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Part 12 of 44Journey Through Matthew
God of Miracles Series
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Part 12 of 44Journey Through Matthew
God of Miracles Series
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Brothers and sisters, I want to start by talking about something very serious that none of us under the sound of my voice is immune to: trouble. The longer you live, the longer you realize that trouble is inevitable and unavoidable. Money cannot insulate you against trouble. Status cannot insulate trouble. Connections cannot insulate you against trouble. And even a tenacious walk with God—though that doesn't exist perfectly—cannot insulate you against trouble.
You're not going to get out of this life without dealing with some trouble. Everyone in this room, everyone watching right now across YouTube, we have all dealt with agitations and frustrations that come with trouble.
If you survey your life and look over your shoulder, you will quickly recognize that trouble enters into our lives through one of three channels.
First, self-inflicted trouble. Mistakes that you make. Stupid things that you do. Things you're supposed to do and don't do—as a result of bad decision-making, no decision-making, aggressive decision-making, or passive decision-making—your own personal actions invite trouble into your life.
Second, trouble inflicted by other people. Someone else inflicts trouble upon your life: abuse, rape, molestation, a parent that abandoned you, rejection from a group home, betrayal from a friend, someone walking out of your life, someone giving you divorce papers when you were fighting for a marriage. These are troubles caused by the actions of others.
Third, uncontrolled trouble. This is the most difficult to reconcile in our minds. I did not plan for this. I did not see this coming. This is not what I wanted to happen in my life. "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? I'm doing everything I know how to do. I'm serving the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm being faithful in everything I know how to do. And yet, this thing has hit my house. This thing has hit my marriage."
All of human suffering, all of your tears, all of your insecurities, all of your issues—all of the problems we have right now—are linked to the fact that we are living in a Genesis 3 world. We're living in a world that is fallen and broken. Not because this is what God wanted. We're living in a world that we have created because of our rebellion against God.
God created a world that was perfect and ordered. But because we thought we were smarter than God, our pristine parents rebelled against God and plunged the world into sin. And because of that, the reason for all these things is sin. That's why I keep trying to get you to hate sin. I want you to hate sin in you. I want you to hate sin in the world.
Some of us keep sin in our house like a pet on a leash. No—I want you to hate sin. I hate it in my heart. I hate it in my mind. I hate it in the world because sin is the origin of all of our pain.
Stop blaming the government. Stop blaming all these people. We're dealing with the products of leaders who are filled with sin. The answer is not the next president or the current president. It's the spread of the gospel. It's the saving of souls. It's the spread of the kingdom of God. There's nothing going to change a man's heart like the power of the gospel.
Our text is Matthew chapter 9, verses 18 through 26. Let me set the context. Matthew, an outcast Jew, records for us the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He records the birth and incarnation of Christ, the ministry of John the Baptist, when Christ was being afflicted by King Herod as a little boy.
Matthew records the rise of the ministry of Jesus and his own calling to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Matthew records this next incident.
In Matthew chapter 9, verse 18, he says: "While he, which is Jesus, was saying these things to them...behold, a very strong word, a ruler came in and knelt before him saying, 'My daughter has just died. But come and lay your hand on her.'"
This was illegal for a Jew to touch a dead body. But watch—this man has so much faith. He said, "Forget tradition." Sometimes your need has got to be greater than man-made traditions. A ruler came to him and said to a Jew, "My daughter has died, but forget tradition. Trouble has hit my home. Don't got time to be pretty now. Don't got time for man-made traditions now. Come and lay your hand on this dead child."
Now, if we look at Mark's Gospel for details that Matthew leaves out, we learn that this man's name is Jairus. He is a ruler of a synagogue—a man with great influence and status. He is responsible for running the church. But he is not immune from trouble. Status can't keep him from trouble. His position can't keep him from trouble. Him doing everything he knows to do in the law can't keep him from trouble.
Jairus may have been a Pharisee—a member of a religious Jewish sect that became the chief agitators of Jesus. So put the pieces together: He's a ruler of a synagogue, a man of status, a man of money, maybe a Pharisee who knew about Jesus. Jesus is supposed to be his enemy. But his need is greater than his pride.
Jairus gets the call that no parent wants to get. Your daughter was found dead. This is a real human being who lived in the first century AD. This is a man who had a little girl—Mark tells us she was 12 years old. This is daddy's little joy. If you got a daughter, you know what daughters do to you. If your child gets sick, you feel some type of way. This man who loves his daughter—he must love her because he's breaking tradition. He's swallowing his pride. He doesn't care if his sect is the enemy of Jesus.
He comes before a man that's supposed to be the enemy of his own sect. And what does he do? He kneels down. That knee on the ground is a sign of humility. "I'm at the mercy of this circumstance, and I'm at the mercy of you, our Lord. I know you're a Jew. I know you're not supposed to touch dead bodies. But I don't got time for tradition. There is something happening right now in my house."
Let me ask you a question: How do you respond to trouble? How do you respond to trouble you can't control?
Some of us, when trouble you can't control hits your house, you just get paralyzed by fear. Sometimes when trouble hits at home that we weren't prepared for, you know how we respond? With depression. We just sink into a basement and we stay there.
Sometimes when trouble hits you that you can't control, you know how some of y'all respond? Just with indifference. You just don't care that your family's a wreck. Everything is blowing up around you. Your marriage is falling apart. Your mind is falling apart.
Why? Because some of us, we make dysfunction a family member. We love dysfunction so it becomes normal to us. Some of us have been raised in dysfunction so long we just think dysfunction is normal. So you think it's normal to be fighting every day, arguing every day, being in a beef every day, and you think it's normal to not have peace.
But there's another way some of you respond to trouble. There's some of us when trouble comes, we try to be the god of our own lives. This is bigger than you and it's above your pay grade. But you don't even have the humility to go to God. Instead you're going to try to engineer your way out. You're going to try to manufacture your way out because we love being the god of our own lives. We think that we're all wise and all knowing and that we really have all the answers for our trouble that's much bigger than our experience.
