Open your Bibles this morning, please, to Mark, chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 is a great chapter, but not the one we're looking at today. Open up to Mark 5 and we'll be looking at verses 21 to 43 as we continue along in our study of the Gospel of Mark. And I've titled the message today, Be Not Afraid. Only believe. Be not afraid, only believe. Comes right from the text, as we'll see. But look at verse 21 with me as a way of introduction. Mark, chapter 5, verse 21. The Bible says, And when Jesus had passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him, and he was nigh unto the sea. So you will remember the last time we were together, not last week when Brother Bill was here, but the last time we were together, the week before that, Jesus had brought the disciples on a short, eventful an exciting voyage, right, to minister to a Gentile man possessed by a multitude of demons. Remember, they were ministering in Galilee, and Jesus said to the disciples, let's go to the other side. And we talked about how they didn't like In those days, the Jewish people were superstitious, and they believed that the middle of the Sea of Galilee was the entrance to the abyss. And Jesus and the disciples, who were fishermen, never would have went across the sea. They would have went, and they fished the edges, and they would have went around the edges. Jesus takes them through the middle. What happens when they're there? Jesus falls asleep. from ministering, he's tired, a big storm arises, they're sure that they're gonna die, they wake up Jesus, he stills the storm, and then they're amazed at this man who even the winds and the waves obey him. So as soon as they get off the boat, on the other side, They're met by this man who's a demon-possessed, and he comes out of the tombs, okay? So Jesus takes them first to a Gentile country, which Jewish people wouldn't have went to. to a pig farm, which Jewish people wouldn't have went to, to a graveyard, which Jewish people wouldn't have went to, because the man lived amongst the tomb, the dead, he lived amongst the dead, he was demon-possessed. And of course now, we remember the story, Jesus was able to heal the man of all the demons, the name of the demon was Legion, because there were many, and then all of those, All of the demons went into the swine, the swine ran off the cliff into the Sea of Galilee, and they all drowned. And don't you think, sanctified imagination a little bit here, don't you think the disciples probably said, told you. Where did the demons go? Right back, you know, to the abyss, you know. So, now what happens? The man is saved, he wants to come back. With Jesus, Jesus says, no, you stay, and you minister to the people here. Because what did the people want to do? They told Jesus, leave, get out of here, we don't want you. But then we saw, and we'll see it later on, but we went ahead a couple of chapters, that later on when Jesus came back, because of that man's testimony, they received Jesus, right? So now Jesus says, let's go back across. We don't hear anything about this journey, just that they went back across. Now they're back across the Sea of Galilee, they're back in Galilee, and today we see them crossing the sea, once again landing on the shore of Galilee, and once they arrive, they are greeted by large crowds of people again. Now, I want to ask you a couple of questions at the start of this message. And I would like you to think about these questions as we go through the message. And the first question to answer in your mind, in the quietness of your heart, what is it that you fear? What is it that you fear? Some people fear death. Some people fear sickness. Some people fear the unknown, right? But, you know, what is it that you fear? Are you prone to anxiety and fears? Do you have the kind of personality where you're easily, you get anxious, and you easily fear? Is that your makeup? So with that in mind, what is it that you fear? Are you prone to anxiety and fear? Let me ask a follow-up question. How's your faith? How is your faith? What is your response to situations that arise that are stressful, that are frightening, or out of your control? You know, all of us have probably got that phone call, right? Where something has happened, totally unexpected, totally out of the blue, and totally out of your control and frightening. How do you respond to that? You know, there are certain people that you probably know that you want to have around you in stressful situations. And then you probably know some people that you don't want around you in stressful situations, right? You know, they run around like the proverbial chicken with their head cut off. I remember we were living in the parsonage in Hill, and one morning, five years ago or so, a little more than five years ago, very early in the morning, we got a phone call. And you usually know early in the morning when you get a phone call, it's either a wrong number or it's not good news. And I