6/30/24 - GOD'S ELECTION + MAN'S FAITH EQUALS SALVATION

Let me touch you, let me and you are. Even though I know my heart, your hands can heal, but sometimes I get discouraged and I need your strength and shield. Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are real. Sometimes to me you seem so far away and I wonder how to make it through the day, but if I can touch the hem of your garment, your power I know can heal. Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are real.

When I'm down, let me touch you. When I'm lonely, let me touch you. When I'm discouraged, let me touch you. Oh Lord, like I never have before. Lord, I need you more and more. Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are real. I know to walk by faith, not by sight, but my feelings sometimes turn away my eyes from the childlike way of trusting in your love. How you feel, Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are real.

When I'm down, let me touch you. When I'm lonely, let me touch you. When I'm discouraged, let me touch you. Oh Lord, like I never had before. Lord, I need you more and more. Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are. When I'm down, let me touch you. When I'm lonely, let me touch you. When I'm discouraged, let me touch you. Oh Lord, like I never before. I need you more and more. Jesus, let me touch you and know that you are. Let me touch you and know that you are. Let me touch you and know that you are real. Amen.

So let's first start with a word of prayer. Oh God, our Father, we come before Thee once again to thank you for the opportunity that we have to open the word of God and the opportunity that we have to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and for those of us that know Him, to be encouraged to live for the Lord. So help us tonight, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Men.

Luke 8 and verse 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: For he had one only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went, the people thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood 12 years, which had been, had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood staunched, or stopped. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throngs Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that power is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, falling down before him, and declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. Verse 48: And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. 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. Verse 50: But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. 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. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

So here are two accounts: Jairus, his daughter, who is very ill, and he comes to the Lord. And in that brief time when the Lord is going to, uh, to his house, she actually dies. But in the process of going to the house, there's another woman, uh, or there is a woman, and this woman, uh, had an, uh, a, a blood, an issue of blood. She had some female problem for 12 years. She had bled. Now, Jairus's daughter, we read in verse, uh, 42, that she was 12 years old. And this is very interesting, at the same, uh, year that Jairus's daughter was born, born, uh, the, the woman began to suffer, uh, this issue of blood.

And you know, we read in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 3, there's a time to weep and a time to laugh, there's a time to mourn and a time to dance. So in this life, there is weeping and there's mourning, but there's laughing and dancing. And so just think about this, uh, uh, on, on any particular block with houses on each side, maybe Jairus was living on one side and he has a daughter born and there's, there's laughing and dancing because this little baby has come into the world. But on the other side of the street, perhaps this woman lived and she began to suffer with this, uh, issue of blood, bleeding for 12 years. And Mark tells us in chapter 5, verse 26, that though she had gone to the so many physicians, spent all that she had, and she was nothing better, but only got worse. So she was in a desperate situation.

Well, Jairus's daughter is in a desperate situation. You know, this is the, however we, we begin in life, no matter what the circumstances are, whether we live in poverty or we're born in wealth, whether we're, you know, born in a country that has, uh, many different opportunities or a country that's really destitute of opportunities, wherever we're born, there is always hope. But without Jesus Christ, that hope will soon be quenched. Just like Jairus, his daughter, she's on the point of death. Just like this woman suffering. And this is the world that we live in. It's full of suffering and it's full of death. And that's because of sin. It's not because of God. No, God is going to make a new heaven and a new earth. Though be no more crying, no more tears, and no more death. No, this is because man has sinned against God. You and I have sinned against God, and we have brought into the lives of others weeping and mourning. We should have brought into the lives of others laughing and dancing. But I'll bet if we were honest, we'd say that we brought into other people's lives a lot of weeping and a lot of mourning.

So I, I, I want to make a point here regarding salvation, the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Uh, we see in these, in this, uh, Jairus's daughter, she's dead. There's nothing she can do in order to gain life again. She's dead. A dead person has no hope. They've left this world and, and there's no hope left. And that's why the, the servants came to Jairus and said, you know, don't trouble the Master anymore, your daughter's dead. So the situation's hopeless. It's final. Death is final, except for the Lord Jesus.