But what did trouble do to Jairus? He didn't stay in panic. He didn't stay in fear. He didn't try to be the god of his own life. Trouble pushed him into the hands of the savior.
I want to tell all of you, my brothers and sisters: When you are dealing with trouble in your life—hardships, agitations, pressure, especially that which you cannot control—the best place you can run is to the presence of the savior. The scripture says our God is a strong tower. The righteous run into him and are safe. We find refuge under the shadow of his wings. So why are you trying to handle all that trouble on your own? Your shoulders ain't tough enough for that.
I know you said, "But Pastor, you don't know my life. I ain't been reading my Bible, and I ain't been praying, and I feel ashamed about some mistake that I made." Let me tell you something—the devil is a liar. The Lord delights in being needed.
Let me teach you about the character of your Father. He takes delight in being needed. He loves to hear the cry of his children. He loves when your back is up against the wall and you have no place to turn but to look up. Some of you, you're so prideful that he'll just let stuff blow up in your life just to get your attention.
It doesn't matter if you feel ashamed. It doesn't matter if you feel distant. I'm telling you, according to the word of God, the Lord loves to be needed. He loves to hear the cry of his children. He loves when you sit in tears in the middle of the night and you have no place to go but up. He loves when you open your Bible and you say, "Lord, just speak to my heart right here." He loves when you fall on your knees and say, "Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do, but the only thing I can do is trust you anyhow."
When I think about trouble, I feel like the Lord always responds to trouble in three ways.
First, the Lord responds to trouble by delivering you from it. You cry and then he opens a door and walks you out of the situation instantaneously.
Second, the Lord responds by giving you strength to walk through it. You'll cry out in the middle of trouble and he won't deliver you from that trouble. He'll just give you the strength to walk all the way through it.
Third, the Lord responds by delivering and transforming you at the same time. You'll cry out for deliverance from trouble and the Lord will both deliver you and transform you at the same time.
Why do I separate these three? Because they're different. There are people who cry out to God for deliverance in the middle of trouble, the Lord moves on their behalf, and then they forget the Lord. There's Bible for that—the whole book of Judges. God's people receive his laws, his purpose, his presence. They go after strange gods. They get in bondage. They cry out to God for deliverance. The Lord sends somebody to deliver them from trouble. They live chill for a little while. They forget God. They go right back into bondage. It's like a cycle of dysfunction. He's only good enough to help when I'm in trouble, but not good enough to follow.
And then there's some people—the Lord is not going to deliver you from that trouble. It'll be like Paul, a former murderer who was saved, who cried out to the Lord three times: "Lord, this thorn in my side, this agitation in my life, would you take this away from me?" Three times Paul prayed, "Lord, take this away from me." And the Lord said, "No. I would not take that away from you, but Paul will learn that my grace is sufficient to walk with you through this thing that's agitating you."
And then there's sometimes the Lord will deliver and transform in the same time. I think about Mary Magdalene, who was possessed with seven demons. The Lord delivers her from that demon oppression and transforms her life. She becomes a committed follower of Jesus. When the Lord is resurrected on a Sunday morning, she becomes the first person to preach the gospel. A former prostitute, possessed by a demon, delivered from trouble and transformed.
The problem is too many of us—the Lord delivers, but we don't learn. So he pulls you out, but you remain ignorant of the lesson.
How does the Lord respond to Jairus? Look at verse 19 of Matthew: "And Jesus arose and followed him, with his disciples."
The Lord looked past all the barriers that should hinder him from moving. You know what the Lord saw? Humility. You know what the Lord saw? Worship. Worship has an effect on God's heart. Humility has an effect on God.
I remember my Scripture saying: A broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise. That even when I don't feel right, even when I know I haven't done right, if in humility and worship and in homage I cry out to the Lord, "Help me, Jesus," he will move toward you in some shape, some form, somehow. He'll either deliver or he'll walk you through it.
Now, a desperate man named Jairus, Jesus, and his disciples are traveling to Jairus' house to raise to life the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died. They're walking through a city on the way to raise a dead girl who's 12 years old.
As they're walking, verse 20 happens. And I see that word again: behold, which means stop and pay attention.
A woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his garments. For she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well."
So Jesus, Jairus, and his disciples are headed to the house of a desperate man to see a 12-year-old girl who has died physically. And they are interrupted by another desperate person who's been sick for 12 years, who has died socially.
Matthew doesn't give us details about her life. Let me give you her details from Mark's account. Mark tells us:
There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. And who suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
Let me paint a picture for you. We don't know her name, but let's call her Sarah. Sarah has a husband maybe. She has a mother and father. She has family and friends. Sarah has a normal life. In the middle of the month, Sarah comes on to her period like any other month. Let's say she's a five-day cycle. That's normal, that's fine.
But six days come and she's still bleeding. It's all right though. Her girlfriend is a seven-dayer, no problem. Ten days go by. Twelve days. Two weeks now, she's starting to get concerned. And because of Jewish culture, she's considered unclean while she's bleeding. She can't have sex with her husband. Anything she sits on is unclean. And because of Jewish culture, while she's bleeding, she has to be in isolation. So she's been in isolation for two weeks. She ain't sleeping with her husband. If she had one, he's feeling some type of way.
She can't see her girlfriends because nobody can come near her—she's unclean. And since most people did not own a wardrobe, she's running through her clothing because she has to keep washing the same clothes every two days because her cycle won't stop. She don't got a wardrobe to keep picking out new clothes. So she's bloody every day, rinses out those clothes, and puts back on the same garments to just get bloody by the end of the day.
Now it's 21 days and she's still bleeding. If she has a husband, he's concerned. If she got children, she hasn't seen them. If she got girlfriends, she hasn't seen them. Now it's a month and she's very nervous. She makes her first appointment to go see a doctor. He examines her and says, "I've never seen this before. I don't know what to do. Drink this tonic. Hopefully it helps." She pays for the tonic, but now it's two months. Now it's three months. She's getting tired of washing clothes. Now she's starting to get worried. She goes back to see another doctor. He examines her, says, "I've never seen this condition before, but drink this tonic." She pays big money for that, but she's still not well.
