Please open with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5. We are completing chapter 5 today. We'll be starting in verse 21, going through to the end of the chapter, looking at Jairus' daughter. Please join with me in prayer. Lord God Almighty, we come before Thee, our triune covenant God, who has undertaken for us in the covenant of grace to redeem us, to lavish undeserved and free mercy upon us as a gift, to require only faith, a trusting rest, a resigning of ourselves upon thee. Lord, we ask then therefore for thy help in doing this duty of preaching on the Lord's day and hearing thy word preached. We ask for thy aid, for thy help. Give us attentive minds, attentive hearts and ears, eager to grasp the truth eager to see thy word applied, hungering and thirsting for greater depths of holiness, of love to thee, of experiential faith. Lord, we need thy help. Send us not on a fool's errand, O God. Lead us by thy Holy Spirit, Jesus, that thou wouldst be glorified, we would come to thy feet to be taught of thee. Father, thou wouldst lead us in paths of righteousness. Holy Spirit, thou wouldst help us, help the stammering preacher and these thy children to hear thy truth, speak thy truth, receive thy truth, rest in thy truth. Keep us from error. The Lord rebuke Satan. Lord, we need thee. We thank thee for this opportunity and ask for thy aid. In Jesus' name, amen. We have a lot of material to cover this afternoon, this Lord's Day. But by way of brief introduction, I think last week's introduction to the woman with the issue of blood stands for this sermon as well. But let us remember the context Jesus stilling the storm, calming the storm supernaturally. We have a flurry of miracles within Mark, especially in this section. They land on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and then out comes the demoniac. The legion is cast out of the man. Christ shows his power over creation, over illness, even over legions of demons. Then he comes here to the town. We saw the woman with the issue of blood that even touching the hem of his robe in faith has power to save. And now we shall look at Jairus' daughter. Let us read verses 21 all the way through 43 to keep it in context. Hear now the word of the Lord, Mark chapter 5, verses 21 through 43. 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. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus 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 and touched his garment. For she said, if I may but touch 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 to 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 around 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 entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, Talitha 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 old. 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. As far as the reading of God's holy word, may he bless it. As we said last week, this is an interesting passage. It's moving. One cannot read it without feeling moved by it. and seeing the sweetness of Christ. Specifically this week, we will look at Jairus' case, the healing of his daughter, the raising from the dead of his daughter. Let us notice three facets of faith in our text. First, faith's need. Faith's need. Secondly, faith's perseverance. Faith's perseverance. And third, faith's reward. So first, faith's need. Secondly, faith's perseverance. And third, faith's reward. Each in turn, first, faith's need. We see this in verses 21 through 24. 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. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus 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. So a few things about faith's need we should notice. First, that faith does indeed recognize its need. Faith recognizes its need. True faith, the congregation, is always empty-handed. It always comes empty-handed. It knows its inability. It casts itself upon another. It is poor in spirit, as Jesus puts it, and thus it is able and willing to receive the blessings of Jesus. Unless we come to the end of ourselves, dear congregation, all situations, in all of our situations, all of our circumstances, if we do not come to the end of ourselves, we can hope to make no progress at the throne of grace, no progress. Jesus tells us that he is the vine in John 15, and that we believers are the branches. The branches do not receive supply of their own strength, do they? On a tree or a vine. No, they're rather strengthened, they're fed, they get their sustenance and their strength and their life only insofar as they remain attached or dependent upon the vine. Faith bringeth forth much fruit. Jesus says, for by this faith we abide in Christ. True faith is summed up in Christ's assertion, I believe, that without me, ye can do nothing. Faith understands that. It rests in that. It clings to that. That is, without Christ, we can do nothing toward the maintenance or the progress of religious duty, which we have. We see that it is not he who is strong in himself that can move mountains, according to Christ, but it is the person of faith who shall be able to say unto the mountain, remove hence to yonder place and it shall be moved. It's not the person who's strong in themselves who can move a mountain. The natural man is what? An excuse maker. That's what natural man is. He's an excuse maker. He's a man of self-reliance. The natural inclination of all human beings is to justify their refusal to come to