We're turning now to Luke chapter
8. And as always, I'm going to give you the title for the message
in the beginning. And I'm taking the title for
the message from verse 50 of Luke chapter 8. But when Jesus
heard it, that is, the news, thy daughter is dead, no need
to trouble the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he answered
and said, Fear not, believe only. Believe only. And I put an emphasis upon that,
only believe. And she shall be made whole,
complete. Fear not, only believe or believe
only. Fear is the opposite. Fear is
the opposite of faith. When we believe the Lord is over
all things, sovereignly ruling over all things, working in all
things for the eternal good of His covenant people, when we
truly trust Him and believe Him that He is Lord of all things,
it will calm our fears and increase our Faith, looking to Him who
is the Almighty Lord. One of my favorite verses in
the book of Isaiah, 41 verse 10, Fear thou not, I am with
thee, be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee,
I will help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness. Now, fear not, Fear not, believe
Him. Scripture says of Abraham, Abraham
was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that all that God has promised, God is able to perform. Our God is able. Able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. It says again
in Romans chapter 4 about Abraham believed God, and it was counted
to him for righteousness. Oh, how precious is faith. Without faith, it is impossible
to please our God. The man who is without faith
is a man who is without Christ. Saving faith lays hold of Christ
because He has laid hold upon us. Now, so far in our study
from Luke chapter 8, we've been a witness to some of the Lord's
His power, His sovereign mercy, and His mighty miracles found
here in Luke chapter 8. Just this one chapter. We've
been witnesses to His saving power, His sovereign power over
demon spirits. You remember, He cast them out
of that man by the word of His command and set the demon-possessed
man free. Let's read that one more time.
Luke chapter 8 verse 35, Then they went out to see what was
done, and came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the
devils were departed, sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind, and they were Frightened, the
Lord by the word of His command cast out the demon spirits. He
has all power in heaven and in earth. We've been a witness to
the Lord's sovereign power not only over the demons, but over
all disease. This woman we read about last
week in Luke 8, who was diseased with this blood issue, maybe
leukemia or some other issue. Twelve years long, she spent
all her living and could not be healed by any physician, but
rather grew worse. And when she lay whole by faith
of the Lord Jesus Christ, power and virtue went out of him and
she was healed Immediately she was made whole. You remember
the Lord said in verse 48, "...Daughter, be of good comfort, be of good
cheer. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace." Power and virtue
went out of the Lord Jesus Christ. So He has all power over the
demon spirits. He has all power over all disease. And now today in our study, we
see that the Lord our God has power over death. He raises up
this young child, 12 years old, who had died. In Job 18, 14,
we read, death is called the king of terrors. Death is the
king of terrors. But our blessed Lord is the mighty
King, the King of kings, and Lord of lords over all things,
even death. Our Lord said in Revelation,
I am He that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of hell and death. He said, because I live,
you shall live also. He is the mighty conqueror. We
read in Revelation, I think this is the key verse to the Revelation.
Revelation 6 verse 2, And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and
he that sat upon him had a bow and a crown, and was given unto
him. And he went forth conquering, and to conquer he has power over
all things. We have the victory through Him
who is Almighty Conqueror. We have the victory over sin,
and that He put it away by the sacrifice of Himself. We have
the victory over Satan. He crushed his dominion at Calvary's
tree. We have the victory over the
law. He satisfied the law of God for us, redeemed us from
the curse of the law, and we have victory even over death
through our blessed Savior. When I saw Thee in Thy blood,
I said unto Thee, Live. And we can say with the Apostle
Paul, thanks be to God who has given us the victory over sin,
death, hell, and the grave through our Lord. Jesus Christ. We have all victory over all
of our enemies. Now let us take another look
at this blessed story of the Lord showing mercy to this man
who is a ruler of the synagogue. His name is Juairus and his family
They were in great sorrow, and truly so. They were in great
need, yet they received great mercy in their time of need,
and they received that from the hand of the Lord. I was thinking
earlier about a psalm where it says, when he opens his hand,
he satisfies the desire of every living thing. He has generous
hands. They received great mercy at
the hand of the Lord. He has big hands. He is plenteous
in redemption. He has great mercy. The first
thing I want us to notice is this, the Father's desperate
need and the desperate Father seeking mercy and grace to help
in the time of His need and He came to the right place. He came
to the storehouse of mercy. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. Look at verse 41. And behold,
there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue,
and he fell down at his feet. Matthew said he fell down and
worshipped him, and besought him, asked him, begged him that
he would come to his house. For he had only one only little
girl, twelve-year-old little girl, And she lay on her deathbed
dying. This man was desperate, wasn't
he? And as he went, the Lord Jesus,
going home with Jairus, as he went, the people thronged him. Now we know a little bit about
Jairus. He was a most religious Jew. Probably he was a Pharisee. He was a ruler in this synagogue. And no doubt, when they met each
Sabbath day, he brought this matter up before all the congregation
there in the synagogue. He said, please let us pray for
my little child. She's dying. You know he asked
others to pray for his little girl. And I'm sure they did. Not once, not twice, but many
times. Wouldn't we do the same thing?
