Now you turn to your Bible again
to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. We have been
privileged in these last few weeks to be a witness. As we have studied through Mark
chapter 5, we have been a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ meeting
a wild, crazy man of the tombs who was wild and naked and running
and wild and out of his mind, and the Lord Jesus Christ crossed
his path. And we have witnessed what has
been said, how the Lord clothed him, how he is sitting before
the Lord, and how he was in his right mind by the grace of God. We have witnessed that in the
Word and in the preaching of the Gospel. We've not only witnessed
that, and that's a glorious picture of God's conquering power over
all evil, how He conquers us by His grace. We've seen a second
story of salvation. We have been a witness through
the Word in the preaching of the Gospel. We have been a witness
to a poor, diseased woman. who had this terrible blood issue
for 12 years, who spent all she had, all of her energy, all of
her time, all of her money, and was nothing better, but grew
worse and worse and worse. The Lord Jesus crossed her path. Power and virtue and healing
and life and salvation flows out of Him into her, and she's
made whole. We've witnessed that. We have
seen that. And today we're going to be a
witness of the Lord's almighty power even over death. When He speaks, where the word
of the King is, there is power. And when He speaks, dead folks
live. They live. Death is called, in
Job 18, verse 14, Death is called the King of Tavers. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, He is mightier than the King of Tavers. He is
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our Lord said this, He said, Fear not, I am the first,
I am the last. I am he that liveth and was dead.
Behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. So be it. I have the keys,
the power, the ownership of hell and death. I am. I have all power
and all authority. Our Lord again said this in Revelation
6 verse 2. And I saw and behold a white
horse, and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown. was given
unto him and he went forth conquering to conquer. He is the mighty
conqueror. The Lord Jesus Christ, my friend,
who we preach and who we worship is not a wimp. He's not a peanut
God. He is neither defeated nor frustrated. He is the Almighty King. The
Almighty God. As such, He triumphs in all He
undertakes. He knows nothing of the agony
of defeat. Now, He knows a lot about agony,
being a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief, but He knows nothing
of defeat. All He knows is victory. He cannot
fail. We've seen this. He triumphs
in all He undertakes over demon spirits and sinful enemies. He
has all power over principalities and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named. He is Lord in heaven and earth.
He is triumph over not only demon spirits, but over dreaded sicknesses
and sins plagued. He is a great physician who has
healing in His wings. Malachi 4.2 And He triumphs in
all He undertakes, even over death itself. The result of sin
is death. But having put away our sin,
the grave could not hold Him, nor is it possible to hold His
people. He's going to raise our dead
body and give us a glorious body like unto Himself. This corruption
must put on in corruption and this mortal must put on in mortality. And then we'll sing unto Him,
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood. Unto Him who has given us all
the victory over sin and death. You see, Christ is the first
fruit. of the resurrection from the dead. And He's the first
fruit and He's the guarantee of the whole harvest coming true,
being harvested in Him. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. I love this scripture in Isaiah
42 where it talks of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's servant. He's my elect. And it says of
Him, He cannot fail. nor even be discouraged till
he has accomplished all God's purpose in saving, redeeming,
justifying, and calling his people to himself. Diseases and death
came into the world by sin and disobedience of the first Adam.
