Let us open our Bibles today
to the fifth chapter of Mark. Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5 and beginning
with verse 21. And when Jesus was passed over
again by ship into the other side, much people gathered unto
him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh
one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jarius by name, and when he saw
him, he fell at his feet. And besought him greatly, saying,
My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee,
come and lay thy 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. And a certain woman,
which had an issue of blood 12 years, and had suffered many
things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and
was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard
of Jesus, came in the press behind him and touched his garment. For she said, if I may touch
but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she
was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press and said, who touched my clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest thou who touched me? And he looked round about to
see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him
and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague. 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 further? As soon as Jesus heard the word
that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, be
not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow
him, save Peter, and James, and John, 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 come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and
weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all
out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and
them that were with him, and entered in where the damsel was
lying. And he took the damsel by the
hand, and said unto her, Talithah kumi. 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 a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly
that no man should know it, and commanded that something should
be given her to eat. The scripture that I've just
read and that we are looking at today begins with the Lord
Jesus Christ again crossing the Sea of Galilee. And immediately
much people gathered to him. Now we saw last time that he
had crossed this sea to deliver a man, a man called a demoniac. And he was called this because
he was possessed of a legion of demons. The people there in
that area, the Gadarenes, they prayed him to leave, which he
did, and so now has crossed again the sea and back on the shore
near to Capernaum. In the passage that we read,
or that we read rather, we read of the Lord working two miracles. two miracles, and I have four
truths to bring to us from these two miracles today. And let us
see each of these truths in reference to the miracle of salvation,
God's great salvation, because truly the saving of a sinner
is a miracle. If you have been saved this morning,
you have experienced a miracle in your salvation. Four truths
that I want to bring out to us from these two miracles. First,
the two miracles testify to this glorious truth. Number one, the
two miracles testify to this glorious truth. He is who He
declared Himself to be. He is, this glorious truth, He
is He whom He declared Himself to be. You know, people quote
John 3 and verse 16 quite often. I'm told it is the most widely
known verse in all the world. But let's remember this, the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's the one who spoke John 3, 16. And what
did he say? He said, for God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son. His only begotten son. As I've said many times, God
has many sons by creation. He has many sons by adoption,
but he only has one son who is his only begotten son. Now, the Jews, and when I say
the Jews in preaching, I'm speaking about the leaders, the Jewish
leaders of the nation of Israel. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, they
are called the princes of this world, the princes of this world,
the rulers of the Judaism of that day. They knew and they
understood exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ was proclaiming
when he spoke of himself as working even as the father. Let me read
a couple of verses to us from John chapter 5 verses 17 and
18. Jesus answered them. He's answering
the religious rulers, the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the scribes, those who were in charge of the worship of the
of the Jews at that time. Jesus answered them, My Father,
My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Now they understood the Father,
God, works. He controls all things. He rules
over all things. But the Lord Jesus Christ said,
My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore, immediately,
therefore, because of that statement, the father worketh hitherto,
and I work, therefore, because of that statement, the Jews,
the religious rulers, sought the more to kill him. Because, here it is, Because
he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his
father, making himself equal with God. This is a glorious
truth. And we see that in these two
miracles, that he is, he is who he professed himself to be. He is God manifest in the flesh. Remember he told his disciples,
this is recorded in John 14, he that has seen me has seen
the father. And when he said the father worketh
hitherto and I work, in other words, that he's one with the
father, he's equal with the father. He is eternal as a father is
eternal. and all the attributes which
we worship and love to hear about concerning the Father, each and
every one of those is equally true of God the Son and God the
Holy Spirit. And in Him, as the Apostle Paul
said, dwelleth the fullness, not just part, but the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In the person, the man, Christ
