Act or wait with complete dependence upon God

Sermon Notes

As Mark Coffey to come up and pray. Pray for them as they leave Emilee behind

Pray for Justus as he will have his first daughter tomorrow. Talitha.

Blessing to be a Girl Dad.

Introduction

In following Jesus we do well to pay close attention to those growing in their faith.

2 of 3 impossible situations.

Major Premise: Faith may require you to speak up or it may cause you to sit still, both our action or inaction should

demonstrate a complete dependence in God. [Slide]

Luke 8:40–56 (KJV 1900)

40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.

41 And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:

42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.

43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. (this had to be a horrible difficult moment - a decision had to be made)

50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

Introduction

New word. Juxtaopistion: the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

Would teach separately but it seems that significant measures are kept to keep these stories connected.

Let’s act this out. Want to draw your attention to a couple of significant responses

Slide: Faith may require you to speak up or it may cause you to sit still, both our action or inaction should

demonstrate a complete dependence in God.

Both the woman and Jairus reflect different aspects of growing in faith.

A timid faith can become a testifying faith.

She came Trembling but she came

Luke 8:47 (KJV 1900)

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

She had to overcome so much to be on the road that day.

There is the obstacle of her ceremonial uncleanness, as defined by the Old Testament law. Leviticus 15:19 “And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.”

There is the obstacle of a large crowd, which is pressing forcefully upon the Lord Jesus. Luke 8:42 “For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.”

The woman had to work her way through an uncooperative crowd in a weakened condition. Mark 5:26 “And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,”

Finally, the woman had to reach Jesus by forcing her way through an aggressive and crushing mob, and yet in a way that did not draw attention to herself. Luke 8:47 “And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.”

She could not hide, nor did Jesus want her to.

Jesus wanted her faith to be known.

Mark 5:32 (KJV 1900)

32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

Luke 8:47 (KJV 1900)

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

Jesus loved this woman and made sure we knew this.

She was healed instantly. Mark 5:33 “But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.”

Jesus tells her to “go in peace” she did not steal a healing.

Jesus calls her daughter.

This woman was not an interruption to His ministry. She is his ministry.

It as not the miracle which Jesus wanted to make public, but rather the woman’s faith.

End of the story Jesus will tell Jairus to not tell anyone but not to the woman.

The timid woman will declare her testimony! Luke 8:47 “47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.”

The cause was she believed Jesus could change her life. She was demonstrating dependence on God.

Faith believes that God is not reluctant but willing to help us.

Peter believed the lie that we believe. There are too many people in this world for God to ever take note of me. Luke 8:45 “And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”

The woman believed that if she could just “touch the border of his garment” she could be healed and she reached out by faith.

God’s willingness to work in our lives.

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness” - George Mueller

George Müller wanted to live a life that would demonstrate dependency on God. The three chief reasons for establishing an Orphan-House are: 1. That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare.

George Müller prayed for his wife’s healing but he also preached her funeral. “The last portion of Scripture which I read to my precious wife was this: “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” [Psalm 84:11]. . . . I said to myself, with regard to the latter part, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” I am in myself a poor, worthless sinner, but I have been saved by the blood of Christ. And I do not live in sin; I walk uprightly before God. Therefore, if it is really good for me, my darling wife will be raised up again, sick as she is. God will restore her again. But if she is not restored again, then it would not be a good thing for me. And so my heart was at rest. I was satisfied with God. And all this springs, as I have often said before, from taking God at his word, believing what he says.”

It is not sin not to believe God will do a thing that is not explicitly promised in the Bible. But it is a sin to not trust God and reach out for what He has already offered to us.

What are some of the promises we can act upon?

Philippians 4:19 (KJV 1900)

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:28 (KJV 1900)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Faith is seen in the direction and dependency of the woman.

James 2:17 (KJV 1900)

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

It was faith..

That gave the woman courage to get on the road that day

That gave her the willingness to push through the crowd

The desire to just touch the hem of his garment

Luke 8:48 (KJV 1900)

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

This woman tells us that when we act we should do so in total dependency upon God to work believing that he is not reluctant but willing to work in our lives.

Makes you wonder how many other people on the road that day needed something from Jesus but lacked to faith to move.

Jairus: The difficulty of waiting.

Could there been a dispute between him and his wife? “I know,” said Jairus, “but neither of them holds the position I do in the synagogue. I’m going to take a lot of heat from the rabbis if I go to Jesus. I could even lose my position!”

The mourners in the street couldn’t have been louder then the voices in his head.

As the woman goes in peace Jairus had to be anything but peaceful.

As those words are said some will come and tell him “it is too late”

“Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” I can’t imagine hearing anything more fearful than those words!

Jesus delay was for the good of the woman who had been healed. His delay was also for the good of Jairus and his daughter.

Jesus telling us to to wait does not imply apathy on His behalf.

Ultimately, trusting in God’s care means accepting his timing for events.

Jairus was experincing great fear Luke 8:50 “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.”

In fearful situations we must overcome hindrances to faith and put our trust in Jesus.

