they're interested in healing. They're interested
in seeing him again. Word spreads quickly. They're
coming to him. Now in chapter five, verse 21, let's read this
together. And when Jesus was passed over again by ship into
the other side, much people gathered into him and he was nigh unto
the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue,
Jairus by name. Jairus, I'm sorry, Jairus by
name. And when he saw him, he fell
at his feet and saw him greatly saying, my little daughter lieth
at the point of death. I pray thee come and lay hands
on her. that she may be healed and she
shall live. And Jesus went with him and much
people followed him and thronged him. Jesus has come back across
the sea and the first man that we read about is a man named
Jairus. Jairus is a leader of the synagogues
and comes begging. Now think about that. He's a
leader of the synagogues. He's a man of power. He's a man
of authority. He's a man of popularity, and
yet he has a need that no one else can help him with. He comes
begging to the Lord Jesus Christ. He falls down at his feet, begging
for what? Mercy, grace, the same thing
we beg for. Lord, my daughter, my young daughter,
my little girl, he says. She's nigh until the point of
death. But if you will come and lay
hands on her, she'll be made whole. She'll be made whole. Only those who are desperate
will worship this way. Only those who are made desperate.
He was desperate, wasn't he? He was desperate for his little
daughter. He was desperate for those circumstances. Only those
that have been given certain circumstances, the Lord knows
exactly what circumstance to put you and I into to draw out
that confession. Save me, Lord. Save me, Lord. And that's what he does throughout
our entire life as believers. The Lord makes his people desperate
and therefore they worship. Do you know why they worship?
Because they're made desperate. He makes them that way. It's
their only hope. It's literally the last. It's
not that it's a last resort either. I mean, sometimes we try everything
else around us and that's very true, but we're made to just
believe Christ is God and that he's the only one that can fix
it. Sometimes we don't use all of our resources. We flee to
him. There's mercy in that, isn't there? Here we see his need. His daughter lieth at the point
of death. We see his request, come and lay hands upon her.
So we see the need is confessed, my daughter's dying, and here
is my request, lay hands upon her. Now he did not, just like
all believers, Jairus did not command the Lord to do anything,
did he? Did he come up to the Lord and
say, I command you to take care of my daughter? No, that's foolish
talk, isn't it? He didn't say, Lord, I'm gonna
let you come to my house and lay hands on my daughter. No,
that's foolishness, isn't it? That's not, what did he say?
Lord, if you don't have mercy, Lord, if you don't show grace
right now, if you don't draw attention to my infirmity, my
need for my little girl, she's going to die. You're the only
hope that I've got. You're the only hope. Lord, if
you don't do it, I can't obligate you. He didn't even present his
righteousness to him, did he? He didn't come up to him and
say, Lord, I've I tithe this so much. I fast this. That was
not the issue. He had a need. He had a need,
and only the Lord could meet that need. It's the same need
you and I have that we're nigh unto death, aren't we? We're
nigh unto death. We're born dead, actually. And
Lord just shows us we're so nigh unto the grave that we're so
frail in these bodies. Every heart, I mean, I remember
the first time really thinking about how frail we are, a heartbeat
away. Just the heart stops. Are we
controlling our heartbeat right now? No, the Lord does that,
doesn't he? It's all by great designs of grace. We're completely
dependent upon him. Yet if the Lord stops it, that's
the end. We're so frail. Lord, we're nigh unto death.
Lord, and if you don't lay hands on us and cause us to live, we're
going to die. I have a need. I have a need. He didn't give him his title
or his works. He came begging and gave him his need and gave
him his request. You know, the Lord said, you
have not because you asked not. Lord says, make your requests
known unto me. What thought that the Lord hears
his people when they pray. He hears us when we cry out to
Him. When we, over the smallest things,
He hears His people. What grace there is in that and
mercy in that. And just as Jairus cries out,
we cry out the same thing. Have mercy on me, the sinner.
That's our need and our request, isn't it? That's our need and
our request. Mercy is our request. Why? Because our need is that
we're sinners. Have mercy on me, the sinner.