Jesus, He is who he professed himself to be. He is God equal
with the Father and with God the Holy Spirit. In this passage,
he healed the woman of her issue of blood. That was one miracle. And he raised the daughter of
Jairus from the dead. And his miracles, and we read
through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and we
read of the various miracles which the Lord worked, and they
are all to testify to His deity, that He is the Son of God. His miracles testify loudly. I mean, they testify loudly to
all, to everyone who reads the Word of God, to everyone who
hears the Word of God. that he is God manifest in the
flesh. Sometimes people say, but preacher,
Elijah, he was a great prophet. No doubt about that. He was taken
to heaven in a chariot of fire. Elisha who followed Elijah, both
of those men, great prophets and many miracles were worked
at their hands. And yes, even the raising of
the dead, as we see in one of these miracles. But never one
of those prophets of old ever said what the Lord Jesus Christ
said here. Not one of them. Elijah prayed. I think it was his son that he
worked a miracle in raising him from the dead. But you remember,
he prayed. He prayed, and Elisha the same
thing. They prayed because they didn't
have the power in themselves to raise a body that was dead,
a person that was dead, bring them back to life. They didn't
have that power, but the Lord Jesus Christ did. Not one of
those prophets ever said like our Lord did to this young girl
of 12 years of age, I say unto thee, arise. I say unto thee,
who has the power of life and death? God does. God does. And He exercised His power as
the God-man. Keep your places here, but look
over with me in John chapter 5 just a moment. John chapter
5. And these are His words beginning
in verse 18. John chapter 5, therefore the
Jews, now this again you remember the religious rulers, therefore
the Jews sought the Moor to kill him, because he not only had
broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father,
making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself but what he seeth the Father do. For what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. Now that can
only be true because they are one. The Father and the Son are
one. They're not two gods. There's
one God, and God the Holy Spirit also. There are one, and what
one does, the other does. The father worketh, the son works. For the father loveth the son,
and showeth him all things that himself doeth. And he will show
him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the
father raiseth up the dead, quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, have you heard
his word? He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me hath, doesn't say he's going to have, no, hath
everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is
passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God. Those who are spiritually dead,
dead in trespasses and sins, the hour is coming, and now is,
when they shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. For as a father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the son of man. This glorious truth, these two
miracles testify to this glorious truth. He is. who he declared himself to be,
the only begotten son of the Father. The second truth, these
two miracles testify to this sobering truth, this sobering
truth. Only, only, only, only when men
are in great need will they seek the Lord. Only when men are in
great need do they seek the Lord. We see this with the ruler of
the synagogue. Notice verses 22 and 23. And behold, there cometh one
of the rulers of the synagogue, Jarius by name. And when he saw
him, he fell at his feet and besought him greatly. greatly,
saying, my little daughter lies at the point of death, literally
at the last breath. My little daughter is breathing
her last breath. I pray thee, come and lay thy
hands on her, that she shall be healed and she shall live. Alfred Eiterschein had this comment
in his book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. And I quote,
unless the disease had been both sudden and exceedingly rapid,
which is barely possible, it is difficult to understand why
her father had not on the previous day applied to Jesus. Only in the hour of supreme need,
when his only child lay dying, did he resort to Jesus. That's a sobering truth, but
we know it's so. It's so of all men. We see the
same with this woman who had an issue of blood. Verses 25
and 26. A certain woman which had an
issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many
physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing
bettered but rather grew worse. This is a sobering truth that
we all know and we all know it only too well. Men will try anything
and everything rather than come to the Lord Jesus Christ. All
men, by nature, left to ourselves, we will try anything and everything
rather than come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Men will try religion. Men will try morality. Men will
try ceremony. Men will try ritualism. Men will
go anywhere and everywhere other than to come to the fountain
of living waters. But it is only when God the Holy
Spirit makes His people willing in the day of His power that
men will come to Christ, that men will look to Christ. To those
who had the scriptures, our Lord said this in His day. They not
only had the scriptures, the Old Testament, but they studied
the scriptures. It was their life. Think about
this. He's speaking to men. It was
their life to study the Scriptures. That's what they did when they
got up in the morning, and that was their work through the day. Six days a week it was to study
the Scripture. And they could tell you so much
about the Scriptures. They could tell you the Middle
Scripture. in all of the scriptures. They could tell you how many
words there were. They could tell you everything.
