When God Seems Late

0:43 Turn, please, in your Bibles to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. We're going to begin in verse 21 in just a moment. I know that you remember what Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, a very famous saying that has even become a song, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. At the end of that little section, he continues to say, he, God, makes all things beautiful in its time. Sometimes we feel as if God is late. He's late to the party. I want you to imagine a different story in the Bible than the one we're about to read.

1:41 Imagine being Martha. She is standing outside the tomb of her brother Lazarus. She has prayed. She has sent word to Jesus, saying, the one that you love is sick. She knows that Jesus can come and heal her brother. But he doesn't come. He eventually comes, but he's late. He comes late, not an hour late, not a day late, four days late. he finally shows up, she turns to him and said, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Essentially, she's saying, you had an opportunity and you blew it. But you know the rest of the story. What seemed like four days late was actually perfect timing because what Jesus had in mind was something far better than just healing Lazarus. We have the same kind of a story here.

2:54 But how many times have we felt that God is late? Lord, if you'd answered my prayer six months ago, this wouldn't have happened. Lord, if you would have acted back then, we wouldn't be in this mess. and think of some of the people in the Bible that could have thought that God was late. Think, for instance, of Abraham. God came to Abraham and said, I'm going to make out of you a great nation. Funny, because Abraham had no children, and Abraham at that time was 75 years young, and God says, I'm going to make out of you a great nation. Okay, well, then what happened? Nothing. Abraham waited and waited and waited and waited until he is now 100 years old.

3:46 And in Genesis 21, we read that Sarah bore him a son, listen, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Perfect timing. Think of Joseph. Joseph gets a dream, a revelation from God that he's going to be a future leader, that people are even going to bow down to him. What happens next? A pit. slavery, false accusations, a prison sentence.

4:23 Now, if Joseph would have kept a diary, would he have written in his diary, after all those things that have happened, God is late, or God forgot his promises? No, he probably actually would have said what he said to his brother. You meant this for evil. God meant this for good to save many people alive as it is this day. God is never late. He just refuses to be governed by our clocks.

4:58 What looks like a delay from earth's perspective may be perfect timing from heaven's perspective. And we come to this story. Now, Mark in his gospel begins the entire gospel in Mark chapter 1, verse 1 by saying, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And then from that moment on, he goes on to prove that Jesus is the Son of God, that he has power in the natural world and in the supernatural world. He can control danger like the storm on the Sea of Galilee. He can control demons like the man in Gadara who had a legion of demons. And now we will see that Jesus controls even disease and death, death itself. So we're going to look at this in four stages today, the four stages of the story that we have in front of us.

6:01 We're going to look at a desperate father, a determined sufferer, a delayed answer, and a different procedure. And I'll explain those as we go. First of all, let me introduce you to the first character in the story, and that is a desperate father. Verse 21, now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to him and he was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly, saying, my little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed and she will live. So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed him and thronged him.

7:03 If you were to read the gospel of Mark all the way through from chapter four into chapter five without a break, you would see the contrast. You have in one town a crowd of people who can't wait to see Jesus get out of town and then you have another crowd on the other side of the lake here who is so glad that he came back. So one group wants nothing to do with him. One group never wants him to leave. And I've discovered that's pretty much how the world is. you either hate Jesus or you love him. Jesus even said, you're either for me or you're against me. You either help gather or you actually scatter. So the crowd is divided. One crowd here is happy to see him return. And in this happy crowd, there's one man who's particularly happy that Jesus came back, and his name is Jairus.

8:04 Jairus is, we are told here, one of the rulers of the synagogue. Archon is the Greek word for ruler, and that is the highest ranking official without being a clergyman. He's not a rabbi. He's not a scribe. He's not a Pharisee. He's an archon, a supervisor, we would say, a manager of the synagogue. He was in control of making sure the facility was in good shape. He had charge of protecting and housing the Torah scrolls in the synagogue, but he was notable and known nonetheless. Now, for him to come to Jesus like this was not easy because his colleagues, in fact, I would even say his bosses, were the scribes and the Pharisees. Those are the people he associated with. He was part of that group, and he was managed by them and he would have known that they hated Jesus by this time.