That's our need. And that's our request. When
we're made beggars, what does mercy beggars do? Beg. We just beg, don't we? That's
all mercy beggars can do, is beg. Lord, you're gonna have
to feed me. Lord, you're gonna have to call
me or I'm gonna be lost. Now, I like the name Jairus because
it means whom God enlightened. Whom God enlightened. We've been
talking about the illumination of the gospel recently, the son
of righteousness coming forth, and how the Lord's light shines
through darkness. Darkness comprehended it not.
But Jairus' name is given here. He was a believer. He was a believer,
and the Lord brought him back to his house, and his family
saw this. I believe the Lord called every one of them, the
ones that were left in the house. And we'll read that here in a
minute. But God enlightened him to his truth. You know what that's
called? Faith. Lord gave him faith. It's the same faith you and I
have. See, men were walking around the Lord Jesus Christ. They couldn't
tell him any different from one man to the next, unless the Lord
gave him faith to believe he was God. And that's what he does
for his people still. Jesus Christ chooses to go back
with Jairus to his daughter. Christ said, yes, I'll go back
with you. See, it was his choice to show
mercy, wasn't it? He could have waited. He could
have said, no, I'm not going to come and be with you. I'm
not going to do anything for you. Aren't you thankful that
every single mercy beggar that ever came to Christ, he did not
cast out? You'll never find that in the
scripture. Every single one that came to him, he showed mercy.
He showed grace. Why? Faith was given. The need
was given. This is the same for you and
I. We come begging to him now. And he said, I'll in no wise
cast you out. It's His choice. It's His will. It's His purpose. I heard somebody say today, actually,
that God's intentions came to pass. God didn't intend to do
anything. He purposed it. There's a big
difference in that. Think about it. If He had an intention, that
means there's a possibility of failure. He didn't intend to
save His people. He saved His people from their
sin. You see the difference? And whatever God purposed to
do is going to happen. He's successful in the redemption
of his people. He's successful in salvation.
He gives this need to each one of his people. They come begging
to him because he's given them the faith to do so. And that
faith just looks to Christ. It never looks to ourself or
anything. Christ was successful in redeeming every one of his
people. Now in the next few verses, we
have a description I found most interesting. I've never saw this
before, but in the next few verses, we have a description of a delay
that takes place. It's the woman with the issue
of blood. And for the sake of time, I'm going to give you the
account rather than reading through it. She presses through the crowd
because she herself had a need and she knew that Christ was
the only one that can help her. 12 years had went by and she
had an issue of blood. No doctor could help her, and
she had spent all that she had. She became desperate. Just as
this father was desperate for his little girl, this woman was
desperate because she had a blood problem. Now, we have the gospel
in both of these accounts. There's no doubt. No matter how
much we do according to the flesh, we cannot fix our blood problem.
It's never gonna happen. No matter how many physicians
we try to see, no matter how many good works we perform, no
matter what we taste, not touch, not handle, not, It's not what
we do that's going to save us. It's the faith of Christ is our
justification and he must bestow it. This woman had faith enough
to say, if I can touch the hem of his garment, I know I'll be
made whole. And she presses through the crowd.
Now I found it interesting that back in this time, bloodletting
would have been the standard for doctor's treatment. This
woman has the issue of blood. That's the problem is she's losing
too much blood. And the doctor says, we know
what to do to fix it. Let's take more blood. That'll
fix it, right? Is that not all false religion does? It doesn't
fix the problem. It makes it worse. It makes it
worse. She knew where to get her help
from, didn't she, because of this need. And she presses through
the crowd and she touches the hem of his garment and the Lord
stops. Now remember, he's going home with Jairus. It's a timely
manner. Time is of the essence. Time
is important right now to Jairus. It's the most important thing.
Lord, we can't linger. We can't stop. We gotta go. My
daughter's dying. And the Lord stops and says,
who touched me? The disciple says, Lord, Everybody,
everybody's pressing upon you, touching you. What are you talking
about? He said, no, somebody touched me for their need. Virtue. Virtue has gone out from me.
And when she could no longer contain herself, she spoke up
and she confessed. I had a need. I had an issue
of blood and I've been to doctors and they couldn't help me. Nobody
else can help me. But I knew if I could get to you, I knew
you can help me. What does he tell her? Thy faith.
Not your working of touching my hem. Not your working of crawling
through the crowd. Yes, there's humility that's
necessary. We see the picture. Touching the hem is along the
bottom of the garment. She was crawling to him, wasn't she?