some of you parents here today with little ones, and you knew
your child was terminal and on her deathbed and dying, what
would you do? You wouldn't be out playing around
the golf. You would be seeking mercy from the Lord. You'd be
earnest in pleading unto the Lord. I want us to notice here
the way that Jairus came to the Lord. How he came to the Lord. He came humbly, didn't he? He fell down at Jesus' feet and
besought Him. He fell down before Him in an
attitude of worship. He came humbly broken. When He saw Him, He fell down
at His feet and worshipped Him. This too is the way the leper
came to the Lord. He fell down before him and worshipped
him and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And the
Lord said, I will be thou clean. This is the proper way to approach
the Lord Jesus Christ with humility, brokenness of heart. This is
the way that he brings us when he brings us and calls us unto
himself. He is nigh them of a broken heart,
save us such as be of a contrite spirit. Oh, for humility to come
before the Lord as a mercy beggar." And notice, he came with the
spirit and attitude of prayer. He besought him. He didn't come
making demands, did he? He came asking. if the Lord would
be pleased to heal this little child. Not demanding the Lord
to act, but rather asking and beseeching him and asking the
Lord to come unto his house and to help. Our Lord instructs us
in Hebrews, in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 4 verse 16, Let us come
boldly unto the throne of grace. And that word there, boldly,
means come with liberty, come with freedom, come boldly unto
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in the time of our need. I find that all the time. But
the Lord said, Come. All you that labor heavy laden,
come unto Me, and I will give you rest. True prayer arises
from a right knowledge of God to whom we pray. It says in Mark
chapter 5 of this story, when Jairus saw Him, he cried out. for mercy. Knowing that God is
God, Almighty and Holy, that is only when we'll call upon
Him. Remember in Isaiah 45, He said,
I am the Lord, there is none else. I'm the only just God. I'm the only Savior. Now He said,
look unto Me. and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth. I am God, and there is none other."
You see, he describes who he is, and then he says, call upon
me. True prayer is born of right
knowledge of who God is. When Jairus saw Him as the Almighty
God, as the Almighty Lord, he worshipped Him. The Lord didn't
rebuke him for worshipping Him. Why? Because He is God. But he
cried out for mercy. Something else we know about
prayer, true prayer also arises from a heart of faith. Jairus
believed the Lord was able to do what he asked. We're to pray
to the Almighty Lord who is able to accomplish all his will and
fulfill all his purpose. Now in Matthew 9, 18, here's
what we read. This is what's recorded there.
My daughter, this is Jairus speaking to the Lord, my daughter is even
now dead, But come, lay your hand upon her, and she shall
live." He believed the Lord was able to do above all we ask or
think according to His power that worketh in us. We are to pray, Thy will be done. Something else about prayer,
true prayers continue. It's without ceasing. and everything
give thanks. Rejoice evermore and pray without
ceasing, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." You remember the conversion
story of Saul of Tarsus? how he was persecuting believers
who were calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
when all Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ, and was unhorsed,
and put in the dust, and God broke his heart, and revealed
the gospel of Christ unto him, the Lord said of Ananias, you
go down to that certain house, and you seek out Saul of Tarsus,
behold, he prayeth. He's not persecuting now, He's
praying. And our hearts cry unto the Lord
is continual. Prayer is not an isolated experience
or an isolated act. We are believing, we are coming,
we are praying, aren't we? Unto the Lord. It's the breath
of life for a believer. We're continually praying unto
the Lord. Now, what's the Lord going to
do? Here's the second thing. We see
the Lord's willingness to help. Again, in Matthew 9, verse 19,
it says, He was headed to the house of
Jairus and so did his disciples. And here we see the readiness
and the willingness and the ability of the Lord to show mercy to
the helpless, grace to the guilty. The Lord of glory never turns
away a mercy beggar, not one time have I ever read this book. when a mercy beggar approached
the Lord seeking mercy like blind Bartimaeus, Lord have mercy! And the Lord stood still and
restored the sight. You remember the publican in
the temple cried out, Lord be merciful to me, thee sinner! God said that man went down to
his house justified. Oh the readiness of the Lord
of glory to show mercy To mercy beggars, we read in Scripture,
Micah 7, 18, "...who is likened to thee that pardoneth iniquity,
that passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage,
he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy."