Now it's six months. If she was married, her marriage now is going through tension. Her children are not around her. Her girlfriends are not around her. She has not seen anybody in the community. She can't even go to the synagogue. She can't even be in church. She's been isolated, unclean, for six months. She's been washing her clothes every day for six months. She hasn't slept with her husband for six months. Hasn't seen her friends for six months. Hasn't seen her children for six months. Now she's going to multiple doctors.
Now it's a year. By this time, if she had a husband, he's probably gone. Why? Because we learned from the Sermon on the Mount that Jewish men were divorcing their wives quickly. So if she had a husband, he's probably gone by now. She ain't seen her friends in five years. They can't come near her. She ain't been to church in five years. She can't go to the synagogue. She's running through clothes. She's burning through money. She's burned through her 401k, her Roth IRA, her money market account. She's running through her savings. Yes, she's depressed. Yes, she's in despair. Yes, she's crying every night.
Five years turn to seven. Seven years turn to ten. By ten years, you've probably accepted this as dysfunction. It's always going to be like this. This will probably never change.
But she hears the report about a rabbi. After 12 years, hope comes back into her life.
Now everybody watch this. She hears the report about the rabbi. While Jesus, Jairus, and the disciples are traveling to Jairus' house to raise the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died physically, this woman who has been sick for 12 years—who has died socially—pushes through the crowd.
Watch this. She's saying to herself in her mind: "If I just grab the hem of his garment, I've been stuck here for 12 years. And I know because I'm unclean, I can't talk to a Jew face-to-face. But I don't care. I'm going to hijack a miracle anyway. Ain't nobody going to stop me from getting this miracle right here. I don't care if he's a Jew and I don't care if I got no more money. I'm at the end of my rope and the only person that can help me now must be this rabbi."
She's pushing through the crowd and she says to herself: "If I could just grab the hem of his garment, I believe that this 12-year trial, if I get a hold of Jesus, I believe that this 12-year trial can come to an end."
Why is she saying, "If I just grab the hem of his garment"? Why would she think that his clothes could bring her healing? What in her mind would think his clothes could bring her healing?
I got two theories. I don't know which one is right. The first word is superstition—a belief without reason that is unfounded. She's just superstitious and just believes, If I touch this man's clothes, I know this 12-year battle's about to be over.
But there's another S. My other theory is called scripture. In the last book of the Old Testament, there is a prophet who wrote named Malachi. In Malachi chapter 4, he makes a prophecy. He says:
A day is coming when the son of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings.
Now, if you read the prophecy, it says S-U-N, like the sunshine. But it attributes to the sunshine righteousness. The sun is an inanimate object, so there is no righteous quality about the sun. So the prophet is not talking about the physical sun. He's using the sun as a metaphor for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of Righteousness, and he says about him, "When he arises, there will be healing in his wings."
That word wings is a Hebrew word which means the extremity of one's garments or tassels.
I don't know if she was superstitious, or she read Malachi, because they had the Old Testament. But if she did read Malachi, she would have known that whenever this Son of Righteousness arise, whatever he was wearing, there would be healing in his wings. In the border of his garment, there would be healing. So if she read that, her faith was founded on something she read in the word of God.
Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Maybe she read There is the Sun of Righteousness. And because of what I read, I believe.
Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. I've read that he is good. I've read that he is a promise keeper. I've read that he is the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star. I've read that he is Christ the Healer, Christ the Redeemer, Christ the Restorer. Because of what I read, I believe.
Last week, somebody made a threat against me. Our security team was on high alert. I remember sitting at my desk and watching, and I was nervous. Can I be honest? I was nervous. And the Holy Spirit told me to go to Psalm 91.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and buckler. You will not fear..."
Because of what I read, I believed. I read that Scripture, and I felt peace. Lord, I'm in your hands. When you're ready to take me, it is a wrap. So I'm going to go to church and preach my heart out. I don't care about no threats. Because of what I read, I believed that the Lord was saying, "I got you."
So whether she was superstitious or she read the scriptures, you take whichever one you want. She would not be the last person to grab Jesus' garments and be healed.
Verse 22 of Matthew: "Jesus turned and said, seeing her, he said, 'Take heart, daughter. Your faith has made you well.' And instantly the woman was made well."
Everybody look at Jesus' words. "Take heart." He's saying that to a woman who was in despair. He's saying, "Be encouraged." He calls her daughter. He's saying that to a woman who was disconnected from community. Saying, "You belong." So he gives her comfort. He gives her community. "Your faith has made you well." He's saying this to a woman to commend her for her faith.
There's comfort, community, and commendation.
And then the last verses. "And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making commotion, he said, 'Go away, for the girl is not dead, but she is sleeping.'"
Today, when you go to a funeral, they're quiet, they're somber, they're respectful. Not in those days. According to Jewish law, you had to hire one musician and one wailing woman, minimum. So you went into a funeral and there's somebody playing music and there's somebody yelling and crying and screaming. So there's loud, there's disruptive.
Jesus comes in and he says to them, "Go away. Get out of here. This girl ain't dead. She only sleeping."
At which they laugh at him. When my father passed in my mother's home, three months after we started this church, I remember looking at his lifeless body because he had just transitioned to eternity. I thought to myself, If somebody knocked on my door and came in and said, "Leo is not dead. He's just asleep," I wouldn't have laughed at that person, but maybe something inside me might have thought, maybe this is going to be a divine moment.
But they laughed. They didn't have faith. They didn't believe something divine was going to happen.
And what do you do when you're going through trouble and you're around people with no faith? You do what Jesus did. Verse 25: "But when the crowd had been put out, he threw them out. He set a boundary between him and people who had no faith."
Because sometimes there's some level of sorrow that doesn't let Christ in. Like, okay, you've been depressed about this for so long, Jesus can't even talk to you. So you got to throw that out. And then there's some level of faithlessness that doesn't let Christ in. So you got to throw that out too.
Faithlessness must be thrown out and excessive sorrow must be thrown out. Both of them block Christ from getting in. Sometimes when you're going through, you need people around you who can believe with you.
