Mark chapter 5 and verse 23. In verse 23 we read regarding Jairus that he besought the Lord 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. It is called the last enemy. 1 Corinthians 15, 26. And it is an enemy against which we have no power. It is an enemy against which we will fight, but it will eventually overpower us. It will eventually slay us. The last enemy of which Paul referred to was and is, of course, death. And during the Savior's ministry on earth, there were three occasions recorded in the Gospels when He came to the side of those whom death had conquered. But when Christ came upon the scene of each of those on each of those occasions, death could not hold its prey. For on each occasion, the one who is the resurrection and the life raised up the dead. Every time Christ, who is the life, met the last enemy, which is death, Christ was always victorious, and always will be victorious. And when we consider these three incidents, or three occasions, when the Lord Jesus came to the side of those who had died, there are some very interesting facts to be noted. Here we find, in Mark chapter 5, that Jairus' twelve-year-old daughter, first of all, when we are introduced to her, we are told, was near death. But then, when the Lord went to the home, she had already died. And so what we have here then is a 12-year-old daughter of Jairus lying on her deathbed. And then there is another occasion when the Lord Jesus, followed by a great multitude of people, went by the gates of the city of Nain. And coming out of the city there was a funeral procession. And on that occasion, a widow's son had passed away and was lying in his coffin, been carried to the place of burial. Luke chapter 7, verses 11 to 14. So the Lord Jesus meets with death in Jairus' home. He meets with death outside the city of Nain. And then the third encounter that the Lord had with death during his earthly ministry was at the tomb of Lazarus. John 11, verses 33 to 45. Now, consider the three incidents. First of all, Jairus' daughter was on her deathbed. The widow woman's son was in the coffin. And Lazarus was in the grave. From the deathbed to the coffin to the grave. That's how it will be with us all. From our deathbed to the coffin to the grave. But here the Lord Jesus was able to raise up the one who lay in her deathbed, was able to raise up the one who lay in the coffin, and was able to raise up the one who lay in a grave. And so wherever the Lord Jesus came face to face with death, the Lord Jesus was always the victor. Something else we should note about these three incidents. Charles's daughter was his only daughter. The widow's son was her only son. And Lazarus was an only brother. Only daughter, only son, and only brother. And of course, as you can well understand, where death has come into a home and taken away an only daughter, and an only son and an only brother. The pain goes even deeper. The heart is severely wounded. Because there is no other son left. There is no other daughter and there is no other brother. As I have said, that death could not be victorious in the presence of Christ. I want you to turn with me then, please, to John 19. In John chapter 19, of course, we are at Calvary. In John 19, verse 30, when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was on High Day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Of course, than anyone hanging upon the cross a prolonged period of time, and their blood draining from them, and the suffering that they're going through. Once their legs were broken, the shock would have brought death upon them. But then we read in verse 32, Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But When they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they break not His legs. The Lord Jesus had to die first. Because, you see, the two thieves could not die. Death could not claim the lives of the two thieves. while the Lord Jesus was still alive. Death cannot be victorious in the presence of Christ. And so the Lord Jesus had to die first. And let us remember, as we read there in verse 30, that when the Lord said, It is finished, He bowed His head and He gave up the ghost. He gave up His life. It wasn't taken from Him. The Lord Jesus was in full control of all things, even His own life. And so before the thieves could die, before death could claim the lives of the two thieves, the Lord Jesus had to give up the ghost first. The Lord Jesus had to die first. So Christ is victorious. Christ is always victorious when it comes to death because He has said in John 11, verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And we who were dead in trespasses and in sins, When Christ came upon this scene, when Christ came to us, He who is the resurrection of the life, we believed in Him and we who were dead, praise God, now we live. He is always victorious. And so He was victorious in the house of Jairus. So let us consider what the Lord did for the little daughter of Jairus and his wife, as we come now to another one of those little things in life. I would like us first of all to consider the man. The man to whom we refer is, of course, Jairus. Upon his return from Gadara, where the Lord had just transformed the life of a man who was called legion We're told a great number of people were waiting for Him. We read that there in verse 21. Verse 21, And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto Him, and He was nigh unto the sea. So as the Lord came across Galilee from Gadara, there was a great company, a great multitude of people, and they were waiting for Him. They were gathered on to Him. They'd all come to meet with Christ. They'd all come to see Christ. Many of them with mental needs, and physical needs, and spiritual needs. Like patients. waiting in a doctor's surgery. So they were waiting for the great physician that they might tell him all about their needs and that they might know his healing touch. And then we are told about one man in particular who wanted to see the physician, who wanted to see the doctor, if you like. One man in particular wanted to see the Savior. He is referred to as one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. He was determined to see the Lord, and he eventually did. One is to consider the behavior of the man. Or rather, we are told in John about the seeking Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. When they came to Jerusalem, they said to Philip, Sir, we would see Jesus. They wanted to see Him. So Jairus, like those Greeks, wanted to see the Lord. He wanted to see the Lord Jesus. We read in verse 22, So there's Jairus. He's been waiting to see Christ. And upon seeing Him, notice what he did. He fell at his feet. Or, as Matthew records it, there came a certain ruler and worshipped him. Matthew 9, verse 18. Of course, all rulers will one day fall at the Saviour's feet. For He is King of King and Lord of Lords. And they will all fall at his feet, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father." Philippians 2, verse 11. But regarding the behavior of Jairus, the behavior of this man, when he saw the Lord, we want to note his response. How did Jairus respond? to seeing Christ. We're told, he fell down at his feet. That's how he responded. We don't read of anyone else there in that great company falling at the feet of Christ, but Jairus did. Jairus was simply like many others who upon seeing Christ, fell at his feet. You think of Matthew 2 and verse 11. We read there about the wise men who came to where the Lord Jesus was. And we are told specifically in Matthew 2 and verse 11, and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child. So they saw him. with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped Barry. No, they didn't. They fell down and worshipped him. They fell down and worshipped him, and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Do you notice that Christ is the center of attraction? When they saw him, They fell down and worshipped Him and presented on to Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We read in Luke chapter 8 of the same thing. Luke 8, and there we read in verse 26, And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee, And when he went forth to the land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devil's long time, and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs listened. And when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him." Once more, the response was the same. When he saw Jesus, He fell down before Him. Look at Mark chapter 3. Mark 3 and verse 11. There we are told, in verse 10 we might get the context, For He had healed many insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him as many had as many as had plagues, and unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God." And really what that means is that those who had the unclean spirits when they saw Christ, they fell down before Him when they saw Him. Rulers, wise men, glorified saints. Revelation 5 and verse 14. We read there about the four and twenty elders who fell down before him and worshipped him. We think of John on the Isle of Potmos when he turned and saw the Lord. We're told that he fell down at his feet as one that was dead. That is the response of many who saw the Lord, because Christ is Ruler of all. Rulers fall down before Him. The wise man fell down before Him. Seeking sinners fell down before Him, and so must we. That must always be our response to seeing the Lord. We may not literally fall down on the floor before Him, but we do bow our head before Him. We bow both head and heart. So we see the response. We see also the reverence, falling down before the Lord. falling down at his feet as an act of respect and reverence. Mary sat at the Saviour's feet. The woman of the city who was a sinner came into the house of Simon and fell down at his feet and kissed those feet and washed his feet with her tears. Mary again looked at John 12 and 3 The sister of Lazarus anointed his feet. The wise men brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and laid them at his feet. And all this behavior was simply the acts of reverence and respect. We show our reverence and respect for our Lord when we come before the Lord in worship. We bow down before Him. Whenever we pray, we inevitably bow our heads. It's an act of respect and reverence. When we come to worship, and the minister prays, we all have our heads bowed. We never need to be told to bow the head, because we're in the Lord's presence. By faith we see Him. And as others fell at his feet, so when we see Christ with the eye of faith, we, in reverence and respect for him, bow the head. Spiritually speaking, we bow the heart also. And so it is, at the beginning of our service of worship, we bow the head. At