Christ. Justify their refusal to come to Christ. Well, what is this other than pride, dear congregation? And pride can even deceive us of the household of faith. It can deceive a man of faith into thinking that he is humble when he is actually prideful. When he's actually proud, he can be deceived into thinking that he's humble. For instance, pride says, I cannot come to Christ until I have more faith. But faith says, I am of weak faith. Therefore, I shall go to Christ immediately and ask for more, saying, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Pride says, I cannot come to Jesus until I have ensured that my heart is really in the right place. For the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination before the Lord. Faith says, none of that. I must go to Christ now as I am. I shall ask him for a better heart, for I can obtain it nowhere else. Pride says, I must wait until I have discerned that I have a true hatred for my sins before I can go to God through Christ. I must make sure that I've really repented, that I really actually hate sin and understand it. Whereas Faith says, I shall never hate sin as I ought. I shall never understand the depths of the wickedness of sin until I go to Christ and taste of his goodness and of his grace. Then, and then only, shall I see just how wicked Sin is the sinfulness of sin. Self-reliance, dear congregation, is the murderer of faith. Self-reliance sees no use of Christ whatsoever until all other avenues have been tried and even exhausted, and even then sometimes self-reliance does not go. Christ is the last resort for the self-reliant man, but Christ is the first and constant resort of the man of faith. This is not to say that we should fail to accomplish our daily tasks of stewarding our life, But the first stage of stewarding our life properly is faith and prayer. First, we go to Christ in faith. We pray for his aid and his providential working in our situation. Then we go in that faith. We first pray and then we do our prayers. Then we do our prayers. So here we see Jairus recognizing his need in faith. Recognizing his need. He heard that Jesus was now in town. He'd heard some things about Jesus. Now Jesus is here. And so he comes to Jesus in his need. Not once he'd worked everything out, but in his need. We read who this Jairus is. There cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet. He was a ruler of the synagogue. And being a ruler of the synagogue, he was a great man in the world's estimation. He likely had money, resources, influence, access to doctors, aids available to him that others did not even have. But now, he came to see that all these helps, his influence, his prominence in that society, his access to medical care, his money, was all of no value. Only Christ could help. Only Christ could help. So he came empty-handed. He fell at Christ's feet. Matthew has it that Jairus worshiped him. That is, he fell before Jesus and he gave him all the homage and all of the honor that is deserved of a well-known prophet, teacher, and healer, as he was thought merely to be. Even this ruler, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, knew that his rightful place before Jesus was in humble submission at his feet. How much more us, of lesser station in life, dear congregation, should realize where our place is. This is the greatest place to be, at the feet of Jesus, humbled before him, receiving of him and at his hand all that he should give us. That's the best place to be. Spurgeon said, there is no place more suitable, no place more honorable, no place more profitable than at the feet of Jesus. Being a ruler of the synagogue, he knew the law, he knew the prophets, he knew the writings, and he knew that they rightly led him to where? To Christ. To Christ. They brought him to humble faith at the feet of Jesus. What a wonderful sight is this. The law bowed down at the feet of the gospel, as Charles Spurgeon put it. This is the right use of the law, is it not? To lead us to Christ. This is the law in its proper place. The best work which the law can do is to bring us to the feet of Jesus. Paul said in Galatians 3.24, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. So it was Jairus' recognition of his necessity. Jairus's recognition of his necessity that led him to the feet of Jesus. Dear congregation, may the knowledge of our own need also bring us continually to the same place, continually to the same place. Let us come emptied of self, emptied of presuppositions of what we think we need to do and act like before we come to Jesus, laying hold of Christ by faith, by faith. John Flable said that faith is like the birds in the nest. They receive whatever grace shall bring them. And faith, ask and then receive all the riches which are given to us in Christ's goodness and grace. Another thing to notice about faith is that faith makes its need known. Faith makes its need known. Faith not only recognizes its need, but makes its need known to God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is one thing, it's even one kind of faith, one stage of faith, you might put it, to resign oneself to the will of God, accepting all that God of His providence brings about in life. This faith recognizes its need, its emptiness, but it does not come. There's another kind of faith that Jairus here demonstrates. Another stage, another type. One which not only recognizes its emptiness and its inability, but makes that need known. Coming to