got the news that my sister had died that night. Out of the blue, what do you do? You know, what do you do? How do you handle those situations? How do you handle interruption? when you're seeking someone's full attention. You ever, in the midst of a conversation, we're gonna see Jairus' response, you know, when a woman, you know, he wants Jesus' full attention, and then there's this interruption from this woman. You know, you're ever seeking somebody's undivided attention, you need that attention, and there's interruptions. These things happen. What do we do when these things happen? How do we handle this? You've heard me say many times, friends, fear and faith cannot dwell together. Now, does that mean if I have faith that there's nothing to fear? Of course not. There are always things that will cause us to fear in life. But if my life is gripped by fear, it's very hard to exercise faith. But if I choose to believe the Lord, there'll still be those situations. But those situations are dealt with differently, and we go through the Lord in that situation. Fear and faith cannot dwell together. Remember the title of the message, Be Not Afraid, Only Believe. So notice with me Jesus' encounter in verse 22 with Jairus, and read with me verse 22. Not read with me, but follow as I read. There cometh one of the rulers, of the synagogue, Jairus, by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet." So here comes this man named Jairus, and he is a ruler of the synagogue. This means that he's in charge of the ministry of the local synagogue. He's a ruler in the synagogue. He's one of the rabbis, one of the rulers there. And this synagogue, we're not told the exact location, but it's possibly the synagogue in Capernaum. And he worships Jesus. He falls at His feet. And notice his plea in verse 23, And he 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." So, Jairus was not like the other Jewish leaders. who, remember, the other Jewish leaders, let's think back a few weeks, the other Jewish leaders accused Jesus of being possessed with the devil himself, right? He casts out devil because he, the prince of devils himself, he casts him out by Beelzebub. So they obviously did not think kindly of Jesus, but this man was different. This required great faith and courage, because he's going against his peers. He's coming to Jesus for help, while the other ones are seeking ways to get rid of Jesus, and even to kill Him. And he comes to Jesus seeking for help. And notice these words, and these words hit us in the heart. Come and help my little daughter. We know from the text, later on in the text, she's only 12 years old. We have a couple of little girls that are around that age, right here, so just imagine that, 12 years old, right? And he says, come and heal my little daughter. This sickness was obviously a grave sickness, and she was near to death, and he recognized something in Jesus. From seeing him and observing him in the synagogue and hearing all about Jesus, he realized and recognized something in Jesus. He came to Jesus for help. And Jesus follows him. Look at verse 24. And Jesus went with him, and much people followed him and thronged him. Much people thronging Jesus. This word means to press together on all sides. Okay? It literally means to squeeze. I mean, we've probably been in large crowds, but, you know, to be in a crowd like this all the time, right? Because everywhere Jesus went, this is how it was. Um, I remember one time, uh, I was, uh, living in New Jersey, and somebody, uh, gave us Monday night, uh, Monday night football tickets to go to the Meadowlands to see the Jets play. I'm not a Jet fan, don't panic. But they go to see the Jets play, and we went and we saw the Monday night game, and after the game, um, this particular, where we parked, There was a walkover bridge that walked over a road, it went over a road, and the parking lot was on the other side. And there were a lot of people, and the Jets fans have a reputation in New Jersey as being rowdy, okay. It was after the game, the Jets had lost, they were angry, they were had drunk too much, and we were going in this walkover bridge, and I have never, I'm not claustrophobic, but that night, you know, I am not exaggerating, I'm not a little guy, my feet weren't even on the ground, and I was moving in that direction, and I lost Sandy's hand. You know, and you're being squeezed on all sides, and once in a while your foot hits the ground, and it was unnerving. Fortunately, everything worked out. We found each other on the other side. We were kind of almost spit out. But could you imagine having that kind of crowd around you all the time? Pressing in. Wanting to touch you. And here's this man, I just want Jesus to come to my house. Where are all these people? Why are they here? Right? Don't our problems sometimes... A lot of times we don't think about other people, right? It's our problem. Why are all these people... I just want Jesus to come to my house. Why are you stopping Him? Why are you, you know, squeezing up against us? Why is there so many people here thronging Jesus? And in the midst of that, Jesus encounters a very sick woman. Look at verses 25. Let's notice her sad case. And let's notice that she was hemorrhaging for 12 years. Verse 25. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years, hemorrhaging for 12 years, according to Jewish law, She was in a state of continual uncleanness. She could never enter the temple or the synagogue in this state. She could not even be with other people. She was a social and religious outcast for twelve years. Now, we're not going to turn there, but in Leviticus 15, verses 25-26, in that chapter, it talks about what women are to do during their menstrual cycle. And in those days, women were to separate themselves. for the time, and then there was a ritual cleaning they had to do, and a sacrifice, and then they could join back into the social and religious life. And also in that chapter, it talks about what to do if, beside your normal monthly time, what happens if you're hemorrhaging? And this lady, this was her problem for 12 years. Could you imagine that? Twelve years? Having this sickness? And we learn a little bit more about her in v. 26. Notice her hopelessness. V. 26, "...and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing better, but rather grew..." What? Worse. Her hopelessness. She'd suffered many treatments from many doctors. We have to put ourselves back 2,000 years in time. And one of the things that God has been very gracious to us, correct, is through medicine. Imagine medicine today, even imagine medicine 100 years ago. There was a time in our country that if you were sick, they stuck leeches to your body. That sounds like a pleasant thing. But you know, she suffered many things from the doctor, from the doctors, many doctors. She suffered many treatments from many doctors. She'd spent all her money. She was not at all better. In fact, she was worse. And in Luke's account of this, in Luke 8, verse 43, you don't have to turn there, but Luke actually tells us, Luke was a doctor, he actually tells us she was incurable, because neither could be healed of any, he said. So she had no earthly hope. Every doctor she went to, every treatment she had, Nothing worked, she spent all her money, and in fact, if she looked over her life the past 12 years, I'm no better, I'm worse. Pretty sad case. But, she has hope again rekindled. Because with all these people who are always around Jesus, And long before the days of telephone and telegraph and social media, with all those people, word spreads, right? Isn't it amazing how quickly word spreads? Word spread about Jesus. He heals people. And she thought within herself, notice verse 27, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched His garment. Her hope again is rekindled. And she heard of Jesus' fame and power to heal. And this sick, weak woman fights her way through the crowds to touch Jesus. Think about her persistence. Now, if you're constantly losing blood, you're in a weakened state, right? And here she was, weak and sick, but yet with hope rekindled, she fights her way through the crowd. She says, all I have to do is touch Jesus. Just touch His clothes. I know He'll heal me. So this woman has strong faith. Notice her persistent faith, verse 28. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. Now, we don't see this really in the English. She said, If I touch his clothes, I'll be whole. So, you almost get the impression that she just said this once. But in the Greek, this phrase is in the present tense. And so we could read this as an expanded, she continued to say, if I can touch His clothes. So she just continued. Maybe she's trying to get there, and somebody steps in front of her, and she's trying. So she's continuing to tell herself, I just need to be with Jesus. I just need to be with Jesus. And that faith encouraged her to go. And this sick, weak woman fights her way through the crowds to touch Jesus. And look at verse 29. And straightway, that means immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. She is miraculously healed. Twelve years of hopelessness gone in an instant. She knew she was healed. And how excited must she have been? Right? Think about it. I was right. I knew it. I knew He could heal me. And He did. And obviously, she knew her body. And she knew she was healed. But notice Jesus' reaction. Look at verse 30. And Jesus immediately, knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him. Now, what virtue? What does that mean here? The word virtue is the Greek word behind this, now tell me if this word sounds familiar to you, is the Greek word dunamis. What does that word mean? Miraculous power. It's where we get our English word dynamite. It's the same word that's translated power in Romans 1.16. For I am not ashamed of the power of the gospel. Right? So this word, virtue, is that same word, power. Jesus' miraculous power