But then this woman who has the issue of blood, she comes and presses through the crowd that she might lay her hand upon Him, just to touch Him. That was her faith. She had a living faith. She had heard of the Lord Jesus, and she would let nothing stop her from getting to Him. She, she had, she had no hope. She had spent all her money. She, she was getting worse and not better. And she had heard of a, of the healing power of the Lord Jesus, and she pressed through that crowd to get to Him.

Now, these are the two aspects of salvation. One is, is that the Bible says we're dead in trespasses and sins. There's nothing that we can do in order to get closer to God because our hearts are, are turned away from God, and, uh, we have no desire for Him. And so the Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:4 that God chose us before we ever sinned, before sin ever came into our lives, before sin ever came into the world. God knew us and, and chose us in eternity past. He chose us. And, and that's in Ephesians 1:4. And so though we could do nothing about it, we're like dead, like Jairus, his daughter, and through the Lord Jesus, He brings new life because we're chosen of Him.

But on the other hand, we have faith. You know, we all understand that we can't be saved without faith. We've got to trust in Christ. We've got to repent of our sins and turn to the Lord. And so I just want to read, uh, uh, some verses in Acts chapter 13, two verses that, that are very helpful in, in showing us the two aspects of salvation. One is, is that man must choose to believe in the Lord Jesus. You and I must choose to believe in Him. And the other aspect is, is that God has chosen us. God has chosen us to believe in Christ before the foundation of the world, in eternity past.

So I'm going to read it in Acts chapter 13 and, uh, verse, uh, 46: Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: now listen, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. So Paul had been preaching to these Jews, and he said, We have given you the word of God, but you have pushed it away. You have put it away from you. And in so doing, you've made a judgment. You've judged yourself that you are unworthy of everlasting life. In other words, without the word of God, this is so important, without the word of God, men cannot be saved. You've got to believe in the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And for by grace you are saved through faith. And so it's so significant that we repent of our sins and trust in Christ. And but these people, they refuse to believe.

Now, here's the second group in verse 48: And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were chosen to eternal life believed. As many as were chosen to eternal life believed. Now, the fact is that those that believed were those that had been chosen by God to believe. Now, I want you to understand this, just as we're seeing what Jairus's daughter, she's dead. Nothing she can do. She can't believe. Nothing she can do. Uh, the woman with the issue of blood, she has faith. She pushes through, uh, this crowd in order to get next to the Lord Jesus. So we've got to believe in Christ. We've got to have faith. But we understand that when we believe in Christ, it's because God has chosen us to eternal life. In other words, it's God has seen us, He's known us, He has given us identity and personhood in eternity, and now He has brought us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. And just as it says in, in, uh, Acts 13:48, as many as were chosen to eternal life, they believed.

So this is the two aspects of salvation. It's been likened to a railroad track where you have two rails, and the rails are equal distance apart. They run parallel to each other. And as long as the, the rails remain parallel to each other, the same distance apart, the train rolls along and everything's fine. But if you take one of those rails and move it and turn it where it's not parallel any longer with the other, then the train wrecks. So it's like that with the truth of God. There are two rails, uh, two aspects of salvation. One is that God is sovereign and He chooses who will be saved. Hallelujah! On the other hand, everyone that is saved must believe in order to be saved. You've got to believe in Christ. You've got to repent of your sins. And that's what we see in, uh, this woman with the issue of blood. She represents faith. And Jairus's daughter represents the sovereignty of God who comes to one that cannot believe and raises, uh, Jairus, his daughter from the grave.

So I just want to, uh, bring that out before we look at this a little more closely. How hard it is to lose a child. Nothing can hurt a mother's or a father's heart more than to lose a child. Jairus was desperate to help his daughter, and he went to Jesus. Now, Jairus is a Jew. He was a part of the synagogue, and he went to Jesus because in his religion there was no help for his daughter. He didn't go to another rabbi and ask another rabbi to help. No, uh, we, we all understand that we, though we may go to church when we're in desperate need, uh, when someone in our family is hurting or we're in desperate need, we go straight to God. God, help me. God, save me. And that's how it should be. And, and through Jesus Christ, we can go directly to God.