Christ for aid. Such was the faith of Jairus. When Jairus saw Jesus, we read in verses 22 and 23, 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. You see, that the knowledge of his need was united, was united with his asking for that need to be met. He not only knew that he had a need, but he asked that that need would be met. Why is it? Why is it, dear congregation, that Christians often complain, often see so little religious power in their life, so few instances, which they recognize, of God's aid? They discern God's working in their life so rarely. Is it not because we fail to ask? As Jesus said, ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you, Matthew 7, 7. Let us not only recognize our need then, but also come to Christ in our need to have our needs met, whether they be temporal needs and especially spiritual needs. Another aspect of faith here, faith approaches even when it's imperfect and weak. Faith approaches even when imperfect and weak. Jairus' faith was weak. How do I conclude this? Where do I see this in the text? A cursory reading of the text may not see this. In what way was it weak? Perhaps a better word would be imperfect or small. What then was lacking in his faith? If we pay careful attention to the wording, we shall see. He says to Jesus, my little daughter lies 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' faith only went so far as to accept that Christ was able to heal his daughter if he was physically present and physically laid his hands upon her. Perhaps Jairus had not heard of the healing of the centurion's servant, who said to Jesus, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. To whom Jesus then responded, go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed from that self same hour, we read. So the centurion's faith was of a more perfect nature. He believed that if Christ only spoke the word, even if he was miles away from his ill servant, that he would still be healed. He grasped that Jesus did not even need to be physically present to heal. Jairus did not. Yet, even this weak faith, this imperfect faith, this small faith, was honored, as all true faith is. We read that despite his imperfect faith, Jesus went with him. Dear congregation, Jesus loves to accompany faith. Jesus loves to accompany faith, to work through it, even when that faith goes along limping, even when that faith asks through lisping and stammering lips. Let us take great comfort in this, that Christ will see even our weakest moments of faith and he will honor them. He will honor them. Even the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains, he said, because Christ loves to honor faith, no matter how meager. Weak faith is true faith, said the Puritan John Rogers. The fact that we sense our faith The fact that we sense that it's even weak and that we mourn that we do not have more of it, this combined with an earnest and constant desire for greater measures of faith is, as Thomas Brooks said, an infallible sign that our faith is genuine. He continued on saying, just as one that is able to sense that his body is sick can be assured that he is not dead, so too can one that is able to sense the weakness of his faith be assured that he has faith. If you can sense that your faith is weak, that means you have faith. It's just weak faith. Just if you can sense that your body is ill, you're not dead. A man with a withered hand, a crippled hand, can still extend it and take a gift from the king, can he not? Our second point, faith's perseverance. We see this skipping through the woman, the issue of blood and her healing to verse 35 and 36, faith's perseverance. Verse 35, 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? Verse 36, as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. Let's notice first under this heading of Faith's Perseverance that faith is given many trials. Faith is given many trials. Faith is not without trials, dear congregation, not without its tests, not without its temptations. Affliction purifies and exercises faith. If one comes into Christianity, not expecting there to be trials and temptations, but for it to be their best life now, maybe. They'll be sorely disappointed and they've come to the wrong faith. It is easy, is it not, to talk much of faith when the seas of life are calm, when things are going as we want them to, as we expect to, it's going according to plan. It's easy then to talk of faith, to be strong in faith, But faith is put to the test when the storms of life are raging. It was the disciples' doubt and fear upon the violent sea, which we studied a few weeks ago, that gave Jesus the reason to say to them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith in Mark 5 40? It was only when the storm, at a different time, different passage, arose in the sea, it was only once the storm had arisen in the sea that Peter began to sink while he was walking on the water. And what were Christ's words to him in that place? O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Of two things we can be certain, dear congregation. Faith will have trials. And it is only the lack of faith that causes it to falter. or the weakness of faith that causes it to falter under those trials. But faith, glory to God, even weak faith, lays hold of Christ in the trial saying, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Faith shall be tried, we read throughout scripture, even with fire. But being purified through the testing, even that