9:09 They didn't like Jesus doing miracles and teaching so well. They accused Christ of being in league with the devil and they were plotting to kill him, Mark tells us. So this man knew that, that his colleagues would not be, his friends would not be happy that he is going to Jesus. But he's desperate. And desperate people are the ones that sense their need for Jesus, and desperate people forget their pride. And he would rather lose his friends than lose his daughter. So in desperation, he goes to Jesus. His daughter has brought him joy for many years. He doesn't want to lose that. I've discovered a lot of people come to Jesus exactly the same way. They don't come out of love for Jesus.

10:03 They don't come because they read the Bible and they go, I've got to get to know this person on a personal level. They're not necessarily convicted of their own sin, but they come, many, because of desperation. They've discovered they have a disease. They're going through a divorce. They're in a financial crisis or a breakup or something that has shaken their lives, and now they realize, I need God. That's okay. He'll take you just the way you are. In fact, despair is often the prelude to grace. Desperation opens a person's heart. So he comes. And notice when he comes, it says, he fell at his feet in verse 22 and begged him earnestly saying, my little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her. Now watch what he says, that she may be healed and she, listen, will live.

11:01 That's a statement of faith. She's going to live. If you show up, she won't die. She's going to live. The question is, what accounts for this faith of the ruler of the synagogue? Easy answer. experience. If he's the ruler of the synagogue, he has watched Jesus in that synagogue already. Chapter 1, Jesus first comes to the synagogue in Capernaum, and he speaks. He preaches the word to them, and they are all amazed, it says, at his teaching, because he was not like the scribes. He spoke with authority, not like the scribes. So they were amazed at his teaching. You got to think, If he's the son of God, he was like the best speaker ever. He was the most lucid, clear, explanatory thinker they had ever heard.

12:00 Then at that same synagogue service, there was a man in church that day who had a demon. Jesus cast out the demon and people are now more blown away because they say, with authority, he commands even the demons and they obey him. this ruler of the synagogue watched all that then later on mark chapter 3 christ comes to the synagogue on another occasion there's a man in the service that day with a withered hand jesus immediately restores him and heals him this synagogue ruler is seeing all of this happen so he has had a few different faith building episodes, and he knows, I know right where to go. So he comes to Jesus, and he comes in faith. That's a desperate father. Now let me introduce to you the second character in the story, and that is a determined sufferer. Verse 25, Now, a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years and had suffered many things from many physicians.

13:14 Some of you can sadly relate to that statement. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she had said, if I only may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.

13:38 Immediately. I like all these immediately's and mark. Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him. Turned around in the crowd and said, who touched my clothes? But his disciples said to him, you see the multitude thronging you, and you say, who touched me? And he looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction. Okay, stop right there. Jairus was pretty happy that Jesus came back to town. He was very hopeful because Jesus said, okay, let's go to your house.

14:48 I'll show up. So he was happy and he was hopeful until now. To Jairus, this woman was nothing more than an interruption to him and to especially to his daughter. It was bad enough that there were so many people and you remember it wasn't just like a small crowd. The crowds had gotten so out of hand, you remember we are told in Mark before this, that Jesus couldn't even enter into towns, but had to remain on the outskirts because he was pressed by so many people. So if that wasn't bad enough, and the crowd is going slowly to Jairus's house, but at a snail's pace, Now it comes to a halt. Jesus stops and he looks around and he shouts because it's a large crowd.

15:45 Who touched my clothes? Now I can't prove it, but I'm going to guess that Jairus starts rolling his eyes about this time. Really? Who cares who touched your clothes? Time is of the essence. Let's get going. Who touched my clothes? Jesus stops the whole movement of the crowd. Now, I'm going to pause here. I just want you to make a contrast between these two people. These two people, Jairus and this woman, couldn't be more different. Jairus is an important synagogue official. This woman is an outcast. Jairus is respected. She is rejected. We know his name. We don't know her name.

