This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:07] Good morning Compass Bible Church. It's always a joy to be here. And it's my privilege today to be able to open up God's word with you. So I invite you to take your Bibles and open up to Mark 5. It's a great chapter. The first half of the chapter tells the story about Jesus casting the legion of demons that had possessed a man, casting them out. You remember the story. He cast them out into a herd of pigs and then the pigs ran down the hill, jumped off the cliff into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. Now we're going to pick it up right from there as he comes back to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We're going to start in verse 21, Mark 5:21, and read to the end of the chapter. And in honor of God's word, let's stand. As I read this text for us.

[00:01:00] When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side. A great crowd gathered about him and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name and seeing him. He fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. And he went with him, and a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians. And it spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garments, for she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease and Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you. And yet you say, Who touched me? And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole story, the whole truth. And he said to her daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your disease. While he was still speaking, there came from the rulers. How some who said your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue. Do not fear, only believe he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him, but he put them all outside, took the child's father and mother and those who are with him, and went in where the child was taking her by the hand. He said to her to leave the Kumi, which means, little girl, I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl got up, began walking, for she was 12 years of age and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.

[00:03:24] Amen. You may be seated.

[00:03:30] Bible tells us. And we even sang about it in some of the songs or this morning, Bible tells us that in Jesus Christ we have a hope. That is an anchor for our souls. That's from Hebrews six 19. What a great promise that is, that Jesus gives us a hope that is an anchor for our souls and that is so desperately needed today. It seems like so many souls are like little boats out the middle of a vast ocean and they're being tossed about by all the wind and waves. They don't have any kind of an anchor.

[00:04:04] We live in a world that's full of despair, depression, anxiety, anger and hopelessness.

[00:04:12] And that's all on the rise because of the ongoing corona virus situation and all of the political and social unrest that we're experiencing. And you even see that within the church. The church doesn't always demonstrate the hope that they have in Christ. In fact, we're told in First Thessalonians 413 not to grieve like those who have no hope.

[00:04:36] And yet we often do that.

[00:04:39] We do grieve like we have no hope. We are frequently exhorted to set or fix our hope on Jesus Christ. And there's a reason why we're frequently exhorted to do that. And also, we are warned about putting our hope or fixing our hope on anything else other than Jesus Christ. Just to read you one example in First Timothy, chapter six and verse 17, we were given this warning.

[00:05:06] It says. And as for the rich in this present age. Charge them not to be Hoddy, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

[00:05:21] That's a real temptation to place our hope in our riches. But those riches, as as it says here and as we know, they're uncertain. We should fix our hope on God. The one who richly provides everything that we need.

[00:05:37] And as we look at our text here today in Mark Chapter five, we're going to look at Jesus dealing with two hopeless situations. At least they're hopeless from a human perspective. And the one situation every human resource had been explored and found lacking. There was nothing that could help this woman who had suffered so miserably for those 12 years.

[00:05:58] And then there and then in the other case, there's no human resource that can bring back the dead. Once the girl dies, as far as we're concerned, the story's over because we cannot bring people back from the dead. So in both of these situations, the hopelessness is well established. But against the backdrop of all of this human hopelessness, we see the DEEDI of Jesus Christ and his power over all of creation. In both situations, the people reach out in desperation to Christ and they find him more than sufficient for all that they needed. And that's important for the church to hear today. I mean, one way we can really stand out in this world is to show people what it lives means to live a stable life that's anchored in Jesus Christ. And in the midst of all of this, we can also offer to the world real hope because we can point them to Jesus Christ. So as we look at the text here today in Mark Chapter five, I want to give you five reasons why you can say.

[00:07:03] My hope is in the Lord. You ready for that? You ready to jump on that bus? And say, my hope is in the Lord.

[00:07:13] Okay, now I need to feel a little more excitement about this about this journey we're about to begin here. You know, I'm from Texas. People talk back to me even if I don't want them to. And so feel free to interact when I ask a question. Feel free to answer that. It'll make me feel right at home and we'll all be happier. Let's look again at the text versus 21 through 24.

