We have in Luke 8, 22 through 56, the stilling of the storm and the mighty works of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in raising the dead and healing the sick. Hear now the words of Almighty God, the Holy Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verses 22 through the end of the chapter. Now it came to pass on a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples And he said unto them, let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed, he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke him saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, where is your faith? And they being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, what manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him. And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and wear no clothes, neither abide in any house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and he break the bands. and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. And Jesus asked him saying, what is thy name? And he said, legion, because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there and heard of many swine feeding on the mountain. And they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them and he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done, and came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed, and in his right mind, and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them. for they were taken with great fear. And he went up into the ship and returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to thine own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. And it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him. 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 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 stanched. And Jesus said, who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude thronged me and pressed thee, and say, is thou who touched me? And Jesus said, somebody hath touched me for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him. She declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, daughter, be of good comfort. My faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. While he had spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, thy daughter is dead, trouble not the master. 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. Thus far, the reading of God's inspired word from the gospel of Luke chapter eight, verses 22 through 56. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of it. And now in consideration of its teaching. Verses 22 through 25, Christ stilling a storm at sea by his almighty word. The question is wrongly framed. What manner of man is this? Well, he's not just a man, is he? He is the Lord who stills the winds and the waves. We've looked at this before in Matthew chapter eight, verses 23 through 27. Mark chapter four, verses 35 through 41. A few details added here. Verse 23, Luke adds, they were in jeopardy. They were in danger, they were in peril, they were at risk of what? Well, of losing their lives, of their ship sinking. They might sink and die. This specific phrase is not used in Matthew 8 or Mark 4, though it is certainly implied. In verse 25, our Lord asks, where is your faith? Matthew 8, 26, he calls them, ye of little faith. He both asked them, where is your faith? And he accused them of having little faith. In fact, in Mark 4, 40, he asked another question. How is it that you have no faith? Imagine being rebuked like this. How is it possible you have no faith? Where is your faith? You of little faith, the Lord attacks them again and again for their lack of faith. Your faith is gone, it's vanished. You have little faith, quite a rebuke. Now, could not Christ raise the dead? Didn't we read about that in Luke? He's raised the dead. He's opened the eyes of the blind. He's fed 4,000 with a few little fish and a few little loaves of bread. Where is your faith? Can I not do this? Let us pray for the Lord Jesus to increase our faith, that we may be ready to receive and to do His word. that we may trust in His power to save, that He will calm the storms in our lives, to bring us at last to the haven of rest. Now, at this time, what does Christ seem to be doing while they're sinking? He seems to be ignoring them, sleeping, not interested, disconnected, away from them. And sometimes in the Christian life, especially in troubles and sorrows, what do we think? Where is God? Why would He do this to me? Why would He allow this to happen? Why won't He help me? Is He not going to help you? Well, we are of little faith, are we not? If we do not recognize the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He does care, and though He seemed to neglect us, it is to test us that we may come forth as gold tried by the fire. 26 through 40, we have Christ casting out a legion of devils out of a man that was possessed by them. We've considered this in Matthew 8, verses 28 through 34, and Mark 5, one through 20. A few details added here. One is verse 26 tells us that this place was over against Galilee. Now this is a detail that was likely known by the men of that generation, perhaps not to us, that the Gadarenes, that region, is over against Galilee, but he makes it explicit. Verse 27 tells us that this demon-possessed man wear no clothes. Now this is not stated explicitly in Matthew 8, 28 or Mark 5, 2, but it is implied in Mark 5, verse 15 where we read, and they see him that was possessed with the devil sitting and clothed, Mark adds, and in his right mind. I note then this doctrine that public uncovering of the body is an indicator that a person or a class or a society is given over by God to a debased mind. They have no shame, no regard for the seventh commandment or the fall of man. Remember, when man fell into sin, what was the first thing he thought he should do? cover up his body, right? Shameful. But man, when he's given over to demonic power, does he have that kind of shame about his body? No. And so you see in our day, people acting like heathens. What do we think of when we think of heathens? Well, people running around without clothes on, right? That's what heathens do, because the devil has power over them. So this man, when Christ heals him from demon possession, goes from being unclothed and self-destructive to what? He's clothed. He's in his right mind. He can think now. He's not any longer given over