1. Fearful situations help bring clarity in our lives.

He was not the ruler of a synagogue on that day. He was a dad.

He was not running off to find a solution from anyone else.

2. Fearful situations strip away our pride and let the Lord prove Himself mighty on our behalf.

Hudson Taylor, the great pioneer missionary, used to say that “when God wanted to open inland China to the gospel, He looked around until He found a man weak enough for the task.”

Fearful situations strip away our pride and let the Lord prove Himself mighty.

3. Fearful situations reminds us of our limits and drive us to trust in Christ.

There had already been plots to kill Jesus. (Mk 3:6).

Chances are, Jairus wouldn’t have risked their disfavor by coming to Jesus if he didn’t have to. But his dying daughter forced him to come and trust in Jesus.

Some of you face fearful situations today—a difficult marriage, a rebellious child, a personal health problem, the loss of a job or a financial setback. Whatever your fearful situation, it can be of great benefit if you let it clarify your priorities, strip away your pride, and drive you to trust in Jesus so that He can be glorified through it.

Lessons learned during the delay

Look at how Jesus encouraged and nurtured Jairus’ weak faith in this crisis.

1. Jesus’ willingness to accept us where we’re at encourages us to trust Him.

Luke 8:50 KJV 1900

50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

Maybe this needs to be your prayer this morning Mark 9:24 “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

2. Jesus’ power in working with others encourages us to trust Him.

Hearing testimony of God working in other peoples lives should encourage us, even during the delay.

3. Jesus’ mighty power over death encourages us to trust Him.

For Jesus, raising the dead was as easy as raising a sleeping child would be for us. He merely spoke the word and the dead girl came to life. Each time Jesus raised the dead, He did it by speaking: To the widow of son, Luke 7:14 “And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”

4. Jesus has a purpose in the delay.

a)  The delay highlighted the importance of Jesus teaching.

This was a matter of life and death, and He chose to teach the gospel to the crowd rather than saving the little girl's life.

“Why bother the teacher any longer?”  You can read the disdain in their words, and can almost feel their sarcasm in their use of the world teacher. It is exactly this teaching that cost the girl her life.

b. Jesus made Jairus wait in order to highlight the significance of the woman whom He had healed.

Great emphasis was made about Jairus job. Jesus did not prioritize him over this woman.

In waiting upon the Lord we are able to see the hurt of those around us differently.

The woman was probably in Jairus’s life before, I doubt she had ever received the attention she was receiving now.

c.  Jesus allowed Jairus’ daughter to die so He could be glorified by raising her from the dead.

God was doing something bigger than they could haver ever imagined.

Jairus’s faith would be strengthened.

How the Psalmist Battled Against Impatience

How does the psalmist battle against impatience in his heart?

Psalm 130:5 (KJV 1900)

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope.

“Waiting for the Lord” is an Old Testament way of describing the opposite of impatience.

The strength that sustains you in patience is hope, and the source of hope is the word of God.

“In his word do I hope.” And hope is just faith in the future tense.

If you are tempted not to wait peacefully for God, to let him give you your next move — if you are tempted to give up on him or go ahead without him — please realize that this is a moment for great spiritual warfare.

Take the sword of the Spirit, the word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and wield some wonderful promise against the enemy of impatience.

Conclusion

So the big questions.

1. Just like Jairus some of you need to come to the knowledge of Jesus power over death.

It may not be the fear for the loss of your family but your own death.

What will happen to you when you die?

Maybe the story of you life has been interrupted enough for you to think about this.

2. Are you a person in need of something that only God can provide?

The woman with the issue of blood was, Jairus was, and you should be as well.

The answer should always be “yes”

I am not talking about discontentment.

I am talking about what George Muller was talking about when he said That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened

One of the most merciful gifts God can give us is a deep, keen awareness of our dependence on him for everything.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (KJV 1900)

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

We should be facing the problems of this world that make us feel weak. It is then, in dependence to Him, that He can show Himself strong in our lives.

There are challenges in raising kids in a developing, third- world country but there are also great challenges in helping your kids develop a proper worldview in America, the “we are #1 country.”

2. Should I be waiting on Jesus or push myself to the front of the line?

How do we know if we are standing on the street corner needing to push our way to the front or if we need to wait patiently like Jairus? (pause)

Should I act in faith, like the woman, and reach out to claim what Jesus has for me or do I wait trusting God’s timing.

These stories show us 2 people growing in their faith. How do we know which we are to be?

Faith may require you to speak up or it may cause you to sit still, both our action or inaction should

demonstrate a complete dependence in God.

Act or do not act but do it in total dependence of God.

Faith is active and not passive: Even in our waiting we fight the battle of impatience.

What would your week look like if you truly depended on God?

Some of what you would do would stop? Worrying, conniving, manipulating, and complaining as you learned to sit patiently.

Some of you might start something. You might reach out in faith and see what the step of faith could do in your life.

Whatever you do or don’t do. Do it in total dependence upon God!