"Don't be Afraid; Just Believe"

[0:00] 746. So we go this way a bit. And we're singing a hymn that reminds us that we have such a great friend in Jesus. And we want to spend time with him as our saviour and as our friend.

[0:13] What a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus.

[0:32] All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry. Everything to God in prayer.

[0:48] Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Oh, because we do not carry.

[1:04] Everything to God in prayer. How we try us and temptations.

[1:15] Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

[1:29] Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share?

[1:40] Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

[1:51] Lord be weak and heavy laden. Comfort with the Lord in prayer.

[2:02] Come, Lord be weak and heavy laden. Come, Lord be weak and heavy laden. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

[2:13] To thy friends despise forsake thee. Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms you take and cheer thee.

[2:28] Thou will find us on a stand. Okay, boys and girls, if you head to Sunday school. And remember, as they go out, to be praying for each of them.

[2:42] Thou will find us on a stand.

[3:09] And if we turn down our Bibles, please, to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5 and we'll read from verse 21 through to the end of the chapter. This is God's word.

[3:38] When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered round him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers named Jairus came there.

[3:55] Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him and the woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered, and yet you can ask who touched me? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, daughter, your faith has healed you.

[5:15] Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. Your daughter is dead, they said. Why bother the teacher anymore?

[5:30] Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, don't be afraid, just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him.

[6:02] After he had put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in and went in and went in and went in and went in and where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Talitha kum, which means little girl, I say to you, get up. Immediately, the girl stood up and walked around. She was twelve years old. At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. I'm going to sing a song for my readers in prayer. And God, please.

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[13:03] S'y aga'n y hirna, y s'hul, y hirna, M'y n'y hirna d'y hirna d'y waa' sio, O hirna s'y n'y t'achsiu, S'a guswem'r guswur, y t'achsiu g'y hirna, O s'an gus'i d'iciu, S'i s'wt'r gus'chom'r gusw'r waa'rach, O na misc'n, a phop'n y hirna, S'u u'hriy y'y, sa s'a gus'n'a gus'n'n, Y'y an y hirna, gus'r waa'r muc'r gus'n'rach, O y'u waa'r sh'achr'u t'h'i hirna, O ba y'hadu sh'a g'ach'n'e, Pe'yam'n sh'n y hirna, Pe'yam'n y'a gus'n y'hach'gidu d'o'hp'u gus'v'y gus'n, S'u gus'r gus'r gus'r gus'n'n, carr13, arf aga'r aga'r s'amba'r muc'r ai'n, Yeah wae'r sh'r jags'r o'hu'r, Y'kudGGอh j'ki'r gus'r cus'r trasta kinda'r muc'un,dom m and gathers to the room.

[14:25] Be all the damp and surely. Amen. We sing again to God's praise this time from Psalm 34.

[14:43] Psalm 34 and verses 5 to verse 7 in Gaelic. They looked to him and lightened were, not shamed were their faces.

[14:53] This poor man cried, God heard and saved him from all his distresses. The angel of the Lord encamps and round encompasseth all those about that do him fear and then delivereth.

[15:06] These two verses in Gaelic to God's praise. Gaelic.

[15:24] Thank you. Standard of Time CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[16:39] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[17:41] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Heavenly Father we thank you for your word and we thank you that in this time as we open your word we lift our eyes from everybody around us we don't look at the ones around us we don't look so much at ourselves Lord as we can so often be prone to doing but we thank you that with the psalmist we look to him we look to Christ and we ask Lord that we would be given eyes to see Jesus we pray that his ears would be unblocked so that we would hear the words of Jesus and we pray that we would come to the one who is able to give us healing the one who is able to bring salvation into our souls we pray for ourselves here Lord as we bow our heads in prayer we pray for the children we ask Lord that you would be at work

[19:16] Lord we thank you for the softness of their hearts we thank you Lord for the readiness of their responses and we pray that they would hear the gospel message clearly and simply and that they would respond and remember their creator and worship Christ as Lord in their early days and that they would go through life walking with Jesus and that their lives would be used here and elsewhere to glorify Christ and Lord what we pray for ourselves here we pray for the churches around us every place that the gospel of Christ is preached in this island and across the nation and in all nations we pray that you would add your blessing Lord and that you would build your church help us now Lord we pray as we look to you and we ask this in Jesus name Amen One of the wonders of modern technology is the split screen you can be watching your television and you're given an option at the top or the bottom of the screen press the red button mainly if you're watching a game of football press the red button and if you press the red button you can actually watch two or three matches in smaller profiles on the same screen two matches, two games played at the same time in different places and you can be sitting looking at the screen enjoying each of them it's one of the wonders of modern day technology and not everybody in the room seems to be convinced of it one of the commentators