By the grace of God and by the grace of the second Adam, the
Lord Jesus Christ, both are conquered. The wages of sin, death, The
gift of God is eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ, having
healed incurable diseases in our story, here he goes on to
triumph even over death. He who is the resurrection and
the life, vanquished death by His death, by His resurrection,
as our substitute, putting away our sin. God made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Christ also once suffered for
our sin, the just for the unjust. Having fully satisfied God's
law and justice, the just one died for the unjust, that he
might bring us unto God, and he cannot fail. Now I have four or five points
in our story here this morning. The title of this message, found
in verse 36, be not afraid, but only believe. Be not afraid,
but only believe. Here's the first one. Verse 22
and verse 23 of Mark chapter 5. A desperate father seeks mercy
from the Lord. This man was desperate. His name,
look at verse 22. Behold, there cometh one of the
rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him,
he fell at his feet, and saw him greatly, saying, My little
daughter, the only girl, twelve years old, Life is a point of
death. I pray thee, come and lay your
hands on her that she may be healed and live." His name is Jairus. He's a religious
leader among the Jews, most likely a Pharisee. But he casts all
that behind him and earnestly seeks help for his dying daughter,
And he seeks that help and mercy only where it's found, only where
it's given, only where the fountain is found in the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. It's most interesting. and a
blessed truth. As you read through scripture,
we never see the Lord Jesus Christ turning away a sincere mercy
beggar. The Lord Jesus, as this man requested,
come home with me, heal my daughter. And he started that way with
the Lord Himself. Notice how this man comes, Jairus.
He comes humbly. He comes humbly. Verse 21, verse
22 rather. And behold, there cometh one
of the rulers of the synagogue by name, and when he saw him,
he fell at his feet." He came humbly, didn't he? When he saw
him, he fell at his feet. In Matthew 8, 18, it's recorded,
it says there that he came and fell at his feet and worshipped
him. You know, this is the proper
attitude of worship. This is the proper attitude of
worship. at His feet in the dust before His throne. Honoring Him
as God. Honoring Him as our Savior. The
Lord has highly exalted Him. God has given Him a name which
is above every name that has that name. Every knee shall bow.
Every tongue should confess. Every head is going to bump the
floor in the dust before Him and confess that He is Lord.
To the glory of God the Father. That's the way this man came.
in the dust as a mercy beggar remember the way the leper came
Matthew 8 the holder came a leper and worshiped him saying Lord
if you will you can make me clean know what the Lord said I will
be thou clean this is the way John came on the Isle of Patmos
and when I saw him I fell at his feet as a dead man And He
laid His right hand upon my head and said unto me, Fear not, I'm
the first, I'm the last. That's the way I want to come
to the Lord. It is a throne of grace, but it is a throne. And we do come humbly and reverently
before God Almighty. This is the way we must come.
We read in John 4, 24, God is spirit and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So He came humble
before Him. Secondly, He came with a great
request. He came not only humble, but
He came with a prayer. He came prayerfully. He besought
the Lord. Look what it says in verse 23.
He besought the Lord greatly. saying, my little daughter is
at the point of death, come, come. You can see the urgency
of his cry and the desperate need of his cry, Lord come and
help me, my daughter is dying. I tell you that is when you really
pray, when you are desperate, when you are in need. True prayer
rises from right knowledge of Him as the Lord of Glory when
He saw Him. The ignorant pray unto a God
that cannot save. Believers call upon Him who is
Almighty to save. Our Lord said, Look unto Me and
be ye saved. I am God and there is none else.
True prayer rises from a heart of faith. Jairus believed that
he was able. That's why he came. God is able
to do all that he promised. I'm fully persuaded, aren't you?