That's why whenever I'm casting vision with my staff, I don't let them use the words "we can't." I don't let my children say "we can't." I don't like negative Nancys around me. Don't be birth control to my vision.
You got to know—sometimes in your life, I don't care if they're your family, I don't care if they're your mother or father. You got to know sometimes when people are antichrist and the devil is using them to hinder what God is trying to do. You got to know how to set proper boundaries.
Love is a grace gift. We owe that to everyone. Access must be earned.
He put them out. And he took her by the hand—which was illegal. And the girl arose. Because sleep is just temporary for the believer. And the report of this went through all that district. The fame of Jesus spread.
My brothers, my sisters, trouble is inevitable, man. This life is full of hardships. I know you keep listening to that cotton candy gospel that makes you think you're awesome in a bag of chips and that because you fast and pray and read your Bible, you're never going to have problems.
Jesus said in this life you will have trouble. Trouble is going to come. You're going to have problems and hardships and trials. But from this text, with a heart of humility and contrition, there's nothing you're going to go through that the Lord is not willing to step into that space with you.
Man, sometimes all that's needed is a touch for the Lord to restore. Restore peace, restore healing, restore faith, restore joy.
Somebody look at me. Sometimes when you feel like you can't get to Jesus yourself because you feel far away from him, okay? Maybe you can't touch Christ for yourself, but you can touch something that's attached to Christ. Like she touched the bottom of his garments. You maybe feel far away, but you can touch something that's attached to Christ.
Like you can touch a seasoned saint that has the wisdom of Christ. You can touch a prayer warrior that has the fire of Christ. You can touch a small group that has the care of Christ. You can touch a new church that has the heart of Christ.
That even if I feel like I can't get to him, I can still grab something that's touching him.
I want to say to everyone who's catching these tears, my sister. Everyone in this room right now who's going through anything—anything, anything—we're not helpless. We're not forsaken. We're not abandoned. The Lord is willing to step into that space.
My daughter Abigail who's home sick right now: when my wife was pregnant with her, like three or four months, we got our first ultrasound. The doctors came in the room and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, we have bad news for you. Your daughter has a massive cyst on her brain. It's leaking liquid down her spinal cord. She's going to be born with some type of mental deformity. She'll never be able to walk probably. She'll never be able to..." And because of where it is, we can't perform surgery. We can't go into the womb. "We're sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. There's nothing we can do about this."
But because of what I read, I believe.
I remember going home and opening my Bible to Isaiah 53, where the prophet says: "Who's report shall we believe?" And I took that ultrasound and I laid it on Isaiah 53. And Lita and I got down on our knees. And in the middle of our trouble, we didn't sit in fear. We didn't sit in pride. We didn't try to be the god of our own life. Trouble pushed us into the hands and the word of God. And we laid our hands on Isaiah 53 and we cried out for Abigail: "God, this is beyond our control."
And because of what I read, he may not always come through the way that we want him to. But we got to keep reading and believing that we can touch God and he can restore.
And what he did for Abigail in the womb was restore to her health even before she came out of the womb. But because of what I read, I had believed. And the Lord came into that trouble with my wife and I. He was willing. He got up from the table and walked with us to heal Abby.
What trouble are you facing? What are you believing God for? What has he spoken over your life? He is willing. He is able. He is compassionate. He is kind. He is a healer. And with one touch, he can restore anything that was lost. And even if it doesn't happen in this life, all will be made well in the life to come.
The most important thing that will ever be restored in this life is you back to the Father. There are men and women in this room right now who are disconnected from God and you know it. You do church well, but you're not in relationship.
Here is the gospel, my friend, my brother, my sister. You are a sinner and I am a sinner. We have broken God's laws. And the Scripture says if anyone dies in their sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. Hell is forever and it is real.
But the Father in his love for you sent the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a sacrificial death in your place. And the Father says: If anyone would turn from sin, put their faith in the Son, I will save you. I will deliver you. I will restore you back to me as a son, as a daughter.
You can walk out of here a brand new man, a brand new woman.
You feel it right now in your belly, the Lord calling you. You feel it in the pit of your gut. He's working in your heart even right now. It is sovereign. It has nothing to do with me. Right there in your chair, just surrender to the Lord Jesus. Tell him you're sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender. Put your trust in him. Tomorrow's not promised to you. He has a life for you inside the kingdom that is much greater than the life you're living right now.
When I count to three, I just want you to throw your hands up in the air and leave it there. You're saying, "Preacher, that's me. I'm feeling something happen in my heart. I'm surrendering. I'm letting go. I'm shedding tears. I'm not going another day like this. I'm giving my life to Christ right now. I want the Lord to touch me. I want to be restored back to the Father. I want to live a life of purpose. I want my sins to be forgiven. I want heaven to be my future and hell to be my past."
If that's you, on a count of three, throw your hands up. Come forward. Come down here right now. Come all the way down here.
Everybody at this altar, your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed because you're not focused on me. I'm just a man. He sees you. It's okay. He sees, he knows. He knows you would be here in this moment.
These are the tears of repentance. I can't do that. Only the Holy Spirit can.
Father, I thank you that you are saving these sons and daughters by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, that you are filling them with your Spirit. I thank you, God, Lord, that you are erasing their past and that you are forgiving their sins. I thank you, God, their names are being recorded right now in the book of life. I thank you, God, they're about to be brand new creatures inside the kingdom.
May the lamb who was slain receive the reward of his suffering.
Everybody at this altar, look at me now. Eye contact now. The word says about you that if anyone is in Christ, you are a brand new creature. The old is gone, the new has come. The word says about you that all of your sins have been forgiven. You have been washed in the blood of the lamb. The word says about you that your name has been written now in the lamb's book of life. The word says about you that you are now the son, the daughter of the God Most High. He is your Father. You can talk to him about anything, everything, anywhere, anytime.
Today is the beginning. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. Forward. When you leave here today, find a Bible-teaching church where Christ alone is being exalted. If you live in Atlanta, you don't have to run. We are your new family. We don't do membership here. We just want you to keep coming back. Just stay and spend time with us.