That was their life, their study, was the scriptures. But our Lord
said unto them, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, but they, the scriptures, are they which testify of me,
and you will not come to me that you might have life. men, all
of us by nature. We'll try anything. And it's
amazing to me, if I did not know the truth about man's lost condition,
it's amazing to me what people will do, what people
will subject themselves in the name of religion, all in the
hopes of making themselves right with God. As I said, anything
and everything other than coming to the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ and bowing before him. Why is that? Because we are all
born with a fallen nature. We're all born with an adversity,
an enmity with God. Every man by nature. And thank
God for the work of God the Holy Spirit. who brings a man, and
the way he brings a man to Christ is he brings a person to see
their great need. These two people, they realized
they had a great need. I mean, this one man, his daughter's
at the point of death, taking her last breath, and so he resorts
to Christ. This woman, she spent everything
she had and only has grown worse, so she comes to Christ. She looks to Christ. Only God
the Holy Spirit. That's a miracle. If you're looking
to Christ today, our Lord said, I am come that they that see
shall not see, and they that don't see shall see. Are you
one of those who don't see? You don't see any reason in yourself
why the Lord would have mercy on you. You fit the category. You don't
see any reason in yourself why the Lord would save you. You have no goodness. You have
no way to make yourself acceptable unto God. You've been made to
see. You've been made to see your
need of Christ. So that's the second truth that
these two miracles testify to. It is a sobering truth. Men will not come to Christ until
they experience this great need. Number three, the two miracles
testify to this amazing truth. What is it? The willingness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The willing, it's amazing, this
amazing truth. The willingness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Willingness to do what? To deliver
and to save sinners. For the Son of Man is come both
to seek and to save that which is lost. Those were his words. Notice in these two miracles,
The case of Jarius, he asked the Lord, Lord, come, come and
lay your hands on my daughter and heal her. And without any
hesitation, you don't read of any hesitation on the part of
the Lord Jesus Christ, just as soon as this man came and bowed
down and said, Lord, help me. Immediately. The Lord Jesus Christ
goes with Jairus to his house. And Jesus went with him. I want
you to keep your place here, but turn over back to Matthew.
In Matthew chapter nine, now Matthew records this miracle
as well. But I want to point out something
to us that Matthew tells us. Matthew chapter nine. Verses 18 and 19. While he spake these things unto
them, behold, there came a certain ruler. Now we know who this ruler
was, Jairus. There came a certain ruler, and
worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead. But come and
lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose,
and followed him, And so did his disciples. I have a friend
who's a pastor, and he pointed this out. I've never heard anyone
else point this out. Do you see that the Lord Jesus
Christ followed Jairus? You see that in verse 19? And
Jesus arose and followed him. Amazing as it may be, here you
have the Son of God, following this man. To me, that only shows
the willingness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The willingness of Christ
to help, to save all those who come unto Him. You know, somehow
Satan is able to convince most people that God somehow doesn't
want to save you, that He won't save you. Oh, yes, he will. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's more willing to save
than men are to seek salvation. Yes, he is. The willingness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, in the Old Testament,
we read of Joshua. One day he, he prayed, son, S-U-N,
son, stand thy still. And you know what happened? The
sun stood still. A blind beggar cried out unto
the Lord Jesus Christ one day, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy upon me. And the sun, S-O-N, stood still. Come, Lord, come to my house
and help me. We see the willingness of Christ. And the same is true of the woman
with the issue of blood. She came, the scripture says,
she came in the crowd behind as though she thought she needed
to steal this blessing, as she needed somehow to steal this
blessing, that he wouldn't be willing to give the blessing
to heal her. Didn't she know how willing he
was to bless her, to heal her, that she had to come somehow
and sneak up behind him and touch the hem of his garment? No need
to come from behind. Come, Senator, come and welcome. We used to have this hymn in
the hymn book. We had, come ye, Senators, poor
and needy. Weak and wounded, sick and sore,
Jesus ready stands to save you. Full of pity, love, and power. You have not because you ask
not. A willing savior. And the fourth
truth, the two miracles testify to the truth concerning the place
of the grace of faith. To the woman, the Lord Jesus
said, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. And to Jairus, just as soon as
Jairus heard this message from his house, your daughter's dead.