to that power. And to the degree that a society is under the power of demons, to that degree you will find people casting off their clothing. Let us learn to dress for decency, for order, for modesty, for prudence, and even for comeliness. There's nothing wrong with your clothes looking nice. There is something wrong with exposing yourself to others' view. Let us not uncover ourselves shamelessly, as our increasingly demonic culture does. Now notice verse 30. His name, he says, is Legion, because many devils were entered into him. Now, the man is quoted, this man who had the demons in Mark 5 verse 9, where he answers our Lord and says, my name is Legion, for we are many. In this passage, he's being described in the third person. He's not answering for himself. He's being described. His name is Legion because many devils were entered into him. Here the affliction is described in the third person, him, as opposed to the first person, we. Just a difference in vantage point in Luke. Verses 41 through 56, Christ healing the woman with the bloody issue and raising Jairus's daughter to life. We've considered this in Matthew chapter nine, verses 18 through 26 and Mark chapter five, verses 22 through 43. Verse 41, Luke informs us of this man's name. It was Jairus. I believe this is related to the name Jair, which we read in the genealogies. But in any case, it means the one whom God enlightens. Now think about that. Death is like darkness. His daughter is raised to life. His name is suitable. God is going to shine light upon him, give him the light of life in raising his daughter from the dead. His name is not given in Matthew 9 verse 18 or Mark 5. Luke informs us of the girl's status. She was 12 years of age and the only daughter of Jairus. In verse 46, Jesus said, somebody hath touched me. Now this response of our Lord is not recorded in Matthew 9 or Mark 5. And notice, when Christ asks questions like this, do you think he doesn't know who did it? Do you think he's asking it for his sake so that he can learn more things? No, of course not. He knows who touched him. He knows why. He knows how it happened. He even knows that virtue went out of his body through the touch of the hem of his garment. He knew all these things. The question is not for his sake. It's for her sake and for those surrounding them, those watching this. Somebody hath touched me. Would you be healed? Would you be saved? Would you be delivered from uncleanness as this woman undoubtedly had? Would you be delivered from diseases which have no power among men to overcome? Men cannot overcome such things. In fact, she went to all the physicians and got worse and lost all of her money in the process. Would you overcome such things? then you must come to Christ. You must lay hold of Him with faith. You see, lots of people were touching Jesus. There's only one who touched Him with faith, and she was healed like that. The rest of them, what happened? Nothing. Nothing happened to them. They thronged Him. They came upon Him. They were touching Him, bumping into Him. Were they healed? Were they saved? No. You had to believe that He could do it. You had to trust in Him for your specific malady. Come then to Jesus Christ with a touch of faith for the forgiveness of all of your sins, for the impartation of his virtue to save and to restore. Now it's interesting, verse 50, this interruption happens with this woman. But here in Luke, there is something added where our Lord says, if you believe Jairus, she shall be made whole. Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. Now this is implied in Mark 5 verse 36, but here made explicit. Faith in Christ raises the dead. You see that? Only believe, he says, and she shall be made whole. Christ saves by faith, by believing in him, trusting in his power. And here notice, for whom does Jairus have this faith? This is very important for Christian parents. And if you children grow up and God blesses you with children, this is very important for you too. Parents believe on behalf of their children. Do you notice this? All throughout the New Testament, you see this again and again and again. If you want your child to be raised from death, what must you do? Be afraid? Because he was afraid. His daughter was dead. So then what ought He to do? What ought you to do if your daughter is dead or your son is dead? Go to Christ and believe in Him that He has the power to raise the dead. That's what we ought to do. Don't fear. In fact, it means stop fearing. Stop being afraid. Only keep on believing, he says. Keep on trusting in my promises. And I have the power to raise her from the dead. Trust in me. Lean into my promises. Trust in my power. Then leave the matter with me. That's what we should do. That's what he calls Jairus to do. Parents, trust in Christ for the healing of your children. Pray with your might. Stop fearing. Continue trusting. Plead his promises. Lean upon his power and leave it with him. Then Christ comes to the house. Everyone's weeping and bewailing her. And notice what he says in verse 52, added here by Luke. Weep not. Literally, stop it. I know you're weeping. Stop doing it. He even tells them why. She's sleeping. He's not dead. She's just asleep for a bit. I'll wake her. And they know, and Luke records this, that she was dead. She had died. They knew this. In fact, the knowing is why they laughed him to scorn. It's a participle. Knowing describes how they laughed. Ha ha. Well, we know she's dead. What a joke. And yet, our Lord Jesus Christ, taking Peter, James, and John, and the two parents in, raises her. And notice verse 55 tells us something very interesting. Her spirit came again. This is not recorded, but implied in Matthew 9 and Mark 5. Here Luke says explicitly, what was the process by which she was raised from the dead? Well, let me ask you, what is man? Do you remember this? Body and spirit, the two conjoined together make us alive, make us a human. What happens when the body and the spirit are severed? We call that death. The spirit returns to God, the body returns to the earth, the origin of the two. Man was taken from the dust of the ground, so to dust he returns. God's image is the spirit and so it goes back to God for judgment immediately upon death. So here in the raising of the dead, the spirit returns into the body. She is raised from death by the spirit returning. And thus far the exposition of Luke chapter eight, verses 22 through 56.