Brothers and sisters, I want to start by talking about something very serious that none of us under the sound of my voice is immune to: trouble. The longer you live, the longer you realize that trouble is inevitable and unavoidable. Money cannot insulate you against trouble. Status cannot insulate trouble. Connections cannot insulate you against trouble. And even a tenacious walk with God—though that doesn't exist perfectly—cannot insulate you against trouble.
You're not going to get out of this life without dealing with some trouble. Everyone in this room, everyone watching right now across YouTube, we have all dealt with agitations and frustrations that come with trouble.
If you survey your life and look over your shoulder, you will quickly recognize that trouble enters into our lives through one of three channels.
First, self-inflicted trouble. Mistakes that you make. Stupid things that you do. Things you're supposed to do and don't do—as a result of bad decision-making, no decision-making, aggressive decision-making, or passive decision-making—your own personal actions invite trouble into your life.
Second, trouble inflicted by other people. Someone else inflicts trouble upon your life: abuse, rape, molestation, a parent that abandoned you, rejection from a group home, betrayal from a friend, someone walking out of your life, someone giving you divorce papers when you were fighting for a marriage. These are troubles caused by the actions of others.
Third, uncontrolled trouble. This is the most difficult to reconcile in our minds. I did not plan for this. I did not see this coming. This is not what I wanted to happen in my life. "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? I'm doing everything I know how to do. I'm serving the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm being faithful in everything I know how to do. And yet, this thing has hit my house. This thing has hit my marriage."
All of human suffering, all of your tears, all of your insecurities, all of your issues—all of the problems we have right now—are linked to the fact that we are living in a Genesis 3 world. We're living in a world that is fallen and broken. Not because this is what God wanted. We're living in a world that we have created because of our rebellion against God.
God created a world that was perfect and ordered. But because we thought we were smarter than God, our pristine parents rebelled against God and plunged the world into sin. And because of that, the reason for all these things is sin. That's why I keep trying to get you to hate sin. I want you to hate sin in you. I want you to hate sin in the world.
Some of us keep sin in our house like a pet on a leash. No—I want you to hate sin. I hate it in my heart. I hate it in my mind. I hate it in the world because sin is the origin of all of our pain.
Stop blaming the government. Stop blaming all these people. We're dealing with the products of leaders who are filled with sin. The answer is not the next president or the current president. It's the spread of the gospel. It's the saving of souls. It's the spread of the kingdom of God. There's nothing going to change a man's heart like the power of the gospel.
Our text is Matthew chapter 9, verses 18 through 26. Let me set the context. Matthew, an outcast Jew, records for us the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He records the birth and incarnation of Christ, the ministry of John the Baptist, when Christ was being afflicted by King Herod as a little boy.
Matthew records the rise of the ministry of Jesus and his own calling to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Matthew records this next incident.
In Matthew chapter 9, verse 18, he says: "While he, which is Jesus, was saying these things to them...behold, a very strong word, a ruler came in and knelt before him saying, 'My daughter has just died. But come and lay your hand on her.'"
This was illegal for a Jew to touch a dead body. But watch—this man has so much faith. He said, "Forget tradition." Sometimes your need has got to be greater than man-made traditions. A ruler came to him and said to a Jew, "My daughter has died, but forget tradition. Trouble has hit my home. Don't got time to be pretty now. Don't got time for man-made traditions now. Come and lay your hand on this dead child."
Now, if we look at Mark's Gospel for details that Matthew leaves out, we learn that this man's name is Jairus. He is a ruler of a synagogue—a man with great influence and status. He is responsible for running the church. But he is not immune from trouble. Status can't keep him from trouble. His position can't keep him from trouble. Him doing everything he knows to do in the law can't keep him from trouble.
Jairus may have been a Pharisee—a member of a religious Jewish sect that became the chief agitators of Jesus. So put the pieces together: He's a ruler of a synagogue, a man of status, a man of money, maybe a Pharisee who knew about Jesus. Jesus is supposed to be his enemy. But his need is greater than his pride.
Jairus gets the call that no parent wants to get. Your daughter was found dead. This is a real human being who lived in the first century AD. This is a man who had a little girl—Mark tells us she was 12 years old. This is daddy's little joy. If you got a daughter, you know what daughters do to you. If your child gets sick, you feel some type of way. This man who loves his daughter—he must love her because he's breaking tradition. He's swallowing his pride. He doesn't care if his sect is the enemy of Jesus.
He comes before a man that's supposed to be the enemy of his own sect. And what does he do? He kneels down. That knee on the ground is a sign of humility. "I'm at the mercy of this circumstance, and I'm at the mercy of you, our Lord. I know you're a Jew. I know you're not supposed to touch dead bodies. But I don't got time for tradition. There is something happening right now in my house."
Let me ask you a question: How do you respond to trouble? How do you respond to trouble you can't control?
Some of us, when trouble you can't control hits your house, you just get paralyzed by fear. Sometimes when trouble hits at home that we weren't prepared for, you know how we respond? With depression. We just sink into a basement and we stay there.
Sometimes when trouble hits you that you can't control, you know how some of y'all respond? Just with indifference. You just don't care that your family's a wreck. Everything is blowing up around you. Your marriage is falling apart. Your mind is falling apart.
Why? Because some of us, we make dysfunction a family member. We love dysfunction so it becomes normal to us. Some of us have been raised in dysfunction so long we just think dysfunction is normal. So you think it's normal to be fighting every day, arguing every day, being in a beef every day, and you think it's normal to not have peace.
But there's another way some of you respond to trouble. There's some of us when trouble comes, we try to be the god of our own lives. This is bigger than you and it's above your pay grade. But you don't even have the humility to go to God. Instead you're going to try to engineer your way out. You're going to try to manufacture your way out because we love being the god of our own lives. We think that we're all wise and all knowing and that we really have all the answers for our trouble that's much bigger than our experience.
But what did trouble do to Jairus? He didn't stay in panic. He didn't stay in fear. He didn't try to be the god of his own life. Trouble pushed him into the hands of the savior.