Perhaps it was her weakness in the infirmity or perhaps it was
impotency. All we know is that that's how
she did it, was crawling to him, touching the bottom of his garment
because she knew he's the only one that could make her whole.
And what made her whole? The same thing that makes every
believer whole. the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ
given. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. There's the gospel. That faith creates peace, as
we just heard. It's our justification before
the Lord, and it's the peace that we have towards him. We're
no longer deemed guilty before the law. He's fixed the blood
problem. He's fixed the polluted part.
He's made us perfectly righteous in the eyes of God. This is what
he does for his people. It's all because of the faith
that the Lord gave her. Look at verse 34 with me. He
said unto her, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go
in peace and be whole of thy plague. Be whole, what mercy
is there in hearing the words that he told so many, yes, I
will be thou made whole. Yes, I will receive thy sight. He never cast a single blind
man away that needed his sight. He never cast an impotent man
away that needed strength. He gave them strength, he gave
them sight. And what grace there is here that she now has peace
because of the faith that the Lord had given her. That's our
testimony, isn't it? Understand this though, brethren,
If she had never been given the plague, she would have never
had a need. Unless the Lord gives repentance,
we'll never have a need. Unless the Lord calls us circumstances
to enter into your life that you're not in control of, circumstances
that I'm not in control of, we will never have a need to run
to Christ for. It's mercy. The things that take
place in our life, the circumstances that are the most difficult,
that grieve us the greatest, the salvation of our loved ones,
what a great burden that is. And yet, what does that do when
we see our impotency in all of this? Lord, have mercy on me,
the sinner. Lord, you've purposed all things. I bow to it. Lord, I've got to
touch the hem of your garment. Lord, you've got to come to my
house. I can't save my daughter. Ironically, I have three daughters.
I can't save them. They have my blood. They have
a blood condition that only you can fix. I can't do anything. They're going to have to be washed
in your blood. My blood's polluted. It's rotten. It's vile. Lord,
cause me to touch your hymn. Lord, make me whole and make
them whole. Give them the need to crawl through
whatever it takes to get to you. Give them the faith that looks
to Christ. This is our prayer, isn't it? Faith humbles the Lord's people.
It makes us to the lowest degree possible. She was crawling to
him. She didn't want any attention
drawn to herself. She didn't say, look at what
I've done. I gave Jesus my heart. No, she was going to die. She
had to have him. And that's the heart that he
gives the Lord's people. I've got to have him. Don't look at
me and what I've done. Look at him and what he's done. She didn't want to draw any attention
to herself. And yet the Lord draws out the same confession
of her that he does his people. Christ is all. How do we confess
Christ? We confess him in the heart,
don't we? Before the Lord. We confess him in believers baptism,
don't we? That's our confession. We confess
him when we take the Lord's table. That's our confession. It's his
body and blood alone. It's his death, burial and resurrection
alone. Lord, I've got to have you. I confess that you are all. You are all. Now she is healed and she has
peace before the Lord. And this is exactly what the
Lord gives his sinners, justification before God, all by his work and
his doing. As we heard earlier, I'm going
to read this again to us, but it says in Romans four, the last
verse says Christ was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. And then chapter five, verse
one starts and says, therefore, Because Christ was raised for
our justification, therefore being justified freely, freely
by his faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What a glorious
thought is just justification before God. Perfect righteousness
before Him. Never sinning one time. That's what His blood does. That's
what the hem of His garment accomplished. That's what His touch does. Perfectly
righteous before the law, before the Father. Never sinned one
time. Never. Not one time. Not even a smidge
of a sin. Not even a white lie. Nothing.
Perfectly righteous because He's given the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ. that honored his father in all things. What hope we have,
what peace we have, what comfort that is to the sinner. Christ
Jesus justified his people. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. And now that he has, they're
justified. Justified. Made perfect and made
precious. made precious in his sight. That's
what the Lord calls us. Unto you who believe he's precious,
but you know what he calls us? You are precious in his sight. You're the apple of my eye, he
says. Precious. Think about being precious in
the Lord's sight. What does that mean to you? What does that mean
to me? We can't, how can you elaborate
on how that, where that touches you? I mean, that's, that's so
glorious. I'm precious unto him if I'm
his. The Lord's people are precious
unto him. Well, what of our brother Jairus?