[00:07:35] It says that when Jesus crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying, My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.

[00:07:58] And he went with him. So here's reason number one. You can put this down. Reason number one, why we can say my hope is in the Lord is because Jesus is available.

[00:08:09] Jesus available. Jesus disciples have been on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. That's where he had delivered the men from all the demons. And now they come back to the western side near the city of Capernaum, where Jesus did most of his ministry. And upon his return, we're told that he was surrounded by a great crowd. And in Luke's account of this this incident, he says in Luke eight forty that they had been looking for him. So when he shows up, everybody's there to greet him. And the excitement level is running pretty high because it says they're in verse 21, that a great crowd gathered about him and implies that they're pressing in. The rabbi's trying to get as close to Jesus as they possibly can. So he's not even able to get off of the shore there of the Sea of Galilee because of the crowd. But there's one man there seeing the crowd and recognizing that Jesus is at the center of the crowd while this man begins to make his way towards Jesus. And this man, he is not just any man. We're told that he is one of the rulers of the synagogue there in verse 22. He is one of the highest ranking, if not the highest rank religious official in Capernaum. And his interest in in Jesus is it while it's curious, it's surprising because by this point in Jesus ministry, the religious establishment had already decided that they were against Jesus their anti Jesus. They're not voting for Jesus. They're opposed to the Jesus and Jairus as a synagogue ruler. He certainly knew that. He would have been aware that that that the leadership, the religious leadership was opposed to Jesus. And so he could face severe criticism for even approaching Jesus like he's doing here, buddy. But he did it and now he did. He approached Jesus. But we're told that he bowed down in front of Jesus and he began to beg Jesus. He's imploring him earnestly. So here you got the one of the highest religious figures around publicly bowing down before Jesus and begging him earnestly, fervently.

[00:10:23] Intensely begging Jesus to help him. Why does he do that? Because he's desperate.

[00:10:31] He's come to this point in his life because his daughter, we're told, is at the point of death. Luke tells us that she was Jairus, his only daughter. And you notice here that Jairus refers to her as my little daughter. Jairus loves his daughter. He cares about his daughter.

[00:10:50] She's sick. She might die. He he's hoping that Jesus will come and help her. He she's at the point of death. And for the sake of his great love for his daughter. This man is willing to risk it all. He's willing to risk religious ridicule, public embarrassment by kneeling down in front of Jesus and begging for his help. But this man came to Jesus not only because of his need, but because he had faith that Jesus had the power to heal his daughter. Did you see that in verse twenty three? He says, my little daughter's at the point of death. Come lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. He believes Jesus can healer. And so confident is he that if Jesus doesn't do something for his daughter, he knows she's going to die.

[00:11:43] It's a humanly hopeless situation. His only hope is that Jesus will do what nobody else can do. What only Jesus could do.

[00:11:51] So here's this man, this religious leader, his daughters at the point of death. He comes to Jesus, falls on his knees, begs Jesus to come and help him. So how did Jesus respond to that?

[00:12:04] The Jesus say. A Jairus, take a look around and I'm kind of busy right now, you'll have to wait. Is that what he said?

[00:12:15] Come on now, talk to me. Is that what he said? No. No, he did not say that. Did he say, hey? Yeah. Jairus, I understand your problem. Call my secretary. Make an appointment. Saudi did. No. Did he say hey? Yeah. Jairus.

[00:12:32] You'll ridicule me when it helps your religious career. But now when you need real help, you come and ask for what's up with that man? Is that what he said? No, he did not say any of those things. The text simply tells us in verse 24, he went with them.

[00:12:50] He just went with them.

[00:12:52] That is amazing to me that in the midst of this great crowd, this one man comes and asks Jesus for help and Jesus goes with him. That's amazing. And that is encouraging. Jesus, sensitive and compassionate to the need of it individual. Nobody can do that like him. Nobody can respond like him. Nobody can be as available as him.

[00:13:24] How available is it to you and me? If you're here as a Christian today, what's his promise to you? He says, I'll be with you always.