16:39 Jairus would have been well off and could afford medical care. She has spent everything she had on medical care and is no better. And there's this mention twice of 12 years. This girl has brought joy to Jairus for 12 years. this disease has consumed this woman and cursed her for the same amount of time 12 years what I want you to notice is that Jesus welcomed them both Jesus loved them both Jesus had time for them both Jesus healed them both all of that to say this. You are not an interruption to God. You do not bother God. When you start praying, God doesn't roll his eyes, go, oh, here you are again. In fact, he's moved by your condition. He cares.

17:38 You do not bug him. Keep bugging him. Jesus said, keep knocking, keep seeking, keep asking. This woman's condition was a flow of blood. We don't exactly know what that is. Most commentators think it was a vaginal hemorrhage that lasted for 12 straight years, over a decade of this. It's not uncommon. There are places today in Africa where it is documented many women have this condition, but they are not in a position to get it treated. In this particular case, this woman was now in a perpetual state of uncleanness. Leviticus chapter 15. I'm not going to read it to you, but it says, if a woman has a flow of blood, she remains unclean for seven days after the blood stops. If she touches somebody, they're unclean. If somebody touches her, they're unclean. If she sits on something, it's unclean. Whatever she touches is unclean.

18:37 so she is in a perpetual state of uncleanness because it is a constant flow of blood what does that mean it means her social life is nil she can't mingle with a crowd she can't go near people she is defiled essentially her life is restricted she cannot go to the synagogue she cannot go to the temple what was life like for a woman like that very painful already she's suffering the embarrassment of the blood flow, loss of energy. It's very, very painful, and it's emotionally grieving. So what does she do? Well, she tries every possible cure. And did you know the Jewish Talmud has no less than 11 prescribed cures for a woman that has an issue or a flow of blood? Most all of them are superstitious. For example, Here's a couple of them.

19:39 Sit the woman where two roads meet at the intersection. So let's say Central and Broadway. Stick her right there in the middle of the intersection. Sit her down. Put a cup of red wine in her right hand. And then come behind her and frighten her.

20:03 And that should stop the flow of blood. Well, it'll take her breath away, but it won't stop the flow of blood. If that doesn't work, the Talmud says, take a piece of barley corn from the dung of a white female donkey. All of these are superstitious. And I'm guessing she probably tried some of these cures. But doctor after doctor, visit after visit, medical bill after medical bill. This doesn't say much about the Greater Galilean Medical Association. And she has none the better. all of her money's gone. So she comes. She's determined. Now, she could have had a lot of different excuses that would keep her away. She could have thought to herself, I'm not important enough to bother Jesus. Or she could have thought, he's already with Jairus. I'm not going to get in the way of that. Or she could have thought, well, nothing has helped me for 12 years.

21:02 this probably won't work either. Or maybe she could have even thought, it's not really right to make Jesus my last resort when I tried everything else first. But this woman is determined. Nothing is going to keep her away. She's going to push her way through the crowd, even if that means touching a lot of people whom she will defile, to get to Jesus.

21:33 One of my favorite William Barclay quotes, I'm going to put it up. William Barclay was a Scottish commentator. He said this, So often we have a kind of vague, wistful longing that the promises of Jesus should be true. But the only way to enter into them is to believe in them with the clutching intensity of a drowning man. This woman was a drowning woman, drowning in her disease. So she wants to get to Jesus. She is determined. Now, her plans are to go in unnoticed, right? Everybody's standing around. She's going to kind of sneak behind him and kind of make a surgical strike, touch his clothes, and slip out undetected. She wants to escape attention. You can't blame her.

22:26 It's already embarrassing to be in this condition. it would be more embarrassing as a defiled woman to go through and make herself known. So she wants to slip in and out undetected. And then Jesus calls her out. He stops, draws attention to her. Who touched my clothes? Why does he do that? Why does he shine the spotlight on this woman and make her, it says, come and explain the truth of what has happened, which she does. She gives a testimony of that. Why would he do that? For a couple of reasons. Number one, for her, for her own sake. If she's a defiled woman, bringing a healed woman out in public shows everybody she's no longer defiled. Welcome her back into the community. Also for her sake, he wants to be more than just her healer. He wants to be her savior. He wants to be her friend. Now I want you to notice this. I want you to notice in verse 33 and 34, the woman fearing and trembling. Now keep in mind at this point she has touched the hem of the garment. She is now healed.