What happened to him? Now that's the message tonight. That's where I wanted to, it's
all the gospel. It's all glorious. I couldn't
leave the woman with the issue of blood out of it. There's too
much gospel in that. It's beautiful. But I want us
to focus for the last bit of the message on Jairus. What happened
to our brother Jairus? This was a delay. During this
delay, brethren, what do you think went through his mind?
I want us to enter into that thought. What do you think went
through Jairus's mind when Christ stopped for this woman? Was he
rejoicing that perhaps a fellow believer came to the knowledge
of the truth? Was he rejoicing? I don't believe
he was. No, I don't believe he was. The scripture is not clear
on this, but you understand being in flesh and blood yourself,
being the sin nature that we have, what was his need? It was
all about him, wasn't it? I have a need and now we're stopped.
What anxiety would come over him? Lord, we got to go. We got
to go. You got to hurry up. If you don't
get there, she's going to die. Is that not us by nature still
now? How many times we want the Lord to do something in our time?
It's all the time, isn't it? We always want him to do things
in our time. There's never not a time where
we don't want him to do things in our time. Everything revolves
around us. Not when we are seen with the faith of Christ, seated
and in our right mind. Not when the gospel is being
declared and that new man hears. Then we just say, truth, Lord,
your time. Truth, Lord, your gospel, your truth. I am false and full of sin, as
that song said a minute ago. I'm prone to wonder, Lord, Take
my heart and seal it, cause me to see Christ again. Do you not doubt that this delay
would have amplified his anxiety? I mean, he's probably about to
have a panic attack. I know I would be. I believe all of us would
be. Well, this is my child. This is my baby, my little girl,
he calls her, my little daughter, not just my daughter. This is
my baby. You're going to have to do something.
How much anxiety would this cause in this man? It would be astronomical,
wouldn't it? Great fear. Lord, we're running out of time.
Running out of time. Every second that ticks by is
drawing closer to the grave. If you don't hurry up, we're
running out of time. Whose time is it? Whose time
is it? Who created the time? He's not
running out of time. He owns it all. He owns it all. It's his time. It's his time,
isn't it? We're made to believe that. Most
of our distress, brethren, comes from time. Most of our stress
comes from looking at issues according to time in the flesh.
I don't have enough time to get this job done. I don't have enough
time to do this before this happens. I don't, I'm out of time. Not
God. He's never been late one time. Somebody said, well, he was four
days late when Lazarus dies. No, he was right on time. He's
the only one that can be four days late in man's standard and be
right on time. Lord, if you'd have been here, our brother wouldn't
have died. Martha, I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. He that cometh to me shall never
die. Believe thou this? Do you believe that's true, that
Jesus Christ is the resurrection? Why are we fretting? Why are
we concerned when we see the events of the world around us,
when we see the sin that doth so easily beset us? Why are we
so prone to wonder? It's finished. We've got to have
another piece of manna, don't we? We've got to have another
drink of the fountain of living water. We've got to be reminded.
Got to be reminded if time and money can fix our problems, it's
not really a problem. Time and money can fix our problems.
It's not really a problem. The Lord owns all the money.
The Lord ain't broke. He owns it all. He owns the heavens. He owns the earth and the fullness
thereof. He created it all for his glory and for your benefit. If you're his people, we're his
people. It's for our benefit. He's not
broke and he's not out of time. After the Lord speaks the words
to this woman, you're healed of your infirmity. Peace be unto
you. Jairus' servant comes running
up. He comes with news to Jairus. Now my question to you, is it
good news or is it bad news? We have to ask ourselves that
because we have two natures. According to the flesh, it's
bad news. Everything that happens in life a lot of times, even
in traffic jams, it's just bad news, isn't it? We know that's
true. But what about the new man? What does he say? The new
nature, what does it say? Truth, Lord. Thank you for keeping
me safe in this traffic jam. Maybe I would have wrecked. Maybe
I would, I don't know. I don't know what the Lord, but
it's good. You promised it. Do we believe in his promises?
Absolutely. It's all of our hope. We believe all things are for
the good of the Lord's people and his glory, or do we not?