[00:13:34] He says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. He is available to you would be anytime, anywhere. And he's the creator of everything. And he's the savior. And he's selling you I'm available anytime, anywhere. No friend can do that. No parent can do that. No spouse can do that. No politician can do that and no pastor can do that. He responds to those who call out to him. When you're when you're looking for real hope, the person who can provide that hope has to be available. We have a saying you probably heard it when you need help. Don't pick up the phone. Go to the throne. Jesus is there and he'll answer your call.

[00:14:39] Jesus went with Jairus, and we're told they're in the rest of the verse. The great crowd followed him and thronged upon him. And so he's trying to go with Jairus. But this crowd is thronging about him, pressing in, touching him, exerting suffocating pressure on him, hindering him from going.

[00:15:00] But away they go. My hope is in the Lord because Jesus he's available.

[00:15:08] Let me show you. Well, let me let's think about that for a minute more. You might say, well, shirt Jesus is available because Jairus, well, he's an important guy. Sure, he responds immediately, that's a reflection of the stature of Jairus. That doesn't really provide a whole lot of hope for like normal people like me.

[00:15:28] Well, the next characteristic that you're going to see here in Jesus answers that objection because there's a certain woman in the crowd and Jesus encounter with her gives us a second reason to say my hope is in the law. Let's look at the text. Picking it up in verse 25, it says there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

[00:16:16] Let me give you a second reason to say my hope is in the Lord because Jesus is impartial. Jesus is impartial. This woman, just like Jairus, is desperate. She knew that Jesus was her only hope. She'd had a discharge of blood for twelve years, which probably means she has like a chronic uterine hemorrhage. And she'd been in its grip for 12 long years. And according to Leviticus, fifteen, that made her what we call ceremonially unclean. Now, just let me help you think about what that means. That means that this woman could not attend the synagogue where Jairus was a ruler because she ceremonially unclean. She can't she can't go in. She can't go and worship and be a part of the the feast at the temple in Jerusalem because she's unclean.

[00:17:16] They would have thought she contaminated anything that she touched so she wouldn't be allowed to enter into those kinds of events. She's a social outcast. She has a condition that people would look at her similar to the way they would look at a leper.

[00:17:33] Sonali, did she endured 12 years of physical agony and distress, but she suffered socially as well because nobody's having anything to do with this woman. And not only that, she suffered physically and socially, but she also suffered financially. Did you see that verse 26? She'd suffered much under many physicians. He had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. Yes, she suffered at the hands of many physicians. You just got to think about what? What did physicians back then? What what did they try to do to help a woman with this kind of a condition? You can understand why it said she suffered at the hands of many physicians and and she spent all of her money. And at the end she was worse. Not not any better. And that just brings up one of the many false hopes that we can fall into. One of them being medicine. Well, we think that there's something wrong with us. We should be able to go to a doctor, he can tell us what's wrong and he can fix it. And we'll travel all over the place looking for a doctor that will fix it. And we'll spend a lot of money doing that, just like this woman did. A lot of people don't seem to understand that we live in sin cursus bodies that don't always work like they should.

[00:18:53] And sometimes we don't know enough about how to fix them.

[00:18:59] Luke, who was a physician, was a medical doctor. He says in Luke, eight 43, that she could not be healed by anyone. There's no known solution for her situation. And in her desperation, she turns to Jesus.

[00:19:16] So with the crowd surrounding Jesus, she wants to take advantage of that situation. Maybe I can sneak up and just touch his clothes. And no doubt she desires that kind of secrecy because, you know, she makes an open appeal to Jesus.

[00:19:31] She's going to have to describe her situation and her condition. And that could be really embarrassing. So she somehow squeezes her way through this crowd and touches his garments. And she did that because she kept telling herself what it says in verse 28. If I touch even his garments, I will be made. Well. She believed that she believed that she touched his garments. She would be made well, she had faith in his healing power. In fact, she believes that he can heal her without him even knowing it. So we see Jesus responding to these two people who could not have been more different.