The Lord delights in mercy. I'm going to call upon Him for
mercy. We read in 2 Peter 3 verse 9, "...the Lord is longsuffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but all should
come to repent it." Now notice how I quoted that. Don't quote
half of that verse. That's the most abused verse
in the whole Bible. God's not willing that any should
perish. That's not what it says. He is longsuffering to us-ward,
not willing that any of His covenant people. Us-ward should perish.
but all should come to repentance." You see, it's of the Lord's mercy
that we are not consumed because His compassions do not fail.
It's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saves us. We see the Lord's willingness
to show mercy. So much so, look right across
the page in Luke 9 verse 11. I refer to this verse several
times in our study. And the people, when they knew
it, they followed him, and he received them, and spake unto
them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of
healing. Everyone that came to the Lord
that day as a mercy beggar seeking help from the Lord, they were
healed. They were healed. Here's the
third thing I want us to consider. Why is this little girl sick?
Why is this little girl dying? Why was she sick and why was
she dying? We see the absolute certainty
of sickness and death in this flesh. This flesh, as long as
it remains in this life, is nothing but That's all it is. Young flesh, old flesh is all
sinful flesh. And that's the reason that even
our young ones, sometimes we pick up the obituaries and look
at the paper and see those obituaries and it will say infant son stillborn
or infant one day old died. Why? Sin brings death. Sin brings death. All flesh,
Isaiah 40, all flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof as
the flower of the field, and it quickly fades away, because
this flesh is nothing but sinful flesh. This little girl was just
12 years old in our story, yet she was sick, and yet she died. In Adam, all sinned. In Adam, all died. And death has passed upon all
men in whom all have sinned." This little girl, like you and
I, were born in sin, shapen in iniquity. My children, your children, all
people are sinners before God. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. This is the inevitable end of
this flesh. Out of the dust it was made,
and it's going back to the dust. All flesh is grass. He knows our frame, Psalm 103. He knows our frame. He knows
it. He's talking about this body.
He knows that this frame is dust. When sin is finished, it will
bring forth death. We will all die at the appointed
time. that our Lord, our God, has appointed. His appointed time, His appointed
me, at His appointed place. It's appointed unto men once
to dine after this judgment. Hebrews 9, 27. Now, two things
on this point. Death for the believer is not
punishment. It's rather promotion. Death
for the believer is a blessed rest and peace. Revelation 14,
13, Blessed are they who die in the Lord. The Lord said to
this little girl that she's not dead, not finally completely,
she's sleeping. She's sleeping. You remember
the Lord said of Lazarus, our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but
I go that I may awake him out of his sleep. Those who die in
the Lord rest in the blessed arms of the Lord God our Savior. This flesh goes back to the dust,
but the spirit goes back to God who gave it. Philippians 1.21. For me to live is Christ, Paul
said, to die is gain. Did you ever look upon death
as a gain, as a promotion? Well, it is that for the believer.