We do, don't we? Why? Because of the faith that
he's given his people. Do we believe that this is good
or bad news in verse 35? Look with me. While Christ yet
spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogues, how certain
which said, thy daughter is dead. Why trouble is thou the master
any farther? What is our hope here? My daughter's
dead. Lord, don't bother him anymore. Don't bother him anymore. It's
not going to do any good. And look what the next verse
tells us. As soon as Jesus heard the words that was spoken, now
you're going to understand as soon as the words proceeded out
of the man's mouth, you know, man's heart shattered. You know,
dread came upon him. You know, it's over. It's over. Nothing else can be done now.
But as soon as Christ heard the words, as soon as that man felt
that, hear what he says. Verse 36, as soon as Jesus heard
the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue,
be not afraid, only believe. That's the title of the message,
only believe. This is not a mere request of
men today. act like God's making requests
towards men. But when God speaks, there's
power. This is the one that spoke to the wind and it obeyed his
voice. This is the one that walked upon
the water that was not subject unto not being God. He was God
the entire time he was on the earth. He was subject as a man.
In the likeness of sinful flesh as we are yet without sin, the
wind obeyed him. The water obeyed him. And everyone
he ever spoke to obeyed him. Can you imagine hearing the words
from the Lord? Be not afraid. What's that going to do? Talk
about peace. Peace be still. He just calmed
the storm in Jairus. I don't know if Jairus had enough
time to let tears well up in his eyes or not, but if he did,
they were gone after this. Why? God said, be not afraid. Only believe. If the Lord looks
at you and I, through his grace and through his mercy, bestowing
his faith upon us. And he says, be not afraid, only
believe. What are you and I gonna do?
We're not gonna be afraid. We're not gonna be afraid of
anything, are we? We're gonna believe God. We're
gonna take him for his word. 100%, we're gonna believe him.
And that's exactly what Jay Irish did. It was not an offer. It wasn't an invitation. You do this, you won't have to
be afraid anymore. That's not what God said. He
said, be not afraid, only believe, only believe. He commands his people, be not
afraid, only believe. If Christ command this, who shall
stop him? Who's going to prevent it? Don't
you hope he looks at you by his grace, with his eyes of love
over and over throughout your life and says, be not afraid.
It is I. It is I. Lord, I thought it was a spirit.
I thought I was in danger. No, it was me the whole time.
I am the storm. I'm the first cause of all things.
I'm the one that stirred up the storm. I put this in your life
so that you would cry out, Lord, have mercy. And you know what
you hear when we cry out, have mercy on me, the sinner. Be not
afraid. I've put away your sin. I've
given you mercy. There's no more sin. There's
just grace. Only believe. Only believe. The Lord works and who shall
let him? Second Timothy 1.7 says, for God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. What's a sound mind? It looks
to Christ, doesn't it? That's the new man. That's the
eyes of faith that he gives his people to look to him. That's
a sound mind. Faith does not search for answers.
It looks to Christ as full assurance, full assurance by faith. Faith
does not look for answers. Faith doesn't even ask questions.
Faith looks to Christ. The faith that the Lord gives
his people just continually looks to Christ and cannot not look
to Christ. It must, or it would fail. Lord's
faith can't fail, can it? Because of the source, it's the
Lord's faith. We say with the disciples, Lord,
see if this isn't your prayer. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. Is that not your prayer? That's
my prayer. Lord, I believe. I know you successfully
redeemed. I believe that. Why am I fretting
according to the flesh then again? Lord, help my unbelief. Turn
me back to you. Let me see your heart again.
Give me the heart that loves you, that believes you in all
things. I believe. Help thou my unbelief.
Her flesh will look and say, Lord, if you'd have been here,
My brother would not have died. Lord, if you'd have hurried up
instead of worried about that woman with the issue of blood, my daughter
wouldn't have died. No, faith believes God. Faith believes
God. That's looking through the flesh,
isn't it? That's looking according to the flesh. Faith believes
God. Faith doesn't say those kinds of things. Faith doesn't
say, Lord, if you'd have been here. Faith says, Lord, they're
saying you're four days late. I believe you're right on time.
Why? Because you're God. You're seated
in the heavenlies. You're not jittery, you're not
fidgeting, you're seated, you're resting, you're God. That's what
faith believes, isn't it? He successfully redeemed his
people and he's not gonna leave us to ourself. If he bought us
with his own blood, is he gonna leave us to ourself? It's the
most precious substance that's ever been on the face of the
earth and he shed every bit of it for his people. Every drop was
shed for his bride. He's not gonna leave us to ourself.