[21:00] Sinclair Ferguson he describes this section of Mark chapter 5 as a split screen storytelling he thinks of it almost as if we're looking at a screen and we're seeing two stories two accounts as they're running concurrently and linking with each other it's split screen storytelling two stories are being told by Mark here they're both occurring at the same time and although there's two stories there's really only one lesson and the lesson that comes with force as we look at these two episodes is there is a need for us to have faith in Christ first point today as we come back to this verse 21 as we see the faith of Jairus look at verse 21 when Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake a large crowd gathered around him while he was still by the lake then one of the synagogue rulers named Jairus came there seeing Jesus he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him my daughter is dying please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live the faith of Jairus now who was Jairus first of all

[22:35] Jairus is one of the synagogue rulers Jairus wasn't so much a teacher he wasn't one of the religious authorities who had a responsibility to teach but he was part of a board of elders who looked after the synagogue and made sure that everything that was to do with the structure of the synagogue and everything that was happening within the synagogue was happening in good order so although he wasn't a teacher he would have been well known to the religious authorities who were really the powerful men of that day and the religious authorities would have expected Jairus whom they knew well to be led by them in his thinking and particularly in respect of Christ Jesus was the focus of the religious leaders at this point they saw him they were fixated with him and they hated him he was bringing disruption into their lives he was bringing unrest among the people whom they very much had under control until

[23:43] Jesus walked onto scene so they hated Christ and they were plotting at this point to kill him so can you imagine how outraged they would have been when they saw Jairus their friend their colleague the one who was in a sense under their authority and they see Jairus and he's falling at the feet of Jesus and he's in the posture of worship and he's pleading with this Jesus to help him to help his dying daughter now why was Jairus doing that he was doing that not so much to antagonize the religious leaders although it would have Jairus was doing this because he had faith that Jesus could help him

[24:44] Jairus' faith was a costly faith to do what Jairus did to bow before this man Jesus that the Pharisees had so clearly classified as a blasphemer to bow before this Christ would get Jairus into a lot of trouble it would probably lose him his job so his faith was a costly faith and faith in Jesus is always costly you need to know that those who are trusting Christ will know that in different degrees those who are thinking about trusting Christ you need to know that to nail your colours to the mast and to profess your faith in

[25:45] Christ will always bring a reaction in some countries you will lose your job instantly in some countries you lose your life there's no shortage of examples of that to give feeling of many of them this morning in India and Iran and different places in this country you can lose your reputation you can use your credibility within your working environment in this country if you profess your faith in Christ you can lose friendships it can bring complications within families to phone this member of our family the phone went down faith in

[27:06] Christ can be costly and for Jairus his faith would have been a costly faith but it was also a desperate faith Jairus' daughter was dying and he heard this man Jesus could help and so he comes to Jesus and he pleads for help and some of you might say well is that really faith is that not just seeking to use Jesus as a kind of extra medical service well what is faith Hebrews 11 1 gives us the definition of faith Hebrews 11 1 gives us the definition of faith now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen faith is the assurance of things hoped for now Jairus has the assurance that this

[28:13] Jesus can do what he hopes for that's why he's bowing at his feet faith is the conviction of things not seen and Jairus has the conviction sufficient conviction to be bowing and pleading before Christ that he will do for his daughter what he cannot currently see and you know whether faith in Christ is stirred in stormy seas or calm waters is secondary in this case Jairus' faith is stirred in the stormy seas of his daughter's dying it's desperate faith it doesn't make you any less faith I remember being on a death bed in Inverness and the woman whom I was with she knew she was dying she was in her last few hours in fact and she knew that she wasn't saved and I said to the woman ask

[29:39] Jesus to help you she knew her sin she knew her desperate need I said to her just ask Jesus to help you to save you and she said I can't I didn't speak to him when I wasn't in need and I can't ask him now that I'm in such great need and sadly as far as I know she didn't Jairus would teach her yes you can ask when you're in desperate need and you must ask as he did the faith of Jairus it's a costly faith it's a desperate faith but it's faith second point is the readiness of Jesus to save just a short passing observation here we've all been in the situation