I want to tell all of you, my brothers and sisters: When you are dealing with trouble in your life—hardships, agitations, pressure, especially that which you cannot control—the best place you can run is to the presence of the savior. The scripture says our God is a strong tower. The righteous run into him and are safe. We find refuge under the shadow of his wings. So why are you trying to handle all that trouble on your own? Your shoulders ain't tough enough for that.
I know you said, "But Pastor, you don't know my life. I ain't been reading my Bible, and I ain't been praying, and I feel ashamed about some mistake that I made." Let me tell you something—the devil is a liar. The Lord delights in being needed.
Let me teach you about the character of your Father. He takes delight in being needed. He loves to hear the cry of his children. He loves when your back is up against the wall and you have no place to turn but to look up. Some of you, you're so prideful that he'll just let stuff blow up in your life just to get your attention.
It doesn't matter if you feel ashamed. It doesn't matter if you feel distant. I'm telling you, according to the word of God, the Lord loves to be needed. He loves to hear the cry of his children. He loves when you sit in tears in the middle of the night and you have no place to go but up. He loves when you open your Bible and you say, "Lord, just speak to my heart right here." He loves when you fall on your knees and say, "Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do, but the only thing I can do is trust you anyhow."
When I think about trouble, I feel like the Lord always responds to trouble in three ways.
First, the Lord responds to trouble by delivering you from it. You cry and then he opens a door and walks you out of the situation instantaneously.
Second, the Lord responds by giving you strength to walk through it. You'll cry out in the middle of trouble and he won't deliver you from that trouble. He'll just give you the strength to walk all the way through it.
Third, the Lord responds by delivering and transforming you at the same time. You'll cry out for deliverance from trouble and the Lord will both deliver you and transform you at the same time.
Why do I separate these three? Because they're different. There are people who cry out to God for deliverance in the middle of trouble, the Lord moves on their behalf, and then they forget the Lord. There's Bible for that—the whole book of Judges. God's people receive his laws, his purpose, his presence. They go after strange gods. They get in bondage. They cry out to God for deliverance. The Lord sends somebody to deliver them from trouble. They live chill for a little while. They forget God. They go right back into bondage. It's like a cycle of dysfunction. He's only good enough to help when I'm in trouble, but not good enough to follow.
And then there's some people—the Lord is not going to deliver you from that trouble. It'll be like Paul, a former murderer who was saved, who cried out to the Lord three times: "Lord, this thorn in my side, this agitation in my life, would you take this away from me?" Three times Paul prayed, "Lord, take this away from me." And the Lord said, "No. I would not take that away from you, but Paul will learn that my grace is sufficient to walk with you through this thing that's agitating you."
And then there's sometimes the Lord will deliver and transform in the same time. I think about Mary Magdalene, who was possessed with seven demons. The Lord delivers her from that demon oppression and transforms her life. She becomes a committed follower of Jesus. When the Lord is resurrected on a Sunday morning, she becomes the first person to preach the gospel. A former prostitute, possessed by a demon, delivered from trouble and transformed.
The problem is too many of us—the Lord delivers, but we don't learn. So he pulls you out, but you remain ignorant of the lesson.
How does the Lord respond to Jairus? Look at verse 19 of Matthew: "And Jesus arose and followed him, with his disciples."
The Lord looked past all the barriers that should hinder him from moving. You know what the Lord saw? Humility. You know what the Lord saw? Worship. Worship has an effect on God's heart. Humility has an effect on God.
I remember my Scripture saying: A broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise. That even when I don't feel right, even when I know I haven't done right, if in humility and worship and in homage I cry out to the Lord, "Help me, Jesus," he will move toward you in some shape, some form, somehow. He'll either deliver or he'll walk you through it.
Now, a desperate man named Jairus, Jesus, and his disciples are traveling to Jairus' house to raise to life the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died. They're walking through a city on the way to raise a dead girl who's 12 years old.
As they're walking, verse 20 happens. And I see that word again: behold, which means stop and pay attention.
A woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his garments. For she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well."
So Jesus, Jairus, and his disciples are headed to the house of a desperate man to see a 12-year-old girl who has died physically. And they are interrupted by another desperate person who's been sick for 12 years, who has died socially.
Matthew doesn't give us details about her life. Let me give you her details from Mark's account. Mark tells us:
There was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. And who suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
Let me paint a picture for you. We don't know her name, but let's call her Sarah. Sarah has a husband maybe. She has a mother and father. She has family and friends. Sarah has a normal life. In the middle of the month, Sarah comes on to her period like any other month. Let's say she's a five-day cycle. That's normal, that's fine.
But six days come and she's still bleeding. It's all right though. Her girlfriend is a seven-dayer, no problem. Ten days go by. Twelve days. Two weeks now, she's starting to get concerned. And because of Jewish culture, she's considered unclean while she's bleeding. She can't have sex with her husband. Anything she sits on is unclean. And because of Jewish culture, while she's bleeding, she has to be in isolation. So she's been in isolation for two weeks. She ain't sleeping with her husband. If she had one, he's feeling some type of way.
She can't see her girlfriends because nobody can come near her—she's unclean. And since most people did not own a wardrobe, she's running through her clothing because she has to keep washing the same clothes every two days because her cycle won't stop. She don't got a wardrobe to keep picking out new clothes. So she's bloody every day, rinses out those clothes, and puts back on the same garments to just get bloody by the end of the day.
Now it's 21 days and she's still bleeding. If she has a husband, he's concerned. If she got children, she hasn't seen them. If she got girlfriends, she hasn't seen them. Now it's a month and she's very nervous. She makes her first appointment to go see a doctor. He examines her and says, "I've never seen this before. I don't know what to do. Drink this tonic. Hopefully it helps." She pays for the tonic, but now it's two months. Now it's three months. She's getting tired of washing clothes. Now she's starting to get worried. She goes back to see another doctor. He examines her, says, "I've never seen this condition before, but drink this tonic." She pays big money for that, but she's still not well.