Why bother you, the master? The Lord Jesus Christ said unto
him, be not afraid, only believe. truth, the place of the grace
of faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. There are three elements in faith,
that is in saving faith, three elements. First of all, there's
knowledge. You cannot come back from a place
you have never been, and you cannot believe in one of whom
you have never heard. Mark says in verse 27 of the
woman when she had heard, when she had heard of Jesus. And think
about this, Jairus, he was a ruler of the synagogue. He was one
of the rulers of the synagogue. He also had heard of Jesus. It
may well be, and probably is true, that it was the synagogue
in Capernaum where he was a ruler. And the Lord had been there before.
Look back to chapter 3. In chapter 3 of Mark, the first
few verses The scripture says, he entered again into the synagogue,
and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they
watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day,
that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which
had the withered hand, stand forth. Now, Jairus was a ruler
of a synagogue. Most likely it was this synagogue.
He was there that day. He saw this. When he had looked
round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness
of their hearts, and Jairus was one of those men, no doubt, who
had a hard heart, let the man suffer. Let him continue
with that withered hand, but don't profane the Sabbath day. Oh, these were truly men of compassion,
weren't they? These religious rulers. Stretched
forth thine hand, and he stretched it out, and his hand was restored
as the others. And the Pharisees went forth
and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him,
how they might destroy him. Now Jerry's faith was not as
strong as the faith of the centurion. Because you see, in our text,
Jairus told the Lord, or asked the Lord, come and lay your hands
on her, and she shall be healed and lived. Remember the centurion,
because he had men under his command, he said to this one,
go, and he went, to another, come, and he came. He told the
Lord Jesus Christ concerning the healing of his servant, Just
speak the word. Just speak the word. I'm not
worthy that you even come under my roof. Just speak the word. And what I see here, I see this
truth that is revealed in the word of God, there are degrees
of faith. That centurion, our Lord said,
had great faith. Jairus didn't. But here's the
thing. It's not the amount of our faith
that saves, It's the Savior. It's the Savior who saves. Our
Lord did not say to this woman that the healing virtue had come
out of her faith. The healing virtue came out of
Him. He's the Savior. But it was just
a grain of faith, the size of a mustard seed in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, faith begins with knowledge. I read this story several times
over the years, but years ago on the Niagara, on the river
Niagara, a current going towards the fall that a boat, a small
boat, capsized and two men were in the water trying to swim against
it and somehow people on the shore got a rope out there somehow
to them and both of them grabbed hold of the rope. But then a big log came passing
by. A log's a lot bigger than a rope.
And so one of them let loose of the rope and grabbed hold
of the log. And he went right over the falls
to his death. The other man had hold of the
rope, but the rope was fastened to the shore. And so he was pulled. rather to the shore and was saved. It's not the amount, the rope's
small compared to the log, yes. It's not the amount of our faith.
It's the object of our faith. Christ is the Lord. The second
thing about faith, there must be belief. Not only knowledge,
but belief. Both of these individuals had
knowledge of Christ and they both believed that he could meet
their needs. He could. He could heal his daughter. He could heal this woman of her
issue of blood. They believed that. And number
three, in faith, not only knowledge and belief, but there's trust. Both of these individuals, they
believed, they had knowledge, and when they heard, They trusted. They trusted their case to him. Here's my daughter. I'm trusting
her into thy hands. Here I am with my sickness. I'm trusting that you will heal
me. And he met both of their needs,
didn't he? And when a sinner trusts, just
as one writer said, not just bows down, at the feet of Christ,
but falls upon Christ. Cannot do anything, have no power
of myself, but I trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ever-living
one. Faith, the place of faith. You say, why is the grace of
faith commended like it is? In 1 Corinthians 13, didn't the
Apostle Paul say, now abideth faith, hope, love, but the greatest
of these is love? Yes, he did. But you see, faith,
when we reach heaven, sure, we'll no longer live by faith. It'll be by sight. And hope shall
be realized. But love shall go on throughout
eternity. That's true. But this is also
true. Of these three graces, we call
them the cardinal graces, faith, hope, and love. But faith is
a receiving grace. That's all it does. It just receives. And so, to as many as received
him, that is Christ, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them which believe on his name. I pray that the
Lord would bless this word to all of us here this morning.
More truths from these two great miracles. I want us to sing the
hymn, Ring the Bells of Heaven. There is joy today.