[30:50] I'm sure in the past where we've been looking for help we've been looking for some kind of assistance we've either been told by the person whom we know can help us sorry I'm too busy or you don't qualify for help so please leave now Jesus here as we see him he's met with this man who's bound before him he sees this man he sees the desperate need of the man he sees the desperate need of the man's daughter and he's willing and he's ready to help he's ready to save verse 24 simply says so Jesus went with him and just note there the simplicity and yet the immediacy of this Jesus went with him it's psalm 34 verse 6 which we sang there it's that in pictures this poor man cried

[32:08] God heard and saved him from all his distresses this poor man he cried God the son he heard and he was ready and he was willing to save him from all his distresses Jesus went with him the readiness that we see there of Jesus to save and his promise is that he will go to you and I if we ask him if you and I see the need of our soul it's because God has shown us we see our sin and if we see Christ as the one who can save us if we fall on our knees and ask him to save us he will go with us that's the message that's what we're to see here the readiness of

[33:15] Jesus to save he is willing he is ready to help and to save those who will call upon his name what a comfort that must have been to Jairus as Jesus went with him to his house but then to Jairus' dismay there's an interruption and that takes us into the second part of this story we see here thirdly the faith of the woman look at verse 25 a large crowd followed and pressed around him Jesus and the woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had yet instead of getting better she grew worse when she heard about

[34:17] Jesus she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought if I just touch his clothes I will be healed immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from suffering pause there for a second what do we see in this woman's faith well in common with Jairus she's desperate for 12 years she suffered from this condition which must have been such a trial and a trauma to deal with such a stigma to have attached to her in that day and age she has suffered and she suffered for a long time and she's tried everything she's been to this doctor and that doctor this clinic and that clinic she's been to different places she's spent everything that she has and all it's brought is poverty and that's a fact in history but it's again another picture for us of reality there's a picture there in this woman's life of the lives of so many people so many people are looking for healing of the heart so many people are telling us that they're fine when we ask them how they're doing but they're suffering at heart level and they're looking for satisfaction and they're looking for forgiveness for their sin even though the world tells them there's no such thing as sin and yet there's still this heaviness because we know deep in ourselves that we are sinners we know that we're made for more than sin and so people we heard it in

[36:28] Malcolm's testimony last Sunday that sense of restlessness that sense of lostness that quest for meaning and people are looking here there and everywhere and the further they go and the more places they look the poorer they get until they come to Jesus the rolling stones who tried everything I expect concluded in probably one of their most famous songs I can't get no satisfaction the hymn writer gives the answer now none but Christ can satisfy and this woman who had come on to scene suffering from this condition this woman at this point having come up behind

[37:38] Jesus and touched the hem of his garment could now testify to that she could testify to the healing and the satisfaction that she had received from Christ that she could find no other place but the thing is this woman she didn't want to testify she could testify she felt in her body it says that she was freed from her suffering but she didn't want to testify to that she didn't want to testify to anything verse 30 we'll pick it back up at once Jesus realised that power had gone out from him he turned around in the crowd and asked who touched my clothes you see the people crowding against you his disciples answered and yet you can ask who touched me but

[38:46] Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it we'll pause there again there's a real awkwardness at this point we can almost feel it we can just imagine the camera focusing in on the expression on the face of this woman the surprise the joy that she's she's healed and then the awkwardness as Jesus stops everything and starts looking around to say who touched my clothes we feel for this woman don't we she's in the crowd she shouldn't really be there because of the condition that she has that renders her unclean in that day and age and yet she's there she's taking a risk there's all these people around her and likely she's shy she's feeling awkward about this and then you bring into the mix the drama of all that

[40:08] Jesus was about to do he's marching purposefully towards Jairus' house we can imagine the excitement in the crowds as they're all thinking is Jesus going to be able to heal this woman this man's daughter as he's healed so many before there's that growing excitement and anticipation there's the intensity of Jairus who's saying come on Jesus we need to hurry we need to get to the house in time and then Jesus stops very abruptly and says you touched me and the disciples are saying what do you mean who touched you look at the crowds everyone's touching you all the time and yet Jesus insists on this woman sharing her testimony says in verse 32 he kept looking around