[00:20:17] You got one who's the religious leader? You've got the other one who's a religious outcast. You've got one who's wealthy because that was typical of religious leaders. And you got the other one who has spent everything she's got. She's poor and he got one who's had 12 years of happiness with his little daughter. And you got the other one who's had 12 years of misery with her condition.

[00:20:40] They couldn't have been any different. Jesus responded to both of them. He's impartial. In fact, Chapter 10, we're told, about Peter going and taking the gospel to a gentile, a man named Cornelius and an ax 10 34, Peter says, Truly, I understand that God shows no partiality. That's a big issue in our society today, because you got people saying, hey, there are certain people who are privilege, other people who are oppressed. There's that there's a big issue. The system shows partiality. And no doubt in a sin curse world, those things happen. But they don't happen with God. He accepts whoever comes to him. The religious leader or the religious outcast? My hope is in the Lord because Jesus is available and Jesus is impartial. Let me show you a third reason. Let's go back to the text and pick it up at verse 30.

[00:21:41] Suzanne Jesus, perceiving himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you. And yet you say, who touched me? And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

[00:22:03] And he said to her daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your disease. Here is reason number three. My hope is in the Lord because Jesus is gracious.

[00:22:17] Jesus, Grace's first 30 is an amazing verse that says she is perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him. Oh, what does that feel like? What what did he perceive exactly? I mean, we don't know. We'll never know. But he felt that he knew that something had happened and he turns around and says, who touched my garments? And is his disciples are totally befuddled by that.

[00:22:44] They're saying, who touched who didn't touch your garments? Take a look around. You're in the middle of this crowd. They're all pressing in.

[00:22:51] You want to know who touched your garments? And Jesus, though, is saying that because he is trying to draw out this woman, he knew what happened. He's just trying to draw out this woman. And the woman knows that he's talking about her. And so we're told in verse 33 that she finally and fearfully steps forward and she tells her whole story. She gives the testimony. And no doubt she's fearing because she thinks maybe I have displeased him by doing what I did because I in my unclean condition, I snuck up and touched him. Well, how did Jesus respond to that? He responded graciously, verse 34 is beautiful. He addresses her as daughter. And that's the only place in the Gospels where you're ever going to see Jesus addressing any woman with that title daughter. The only place. And why does he address her as daughter? Because she received more than a healing that day. She also entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. She's become one of his children. And so he calls her daughter. And he says to her there, your faith has made you well, literally your faith has saved you Jesus doesn't use the normal words for healing here. He uses the normal words for salvation. And that's probably how it should be translated. In fact, let me show you another place where this exact same phrase is used. It's in Luke, Chapter seven. Let's just turn over to Luke seven for a minute and verse 36.

[00:24:32] Look, 736.

[00:24:39] Says one of the Pharisees, and you always feel like you should say Don Thornton died after one of the Pharisees asked them to eat with him and he said and he went into the Pharisees house and reclined at table and behold a woman of the city who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at table in the first, he? S brought an alabaster flask of ointment. So this woman is known publicly known as a sinner, which probably means she was a prostitute and everybody knew that. But she hears about this and she comes and brings this flask of ointment, 30, verse 38, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner. And she is answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had to debtors one owed five hundred Gennari and the other 50 when they could not pay. He canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more? Simon answered the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then, turning toward the woman. He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. But she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you her sins, which are many are forgiven for. She loved much, but he who is forgiving little loves little. That's a real issue for religious people who see themselves as basically good. And they don't need a lot of help from Jesus. They don't show a lot of love towards Jesus. That's really the point of what he's getting at here and talking to the Pharisee. And but look look at what he says going on verse 48. And he said to her, the woman, your sins are forgiven. Then those are at the table with him, begin to say among themselves, who is this? Who even forgives sin? Well, it's Jesus the gracious savior. That's who it is. And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Zack, same thing he says to the woman in Mach five, your faith has saved you go in peace. So you go back to mark five. And that's how you we should understand that he's saying to her that your faith has saved you, go in peace and be healed of your disease.

[00:27:31] He has. Given her salvation.