to heal. When she touched Him, her faith healed her, and that power from Jesus went out to heal her. And Jesus felt this. So, two things are going on in this big crowd right now. No one knows anything. Right? But this woman knows I've been healed, and Jesus knows somebody just touched me. So Jesus stops. He turns about in the press and said, who touched my clothes? Who touched me? Friends, this is not a statement of ignorance, okay? Jesus is God. This is not a statement of ignorance, but He's wanting to draw the woman out. Much like God said in Genesis 3-9, after Adam sinned, God said, Adam, where are you? Did God lose Adam? No. What was He trying to do? Draw Adam out. So Jesus stops Not because of ignorance. He turns around and he said, Who touched me? Who touched me? And the disciples, who are usually right on the ball, say in verse 31, And the disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? You know, the disciples are basically saying, Lord, Who touched you? Look around. Pick somebody. That's basically what they're saying, right? Disciples, just like us, still asleep. still numb skulls, you know, and his disciples react that way. But the woman responds, verse 32 and 33, 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. So here comes this woman. The crowd separates. Here comes this woman. She kneels down before Him, and she tells her her whole story. Lord, for the past 12 years, I've been to every quack doctor in Galilee, all over. I've spent all my money. I'm not getting better. I'm getting worse. I heard about You, and I knew that if I came and just touched You, I would be healed. So Jesus is angry with her? Not at all. Not at all. But why did Jesus single her out? I believe that He singled her out to be sure that God received the glory. Right? Not that there's something miraculous in Jesus' clothes. There wasn't. Right? Or the fact that, oh, it was my effort that I made it to Jesus. No, he wanted to make sure God received the glory. And notice the sweet way he responds to her. And he said unto her, daughter. It's a term of affection. He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. Daughter, a term of affection. Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. Can you imagine her joy? And can you imagine from that point on the love she had for Jesus? You know, he healed me of my disease that no one else could help me about. and I just want to praise Him. So, in all of this, let's not forget that Jesus, when He and His disciples come out of the ship, back into Galilee. They're met by these crowds, but Jarius comes up and says, please, come, my daughter's sick. So all of this is happening as he's on his way to the house to heal this daughter. And there's all of these people, and there's all of this interruption. And now this! Now, praise God, he healed this woman, right? Amen. Praise God. but put yourself for a moment in Jarius's shoes. Why are these people interrupting us? My daughter is gravely sick. She's at the point of death, Lord. Come, lay your hands on her. Just come. And notice the worst news for a parent to hear, verse 35 to 33. Notice verse 35, his little daughter had died. And while he yet spake, so Jesus is speaking to her, while he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, thy daughter's dead, why troublest thou the master any further? The worst news to hear. for a parent to hear, your little daughter is dead. His fears were confirmed. Why this disruption? Why this distraction? Why all these people? You know, we could have walked at a quick pace and been to my house already, but because there's so many people, Jesus is distracted, now my daughter's dead. Now, notice Jesus' words, verse 36. Don't miss this. So while Jesus is speaking, somebody comes and said, Jairus, don't bother Jesus anymore. Your daughter's dead. While he's speaking, as soon as Jesus heard that word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. So the words aren't even out of his mouth. And Jesus turns to Jairus and said, don't be afraid, only believe. Why would Jesus say that so quickly? Because we're prone to be afraid. We're prone to not believe. And notice, even in the midst of what had just happened, Jesus's, if you will, attention, he's distracted for a moment, Even in the midst of all of that, Jesus still is thinking about Jairus. He said, don't be afraid, only believe. Don't be afraid, only believe. This is a command. This is in the imperative. So this is a command. Jesus is telling, don't be afraid. Now listen, Jesus commanded Jairus to keep the same faith that brought him to Him in verse 23. Remember verse 23? He besought Him greatly, My little daughter lieth at the point of death, I pray thee, come and lay hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live. So Jairus knew, look, I'm coming to you because I know you can heal me. And Jesus said, remember that faith. Don't be feared. You have that same faith. But she's dead. Have that same faith. Have that same faith. And we see something. Jesus is in an inner circle. And he suffered no man to follow him save Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. Why these three? Scripture never tells us why these three, but it seems to be amongst the twelve disciples These three were if you will the inner circle they were here with Jesus They were allowed to see Jesus raise this little girl from the dead. They were with Jesus at the Transfiguration they were the three chosen to come a little farther with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Why these three I don't know okay, but he chose these three And Jesus' confrontation of the mourners, and notice verse 38. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and seeth the tumult and them that wept and wailed greatly. Tumult means an uproar, it means a disturbance. And I don't know if you've ever on television seen Middle Eastern women mourning, and I know maybe Jason saw some of it when he was overseas, but you know, the wailing and the sounds that come from the depths and the weeping. Imagine the scene. He comes to this house and this is what death does. This I believe why in John when Jesus goes to the tomb of Lazarus and it says, Jesus wept. Because He sees and He hears the effect that death has on people. But Jesus says something very interesting in verse 39. He says, And when he was come in, he said unto them, Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. So he says, Why are you crying? You know, she's dead, yes, but it's like I'm going to wake her up. And they laugh at him. Verse 40, and they laugh him to scorn. But when he put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, Peter, James, and John, and entered in where the damsel was lying. They knew she was dead, and so did Jesus, but he knew he would raise her. And he puts them all out. They ridiculed him. They laughed him to scorn. That means they ridiculed him. And notice Jesus' authority over death. So he leads the parents in, he leads the three disciples in, and in verse 41, he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Now these are Aramaic words that are recorded for us in the Bible. This was the common tongue of the people of Jesus' day. Jesus would have spoken Aramaic amongst his Jewish people. They also knew Greek because they were subjects of Rome. Because they were Jewish people they also knew Hebrew so most people in Jesus's day knew at least three languages Okay some more so so he commands her to rise and Notice what happens verse 42? She obeys and straightway that means again immediately we already saw that word the damsel arose and walked For she was of the age of twelve years, and they were astonished with a great astonishment." Astonished with a great astonishment literally means they were out of their minds with amazement. You ever hear somebody say, that blew my mind. I mean, this blew their mind. Now think about this. Jairus had seen Jesus in the temple. He had heard, and so had the disciples, right? Heard His authoritative words. They have seen Him already heal the sick. They have seen Him heal the lame, the deaf, the dumb. His disciples have seen Him cast out not only demons, but legions of demons. They've seen Him calm the sea. But what did He just do? raised the dead. Now, there's debate amongst biblical scholars, at least in Mark's gospel, this is the first reference of him raising the dead. There is debate whether he raised the widow of Dane's daughter, son first, you know, chronologically. But either way, he just raised somebody that was dead. And it, you know, put yourself for a moment in the disciples' shoes. This guy speaks like no one we've ever heard. This guy told me to cast my net over here, and I caught more fish than I've ever caught in my life. Matter of fact, it was so big that all of my friends had to come and help me pull the fish in. We've seen him. heal lame people, and heal all manner of sickness. We've seen Him cast out demons. We've seen Him come to see. Now He just raised the dead. Could you imagine what's going on in their minds? Right? And Jesus charges them. He charged them straightly, that no man should know it, and commanded that something should be given her to eat. Don't tell anyone. Why would Jesus say that? Remember, Jesus was more concerned about what he said than what he did. Although what he did was important. It proved who he was. But he wanted people to hear the words of the Father. Of course, word would travel. But then he says something to her very practically. Feed her. You know? Eat! To show that she was alive. This was real. Could you imagine the emotion of these parents for a moment. And what does Jesus say in the midst of all this emotional upheaval? Jesus says, don't be afraid, only believe. We don't know what life's gonna throw at us. Sometimes life throws joyful things at us, and sometimes life throws hard things at us. And we need to not be afraid. We need to continue to believe. Now, I asked a few questions in the beginning