Mar 11
27
ONLY TRUST ME
“Only believe.”–Mark 5:36
Precious and significant are the words of Jesus, the very same words that He spoke when on earth. Did those lips–glowing with more than a seraph’s hallowed touch, lips into which grace without measure was poured–ever breathe a sentence more touching, more simple, or more significant than this, “Only believe”? Originally addressed to an afflicted parent, who sought His compassion and His help in behalf of a little daughter lying at the point of death, they seem to be especially appropriate to every case of anxiety, of trial, and of need. Alas! how many such will scan this page–how many a sigh will breathe over it, how many a tear will moisten it, how many a mournful glance will light upon it. Be it so–there comes back a voice of sympathy responsive to each sad heart–not man, but Jesus speaks–“Only believe”–in other words–“only trust.”
The heavenly source of all our supplies for the battle and the journey of life pleads for our trust in Jesus. In ourselves we have no resources. Grace is not natural to us, holiness is not innate, and our native strength is but another term for utter impotence. Bankrupt of everything that is morally strong, righteous, and lovely, we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Where, then, are our supplies to come from? All in Jesus. “It has pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell.” “Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (things) in Christ.” Christ is both the believer’s armory and his granary. The weapons of our warfare and the supplies of our necessities–our ammunition and our nourishment–all are in Christ. And the life we live as warriors and as pilgrims must be a life of continuous coming to, and trusting in, a full Christ, an all-sufficient Savior. If, as each morning dawns, and before we gird ourselves for the conflict, the duties and the trials of the day, we breathe from our hearts to our Heavenly Father, who knows our need and is pledged to its supply, the prayer–“Give me, my Father, this day, my daily bread; I look to You for the wisdom that counsels me, for the power that keeps me, for the love that soothes me, for the grace that sanctifies me, and for the presence that cheers me; now supply my need, and do unto me as seems good to You”–each day’s provision would be meted out, and we should experience the blessedness of living upon a Father’s bounty, upon the Savior’s grace, and upon the Spirit’s love.
And now, for WHAT would Christ have us trust Him? “Only believe–only trust Me.”
Only trust the Salvation of Christ.–He would have us commence with what He has constituted the central truth of the gospel–the Cross. God has made it the focus of His glory–for around no object do such wonders and glories gather as at the cross of Christ–and He would have us make it the central fact of our faith. What a sure ground of trust for a poor sinner is here–the great and complete salvation of the Lord Jesus. Here God Himself rests–for He has confided all His glory to Christ, whom “He has made strong for Himself.” And surely if the work of Jesus were sufficient to uphold the moral government and secure the eternal honor of God, there need be no demur, no hesitation on the part of the sinner, there to place his entire trust for forgiveness and acceptance. Sinner as you are, here is a salvation worthy of your confidence. “Christ died for the ungodly.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” “Through His blood we have redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins.” “By Him all who believe are justified.”
Christ has paid the great debt to divine justice. His resurrection from the dead by the glory of the Father is His complete discharge, and now, “whoever will, may come and drink of the water of life freely.” To each guilt-stricken, heart-broken, sorrow-burdened, weary sinner Jesus says, “Only TRUST Me.” Beloved reader, no partial trust must this be. Your foothold on every other foundation must give way–your grasp upon every other support must loosen, your clinging to duties, to works, to self, in every form, must yield–and your whole, implicit, sole trust for salvation must be in the one Atonement which God has provided, in the one salvation which Christ has finished, in the only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. Pointing to Himself as the only door by which you can come to God, the only way by which you can be justified, the only life by which you can live, Jesus says to you, “Only trust Me.”
Only trust in the love of Christ.–Never was there before–nor has there been since–nor ever will be again–such ancient, marvelous, stupendous love as the love of Jesus! It is the astonishment of heaven, it is the wonder of angels, and in their best, holiest, and most self-abased moments, it is the marvel of saints on earth, and will be, through eternity, their study and their praise. His condescending stoop to our nature–His descent from heaven’s glory to earth’s lowliness–His bearing our sins–his endurance of our curse–His suffering our penalty–His exhaustion of our bitter cup–His resurrection from the grave, and His ascent into heaven, are facts which speak, louder and sweeter than an angel’s trumpet, the love of Christ to His Church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.”
But not only was Jesus the unveiler of His own heart, but He came to unveil the heart of God. He came, not to inspire the heart of God with an affection for man–but to make known a love already existing from eternity. He who only knew the secret love of God’s heart, came to reveal that secret. So that Jesus was the exponent of God’s love, its only revealer, and its most precious gift. Christ is God’s love embodied–God’s love speaking, God’s love acting, God’s love weeping, God’s love dying, God’s love inviting. Blessed truth, that he whose arms of faith embrace Christ, and through Christ also embrace the Triune Jehovah. Octavius Winslow.