23:44 She felt it in her body. And so the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, the healing, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. Now, she's afraid. This is not the fear of embarrassment. This is a holy fear. This is the fear of realizing I'm in the presence of deity. It's the same kind of fear, by the way, the disciples had when Jesus calmed the storm. And it says they were greatly afraid. They were more afraid of Jesus in the boat than the storm outside the boat. Because they realized God's in the boat. This is the same fear Isaiah had when he said, Oh, woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips. He realizes he's in the presence of God. Or Manoah in the Old Testament.

24:38 When the angel of the Lord shows up and a miracle is performed. and he says to his wife, we're going to die. We just saw God. It's that kind of a fear and trembling. And then notice that Jesus says, daughter, daughter. The only time Jesus uses this term in the entire New Testament is here. Doesn't say woman, which he sometimes does. Daughter. What does he mean? Well, she's a daughter of Abraham, but I think more than that, he realizes she has just come to faith in me. she may have had just a superstitious faith that if I touch his garment there's magic in the garment I'll be healed but she has come to believe in me so daughter daughter of God your faith has made you well go in peace and also be healed of your affliction see that little phrase your faith has made you well? I don't believe that's a good translation. The word is sozo, saved. Your faith has saved you. It's the New Testament word for salvation, almost always used of spiritual salvation. So, daughter, your faith has saved you. There has been a quick journey of faith.

26:11 I think she first came to Jesus, as I said, with perhaps even a superstitious faith. there's magic in those clothes I would call it uninformed faith she did not expect that once she touches the robe the guy in the robe is going to know what happened and then say what he said and now she's in front of him and I want to make the point because I think a lot of people I would even say most people come to faith exactly the same way people who come to faith in Christ at first have a very uninformed faith, a very foggy understanding of who God is. They don't know about the incarnation. They don't know about the triune nature of God. They don't know about vicarious atonement. They don't know about the difference between faith and works. There is no theological foundation. In fact, they even come selfish. I just want relief. but they come and he develops us he changes us he matures us he welcomes us so he did that for her sake but he also did it for Jairus' sake you go what do you mean Jairus' sake this is a delay his daughter is close to death he says to the woman who had a 12 year flow of blood daughter instant healing that would have bolstered the faith of Jairus wow he he's on the way to my house and he just did that so he did it for her sake and he did it for Jairus's sake now let's look at the third component and that is the answer it's a delayed answer it would seem like verse 35 while he is still speaking some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? Now, just a quick note about that. The one thing that Jesus is known as is what? A teacher. Teacher. Why bother the teacher

28:24 anymore? Not why bother the healer anymore? Why bother the preacher anymore? Why bother the teacher? of all the things Jesus did, he was most known for, even though he was a miracle worker and a preacher. Not preaching, not miracle working, but teaching people. Why bother the teacher any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, the bad news, your daughter's dead, as soon as he heard that word, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not be afraid. Only believe. okay let's consider that the slow moving crowd was bad enough the interruption by the woman made it worse Jesus lingering over this who touched my clothes made it even worse now comes the ultimate shock the ultimate shock whatever glowing flame he had that his daughter's going to make it is now extinguished. In one word, dead. Dead.

29:35 When you hear those words, there's a finality in those words. When my dad called me after my brother was killed in a motorcycle crash, and he said, your brother is dead. Time stopped. Freeze frame. all sorts of emotions come crashing down at that moment your daughter is dead why trouble the teacher any further how often people try to discourage us from pursuing God like that so when Jesus hears what they just said which was true your daughter is dead he counters by saying, do not be afraid, only believe. Now let me explain that. Only believe is an imperative verb.

30:29 It's a command. And it's in the continuous tense, an ongoing action. So literally, he was saying this. don't let fear rise in your heart. Keep the faith. Keep on believing. Keep on exercising the faith you had when you came to me the first time, Jairus, at the shore and said, come to my house. My daughter will be made well. You had faith rising up in your heart and you had faith growing in your heart when I just healed that woman. Keep that going. Don't be afraid. Keep believing. That's the idea here. So, now Jairus has a choice. Am I going to listen to my friends, or am I going to listen to Jesus? They said, she's dead. He says, don't be afraid.