of the message. I want to ask another couple of questions for you folks to think about. Is there anything too hard for Jesus? I mean, just think of what we've seen already. He's calmed the storm. He's raised the dead. Just think. Is there anything too hard for Jesus? Of course the answer is no. Does Jesus have the same power today of what we're witnessing here? Yes. Should we believe His Word? Should we believe His Word today? Yes, we should. So let's get real personal now. Do you believe His Word? Do we believe His Word? If we do, then why do we fear? It's a good question to ask yourself. If we believe that Jesus can still do this today, if we believe that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, If we believe His Word and we know we should obey it, why do we still fear? And I'm preaching to myself here too, friends. Why do we still fear? Why do we still fear? Why is our faith so small? I want to look at three verses in closing. And the first verse passage is found in Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2, verse 14 and 15. For as much then as children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." You know the greatest fear that people have? Dying. I don't care what anybody, they put, oh yeah, I'm not afraid to die. That's a lie. Everybody is afraid to die. And without Christ, everybody is afraid to die. How can Christ take the fear of death away from us? Because He conquered death. He destroyed that power that Satan had over us. So you and I can lay our head on our death pillow and not fear death. Now, death and dying are different, right? Death is what happens to us after we die. where we go eternally. Jesus took that fear away, the dying process. I mean, there are certain ways that I'm sure if we don't want to die, we probably would all love to die in our sleep, right? Then we don't have to face death, so to speak. But the fear of death, Jesus has taken that away. So why should we fear? If we know Christ, we don't have to fear death. Look at Luke 17. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Here's a prayer that I often have to pray. And here is a good little prayer, short prayer, for us in these times of fear that we should pray. And the Apostle said unto the Lord, increase our faith. There's times that I have to pray, Lord, increase my faith. I'm having a hard time here. Increase my faith. And one more passage, Mark chapter 9. We'll deal with this in the future, but in Mark chapter 9, verse 24, Jesus said in verse 23, If you can't believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe! Then what did he say? Oh, help my unbelief. Isn't that us sometimes, too? Yeah, I believe the Lord! Oh, Lord, I really Don't. Help me. Increase my faith. Help my unbelief. Remember what Jesus told Jairus. Be not afraid. Only believe. Friends, there's gonna be lots of things to be afraid of. There's gonna be lots of things that come into our life that cause us fear. One of the things that I struggle the most with is just not being in control, right? How much control do you really have of your kids? When they're little, you've got some control over them, right? But even then you don't. You know, I remember one time my boys were outside playing baseball and I heard a thump and I knew that's not a baseball hitting a bat. That's a head, sure enough. It was Jesse, and instantly he had a lump on his head the size of a baseball. Go to the hospital, you know. I remember, I remember watching Jesse go off to two eye surgeries when he was two years old and four years old. The doctors kept telling us, oh, it's no problem, it's routine. Why did I just have to sign a form that if my child dies, it's not your fault? You know, some things you're just helpless in. You have to trust the Lord. Some things you have no control over. Your kids get bigger. They're in the military and they go overseas to places that aren't very friendly to Americans. You just have to trust. Lots of things. And you all have things that you could name where you're just, you gotta give it to God. Don't be afraid, only believe. And think about what the Lord can do. Think about that woman. You think she was afraid? How much more blood can I lose? I'm gonna die. No one's helped me. Jesus helped her. Jairus, hopeless situation. And then all the interruptions, but yet the Savior still comes and works his miracles. Be not afraid, only believe. Lord, help us, help us to believe. Help us to have faith. Lord, there will be things that come in our life that cause us to fear, but Lord, increase our faith and help us to believe. And I pray that each one here, that each one of us would just trust you, Lord. First off, trust you for our salvation. And in your victory over death, it is our victory over death, and we don't have to fear death. Praise God for that. But Lord, in the everyday living, we need you to increase our faith, and we need you to help our unbelief. So would you do that, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.