Now it's six months. If she was married, her marriage now is going through tension. Her children are not around her. Her girlfriends are not around her. She has not seen anybody in the community. She can't even go to the synagogue. She can't even be in church. She's been isolated, unclean, for six months. She's been washing her clothes every day for six months. She hasn't slept with her husband for six months. Hasn't seen her friends for six months. Hasn't seen her children for six months. Now she's going to multiple doctors.
Now it's a year. By this time, if she had a husband, he's probably gone. Why? Because we learned from the Sermon on the Mount that Jewish men were divorcing their wives quickly. So if she had a husband, he's probably gone by now. She ain't seen her friends in five years. They can't come near her. She ain't been to church in five years. She can't go to the synagogue. She's running through clothes. She's burning through money. She's burned through her 401k, her Roth IRA, her money market account. She's running through her savings. Yes, she's depressed. Yes, she's in despair. Yes, she's crying every night.
Five years turn to seven. Seven years turn to ten. By ten years, you've probably accepted this as dysfunction. It's always going to be like this. This will probably never change.
But she hears the report about a rabbi. After 12 years, hope comes back into her life.
Now everybody watch this. She hears the report about the rabbi. While Jesus, Jairus, and the disciples are traveling to Jairus' house to raise the body of a 12-year-old girl who has died physically, this woman who has been sick for 12 years—who has died socially—pushes through the crowd.
Watch this. She's saying to herself in her mind: "If I just grab the hem of his garment, I've been stuck here for 12 years. And I know because I'm unclean, I can't talk to a Jew face-to-face. But I don't care. I'm going to hijack a miracle anyway. Ain't nobody going to stop me from getting this miracle right here. I don't care if he's a Jew and I don't care if I got no more money. I'm at the end of my rope and the only person that can help me now must be this rabbi."
She's pushing through the crowd and she says to herself: "If I could just grab the hem of his garment, I believe that this 12-year trial, if I get a hold of Jesus, I believe that this 12-year trial can come to an end."
Why is she saying, "If I just grab the hem of his garment"? Why would she think that his clothes could bring her healing? What in her mind would think his clothes could bring her healing?
I got two theories. I don't know which one is right. The first word is superstition—a belief without reason that is unfounded. She's just superstitious and just believes, If I touch this man's clothes, I know this 12-year battle's about to be over.
But there's another S. My other theory is called scripture. In the last book of the Old Testament, there is a prophet who wrote named Malachi. In Malachi chapter 4, he makes a prophecy. He says:
A day is coming when the son of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings.
Now, if you read the prophecy, it says S-U-N, like the sunshine. But it attributes to the sunshine righteousness. The sun is an inanimate object, so there is no righteous quality about the sun. So the prophet is not talking about the physical sun. He's using the sun as a metaphor for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of Righteousness, and he says about him, "When he arises, there will be healing in his wings."
That word wings is a Hebrew word which means the extremity of one's garments or tassels.
I don't know if she was superstitious, or she read Malachi, because they had the Old Testament. But if she did read Malachi, she would have known that whenever this Son of Righteousness arise, whatever he was wearing, there would be healing in his wings. In the border of his garment, there would be healing. So if she read that, her faith was founded on something she read in the word of God.
Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Maybe she read There is the Sun of Righteousness. And because of what I read, I believe.
Because of what I read, I believe. Because of what I read, I believe. I've read that he is good. I've read that he is a promise keeper. I've read that he is the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star. I've read that he is Christ the Healer, Christ the Redeemer, Christ the Restorer. Because of what I read, I believe.
Last week, somebody made a threat against me. Our security team was on high alert. I remember sitting at my desk and watching, and I was nervous. Can I be honest? I was nervous. And the Holy Spirit told me to go to Psalm 91.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and buckler. You will not fear..."
Because of what I read, I believed. I read that Scripture, and I felt peace. Lord, I'm in your hands. When you're ready to take me, it is a wrap. So I'm going to go to church and preach my heart out. I don't care about no threats. Because of what I read, I believed that the Lord was saying, "I got you."
So whether she was superstitious or she read the scriptures, you take whichever one you want. She would not be the last person to grab Jesus' garments and be healed.
Verse 22 of Matthew: "Jesus turned and said, seeing her, he said, 'Take heart, daughter. Your faith has made you well.' And instantly the woman was made well."
Everybody look at Jesus' words. "Take heart." He's saying that to a woman who was in despair. He's saying, "Be encouraged." He calls her daughter. He's saying that to a woman who was disconnected from community. Saying, "You belong." So he gives her comfort. He gives her community. "Your faith has made you well." He's saying this to a woman to commend her for her faith.
There's comfort, community, and commendation.
And then the last verses. "And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making commotion, he said, 'Go away, for the girl is not dead, but she is sleeping.'"
Today, when you go to a funeral, they're quiet, they're somber, they're respectful. Not in those days. According to Jewish law, you had to hire one musician and one wailing woman, minimum. So you went into a funeral and there's somebody playing music and there's somebody yelling and crying and screaming. So there's loud, there's disruptive.
Jesus comes in and he says to them, "Go away. Get out of here. This girl ain't dead. She only sleeping."
At which they laugh at him. When my father passed in my mother's home, three months after we started this church, I remember looking at his lifeless body because he had just transitioned to eternity. I thought to myself, If somebody knocked on my door and came in and said, "Leo is not dead. He's just asleep," I wouldn't have laughed at that person, but maybe something inside me might have thought, maybe this is going to be a divine moment.
But they laughed. They didn't have faith. They didn't believe something divine was going to happen.
And what do you do when you're going through trouble and you're around people with no faith? You do what Jesus did. Verse 25: "But when the crowd had been put out, he threw them out. He set a boundary between him and people who had no faith."
Because sometimes there's some level of sorrow that doesn't let Christ in. Like, okay, you've been depressed about this for so long, Jesus can't even talk to you. So you got to throw that out. And then there's some level of faithlessness that doesn't let Christ in. So you got to throw that out too.
Faithlessness must be thrown out and excessive sorrow must be thrown out. Both of them block Christ from getting in. Sometimes when you're going through, you need people around you who can believe with you.