the close of our service, we bow our heads. And we ought to continue with heads bowed for a season. We don't want just to rise up and the last Amen is spoken and the benediction is pronounced. We don't want to rush out of the Lord's presence. We ought to remain there with heads bowed. at least for one verse of the closing hymn. Why do we do that? It's an act of reverence. Because we're conscious that we're in God's presence. We are before him and he is before us. We read in Psalm 89, verse 7, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. Had in reverence of all them that are about him. And here is Jairus. And even though he was carrying a heavy burden, he had received bad news regarding his daughter. She was at the point of death. Yet, he did not forget to reverence the Lord. He didn't rush into the Lord's presence. But rather, when he came into the Lord's presence, he fell down at his feet. He didn't forget to do that. You know, when we come into the Lord's presence, we can forget where we are. We can forget to reverence the Lord when we're in His presence. conducted himself in a very God-honoring way in spite of all the burdens that he had. We noted his behavior and we note his burden then. The behavior of the man and the burden of the man. Jairus was carrying a heavy burden that day that he wanted to see the Lord Jesus. He came to the Lord Jesus. And we are told that he spoke to the Lord about his little daughter 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. First of all, you have his prayer. We are told that Jairus besought Him. He besought Him. The Holy Spirit, who is the author of this book, of course, always chooses His words carefully. There are a number of words that have been translated, besought. But it is interesting when we consider this particular word. and how much it is in keeping with this incident of Jairus, a heartbroken and burdened man, coming to the Lord with his bad news. He besought the Lord. That word besought that we have here in this verse means to call to one side. And so in offering this prayer to the Lord, he was actually asking the Lord to come alongside him. He was calling the Lord to his side. When a heavy burden is placed upon us, we immediately look to the Lord in prayer. And what are we asking for? We're asking the Lord to come alongside us. It is a burden that is so heavy we cannot carry it ourselves. We cannot carry it alone. We need the Lord to come alongside. The Greek word that we have there for Besought is the Greek word Paracleto. Paracleto. It is the same word that is used for the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit. John 14, verse 16. The Lord said, And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Comforter is the word paracletus. And the word besought is the word paracleto. And so here was Jairus and he was asking the Lord to come alongside him. He wanted the Lord to be his comforter. Because when the Lord went away from His disciples, He said that He would send them another Comforter. The word another there means another of the same. And so while Christ was upon earth, Christ was the Comforter. But when He would go away, He would send His disciples and His people another of the same. In other words, He would send them the Comforter. And so you can see what Jairus was asking for, what he was praying for. He wanted the Lord to come alongside him. He wanted the Lord to be his comforter, to comfort him in the time of his daughter's sickness, at a time when he received this bad news. And dear believer, when bad news comes our way, when we perhaps receive the message, we obviously will pray. And we will look to the Lord for help. And what will we be praying for? We're actually asking the Lord, Lord, come alongside me. Come and support me. Come and strengthen me. and comfort me, I have a burden that I cannot carry alone. Years and years ago, before telephones were as plentiful as they are today, cell phones weren't even thought of. Whenever A message was taken to someone conveying bad news, usually bad news. A telegram boy was sent out. He was sent out from the post office. The post office had received a message from so-and-so to be delivered to so-and-so. The people had no telephones, of course, and so the message came. And then it was printed out. And it was always enclosed in a yellow letter. That was the telegram. And when you saw the telegram boy coming to your house, holding a yellow letter, nine times out of ten, it contained bad news. You didn't look forward to seeing the telegram boy come to the door. You didn't look forward to opening that yellow letter. You're always afraid to read the contents. Just like that man Spafford. I wrote to him as well with my soul. He received the telegram. Oh, telegrams were not long letters. They just contained maybe a few words. And he received a telegram from his wife because his wife and daughters had been sailing to another country and the ship went down. And he received a telegram. He was at home. And on the telegram, it simply said, Saved Alone. And the message conveyed to Mr. Spafford was his wife was the only one who was saved. His daughters were lost at sea. Saved alone. Here was Jairus. He received bad news. He received bad news about his daughter. And it was only going to get worse. But what did he do when he received this bad news? He besought the Lord greatly. He asked the