fiery testing, it shall be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, we read from the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1.7. The Apostle James tells us, the trying of your faith worketh patience in James 1.3. So, the testing of our faith gives place for Christ to increase our faith. The testing of our faith gives place for Christ to increase our faith. Our walking in the valley of the shadow of death, as we read, shows us our utter inability as well as the goodness of God. causing our heart to say, even in the midst of those afflictions, even in the midst of that dark valley, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The faith of Jairus is here put to trial. As they're going on to his home, with the tumultuous crowd pressing in on every side, after the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, even now, while Jesus is still speaking to the woman. We read this in verse 35. There came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further? When Jairus first came to Jesus, his daughter was lying, the text says, at the point of death, literally at her end, having her end. She was approaching the end of her life. She was about to give out her final breath. But now we hear the news. So does Jairus. She is dead. Her end has come. Jairus was already weak of faith. thinking Jesus must be present in order to heal his daughter. It was enough for him, for his faith, to believe that Jesus could heal, but certainly his reason would not permit him to believe that Christ could raise a person from the dead. If she was sick, then there was hope, if they could only get Christ to her side. But now that she's dead, all hope is gone. This was certainly a trial of faith, a temptation to doubt. we too, dear congregation, likely have underwent and shall undergo many such trials and temptations of our faith. Our faith has and shall be put to the test. We will go through dark seasons, deep and lasting hardships, unique to each one of our particular personalities and situations. Let us prepare even now. Don't waste the time. Redeem the time, prepare now by making good and diligent use of the means of grace. Do not let a single sermon go unimproved, however short it may fall of greatness. If our faith is weak now, hear this, if our faith is weak now, do we have any reason to expect it to stand strong when tested? Certainly not. Indeed, it shall not die. Our faith will not die. We're going to lose our salvation. But neither shall it be honorable to the Lord. If our faith only limps now, in the trial it should be smote to the ground. And during the next trial, it may only roll on the ground, being unable to stand any longer. This morning, I received an update newsletter from a Calvinistic church, I won't disclose the name or where it is, that has remained closed for most of 2020. This update was given to inform the congregation that the elders had thought it best not to hold service today because it was raining too hard. I wish to be careful and brotherly but I cannot help but believe, and I think rightly, that their lack of faith, their lack of faithfulness in the previous trial has led to their lack of faith here. If you submitted then, cast aside God's law then, you won't need much reason now. Weather has occurred. Doubt and faithlessness breed only further doubt and further faithlessness. That is the terror of faithlessness. That is the terror of doubt, dear congregation. But faith perseveres. Faith hopes against hope. Let us return to some positives of faith. Faith hopes against hope. Faith perseveres when tempted. Faith, when exercised properly by believers, trusts in Christ regardless of circumstances. Jairus' daughter is dead. What reason is there for hope? Indeed, without faith, there is none. But as our Lord says, all things are possible to him that believeth. Man's natural state, when viewed from man's perspective, is hopeless, is it not? He is dead in sins and transgressions. He does not desire God. He hates God. He wars a bitter and disgusting war against God as a rebel at enmity with God at every crossroad. There's no way he can be saved. It's impossible to be saved. But here, faith enters and says to the natural man, the just shall live by faith. He who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You are saved by grace through faith. That's what faith speaketh to the wicked and naughty heart. The apostle John tells us, that our victory, the victory which overcomes all temptations, all doubts, all trials of this world is what? Our faith, 1 John 5, 4. Abraham was victorious in the same way, by his faith. He was given the promise that in his seed, all the world should be blessed. He was given the promise that to him would be born a child, Isaac, in his old, decrepit age. We read in Romans 4 in 19 through 21, being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he being God, he was able also to perform. Though he had no reason to hope from a naturalistic perspective. Yet faith in God gave him all the reason for hope. It may be hard for us to believe, dear congregation, and oftentimes indeed it is, that our Heavenly Father is caring for us, is leading us, his hand of providence is guiding us and protecting us when we are in a hard season. But faith takes hold of his promise in Christ for us, that he has adopted us as his own children, Therefore, turn to God's Word, dear believer. Turn to His Word, His precious Word. Lay hold of its promises and allow them to lay hold of you. In Christ, look to what God has said and take Him at His Word. One friend said to me, and he was right, when the Bible speaks, be quiet, sit down. God is speaking. God is speaking. Believe him, take him at his word. So too, Jairus was given encouragements for faith in this. Consider, faith is sustained by strong encouragement in Christ, strong encouragements in Christ. So this bad news has come to Jairus. What little hope he had is dashed to pieces before his eyes. I can't even imagine now as a father. Jairus' weak faith is given more reason to decrease, is it not? He was already struggling with this. Now he has even more reason to cast faith aside. Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further? As if it was said to him, no longer have Jesus come with you, Jairus. There's no point now. Your daughter is dead. To compel Jesus to go any further with you would simply be annoyance, as the Greek is. Annoyance. Now it is time to get off the work of faith, Jairus. Get off from it. And upon the work of mourning, preparing for the burial. Indeed, makes sense. But what does Jesus say to him? Likely in a hushed tone, personally. for there's a large crowd around him. Be not afraid. Only believe. Seeing the sorrow and the despair of Jairus, Christ has a word for him. He did not say, Jairus, I'm so sorry to hear this, dear friend. I can weep with you, but beyond that, there's nothing else I can do. Your daughter is dead, and you are right to give up hope. No, what did Jesus say? Jesus sweetly tells him, be not afraid, only believe. I think it matters not what language these words are read in. Whether they're original Greek, English, Chinese, Thai, think of a language. I don't think it matters what language those words are read in. Their sweetness and their power has to be felt. Why? Because They're jarring. They're disruptive to the narrative. They draw off of the two most forceful experiences of the soul of man, fear and faith. When we read them in this narrative, it disrupts the narrative. It's jarring. It shakes you. They go against all commonality. Death is the final earthly act. Curtains close. Once a person has closed their eyes in death, as we know, nothing can bring them back, nothing. It's not possible. But Jesus says, be not afraid, only believe. This is the chorus and the continual refrain of scripture, my dear congregation. Believe, only believe. Be not unbelieving, but believe. Only believe. Let us take heed. We too, even us, may believe. We too may believe. Faith overcomes the world. Faith conquers fear. Fear is often connected to doubt in Scripture. Faith is connected to Christ in Scripture. Faith sustains us through fear, and it even dispels it out, fear. No matter the difficulty. If you think of this, think of a man of faith, somebody like Paul. It's hard to think of a more spirit-filled man, a man more filled with faith. How could you frighten a man of faith, a man of true faith? It's impossible. Tell him that all his money is gone. His house is burned up and all his earthly possessions are lost. He'll say, yet my inheritance is safe in heaven. Tell him that his wife, his children, his dearest friends are dead. And he will tell you, I'm sad to hear it, yet my heavenly father liveth. Tell him that he himself shall soon die. Well then, I go home to my father and to my inheritance, to live as Christ, to die as game, will be his response. Such faith overcomes the world and fears nothing. Jairus not only had the word of Christ spoken to him, this is another encouragement for his faith, the word of Christ was spoken to him and that was enough, but he also had a visible proof of the effectual working of such faith immediately before him. Immediately before him. The news of his daughter's death came to him while Jesus yet spoke to the woman with the issue of blood. While Jesus is yet speaking. He hearly, he kindly, in one ear he hears Christ kindly speaking to the woman. Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. When immediately, while this is still being said, he hears in his other ear, thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further? Note this, Satan is always close by to tempt and discourage us when Christ is at work. But Jairus had every reason to hope now with these encouragements. His faith was enlivened by the work and the word of Christ. He had seen and heard the truth. He had seen that the Lord was good, and now he had faith to taste that the Lord was good. As Abraham, Jairus could now believe the word that God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which are not as though they were, could even deliver him his daughter from death again. We too have every reason to hope. We have both the scriptural accounts given to us in the word of God and God's providence in our own lives. Has he ever failed thee, dear Christian? Third, faith's reward, verses 37 through 43. 