That's why whenever I'm casting vision with my staff, I don't let them use the words "we can't." I don't let my children say "we can't." I don't like negative Nancys around me. Don't be birth control to my vision.
You got to know—sometimes in your life, I don't care if they're your family, I don't care if they're your mother or father. You got to know sometimes when people are antichrist and the devil is using them to hinder what God is trying to do. You got to know how to set proper boundaries.
Love is a grace gift. We owe that to everyone. Access must be earned.
He put them out. And he took her by the hand—which was illegal. And the girl arose. Because sleep is just temporary for the believer. And the report of this went through all that district. The fame of Jesus spread.
My brothers, my sisters, trouble is inevitable, man. This life is full of hardships. I know you keep listening to that cotton candy gospel that makes you think you're awesome in a bag of chips and that because you fast and pray and read your Bible, you're never going to have problems.
Jesus said in this life you will have trouble. Trouble is going to come. You're going to have problems and hardships and trials. But from this text, with a heart of humility and contrition, there's nothing you're going to go through that the Lord is not willing to step into that space with you.
Man, sometimes all that's needed is a touch for the Lord to restore. Restore peace, restore healing, restore faith, restore joy.
Somebody look at me. Sometimes when you feel like you can't get to Jesus yourself because you feel far away from him, okay? Maybe you can't touch Christ for yourself, but you can touch something that's attached to Christ. Like she touched the bottom of his garments. You maybe feel far away, but you can touch something that's attached to Christ.
Like you can touch a seasoned saint that has the wisdom of Christ. You can touch a prayer warrior that has the fire of Christ. You can touch a small group that has the care of Christ. You can touch a new church that has the heart of Christ.
That even if I feel like I can't get to him, I can still grab something that's touching him.
I want to say to everyone who's catching these tears, my sister. Everyone in this room right now who's going through anything—anything, anything—we're not helpless. We're not forsaken. We're not abandoned. The Lord is willing to step into that space.
My daughter Abigail who's home sick right now: when my wife was pregnant with her, like three or four months, we got our first ultrasound. The doctors came in the room and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, we have bad news for you. Your daughter has a massive cyst on her brain. It's leaking liquid down her spinal cord. She's going to be born with some type of mental deformity. She'll never be able to walk probably. She'll never be able to..." And because of where it is, we can't perform surgery. We can't go into the womb. "We're sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. There's nothing we can do about this."
But because of what I read, I believe.
I remember going home and opening my Bible to Isaiah 53, where the prophet says: "Who's report shall we believe?" And I took that ultrasound and I laid it on Isaiah 53. And Lita and I got down on our knees. And in the middle of our trouble, we didn't sit in fear. We didn't sit in pride. We didn't try to be the god of our own life. Trouble pushed us into the hands and the word of God. And we laid our hands on Isaiah 53 and we cried out for Abigail: "God, this is beyond our control."
And because of what I read, he may not always come through the way that we want him to. But we got to keep reading and believing that we can touch God and he can restore.
And what he did for Abigail in the womb was restore to her health even before she came out of the womb. But because of what I read, I had believed. And the Lord came into that trouble with my wife and I. He was willing. He got up from the table and walked with us to heal Abby.
What trouble are you facing? What are you believing God for? What has he spoken over your life? He is willing. He is able. He is compassionate. He is kind. He is a healer. And with one touch, he can restore anything that was lost. And even if it doesn't happen in this life, all will be made well in the life to come.
The most important thing that will ever be restored in this life is you back to the Father. There are men and women in this room right now who are disconnected from God and you know it. You do church well, but you're not in relationship.
Here is the gospel, my friend, my brother, my sister. You are a sinner and I am a sinner. We have broken God's laws. And the Scripture says if anyone dies in their sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. Hell is forever and it is real.
But the Father in his love for you sent the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a sacrificial death in your place. And the Father says: If anyone would turn from sin, put their faith in the Son, I will save you. I will deliver you. I will restore you back to me as a son, as a daughter.
You can walk out of here a brand new man, a brand new woman.
You feel it right now in your belly, the Lord calling you. You feel it in the pit of your gut. He's working in your heart even right now. It is sovereign. It has nothing to do with me. Right there in your chair, just surrender to the Lord Jesus. Tell him you're sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender. Put your trust in him. Tomorrow's not promised to you. He has a life for you inside the kingdom that is much greater than the life you're living right now.
When I count to three, I just want you to throw your hands up in the air and leave it there. You're saying, "Preacher, that's me. I'm feeling something happen in my heart. I'm surrendering. I'm letting go. I'm shedding tears. I'm not going another day like this. I'm giving my life to Christ right now. I want the Lord to touch me. I want to be restored back to the Father. I want to live a life of purpose. I want my sins to be forgiven. I want heaven to be my future and hell to be my past."
If that's you, on a count of three, throw your hands up. Come forward. Come down here right now. Come all the way down here.
Everybody at this altar, your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed because you're not focused on me. I'm just a man. He sees you. It's okay. He sees, he knows. He knows you would be here in this moment.
These are the tears of repentance. I can't do that. Only the Holy Spirit can.
Father, I thank you that you are saving these sons and daughters by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, that you are filling them with your Spirit. I thank you, God, Lord, that you are erasing their past and that you are forgiving their sins. I thank you, God, their names are being recorded right now in the book of life. I thank you, God, they're about to be brand new creatures inside the kingdom.
May the lamb who was slain receive the reward of his suffering.
Everybody at this altar, look at me now. Eye contact now. The word says about you that if anyone is in Christ, you are a brand new creature. The old is gone, the new has come. The word says about you that all of your sins have been forgiven. You have been washed in the blood of the lamb. The word says about you that your name has been written now in the lamb's book of life. The word says about you that you are now the son, the daughter of the God Most High. He is your Father. You can talk to him about anything, everything, anywhere, anytime.
Today is the beginning. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. Forward. When you leave here today, find a Bible-teaching church where Christ alone is being exalted. If you live in Atlanta, you don't have to run. We are your new family. We don't do membership here. We just want you to keep coming back. Just stay and spend time with us.