That all that God has promised, he is able to perform, able to
do. Thirdly, true prayer is always
persevering because it arises out of a heartfelt, desperate
need. It says here in our story, He
besought Him, the Lord Jesus, greatly, greatly. He persevered. He persevered in prayer. He kept
on knocking, kept on coming, kept on calling, kept on looking,
Lord, have mercy on me. That's a good way to pray. Just
keep right on praying. In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Pray without
ceasing. In everything. You mean pray
about everything? I mean everything. Pray about
everything. That ought to be the total constant
attitude of our heart. Those two things, worship and
prayer. Worship and prayer. That's the first point. Secondly,
we see this in verse 24. The Lord's willingness to help
this poor man. And Jesus went with him. And
much people followed him and thronged him. Now you get a hold
of this scene. This man was well known in the
community. He was a leader. And the Lord of Glory, having
heard this earnest, urgent, earnest request of this poor sinner,
this poor father, whose only little girl was dying. Now you
put yourself in his shoes. The Lord of Glory went home with
him. I tell you, I'm going to call
upon Him. The willingness of our Lord to intercede for His
people. Oh, the readiness and the willingness
of the Lord to show mercy to the helpless, guilty sinners
and those who are diseased in body. The Lord of glory never
turns a mercy beggar away. He not only is able to save,
but He delights to save. He's also ready to save, able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. I love
this scripture in Nehemiah 9, 17, but thou art a God ready
to pardon. Thou art a God ready to pardon. Gracious, merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness. He's ready to pardon. I'm going
to call upon Him. How about you? Psalm 86, 5, Thou,
for Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and plenteous
in mercy unto all them that call upon Him. I'm on a call. He's willing, ready, and able
to save to the uttermost. Thirdly is this, verse 35. The absolute certainty of death
in this fleshly, sinful body. Verse 35. And while he yet spake,
Jairus was very patient while the Lord showed mercy to this
diseased woman. And when the Lord spoke peace
to her and pronounced her clean, pronounced her whole. And Jairus
is standing there listening to this. And I'm thinking in his
heart that, wow, the Lord just healed this woman. I can't wait.
I can't wait till he comes home and sees my little girl and she's
going to be so well and everything's going to be just like it used
to be. And then this servant interrupts this scene and he
comes here with some bad news. He said, Ruler, Jairus, he said,
your daughter's dead. Your daughter's died. You don't need to trouble the
Lord no more. She's dead. Jairus' daughter, only 12 years
old, yet she died. When sin is finished, it brings
death. And each of us, each of us, each of us, young and old,
each of us must soon die. We will all die at the appointed
time, by the appointed means, at the appointed place. It's
set. It's fixed. Hebrews 9, 27, it's
appointed unto men once to die. You're not going to miss that
appointment. You're not going to be late for that appointment. And after that, judgment. Now,
two things on this point about death. Death for the believer,
those who are resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who
were justified, redeemed, and saved by His precious blood. Death for the believer is not
punishment. It's promotion. It's promotion. The Lord has changed the character
of death for the believer. Notice he says in verse 39 in
our text, the damsel's not dead forever, just for a little while
she's sleeping. You see, he viewed death a whole
different way. That crowd there that day in
that house, they were weeping and wailing and lamenting. They saw the finality of it.
The Lord sees beyond that. The damsel's not dead, she's
sleeping. The Lord said the same thing concerning Lazarus. Remember
John 11? He said, Our friend Lazarus is
sleeping, 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 Savior. This little girl's body was on
that deathbed, but her soul and spirit had gone to glory, resting
in the Lord. She's sleeping with the Lord.
We read this, Philippians 1.21, For me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Death to the believer is precious. Revelation 14, 13. Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord. Psalm 116, 15. Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Ecclesiastes 12,
7. Dust shall return to the earth.
This old body is going to return back to the dust from which it
came. But the Spirit shall return to
God who gave it. Let's read this together, 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Yes, we're going to die. The
end of this flesh is death. But I tell you, death to the
believer is a blessing. The blessing from God. No wonder
he calls it precious. Notice what he says here in 2
Corinthians 5 verse 1. For we know. 2 Corinthians 5
verse 1. For we know. that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a house not made with hand, eternal in the heavens.
For in this, that is this body we groan, earnestly desiring
to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be
that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that
are in this tabernacle, we do groan, this flesh, we do groan,
being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life in Christ. Now he that hath wrought for
us the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the
earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
For we walk by faith, we walk by faith, not by sight. We are
confident, and I say willing rather, to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord. Death to the believer is
precious, precious. But the flip side of this, death
to the unbeliever is a horrible, horrible, eternal, everlasting
judgment. Death for the unbeliever is the
beginning of everlasting sorrow, torment, eternal punishment.