Lord. He called on the Lord. Come to my side. Help me carry this burden. Come to my side and be my paracletos. Lord, be my comforter. And so, believer, during those times when we have to deal with bad news, whether it comes by way of disease or distress or even death, let us do what Jairus did. Beseech the Lord, Say, Lord, come alongside me and comfort me. So we have seen his prayer. Next, we notice his problem. It was no wonder that much people gathered on to him that is on to the Lord. Every one of them came to the Lord that day and gathered on to him. They all had their own problems. Each problem Some more severe than others. But each problem was personal to the person who suffered the problem, who had the problem. It was their own. It didn't belong to anybody else. It was theirs. And it was very personal. Consider the problems the Lord dealt with in this chapter 5 alone. For he cast out devils. It was a problem for a man called Legion. He was possessed of a legion of devils. Christ cast out devils. He cleansed the woman with the disease. And here he is, he conquers death in the house of Jairus. All different problems. and all peculiar to each individual. Oh, each one could have said, well, my problem's worse than yours. My need is greater than yours. The woman could have said, if she could have spoken to legion, oh, my problem's worse than yours. I've had this problem for 12 years. Jairus could have said, oh, no. My problem is worse than yours. My 12 year old daughter is at the point of death. And in that great multitude of people who came to see the Lord, they all had their own problems. We come here today and we all have our own problems. Some may be worse or more severe than others. But they're peculiar to us. Here is the Lord. And it didn't matter how great or how small the problem was. In any individual's life, the Lord was ready to solve that problem. You take legion possessed of demons. You take the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years and now you have Jairus and his daughter is at the point of death and indeed even while he was speaking to the Lord she had died. All more serious in different degrees than the other. But the Lord doesn't come and say, well, your problem's not as great as somebody else's. Doesn't matter how great or small our problem is, the Lord deals with us in just the same way. Praise his name. When Jairus came to the Lord, He said, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. Jairus, I am sure, felt that his problem was greater, went deeper, was more painful than that of Legion and of the woman. But then Legion and the woman felt the same about their problem. But the wonderful truth is, that the Lord doesn't just help people according to the seriousness of their problems. If we come to the Lord and we bring these little things before the Lord, which we ought to do, we bring our little problems to the Lord, the Lord will listen to us just as intently and be as willing to help us as He will those who have far greater problems than we have. When he saw a leper, as we noted last Wednesday in our school assembly, when he saw the leper, we are told he was moved with compassion. You see, that's the heart that our Savior has. He has a heart of compassion. He doesn't like to see his people suffer. He will give them a grace, certainly. He will certainly listen to our problems. And when we go to Him with our bad news, He's ready to listen. So, we've noticed then regarding Jairus, his prayer, his problem. Then we notice his plea. He pleads with the Lord that he would go to his house. Because, he says, my little daughter lieth at the point of death. Come! I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live. There's his plea. Will you come to my house? Will you come and see my daughter? She's sick. She's dying. We can appreciate it. We can appreciate it that this man's plea was earnest and sincere, that it came from the heart. Come and help us. It was his only daughter. And he pleads that the Lord will come. We can learn a lesson there. There are those, just like Jairus, who had his 12-year-old daughter living under the same roof, who was dying. So it is in many homes today, in many homes of Christians, there are those who are dying in their sins. The disease of sin has got a hold of them. And except Christ comes, and comes soon, they're going to die in their sin and perish. So, what should we do? We should do what Jairus did. Jairus went to the Lord and said, Come into my house. Come and lay thy hands on her. And for our unsaved loved ones, we ought to be pleading with the Lord. Lord, come and lay thy hand upon my unsaved son, my unsaved daughter, my unsaved brother, my unsaved sister. For that's what Jairus did. He pleaded with the Lord. Did the Lord answer him? Yes, he did. But at this moment, I want us then to go on and consider the man and his belief. Jairus demonstrated that he believed this stranger of Galilee had the power to raise his little daughter up from the dead. It's not what he said, or up from her sickbed at that point. For he says, Come, lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live. He believed the Lord could do that. How important it is to offer to the Lord believing prayers. We can see that Jairus wasn't half-hearted about this matter. He believed earnestly. He believed with all of his heart. He besought him greatly, greatly. And