[41:08] I wonder was Jesus looking around for some here last Sunday is Jesus still looking around for some who have touched him by faith who have received healing of their hearts who have received forgiveness of sin who have been saved and yet last Sunday over the course of the communion season perhaps there's some here who haven't received all this hidden the crowd for another season Jesus kept looking around still looking around and as the intensity of this grew the woman here she just can't hide any longer verse 33 then the woman knowing what had happened to her came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear told him the whole truth he said to her daughter your faith has healed you go in peace and be freed from your suffering here's a question why was

[42:46] Jesus so insisting that this woman would step forward in all likelihood he knows the awkwardness that she's feeling he knows how much this is taken out of her so why does he insist on making sure that she steps out of the cry and comes forward I think it's because he wanted to give this woman more than she asked for he wanted this woman to receive more than she first came looking for he wanted the crowd to know that this woman who had been driven out to the margins of that society because of her uncleanness because of the condition she was suffering with he wanted the crowds to know not just the woman to know but he wanted the crowds who had pushed her out to know now that she was clean and she could be brought back into this community he wants to state that publicly it's one of the things that

[44:12] Jesus does when he heals us he brings us into a community of believers and he wanted this woman not only to feel the touch of Christ in a once in a lifetime encounter he wanted this woman to come into relationship with her go in peace he says literally I think it's go into peace go into my peace receive my peace says Jesus not just my healing touch for one moment in time he says I want you to receive my abiding shalom my joy I want you to come into relationship with me weers be the commentator says this why did Jesus not simply permit her to remain anonymous and go her way the question and he answers the question the commentator he says he wanted to be something more to this woman than a healer

[45:28] Jesus wanted to be her saviour and friend as well he wanted her to look into his face to feel his tenderness and hear his loving words of assurance by the time he finished speaking to her she experienced something more than physical healing Jesus had given her spiritual healing as well that's why he he asked the question that's why he insisted that she step forward because he knows that she needs more than physical healing she needs her heart touched and because of this woman's faith in Jesus and because of Jesus insistence that she professes it she received so much more than she ever expected and that's so true of

[46:30] Christ some people think if they trust Jesus to identify with Christ they'll be poorer and life will be sadder when actually the opposite is true and this woman now testified to that St.

[47:00] Ferguson says Jesus called her out of the crowd to encourage her to take her stand with her Jesus encouraging anyone here this morning to come out of the crowd and take your stand with her love Ferguson saying she did not need to be ashamed to confess what had happened the sooner she did so the greater would be her joy if she had been ashamed to confess Christ now she might might never have known the full life which she had given her and that's what she received not just a momentary touch she and I had abundant full life in Christ the faith of the woman fourthly the fear the fear of

[48:05] Jairus and again we we switch screens here we switch from verse 35 onward we switch from screen 2 back to screen 1 for a moment Marcus had the camera focused on the woman and the microphones had been in as we listened to the dialogue going on between the woman and Christ we can imagine the expressions on the faces of the crowd as they were amazed at how Jesus could do for this woman what no doctor could do but meanwhile if the cameras shift back simultaneously to the face of Jairus as all this is going on he's in anguish he thought he could depend on Jesus to help him and to answer him but Jesus has put Jairus on hold it seems it's a frustrating thing to be put on hold isn't it we've all been there but we've had a problem with our

[49:08] TV or internet or something we've had to phone up the company and we get through to somebody who actually we now think can help after having gone through 17 different departments and you're now expecting and you're hopeful that we're going to get a solution and then he'll say just hold for a moment and 20 minutes later you're still sitting there with this inane tune going round and round in circles and your blood is boiling and that's over something trivial like a television or an internet connection imagine Jairus try and get yourself into this story imagine Jairus imagine your little girl is dying she's not just a wee bit sick she is dying and the only hope you have is telling you to wait sometimes that's what we're called to do we're called to wait we want the answer right now we see somebody that we love somebody that we care for and they seem to be in a course of destruction they seem to be in such intense need they need

[50:39] Jesus to break into their lives before it's too late that's what we feel and we pray and it seems as if Jesus is saying to us just wait and yet the longer we wait the worst things seem to get verse 35 while Jesus was still speaking some men came from the house of Jairus the synagogue ruler your daughter is dead they said why bother the teacher anymore we can't imagine how much pain this poor man must have been in when he heard these words here he is standing there in the crowd his hopes are up as they're moving forward and suddenly he sees faces that he recognizes coming closer and they say