It's to be separated from the Lord forever, never to experience
His love, never to experience His grace, never to experience
peace and grace, the grace of God in our heart. Here's what
the Word says. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse
7 and 8. To you who are troubled rest
with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them
that know not God. and that obey not, believe not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting condemnation from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints." But what a contrast between the blessedness to die
in the Lord. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. and the terrible, eternal condemnation
of those who die. Our Lord said, if you die in
your sins, if you believe not that I am He, you'll die in your
sins, and if you die in your sins, you cannot come where I
am. Oh, let me be found in Christ. Point number four. Verse 35 and
verse 36. Here we have the bad news and
the good news. The bad news and the good news.
Verse 35, while he yet spake, here comes this servant from
the house and says, your daughter is dead. That's the bad news. My daughter is dead. Why are
you trouble the master anymore? Now you think with me, you who
have children. This is every parent's worst nightmare. Can you imagine getting that
phone call? Getting that knock on the door. When my boys were at home and
teenagers and driving cars, I just waited for that knock. Your son's been in an automobile
wreck. Thank God by his grace that didn't
happen. But you can put yourself in this
father's shoes. He loved this girl. this 12-year-old
little girl. And here he gets the tragic news.
What a grief it must have weighed him down. What despair, unbelief,
and hopelessness must have overwhelmed him. I'm sure he thought that
the Lord could have healed his daughter, for he healed others. But now he imagined, out of his
power, to raise my little girl. Now here's the good news. Look at verse 36. And as soon as Jesus heard the
word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue,
don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Only believe
me. Believe me. Anything too hard
for the Lord? Huh? The Lord said to another father
of a demon-possessed son, in Mark 9.23, If thou canst believe,
all things are possible to them who believe, only believe. It says of this story in Luke
8.50, when Jesus heard it, Heard the saying of this young girl
dying. He answered him saying, Fear
not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. If we can by His
grace believe, we have no reason to fear. Now listen to me. Faith in Christ is the only remedy
against fear. Faith in Christ. Christ is the
only, faith in Christ is the only remedy against fear. This
is the encouragement of Holy Scripture. It says over and over
and over again. His message to us is, fear not! Fear not! Look unto me. I am God and there is no other. Fear not. One of my favorite scriptures.
Don't turn, let me just read it to you. Isaiah 41 10, Fear
thou not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am by God. I will strengthen thee. I will
help thee. Yea, I will hold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. We should never despair. We should
never despair of the Lord's power to raise our loved ones from
the grave of spiritual death? Should we? You have He quickened
who were dead. God has shown mercy to me and
raised me from the dead. Why not the rest of my family?
Why not my neighbors? Why not my children? He is able.
He is able to save to the uttermost. You have He quickened who were
dead. God's given him power over all flesh, and he should give
eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him. Listen
to this scripture, John 5, 21. For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. All that the Father hath given
me, they shall come to me, and those that come to me I will
in no wise cast out. Never despaireth your neighbor,
your family, your children, He's quickened me. He's quickened
you. Why not others? That'll give
us hope. Never despair. He is able to
save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. Be not afraid. Believe Him. Look to Him. Well, here's the last point.
Verse 37 down through verse 43. The glorious display of the Lord's
sovereign power. The glorious display of His sovereign
power. Look at verse 37. They headed on to the house.
He suffered no man to follow Him, but Peter, James, and John,
the brother of James. And when He cometh to the house
of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the commotion, the
tumult, The relatives were there. Mama was there. They wept, they
wailed greatly. And he would come in and he said
to them, why do you make such a big deal about this? Ado and weep. Amsel was just
sleeping for a little while. And they laughed him to scorn.
Verse 40, But when he had put them all out, And that's where
mockers belong. They need to be put out, shut
up. He takes the father and the mother. Peter, James, and John
entered into the room where this little girl was dead. And he took her by the hand,
said unto her in this native Aramaic language, Talath-i-Kumai! which means, Damsel, I say unto
thee, get up. And straightway she arose and
walked. Twelve years old, and they were
all astonished with great astonishment. By this glorious miracle, we
are once more shown clearly what the Lord Jesus Christ can do
for dead, deviled sinners. He sovereignly, irresistibly,
powerfully calls them from death to life, and that's what this
is a picture of. In this particular case we see
this physically He raised her dead body, but this is what He
does for us spiritually. From death to life, from darkness
to light. From sin to perfect righteousness
in Christ Jesus. This is what he does. Now notice
this. Look at verse 41. I say to thee, arise. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not an invitation. He didn't invite her to get up. He commanded her to get up. The
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an invitation, it's a
command. It's not a plan. The Gospel is a person. With
the almighty command of His Word goes forth the power of His grace.