So Jairus goes to the Lord Jesus and he says, Will you come and, and, and help my daughter? And the Lord Jesus, uh, went with him. And in the process of going, this woman with an issue of blood, she comes. She's dying. She's in pain. She's in sorrow. There's no one to help her. She's lost all of her money. Uh, she's become hopeless. And, and, and yet she has hope. And I want to tell you tonight, you might feel that you're hopeless, that there's no hope. I tell you, there is hope in Christ. No matter how many disappointments you've been through, there's hope in Christ. This woman had been disappointed over and over and over again for 12 years. Not only did she not get better, but she got worse. But she comes to Jesus and she pushes through the crowd.

Now, this woman may have been a Gentile woman because in the Jewish economy, if you bled, if you had any blood, you were determined to be unclean. Uh, this woman would probably have not have been allowed, if she was a Jew, to even be in that, in that group. So she might have been a Gentile woman. And so here is, uh, the Jairus who is a Jew, and the Lord Jesus is going to, uh, to raise his daughter who is a Jewish girl. That's what the Lord Jesus is going to do in a future day regarding the Jewish people. He's going to raise them from the dead in the sense that they have no faith. He's going to come to them and He's going to bring life. And the Book of Ezekiel talks about them being like a graveyard, and He, and He causes the bones to rise, to be joined together and to have life. That's what the Lord Jesus is going to do to Israel in one day. Instead of being an unbelieving people, they're going to believe.

But in the meantime, on, during this time of waiting for Israel to be recovered, the Gentiles are being saved. And we believe in the Lord Jesus because He has been preached unto us that, that there's hope in Him. And so this woman who represents Gentiles who are coming to Christ, and we encourage you tonight to come to Christ, to believe in Him. Whatever obstacles are in your way, there was a crowd around the Lord, but this woman would not allow any obstacle to keep her from getting to Him. Don't allow anything, uh, the lies of the devil, the, the pressures of, of those around you, your friends and, and whatnot. Don't allow anything to keep you from coming to Christ. Uh, and, and so she reached out her hand. She got close enough and reached out her hand, touched Him, and immediately she was healed.

The Lord stopped. You see, He was not going to let her just get a, a blessing, a healing, and then to, to go off without knowing, uh, you know, she, she could have left and thought that she stole a blessing. He wanted her to know that He cared about her. He loved her. He understood her situation, and that God wanted to bless her, and that was why she was healed. So He stopped. Now, the disciples, when the Lord asked, Who touched me? They were amazed because the people were so close to Him. This crowd was pushing against them, and they said, Well, there's a lot of people touching you. But I just want to tell you this, you can be very, you can go to church. I make this very clear in your own mind. You can go to church. There can be a thousand people in that building, and yet only those that have real faith in Christ, only those that are reaching out with a hand of faith and touching Christ, who are desperate to know Him, those are the ones that are truly seeking the Lord. And I would ask you tonight, are you truly seeking the Lord? Are you just content to sit with a thousand people in a church service, you know, being close to the Lord? Some of these people on the day of judgment, they're going to say, Hey, Lord, you taught in our streets and, and, uh, uh, you, you did many wonderful works. And they're knocking on the door because the door is closed, and He's going to tell them, Depart from me, I never knew you. And so it's not enough to have an intellectual knowledge of Jesus. You've got to know Him personally. You've got to reach out in desperation and touch Him.

And so the Lord, uh, uh, stopped. And then this woman saw that she was no longer hidden, and she came. And it says that she told Him all the things that had happened to her. Let me see in verse, um, uh, 47: When the woman saw she was not hid, she came trembling, falling down before him, and declared unto him before all the people what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. She confessed that she was sick, that she was hurting, that she was suffering. And that's what you've got to confess tonight. You've got to be real. You've got to be honest. You're heading for hell without Christ. How can it that be all right? And so this woman confesses the sorrow that she had for 12 years, the pain that she had gone through for 12 years. And she, she, she, uh, confesses Christ, that she touched Him and she was healed. And then the Lord says to her, He says, uh, uh, in verse 48, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. Remember what we said, one aspect of salvation is faith. And so she believed.