he said, Come and lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live. He didn't say, Oh, that she might live. He said that she shall live. And here's a lesson for us. Here's a teaching we ought not to forget. that when we pray we ought to offer to the Lord believing prayers. What we're asking for, we must believe that the Lord is able also to perform. What's the point in praying if you don't believe that the Lord is able? Didn't Paul say, Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that is, he is a rewarder of all them that seek him. You must believe that. We know that today there are many and they think prayer is a waste of time. To the true child of God, to the true believer, to the one who has his faith and trust in God, He will come to God believing that He is, and believing that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Like Abraham. Abraham was promised a son. Abraham had to wait twenty-five years from the moment that the Lord said He would give him a son, and he had to wait until his old age. And yet, what did we read in Romans 4, verse 21? And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Not once did Abraham doubt the Lord. As the years went on, And he was in his 100th year, he was still fully persuaded. As fully persuaded when he was 100 as he was when he was 75. That what the Lord had promised, he was able also to perform. And here is Jairus, and when he came to the Lord and spoke these words, he believed the Savior could help him with his problem. He believed the Lord could heal his daughter. But notice this. Jairus' belief and faith could have gone a little further. He's to be commended for the faith that he had. But his faith could have gone a little further If his faith had been stronger, it would have gone further. What do I mean? Turn to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. And we read in Matthew 8, in verse 6, Verse 5, And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only. and my servant shall be healed." You see, the centurion's faith went a little further than Jairus's did. Jairus said to the Lord, come and lay thy hands on my daughter. In other words, Jairus didn't believe that his daughter could be healed except the Lord came himself in person to the house. But the centurion His faith went further because he said to the Lord, Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. And look at what the Lord said about him in verse 10. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said unto them that followed verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. The Lord said he would go. to the house of the centurion and heal his servant. But the centurion said, Lord, just speak the word. I believe, Lord, if thou were just to speak the word, my servant would be healed. And we read in verse 10, or as we have read in that verse 10, the Lord said, I have not found so great faith No, not in Israel. And we read in verse 13, But Jesus said to the centurion, Go thy way. As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed the selfsame hour. The moment he believed, was the moment His servant was healed. Surely, our prayer then ought to be, Lord, increase my faith. Help me, Lord, to believe when I pray that what I pray for, Thy Lord, will hear, thy Lord will help, and thy Lord will heal. Remember what we have read about the blind men who came to the Lord to be healed? Matthew 9, verses 28 and 29. Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this. They wanted to be healed. They wanted to receive their sight. And the Lord challenged them and said, Believe ye that I am able to do this? We would do well to have put that question to us when we pray. Believe ye that I am able to do this? What you're asking for? Do you believe I can do it? Really believe I can do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And they were healed. With this one thought, I'll close this part of the message. The centurion had great faith. The Lord said he hadn't seen such faith in all of Israel. And the Lord healed the centurion's servant. Jairus showed faith, but not to the same degree. To a lesser degree. But, nevertheless, the Lord still rewarded what little faith he had And dear Christian, whatever our faith is, great or small, according to our faith, he says, be it unto you. In other words, the Lord will reward us whether our faith is great or small. He'll still reward our faith. So it was with Jairus. He received the bad news. He went immediately to the Lord. And for Jairus, the bad news got worse. And we'll see how he handled that and how the Lord handled it. The Lord willing, next Sabbath morning, let's bow our heads in prayer. O Lord, our God and loving Father, we praise Thee for such a wonderful Savior, such a wonderful Lord. We give Thee thanks, our Father, for Thy Son, who, like Thyself, is full of compassion and love for those who are in need. Lord, we thank thee for rewarding even the limited faith of Jairus. Lord, be pleased to reward even our limited faith. But at the same time, we would pray with the disciples, Lord, increase our faith. Write thy holy word upon our hearts. May we take it home with us and meditate upon it. And Lord, in thy will, return us to the Lord's house this evening. Grant us all now traveling mercy. May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide and remain with us now and forevermore. Amen.