The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing through dividing asunder soul and spirit. I'll
give you some examples of this. the quickening command of God
when He speaks with power. And that's when He speaks. Whenever
He speaks, He speaks in power. I'll give you a couple of examples. Lazarus had been dead. Remember
the story of Martha and Mary? They had a brother, Lazarus,
was sick, had died. The Lord delayed. When he got on the scene, Lazarus
had been dead four days. Buried, the body, the corpse,
rotting, smelling. And the Lord comes before that
tomb and says, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead,
he that was dead, came forth. The Lord does not change. I am the Lord, I change not.
He speaks in power in that day, and He speaks in power in this
day. And He commands dead sinners
to live by His grace. Lazarus had been dead four days,
and yet the Lord gave him life. Example number two. We read earlier
from Luke chapter 7. The widow in the city of Nain,
whose son had died, had been dead maybe one or two days. And
when the Lord saw them carrying the coffin of that body out to
the cemetery for burial, the Lord saw her weeping, had compassion
on her, went forth and touched the coffin and said, Hold up!
Right there! And He speaks in power. I say
unto thee, Arise, and he that was dead, set up. That's exactly what the Lord
God Almighty does for spiritually dead sinners. It's a resurrection
from death to life in Christ Jesus. It's His command. His command. Now in our text today, Our Lord says in verse 41, I
say unto thee, arise. She had just been dead a few
hours. Here Lazarus dead four days.
Here this widow of the city of Nain probably dead one or two
days. And here this young girl just
dead a few hours. And yet he speaks in tongues.
Such is the gospel call to those who were spiritually dead in
their sins. They cannot give themselves life
or even cooperate in giving life. God must speak and command the
dead to live, and He does this by His sovereign power, by His
sovereign will. There is no sinner, listen to
me, there is no sinner beyond the Lord's ability to raise the
dead. Dead is dead. It doesn't matter
if it's four days, two days, or even a few hours. Dead is
dead. In Adam all died. We're spiritually born dead. Spiritually dead. Separated from
God. He must speak in power. And He
must give life. And that's what this story is
teaching us. It's by His Word, and by the
preaching of the Gospel, that the Lord is still calling. raising
dead men to life in himself. God help us never to neglect
the means of preaching the gospel. I found this statement by one
of the old writers. Christ works while he commands,
and he works by the commandment. Therefore, make a man what he
pleases, even to the dead, And they come forth when he speaks.
Such is the gospel call to those that are by nature dead and trespasses
in sin and can no more rise from the dead by their own power. Yet he speaks with power and
the dead live. This is why we preach the gospel.
God uses that Word, quickened by the power of God the Holy
Spirit, and He sends it in power to those who were dead, His elect,
His sheep, and He quickens them by the means that He has ordained.
The preaching of the Gospel. It is by the Word of Christ,
the preaching of the Gospel, that He gives life. In closing,
Let me quote this one scripture, Ezekiel 16. The Lord said, When
I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood,
I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood, Live! Live! I say unto thee, Live! And when he speaks in power,
Dead men live. That's what this is a picture
of. God giving sinners life in Christ Jesus. This is the third
picture we've seen here. The wild man healed. The diseased
woman healed. And the dead raised up. That's
exactly what He does for us when He saves us by His grace. Puts
us in a right mind. Clothes us. Cures us. Heals us spiritually, gives us
His blessed righteousness, and raises us from the dead. Raises
us from the dead. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
those words.