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 a 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 entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and he said unto her, Talitha cummi, which is being interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise, and straightway. The damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve 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. Observe, the disciples are always given more revelation of Christ. We read, And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. These are his bosom disciples, if you read the Gospels, these three. Them, it was, who were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, who were with him in the garden during his passion. To his disciples alone, Christ reveals his truth and his glory. Unto believers is the mystery of the kingdom of God made manifest. When his disciples were alone, we read that Jesus then he expounded all things to them. But we must also recognize this and take it to heart as believers. To the degree that we as disciples of Christ draw near to Christ, seek out the truth of Christ, to that same degree will Christ make himself known to us. We must use the means of grace. These three men were the most diligent, the most vocal in asking questions, even to the point of embarrassing himself very often, Peter, that is, the most devoted in executing his will, and therefore did he set them apart unto himself. He sent the crowds away and he took them only. Let us imitate them. Let us, too, be diligent in our pursuit of Christ and his word. Next, we see that further temptation, even more temptation, to doubt is placed upon Jairus. Again, how difficult this trial of the faith of Jairus must have been. He had just seen the woman healed, just received the words of Jesus, be not afraid, only believe, but surely some doubt still remained. Being man, it had to have. This was unheard of to him. Unheard of. The raising of the dead. As they draw near to the house, the reality of the situation sets in. He sees the tumult. This massive crowd. And then that wept and wailed greatly. All of the normal, all of the natural things that accompany death, especially the death of a young girl, are present. This must have influenced his mind and heart. How could the situation change at all? How could he actually believe the word of Christ here? That his sick daughter, now dead and even being mourned, could be received by him again? How could he believe that? But again, the words of Jesus offer the antidote to this doubting. To the crowd of mourners, he says what? Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. It's interesting. Jesus says this as if it were absurd that they were mourning the dead girl. And indeed it would be absurd to mourn as though someone was dead if they were only napping, merely asleep. Not that this girl was not actually dead, that's not what Jesus means. He knows she's dead. But the power and the promise of Christ was so sure that this brief death was only as though she was taking a short rest. Jairus sees Jesus unfazed by the development. Unfazed. Though Jairus' heart ached and his thoughts may have continued to fluctuate like they did between fear, fearful doubt, and faith, yet Jesus remains confident. But then comes another blow from naturalism. At the words of Jesus, the crowd laughed him to scorn. Faith and the power of God. Faith and the power of God always has and always will be mocked by the unbelieving world. But let us not join them, as we so often do in our hearts in the moments of doubt. A doubting Sarah, you recall, also laughed when she overheard the angel tell Abraham, of the promise of their seed. But as it were, God will always have the last laugh. Let us pray God. Let's come to him and pray him that we be delivered from doubt when the trial is upon us, dear congregation. Again, we can take great confidence that a realization of our doubting hearts demonstrates the reality of our faith. Even in doubt, Christ does not abandon us. and I'm glad that he doesn't. It is reason to believe him all the more when you see your doubting faith, your weak faith, your imperfect faith. 2 Timothy 2.13 says something. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. William Gurnell writes, the weak Christian's doubt is like the wavering of a ship at anchor. He may move, yet he is not removed from his hold on Christ. Note also, Jairus received the thing hoped for. In verses 40 to 43, they left him to scorn. Then he put all of them out, and he only took the father and the mother of the little girl, along with his three disciples. He goes and he raises her up, taking her by the hand. Christ puts the mockers away. taking only the three disciples and the girl's parents, and enters into her room. There she is. There she lies, dead. Her life has departed from her, but this death would be but a nap. Christ shall rouse her. He bends down near the girl. As he says in Syriac or Aramaic, damsel, I send to thee arise. In straightway, which is a favorite word of Mark, one of his bosom terms, She arose and began to walk. Her life had returned. Faith is validated. Faith is vindicated. Faith receives its treasured reward. Notice, Jesus Christ set out to do something in this passage, in that thing he did. He accomplished it. And this is why we, Dear congregation, can have sure, abiding, steadfast, and certain faith. The wills and shalls of Jesus are wills and shalls indeed. This is why Jairus had no reason for fear, but only to believe. We don't know how much time, but I would imagine somewhere around an hour had elapsed since Jairus prayed Jesus, 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. Time had elapsed since that occurred. Now, Jesus had laid his hand upon hers and brought her back to life. Faith recognizes that this last act of Jesus was as good as done. This last act of Jesus was as good as done at the first act of Jairus. His faith was weak, but it was true. He asked believingly, and as our Lord said in Matthew 21, 