31:22 The implication of this report, she's dead, is there's been a delay, and it's the delay that killed her. If you'd have gotten here sooner, it wouldn't have happened. sometimes God's delay is not a denial of his love, but rather a setup to demonstrate his glory, which we know is going to happen.

31:51 Now, this is the same position Jairus is at right now. It's the same position Mary and Martha were at, right? Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Now, your daughter's dead. if he had gotten there on time, my daughter wouldn't have died. That is what he must be feeling. And truth be told, Jesus could have prevented this whole thing. He could have. He could have prevented her death, kept her from dying, kept her alive until he got there. In fact, he could have healed her from the shoreline. He could have spoken a word like he did to the centurion servant and she'd have been healed instantly. He didn't do that. He lets it play out. Because what looks like the end of the story may just be the beginning of the story.

32:44 Have you ever been on an airplane that had a flight delay? I mean, you're on the plane. And you pull out and you go, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but we have found that some little light isn't working or some, we have to get a check. And you're going, oh, really? Always happens to me. I'm going to write this airline. Right? right? You go through all those machinations because you have been put out. It makes no sense to you. But if you find out the plane could go down because they didn't look at it, you're going to be very glad you had a delay. Okay, so let me tell you a true story. My best friend was boarding an aircraft, an American Airlines flight in Chicago, O'Hare Airport, on the morning of September 11th, 2001. He was the last one on the plane. He was late. But his seat was 1A. So it wasn't too far that he had to go to sit down. As he's being seated, he noticed the stewardess is weeping.

33:45 She's crying. And he said, what's wrong? You're crying. And she said, I just heard that my best friend died in a plane crash in New York City. That was the first plane that hit the trade center. So my friend said, can I pray for you? And he prayed for her at the moment. The plane pulls back about 35 feet from the gate, then it stops, and there's a delay. They wait. Now, my friends in 1A, the door to the pilot's cabin is open. That was 9-11, before all the regulations. So he can hear the banter between air traffic control and the pilot, and the pilot says, what do you mean I got to pull up to the gate again? We're ready to go. All systems are go. Pull up to the gate. Get people back to the gate. Well, at that point, somebody in the back of the plane who can't hear that conversation gets on her BlackBerry unnoticed that there's something going on in New York, and she shouts out at the top of her lungs in that flight, get me off this plane. Well, the pilot isn't privy to all that. I mean, there's just a commotion going on, but he gets on the intercom and he says, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to go back to the gate. I need you all to pay very close attention.

35:06 Disembark the aircraft and exit the airport. Can you imagine a million people going to the curb at one time, exit the airport. Later on, they discovered there was a suspicion that that flight was slated to take off and fly into the Sears building in Chicago. Now, when you get a delay like that, it doesn't make sense to you, you don't like it, but when you discover what could have happened, you go, I'm so thankful for the delay. So here's Jairus, and his daughter's dead, and he's feeling all these emotions. But listen, there's a Chinese proverb. Listen to what it says.

35:57 In the presence of trouble, some grow wings, Others buy crutches. right? Have you noticed that? Some people just get better. Other people just use it as an excuse. Some sprout wings, grow wings, some by crutches. Jesus is saying, Jairus, here's your chance to sprout wings. Stop being afraid. Only keep believing. Keep believing. So if there is a delay, there's going to be a display of God's glory somewhere. Well, let's see what that display is. Let's see what he has in mind. Verse 37.

36:40 And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. Makes sense. You can't take the whole crowd and put them in that house. You can't even take all the disciples. So he takes this inner circle, Peter, James, John. And he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and he saw a tumult in those who wept and wailed loudly. When he came in, he said to them, I actually really love this saying, why make this commotion and weep? You try saying that at a funeral.