[51:56] Jairus your daughter is gone she's dead these words would have come like a sword through his heart fear and dismay would likely have been all over Jairus' face and Jesus saw it and everyone was saying to Jairus walk away from Jesus he can't do anything for you now don't bother him don't bother with him anymore your daughter is dead it's finished and you know that's what Jesus that's what Jesus was hearing and he ignores him the reality is that's what the devil says to us when life crashes in that's what the devil will always say to us when things are on a course that we didn't want to be on that's what the devil says to us when everything seems to be hopeless he says to us walk away from Jesus don't bother him anymore don't bother with him anymore just leave him what does

[53:36] Jesus say verse 36 ignoring what they said Jesus told the synagogue ruler don't be afraid just believe that's all he said he didn't say Jairus sit down let me give you a step by step plan of what's going to happen next he didn't tell him the details of what he was planning to do he just says Jairus stay with me just believe literally what it means is keep on believing yes Jairus I see your faith persevere in it keep on believing maybe that's a word for someone here today we don't know what we're going through from chair to chair there can be storms in many different homes and situations fear can be written all over our eyes sometimes when we say that we're fine maybe

[55:02] Jesus is saying to somebody here today don't be afraid just believe why some likely said that why and Mark in a sense says to us well you'll see why just keep reading final point the care of Jesus and there's lots of beautiful details here as this passage comes to an end I I just want you to read these details with me see how Jesus cares for Jairus and for his family Jesus he doesn't want the spectacle of the crowds there was always crowds around Christ there was always drama of where he was going but his concern is this man and this man's family

[56:03] Jesus doesn't want TV cameras running around he doesn't want any live streaming of this event he takes the crowds he dispels the crowds he sends them away he draws Jairus close he takes his closest disciples with him verse 37 he perseveres to Jairus his home and in verse 38 he gets to the home there's all these professional wailing mourners that was the culture they employed people who would come and they would wail and they would mourn and they would create a huge commotion and the more influence a man had the more money he had the louder was the noise and so Jairus this man of significance is met as he comes towards his house with the lamenting of all these mourners but for all the noise they didn't really care because they go from weeping to laughing in a split second they do provide evidence to us though of the fact that

[57:13] Jairus' daughter was dead if she was just a bit sick and this was a story that had been exaggerated there would be no mourners these mourners testify to the fact that this girl was really dead and their laughing and surprise also testifies to the fact that they know this girl is dead but Jesus comes to the home he sees them he hears them and he dismisses them their job here was done and then Jesus goes in to where the child was and he takes her by the hand and then he remember who this is he God the son the God of heaven and earth he takes her by the hand and he speaks to this little girl with such tenderness man and he says verse 41 actually the best translation of that verse is little man arise and in verse 42 we see she does the tenderness the gentleness and yet the power of Christ think back a few verses we see

[58:50] Legion the man that no one could suppress and subdue one word from Christ and every demon has to flee this little girl one word from Christ and death has to flee from her and life rushes in and she's up and once she's up Jesus says to her parents make her something to eat God the son what tenderness of care that he shows for this man and his daughter and the mother the family what tenderness of care I remember when one of our girls had been ill she'd been in hospital and then had stabilised to the point of being able to go home and when she began to recover she reached out for jaffa cakes and she took hold of her jaffa cakes first sign of any appetite and she started to eat the jaffa cake chocolate from head to toe in the baby girl and normally you'd be saying not the jaffa cakes put the jaffa cakes down

[60:23] I was saying to take the jaffa cakes eat as many jaffa cakes as you want just the joy of seeing the appetite return and we can see jesus here smiling as he sees this little girl who had been so sick and then died coming back to life and beginning to eat and mark is saying to us as god the holy spirit has inspired him this is your god this is your god that you're seeing here and he cares for you and you can trust him he might not always bring healing like this but he will always care for us like this and just as his appearance and word brought resurrection to this little girl his promise is that those who believe in him will on the day that he appears they will rise even though they sleep in jesus in their bodies presently those who have gone ahead of us when christ appears when he speaks that word on his return they will rise to eternal life and be taken to be with him into his eternal care a place where there is no tears and no fears and no sickness and no solace we've got a wee picture of heaven here the first part of the chapter we get a little picture of hell we see legion the isolation the torment the pain and our imbalance here christ gives us a little picture of heaven those who sleep trusting in christ awaken in the arms of christ and will be eternally in the care of christ so the encouragement for us as we look at these two stories that teach one lesson is that we are to believe in jesus don't fear like one you