And then the psalmist said, precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints. Death to a believer is a precious
thing. The apostle Paul said again concerning
departing this life, we are confident and willing rather to be absent
from this body and to be present with the Lord, to behold his
face. You remember the Lord said to that dying thief, today, today
you're going to be with me in glory. You see, death is a promotion. That is for the believer. But
there's a flip side to that. Death for the unbeliever is not
rest, it's not peace, but rather eternal torment and punishment. It is to be separated, forever
separated from the love and mercy of God. We're going to study
in Luke 16, when the rich man died, he lifted up his eyes in
hell, being in torment. The Lord said, if you believe
not that I am He, you shall die. If you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sin. Now here's the fourth thing I
want us to consider. In verse 49 and verse 50, here's
some shocking bad news and then some startling good news. Verse
49 and verse 50, And while He yet spake, there cometh one from
the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Jairus,
your daughter is dead." Now, you imagine, you put yourself
in his place, you parents, your heart's crushed. I mean, you're
devastated. You're broken. My daughter is
dead. Don't trouble the Lord anymore. There's nothing more he can do.
But when the Lord heard it, now here's the good news, He answered
him saying, Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. Now, some shocking bad news.
Someone came from the house, Jairus, and said, Your daughter's
dead. Too late for any kind of help. Maybe Jairus was thinking, if
only the Lord would have gotten there a little bit sooner when
she was just very sick. If only the Lord would have not
taken time and stopped to heal that woman. Maybe he would have
got there in time. If only. My friend, you can't
live in the world of if. It will drive you crazy. If this,
if that, if that, forget it. Forget it. Don't live there.
Don't go there. You remember the words of Martha about Lazarus? She said to the Lord, Lord, if
you'd been here, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have
died. Oh, he's going to die anyway, but I'm going to raise him from
the dead. Perhaps Jairus now was at the point of despair.
Maybe he's thinking the Lord could have healed her, but oh,
now she's She's beyond His help. Oh, no. Oh, no, Jairus. Just
believe only. I love those two words. Underscore
those. Believe only. Believe only. Fear not. Believe only and she
shall be made whole. Anything too hard for the Lord
of glory? Anything too hard? With the Lord,
all things are possible. Only believe. We learn from this
that our salvation is received by precious faith. Faith does
not accomplish salvation. Saving faith received the Lord
Jesus Christ who did. Salvation is a gift of God. Faith
is a gift of God. If we would be saved, only believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that right? The jailer
said to Paul and his friends, what must I do to be saved? What
did the Apostle Paul say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
only and thou shalt be saved. Let's see if we can find that
in the Word of God. Turn over to John. John. Believe only. Let's see if we
can find some other scripture to emphasize this point. Believe
only. John. Chapter 6, verse 47. We could turn to many, many scriptures.
You see, God honors saving faith because saving faith is a gift
of God. God is going to honor that which
He gives. John 6, verse 47. John 6, verse 47. You got it?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, has
everlasting life. Those that believe on Him, now
I emphasize Him, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Turn back a page or two, John
5, 24. John 5.24, barely, barely, that
means truly, truly. For certain, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life. Hath, already got it. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and shall not
come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Back another page or two, John
chapter 3. John 3, verse 14, "...as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have eternal life." Believing the Gospel. Now, it's just not believe, believe,
believe. Believe who? Believe what? Believe
Him and believe the truth. Believing the gospel of Christ. Believe only. The Lord's answer
to Jairus was not only do some good works. Believe
and then do some good works. No, no. Believe only. It wasn't
believe and be a good person. No, it was believe only. It wasn't
believe and, oh, by the way, keep the law. No, it was only
believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle
Paul said, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. Only believe. We learn from this
A most important lesson about salvation. Salvation is revealed
in the Word only. Salvation is accomplished by
the Lord Jesus Christ only. Salvation is not by work, but
by grace only. Salvation is received by faith
only. And salvation is to the glory
of God alone. Believe Him only. Only believe Him. The Lord said to the father of
that demon-possessed son in Mark 9.23, If thou can't believe,
all things are possible to those who believe. Remember what he
said? Lord, I do believe. Would you help me with my unbelief?
I find myself there all the time. Now, here's the last thing. What's
going to happen? Verse 51 down through verse 56,
And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in,
save Peter, James, and John, the father, Jairus, and the mother
of this little girl. And all wept, and all were wailing
her. But he said unto them, Don't
weep. She's not dead. She's sleeping. And then they laughed him to
scorn. This has to be those who were around, not this inner circle. And if you read Mark and Matthew,
it gives that indication that those who were outside the house,
when they heard the Lord say, she's not dead, they laughed
Him to scorn. Do you see how wicked unbelief
is? It discredits the Lord's glorious
person and power. And He put them all out. That's
where scorners belong. Shoved out. Get out of my way. He put them out. And he took...