37:18 Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him. But when he put them all outside, he took the father and mother of the child and those who were with him, entered in where the child was lying, and he took the child by the hand and said to her, Talitakumi, Aramaic. It's translated, little girl, I say to you, arise. Literally, little lamb, rise up. Immediately the girl arose. There it is again, immediately. Not like I'm groggy. I'm still a little bit sick. Immediately the girl arose and walked for she was 12 years of age and they were overcome with great amazement. We would say totally blown away.

38:15 But he commanded them strictly that no one should know it. Yeah, like they're going to obey that one and said that something should be given her to eat. I love that Jesus is practical. I'll raise her from the dead, but you give her the meal. Now, this is a different procedure, a different procedure. He wants his daughter to be healed and not die. Jesus has a better plan. Let her die, and I'll raise her again from the dead.

38:44 Now, Jesus gets to the house, and there's a commotion. Middle Eastern funerals were and still are very noisy affairs, very unlike American funerals. In America, you go to a funeral home in America and there's a sign, please be quiet. And so people talk like this in hushed tones and there's organ music. It's very, very soft and stayed, not in the Middle East. In fact, in the Middle East, 2,000 years ago, there were professional mourners. You would pay them to come to your house and go, oh, wail and weep. And Jairus, being the ruler of the synagogue, probably as a notable person, would have had more than normal. And I know that sounds a little corny to you, but the idea is you bring people in there to broadcast the feelings of sadness so everybody in the neighborhood knows there has been a death.

39:40 It is appropriate to mourn. But the question gets us. Why are you weeping? Child isn't dead, but asleep. what does he mean by that? Well, he doesn't mean soul sleep, as some erroneously make this out to be. He's not saying when a person dies, their soul is dormant. No, they're very much aware. Their soul is very much alive. He simply is using sleep as a metaphor for saying, this is not permanent. This is a nap. She's going to get up again. And this is the terminology of the scriptures. When Stephen was stoned to death in the book of Acts and he died, it says, and he fell asleep and they buried him because he had died. In the Old Testament, when somebody died, it would say, and they slept with their fathers. Jesus even used this. He said to his disciples about Lazarus.

40:46 Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep. I'm going to go and wake him up. And the disciples said, well, if he's fallen asleep, he'll just wake up on his own. And then Jesus had to clarify, no, he's dead. Not mostly dead, all dead. But he uses the term sleep because sleep is followed by an awakening. Death is followed by a resurrection.

41:18 You know, when I was young, my mom used to say, Skipper, that was my nickname, Skipper, it's time for your nap. And I hated, I hated naps. I was a very active kid. Nap, it's like punishment. But as I get older, naps are a reward. I'm still not great at them, but it's like, wow, I can kick back and take a nap? So Jesus raises her from the dead. Here's my question as we close. Did Jesus grant Jairus' original prayer request?

41:57 No, he did not. Come and heal my daughter so that she won't die. Nope, he did not answer it the way he wanted it. He gave her something better. Better. and at the right time. No delay. One of my favorite Ruth Graham quotes, I knew Ruth and Billy Graham as friends, Ruth Graham would often say, if God answered every prayer of mine, I would have been married to the wrong man seven times. So God is never late. You may be early, but God is never late. He is always right on time. You can trust his timing.

42:48 And this woman's condition and this girl's condition are emblematic of our world's condition. Did you know that? our world is sick and nothing we try can fix it no doctor we go to can heal the wound in our soul and like the girl we are dead in trespasses and sins and both require to touch from Jesus and only Jesus can heal your sin sick soul and give you life he can do that and if you've never asked him to do it ask him father thank you for these two wonderful miraculous stories that prove the whole premise of mark that this jesus is none other than the son of god deity wrapped in human flesh having control over the natural world the supernatural world danger demons disease death do for us what no one has been able to do for us save us as we place our faith in you and if you're with us this morning in this room or you're outside in the little amphitheater or you're watching by youtube or listening by radio whatever platform you're on you could call on Jesus, if you call in faith and reach out in faith, you mean from your heart that you want him to save you, he will do it. You could say to him, Lord, I give you my life. I know I'm a sinner.

44:35 Forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I trust him. I believe he died on a cross for me and rose again I repent I turn from my sin to Jesus as savior help me to follow him as lord in Jesus name