[00:27:36] That just shows the grace of Jesus Christ. That's something that is desperately needed in a hopeless world. They need to know that there's a savior who is gracious, who can forgive sins and give people eternal hope. He wasn't offended by her, presuming on him touching him with her unclean hand.

[00:27:55] He graciously accepted her and he accepted her imperfect faith. And that's something that you need to take note of because her faith, it seems like it's even a little bit superstitious, doesn't it? She's thinking if I just touch his garments, I'll be healed.

[00:28:10] What's up with that kind of faith? And Jairus, by the way, his faith was imperfect. Either he thought Jesus had to go to where his daughter was in order to heal her. Does Jesus need to be there to heal somebody? No. In fact, in John Chapter four, we read about him healing the son of an official. He never went there, but he healed them.

[00:28:31] So both examples show us that faith doesn't need to have perfect theological clarity in order to experience Jesus transforming power.

[00:28:44] He is gracious. And aren't you glad for that? Aren't you glad that Jesus is gracious?

[00:28:52] Yeah, see, the key to faith is the object of your faith. The key is that your faith be in the right direction. And this faith in this passage was directed towards Jesus.

[00:29:07] It was fixed on Jesus, the person of Jesus.

[00:29:11] And although it lacked some clarity, this faith lacks and clarity. Notice some things that their faith did possess. Both of them demonstrated great humility. I mean, Jairus had to be humble and put aside his religious pride in order to come up and kneel down before Jesus and beg him. This woman had to put aside her pride of being embarrassed if everybody knows my condition. They both demonstrated great humility. They demonstrated persistence. They had to get to Jesus. And no matter what the obstacle was, they were going to get to Jesus. And their faith is seen in action. All faith is ultimately seen in action because we act out what we believe. And you see the action of their faith here and their faith was fueled by a sense of desperation.

[00:29:59] They had to get to Jesus. And Christ graciously received them. I wonder if how many of us here today have that kind of a faith. Kind of faith, it's focused totally on Jesus Christ is not on anything I'm doing. It's focused totally on him. It's a humble faith. Putting aside all my personal pride, it's a persistent faith that says I have to get to Jesus Christ. And it is fueled by a sense of desperation. Either Jesus saves me or I perish. And it's seen in our actions that we live like, that's what we really believe. My hope is in the Lord. Because he's available, he's impartial. And he is gracious. Let's let's look at another reason, starting in verse 35.

[00:30:55] It says while he was still speaking, speaking with the woman there came from the rulers, how some who said your daughter is dead, why trouble the teacher any further? But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and Jesus saw commotion.

[00:31:19] People weeping and wailing loudly, and when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was taking her by the hand, he said, or to lether Kumi. Which means, little girl, I say to you. Arise. And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

[00:31:50] Well, I guess so. You you would have been too, if you were in that room and saw this dead girl come back to life. And and here the fourth reason that you could say my hope is in the Lord is because Jesus is powerful.

[00:32:06] Jesus powerful.

[00:32:08] Doesn't do any good to have hope in someone who's available, impartial. Gracious if they're not also powerful. And here you see Kreiss Power clearly displayed a once Jairus, his daughter dies, everybody thinks the story's over. Everybody except Jesus.

[00:32:28] And he says to Jairus there in verse 36, where it says, Do not fear, only believe you could say that.

[00:32:36] Stop fearing, continue believing. Continue believing, just like you did when you first came to me and asked for help. And then Jesus takes decisive action, he cuts loose from the crowd. He just takes Peter, James and John and he gets to the house and he sees the commotion, all the weeping and wailing, which is a common Middle Eastern response to the death, specially the death of a beloved daughter, that everybody would show up and grieve with the family. And they even had back in those days what they would call professional mourners. That was their occupation. And so you knew you had something happen like this. You wanted to really have a good time of weeping and wailing. You would text these people and they would show up and to show how professional they are. When Jesus says, hey, she's not dead, she's only sleeping, which is his way of saying that she's about to be risen from the dead. They stop weeping and wailing. And what do they do? They're professionals. They can turn it on and turn it off. And that's what they did that day. But Jesus here is taken decisive action. He goes into the room. He takes Peter James and John Jairus and his wife, and he speaks tenderly to the girl. Little girl, I say to you. Arise. And immediately she came to life. Immediately. And the disciples who at this point have already seen Jesus his power displayed many times. They see it again and they are filled with amazement, overcome with amazement. They're just they're amazed that this display of his great power, Jesus, has the power over death.