Be Not Afraid, Only Believe
Mark 5: 36
Darvin Pruitt
These are the words our Lord spoke to Jairus when his friends came telling him of his daughter’s death and of the lack of necessity for him to trouble the master any further. Natural men always set limits on the ability and willingness of Christ to save sinners. While she hung on by a thread they had hope, but as soon as the thread was gone so was their hope. Because of their unbelief and doubt they were neither permitted to follow nor enter in to see His glory. God give us the quiet submissive faith of Jairus who patiently waited on the Lord and was permitted by the Master to see the glory of life in His touch.
“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the
synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter
is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As
soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he
saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid,
only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him,
save Peter, and James, and John the brother of
James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the
synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept
and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he
saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep?
the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all
out, he taketh the father and the mother of the
damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in
where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel
by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is,
being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And
straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she
was of the age of twelve years. And they were
astonished with a great astonishment. And he
charged them straitly that no man should know it; and
commanded that something should be given her to
eat.” Mark 5:35-43
This passage also demonstrates the certainty and universality of
sorrow, sickness, and death. Jairus’ daughter was only twelve
years old. Yet, she became ill and died. Sickness, sorrow and
death are common things that believers must suffer, just as all
other people do. Jairus was a believer. Yet, his young, darling
daughter was dying when he left home to seek the Lords help; and
she died while he was seeking that help that Christ alone could
give.
Like Jairus’ daughter, each of us must soon die. We will all
die at the time appointed, by the means appointed, in the place
appointed. For believers, death is a blessed rest. Our Lord said,
concerning Jairus’ daughter, “The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth”
(v. 39). That is the same thing he said regarding Lazarus. In reality,
God’s elect never die. Did not the Son of God say, “Whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:26)? Those who
die in the Lord sleep in the arms of Jesus. Their bodies sleep in the
earth; but they have entered into heavenly rest. For the unbeliever
death is the beginning of sorrow and woe everlasting.
Verses 35 and 36 show us what our God requires of us. — The one
thing that God requires and demands of us is faith. I am fully aware
that faith is the gift of God and the operation of his grace in us. Yet,
faith is what he requires of us. He requires that we “only believe.”
“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the
synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter
is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As
soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he
saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid,
only believe.”
If we would be saved, the Lord Jesus says, “only believe.” If we
would honor God, his command is “only believe.” If we would see
the Lord God work, he says, “only believe.” If we would see the
glory of God, we must “only believe.” In John 11:40 we read, “If
thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.”
In all our exercises of faith, when the Lord seems to give no
gracious answers to prayer, when he brings us into trials and
difficulties, when our hearts appear to be cold and dead and our
spirits are languishing, let us remember Jairus, and look still to our
blessed Savior. It is one thing to trust the Son of God when things
appear hopeful; but it is something else to trust him when
everything appears hopeless.
With regard to our own selves, when we most feel and know our
own impotence before God, the depravity of our hearts, and the
corruption of our souls, when we feel utterly dead before him, it is a
good thing to have “the sentence of death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (1
Corinthians 1:9). In such times let us rejoice to trust him who says
to our souls, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
Omnipotent Christ
I am sure the Holy Spirit inspired Mark to record this event to
remind us that our Lord Jesus Christ is the omnipotent God to
whom alone “belong the issues from death” (Psalm 68:20). — “He
took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which
is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And
straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age
of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great
astonishment” (vv. 41-42).
In this glorious miracle we are once more shown what Christ
can do for dead sinners and how he does it. When God our Savior
saves a sinner, when he calls a sinner from spiritual death to life and faith by the power of his omnipotent grace, he secretly,
Sovereignly touches the dead soul by the hand of his irresistible
mercy. He calls the chosen sinner by the power of his Spirit through
his Word. The dead, being called by omnipotence, arises and
comes to Christ. And everyone who sees it is astonished. The living
sinner is astonished. The observant saints are astonished. And the
confused religionists are astonished.
Christ’s Provision
In verse 43 the Lord Jesus “commanded that something should be
given her to eat.” He said to those who stood by, “Give her
something to eat.” Our blessed Savior has provided and continually
provides food for the souls of his children in this world, by which he
sustains us in life and causes us to grow in his grace. To this end
he has given his church pastors according to his own heart, called
and gifted by his Spirit, to feed his people by the preaching of the
gospel with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15;
Ephesians 4:8-16). Don Fortner.