I can just imagine this scene. Here's the Lord of Glory. Here's
this little girl, dead. And he took her by the hand and
called and said, Arise. Arise. And her spirit came again. Where did her spirit go? When
we die, our spirit goes back to the Lord who gave it, and
now the Lord gives the spirit again back into this body, and
she's revived. The spirit came again, her spirit
came again, and she arose straightway, right now. And He commanded to
give her meat, and her parents, they were astonished. But He
charged them that they should tell no man what was done. When the Lord and His disciples,
along with Jairus, coming to the house, Some openly mocking
the Lord after He made His statement that she's not dead. I'm going
to raise her from the dead. You see, where the word of the
King is, there is power. He has all power to raise up
dead sinners from the spiritual grave. The same Lord does not
change. And this is a picture of God
saving sinners. When He does, He raises us from
the dead. You hath He quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. And He calls our name and He
says, Sinner, live! We live by His will, we live
by His Word, we live by His power. As the Father raises up the dead
and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickens whom He will.
You see, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere invitation. He didn't say to this little
girl, I'm inviting you to get up. Nor did He say to Lazarus
in that tomb who had been dead four days. He didn't say, Lazarus,
why don't you just get up and come on out of there, if you
will. No, you see, the gospel is not a mere invitation. He
didn't invite this little girl to raise up. He didn't invite
Lazarus to come forth. He spoke with almighty power
by the command of God, we live. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. We read from Ezekiel 16 a moment
ago, When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own
blood, That's us by nature, guilty, dead. I said to thee, when you
were in your blood, I said to thee, live. Now what's going
to happen? Something's going to happen. Where the word of the king is,
there's power. Something's going to happen. When I passed by thee
and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love.
He loved his people with an everlasting love, and with loving kindness
he brings us from death to life. dead, deadness to life, darkness
to life, I spread my skirt over thee, covered thy neck in a shea,
I swear unto thee I entered into a covenant with thee, sayeth
the Lord, and you became mine. In closing, let me give you this.
Now some of you are probably wondering, and her spirit came
again By the command of God, and she
arose right now, and He commanded to give her meat. Now you see, the Lord continually
provides for us when He raises us up from the dead. He commands
to give us meat. He provides everything for us.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things be added unto you. He is the Lord Jehovah Jireh.
My God shall supply all your need according to His riches
and glory through Christ Jesus. And then He charged His parents.
Their parents were astonished. They were amazed at the Lord's
power, the Lord's person. Now watch this. He charged them
that they should tell no man what was done. Now you remember
when He healed the wild Gadarene in Luke chapter 8 verse 39, He
said to the wild Gadarene who was healed, clothed, sitting
in His right mind, Return to thine own house and show how
great things God hath done for thee. And when we declare the
gospel, we declare the great things that God has done for
us. Not what we've done for Him, but what He has done for us.
But here He told the parents that they should tell no man
what was done. Now, why the difference? Well, the Lord does all things
wisely. The Lord does all things right.
We never shall not the judge of all the earth do right. We
shall not ever question the Lord's wisdom. But here's what came to my mind,
by the way, to put it in my puny mind, to explain it this way.
He charged the parent to tell no man what was done. You know
why? This needed no telling. This
needed no telling. The very deed of this little
girl being raised from the dead told itself, didn't it? Now,
I thought about this illustration. This deed, her being raised from
the dead by the power of God, it told itself. With this illustration
to try to help us wrap our puny mind around this. When the sun
comes up in the morning, everyone knows it. We don't go around
and tell people, hey, the sun is up. The sun is up. Everything, everybody knows.
The sun is up. And this mighty miracle of the
Lord's power and this deed told itself. This little girl walking
around, living now, everybody knows that the Lord of glory
has all power. The miracle tells itself. The
miracle of His grace tells forth His glory and His power. I pray the Lord will bless His
Word to your heart and give you this fear not, believe only. You see, saving faith honors
God by believing Him. I pray He will bless you and
bless His Word to your heart and cause the Son of Righteousness
to arise in your heart and to make you to know that you've
been given faith and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay,
the Lord bless you and keep you for His name's sake, His glory.
Amen.