[00:34:29] Do you believe that this really happened? Do you believe that Jesus showed up at that house and there was a dead girl there and he brought her back to life?

[00:34:37] You really believe that? So you guys, like, believe the Bible? So what you're saying. So in Mark Chapter five, you really believe that Jesus cast a legion of demons out of that man? And you really believe that he healed this woman who had the 12 year issue of blood? You really believe that? And you really believe that he rose that raised this girl from the dead. That's amazing to me because we will say that at church on Sunday morning. But we don't act like we believe he has the power to help me with my marriage. Where it doesn't have the power to help me with my parenting. Or when life real life hits on Thursday afternoon, we act like Jesus doesn't have any power at all. And that persistent sin that I've got in my life, that anger, that anxiety, that fear Jesus seem to have the power. Help me overcome that.

[00:35:37] We need to stop fearing and keep believing. Stop fearing and keep believing. My hope is in the Lord. Because he's available, he's impartial. He's gracious and he is powerful.

[00:35:56] He is powerful. He can raise people from the dead. He rose from the dead.

[00:36:05] Let me show you one last one, it's in the last verse, verse 43. So then he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.

[00:36:20] Reason number five. Jesus is gentle.

[00:36:26] Jesus is gentle. Kind of a strange order there in verse 43, he strictly charge them that no one should know this. What are the chances that that's going to happen? I mean, they just saw him raise somebody from the dead. And now you're telling me, hey, don't tell anybody that you saw me do this. That's what happened. And in fact, in Matthew's account, Matthew nine, 26, says that this word went out into all the land the social media was lighting up. Hey, did you hear what Jesus did? And there's something to take note of there, because this isn't the only time Jesus did that we see in the Gospels or other times when he said, hey, don't tell anybody what I just did. Don't tell anybody. And what's interesting to me is back then he was telling them, hey, don't tell anybody. And they went and told everybody. And now he's telling us, hey, go tell everybody. And we're not telling anybody.

[00:37:24] That can't be.

[00:37:26] But why does he give that command? Why give that interesting command? Well, I think it's because he's being gentle towards this girl. He doesn't want her to become a spectacle, is doesn't want people lining up at their door saying, hey, can we see the girl that Jesus raised from the dead? He's a protecting this girl. Jesus is gentle. And I think that that's even seen in the other command there where he told them to give her something to eat. That's just a little statement. But somehow it got recorded in the Gospels as the word of God. And, you know, she may have been sick for a number of days before she died. And so Jesus is saying, hey, get her something to eat. Go get her a double double. She just came back from the dead. Get her a double double. What a beautiful insight that is into the gentleness of our savior. And you can be sure that he will be gentle with you as well in Matthew, Chapter 11. And verse twenty at Jesus says this to anybody and everybody. He says, Come to me. All who labor and are heavy laden.

[00:38:42] I'll give you a rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn for me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy. My burden is light. Jesus promises to be gentle, to give rest to your soul.

[00:39:03] He's a gentle savior. This text provides powerful encouragement for us to put our hope in the Lord. And this is very important because people in churches today are struggling with discouragement and discord and depression and divorce. And in many, if not most cases, it's because they have a false hope.

[00:39:27] They got a false hope. Their hope is in their circumstances. They are hoping that this corona virus thing will just go away or they're hoping in somebody getting elected on November 3rd that their hope is in the circumstances of life there. Their hope is in their job. Their hope is in their friends being able to help them. Their friend is there. Their hope is in the security they find in their possessions. Or maybe they even find their hope in the care of their church or their marriage and anything and everything except Jesus Christ alone.