Now, imagine this, Jairus in the meantime wants to probably grab a hold of the Lord and, and drag Him to go to his house. I mean, he's, this is an emergency. You know, if, if, if, uh, you call 911 and the ambulance is on the way, you don't want them to stop and get gas on the way to, to come to your house. No, you want them to come directly and as fast as you can. So here the Lord is stopped and He's dealing with this woman. And so then during that time, the, the people come and say, you know, don't trouble the Master anymore, your is dead. What, what, what, what could Jairus do at that moment? The little bit of hope that he had was gone, was gone. You know, you can go to a grave, uh, to a cemetery and there's no hope. You, you go to a funeral, there's no hope. Listen, life is all for the living. And once you pass the door to the grave, it's finished. There's no hope. Now, God can raise the dead, but He did it through the person of the Lord Jesus to make a testimony of who He was. So don't count on Him raising you from the dead. You've got to believe in Christ.

And, and in one sense though, just like this daughter, uh, we're dead in trespasses and sins. We're all without life toward God. So He, He comes to us just like Jairus, his daughter, and, and He gives us life. He gives us life. This is so incredible. You see, but when you're without Christ, you have no connection with God. You can be religious and say prayers, but you have no relationship with Him. And, and it's all about a relationship. And so Christ comes and finds you in this dead condition. And just like with this girl, and He, and He says to her, Tabitha, made arise. Tabitha, arise. Made, arise. He speaks His word. His word is the word of life, and He brings life into that which was once dead. Uh, in John 5, the Lord says, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. Hallelujah! I hope tonight that you hear the voice of the Son of God, and you can know that God chose you from eternity past to be with Him today, tomorrow, until He comes to take you to glory, and you be with Him forever and ever and ever. Amen.

You know, there were those that were scoffers, and when the Lord says that she's not dead, she's sleeping, they mocked Him. They laughed at Him. I want to tell you tonight, people mock at the fact that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. People mock at the miracles in the Bible, even this one, that He raised the dead or He healed this woman. My friends, God is true. Whatever is in the Bible is true. And He gave me life. I was dead in sins, gave me life. And He can do the same for, for you. But on the other hand, I had to reach out in faith, in desperation, and cry out, Lord Jesus, save me. And I laid my hand upon Him, and I touched Him, and the healing power of His love washed away all my guilt, brought life into my dead soul. Hallelujah! And He can do the same for you.

So remember, God is sovereign. Salvation is all of Him. It was not your idea or mine that Jesus should die on the cross. It was not your idea or mine that He should pay for our sins. It was God's idea. God's plan is that we should believe in Christ. But eternity past, God chose us to be in Christ. Ephesians 1:4. If you're a believer, you can know God chose you. Even though sin came into the world, even though sin came into my life, nothing could set aside God's purpose that I should be with Him forever and ever in eternity in Christ. You see how great God is. And God accomplished His purpose through Christ dying on the cross. His purpose was what? That I should be with Him in heaven. How did He accomplish that? Because He sent His Son to die for a sinner like me. Oh, praise His name! And you can know tonight, if you receive Christ as Lord and Savior, that God sent His Son into the world that you could be with Him forever because He chose you in eternity past. But you've got tonight to believe. You've got to be in desperation and reach out. Don't allow, allow any hindrance to keep you from coming to the Lord tonight. Do not say, Manana. That's tomorrow. That, that's a lie from hell. You may not have tomorrow. You trust Christ tonight. Give Him your life and let Him wash away all your sins and all your guilt in Jesus' name.

Let's pray. Our God, we thank you tonight. Oh, we praise Thee for such a Savior as the Lord Jesus. We thank you that, that this salvation is so great, that though we must believe, the Bible says that we have not chosen you, but you've chosen us. Hallelujah! How great is this! I pray, oh God, that if there's a man or woman listening tonight that needs to reach out and to, to find hope in Christ, my friend, find hope in Christ right now. Now, reach out with the hand of faith. Lay hold upon Him. He will meet every need that you have. He'll bring hope into hopelessness and healing where there is sickness and sorrow. Hallelujah! He'll make joy and dancing a way of life for you. Trust Christ tonight. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.