David said, I was a young man, now I'm old. Never have I seen
the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. You know
why? Because Christ is the righteousness of the righteous. And the bread
is Christ. Christ is the bread of life to
his people. That's what he gives us, isn't it? Through the eyes
of faith, he gives us his righteousness, he gives us his bread, he gives
us his water. What more do we need? He's going
to supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. He promised us that. Faith says, be not afraid, only
believe. Somebody said, but you don't
understand this. I don't have to. Faith says, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Faith says, fear not. It doesn't
matter. Whatever you wanna fill in the
blank prior to that, whatever circumstance happens in life,
whatever evil you're accused of, of our adversary, fear not,
only believe, only believe. He's put away the sin of his
people. He secured us. He didn't just justify us, he
also glorified us. It's finished, all of it. If
you put away the sin of his people, what bad can come upon them?
What bad? It was good news that Jairus's
daughter had died. Can we enter into that? I can't
enter into that, can you? But I believe it. See, you can't
explain what you believe through faith, you just believe God.
It was good because it was the Lord that did it and it was for
his people, it had to be good. Now in closing, I want to read
the rest of this chapter and see what the Lord does. Verse
35 again, while he yet spake, there came from the ruler of
the synagogue's house, certain which said, thy daughter is dead,
why troublest thou the master any farther? As soon as Jesus
heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue,
be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow
him, save Peter and James and John and the brother of James.
And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and
seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And
when he was coming, he said unto them, why make ye this ado and
weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
See, faith believes that, but everybody else does this. Verse
40, and they laughed him to scorn. And when he had put them all
out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel and
them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel
was lying, And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her,
tilatha kumai, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say unto
thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose
and walked, for she was of the age of 12 years. And they were
astonished with great astonishment. And he charged them straightly
that no man should know it and commanded that something should
be given her to eat." Even death can't prevent the
Lord. Don't you love that? Death is
subject to our God. Death must bow and say, yes,
your Lord. He owns death. He owns hell.
He owns the grave. He owns it all. Death could not
hold this damsel at his word. He said, arise. Is that our hope? Is that the Lord would say, arise
unto us? Yes. Our hope is that the Lord
would, once he says arise, we're going to be afraid of our circumstances.
We're going to be afraid of our sin as our adversary brings it
up before us again, our conscience convicts us. The Lord says, fear
not, only believe. She's just sleeping. She's just
sleeping. She wasn't dead. Everybody said,
you're crazy, like laughed at him. No, she's sleeping. You
don't know what the Lord can do. We limit him in our mind,
don't we? I mean, we don't really limit
him, but You understand what I'm saying by that, is we don't
believe Him as we ought to. We'll see our circumstance and
think, how is the Lord going to do? That's limiting Him. I'm
not saying we prevent Him from doing anything. I'm saying we
make Him, in our flesh, makes Him look like He's smaller than
what He is, that He's impotent, or He's dependent upon us, or
He can't do something. And that's, no, He's exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. There is, He has
no limit. He has no limit. All of God's elect, I love this
thought. I love this thought. All of the
Lord's elect, they're not really dead. In trespasses and in sin,
they're just sleeping. They're just waiting on the Lord
to say, arise. See, their sin's already been
put away. They're just sleeping. Your loved ones that are believers
that don't know it yet, they're just sleeping. They're just waiting
for the Lord to say, arise, and they'll come forth. He'll say,
fear not. Fear not, only believe. Only
believe. Faith wherewith he gives his
people believes Christ. We can't explain what we believe.
It doesn't explain anything, actually. Faith just believes
Christ. Can't comprehend it. Doesn't make sense of the truth.
It just looks to him. It just looks to him. No wonder
Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Though
he slay me, yet will I gotta have him. Gotta have him, yet
will I trust him. The peace of God surpasseth all
understanding. What does that mean? You don't
need to understand if he gives you his peace. You just believe
Christ. We believe it is finished. We
don't understand, we just believe. If you're his, hear his words.
These are your words of comfort tonight, brethren. Be not afraid. Regardless of what the statement
is, regardless of what the question is, be not afraid. Only believe.