[00:40:00] It's time to believe what we believe and fix our hope on Jesus Christ. I love what it says is the beginning of 1st Timothy, first Timothy chapter one, verse one simply says, Christ, Jesus, our hope. Christ, Jesus, I hope, put that on the front door of your house. Christ, Jesus, our hope. Our hope is in the Lord. And this passage, as well as all of the Bible, just piles on the hope that you can find in the Lord.

[00:40:33] And oftentimes it's in the darkest times that the grace and power of the Lord shines the brightest at our church. We've been reading through the Book of Chronicles. We just finished the book. It chronicles were read through the Bible together and there was a king, a has who was the most wicked king in all of Judah. He brought in idolatry, immorality, sacrificing your your children to false gods. It was the darkest time in the in the history of Judah. Up to that point. But just to show you how fast God can change things through his grace and his power. The next king up the son of a has is Hezekiah. And we're told in the first month that Hezekiah takes over. He begins restoring worship of the true God and a revival breaks out under King has the CIA and King has.

[00:41:24] The guy had a prayer partner that you might have heard of. His name was Isaiah, the Prophet Isaiah. That's a pretty good prayer partner. And you guys are reading about Isaiah. You're reading his book right now. And in fact, I think in the chapters you'll read this week, you'll see Hezekiah come into Isaiah for prayer. That's how fast the Lord can turn it around. You have examples in the Bible. What we can look throughout history. Some of you here are are at least as old as me.

[00:41:54] And you can remember 1968. And a lot of people are comparing this year to 1968. 1968, there were riots all across America. Violent riots across our country. There was political strife. Very similar to what you're seeing today there. That was an election year. Also, there were racial tensions in a big time way, in fact. They had the Olympics that year down in Mexico City. And on the victory stand after the 100 meter race, John Carlos and Tommie Smith did a protest. There were assassinations, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, all happened in 1968, and in the fall of 1968, there was an outbreak of what was called the Hong Kong flu. One hundred thousand Americans died from that flu. Very similar. Today, things seem very dark in America at that time. People were wondering, what's the future of our country? What's going to happen? But like I said, oftentimes in the darkest times, you see God's grace put on display because there was something else that kind of started in 1968 and we call it the Jesus movement. And people were getting back to the Bible and the gospel was being preached and people were getting saved. Lot of young people particularly were getting saved. I got in on kind of the tail end of that revival and got. And I was saved in the early 70s as a result of the outreach connected to the Jesus movement. So God is is at work and he can display his power and his grace even in the darkest days. And so we want to make sure our hope in these days is in the Lord.

[00:43:38] So can you honestly say. My hope is in the Lord. Well, you can, because he's available to hear your call. You can because he's impartial to whoever calls you can, because he's gracious even to imperfect calls, you can because he's powerful to answer your call. And you can because he's gentle. To answer your call personally.

[00:44:11] Maybe this time of the season in our in our culture is a good time for every one of us to examine, well, where exactly is my hope? Where exactly is my hope, examine your heart and ask yourself, where is your hope?

[00:44:26] My hope is in the Lord. Let's pray.

[00:44:33] Well, we're thankful for this time this morning that we can look at your word and see the truth revealed to us, we live in a day that is so filled with confusion and chaos. Nobody knows quite what to think or what to believe or what's going on. We're thankful that we have a savior who tells us the truth. We're thankful that we have a savior who's available to us, who desires to minister to us personally thankful that we have a savior who's impartial. It doesn't matter who we are. We call out to him. He'll respond to us. We're thankful that we have a gracious savior who accepts those who come to him in faith. And he powerfully can transform their lives. And he will treat them gently through the difficulties of this life. Our father, our hope needs to be in you. I pray that each one of us here today will be encouraged to look to you. Trusting you, to wait on you and to put our hope in you.

[00:45:37] We're just so wanting to exalt your name. And so, Lord, we pray that we might be testimonies to the hope that can be found in Jesus Christ. Now, we could demonstrate what it means to live a stable life. That's anchor. Because of who our Savior is. So I pray a work in all of our hearts. And that your name will be honor. And that we will be encouraged to place our hope in you completely. Thank you for this time. And we thank you. And our savior's name, Amen.