22, all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive. Dear congregation, what we have committed to the Lord, he shall surely keep. We have committed ourselves to him in salvation, body, soul, and mind, and heart. He shall keep them. Paul stated that he was confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus, Philippians 1.6. We must believe Jesus Christ at his word. That those whom he has called, he has justified. And those whom he has justified, he shall glorify. And that to them, he is working all things together for their good. The word of Jesus has power because it is sure. There is a account of the Emperor Napoleon. He's riding along in battle in a camp. He carelessly drops the reins to his horse, startles the horse, and the horse goes off running with him clinging to only the saddle. At that moment, a common soldier came by, was able to stop the horse, and then hand the reins back to the emperor respectfully. The emperor, Napoleon, then said to the common soldier, thank you, captain. He was just a common soldier. The soldier said, captain? Of what regiment? Napoleon, charmed with the man's humility, then said, well, of my own personal guards, of course. and rode away. The man quickly then ran to a group of staff officers to join them for supper. On coming in, one of the generals scornfully said to him, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? You are but a common soldier. The man replied, I am a captain, sir. You? You must be out of your mind. Who made you a captain? Napoleon was still somewhat nearby. He pointed to Napoleon. And the general then responded, oh, I was not aware of it, sir. I ask your pardon. Let us go and get you the proper uniform. This is a picture of faith, is it not? The soldier believed the emperor's word. He took it on faith, and he was rewarded for it. We shall also, too, receive that from the Lord which we entrust to him, namely, our salvation, our sanctification, our earthly aid, and glorification. We must take Christ at his word. Faith's object. This is the last point. Faith's object. Christ. Untethered faith, dear congregation, is of no value. It's worthless. We would be amiss if we closed without pressing this. Namely, that faith is worthless in itself. People have faith in all sorts of things. People have faith in many things. What matters is not faith and having faith. What matters is faith's object. Faith's object. What do we believe, or rather, who do we believe upon? Our faith is only saving because it is placed upon Him who saves. I've heard this illustration given many times. Two men fall into a river. It's a dangerous river. There's rapids. A rope is cast out to them. They might be saved by some friends on the beach. Well, also at that same time, a log is floating by. One of the men grabs the log and holds onto it. The other man grabs hold of the rope, lays hold of it, and holds on with all of his might. The man in the log floated along in the rapids and was never heard of again. The man who held the rope was pulled to safety. Why? Because he had connection with the people on the land. Faith has a saving connection with Christ. It is Christ that holds the rope. It's Christ that holds us in his hand. It is He that draws us to safety. To cling to the loose and floating log of self-righteousness would only take us over the falls of perdition, would it not? But laying hold of Christ by faith is safe for us, dear congregation. Faith is worthless if it is not founded upon Christ. We often sing that great hymn. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. All other ground is sinking sand. Ensure, in closing, ensure that thy line is tethered to Christ, dear Christian. And then remember that it is so. Frequently remember that it is so. Paul writes that we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus in Galatians 3.26. It was the woman's faith that saved her and made her whole in this passage, but only that it was her faith in Jesus. It was by only believing that Jairus received his daughter back from the dead, but only believing the word of Jesus. In our uncertain age, our uncertain time, let us have absolute certainty. I know many Christians don't like that, I like it. Absolute confidence, absolute trust, true faith in Christ. We must resign ourselves to Him. He's worthy of it. He's able to bear us up. It is only in this that we will see the substance of our faith rise up from the deathbed and walk. The family Jarvis's family is told to ensure that nobody finds out about this. No one knows. That none of the mockers outside knew the action which had taken place. Those who persist in unbelief shall only increase in their faithlessness. But to us who believe, us Christians, us disciples, further demonstrations of God's glory shining in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ, shall appear. More faith will be given. More peace will be added. Dear congregation, let us lay hold of Christ by faith, both now and always. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask for Thy help. Lord, I pray, God, that Thou would supply Thy Word to my own heart, to the hearts of these, thy people. Lord, that we'd be people of faith, people of prayer, people who have our eyes set on thee, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Holy Spirit, set our eyes upon Christ. Open our eyes. Let us heed thy word, feast upon it. Lord, we love thy person and thy work. Help us to love it. Help us to love thee all the more. In Jesus' name, amen.