In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the story of Jairus and his dying daughter from the Gospel of Mark. The speaker emphasizes the idea that sometimes we are brought to a place where we have no other option but to rely on God. The speaker highlights the tendency of humans to make wrong choices and praises God for choosing the right path for us. The sermon also discusses the obstacles faced by Jairus on his journey to seek Jesus' help, including a large crowd and the commotion at his home. The speaker encourages listeners to trust in God and believe in His power even when circumstances seem hopeless.

Brother Behan was saying that he was very nervous yesterday, and he said he was also very nervous this morning. And I think it is good for those who have some responsibility in sharing the things of the Lord that we do get nervous. So we don't rely on our own gifts, or on talent, or ability. So we need to get nervous, and really turn our hearts and our trust to the Lord. So we turn to two important scriptures, please. First, let's turn to the Gospel of Mark, a very familiar story, actually two stories interwoven into one story. Mark chapter 5 and verse 21. When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the Senegal rulers, named Jairus, came there, seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him. My daughter, my little daughter is dying, please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and prayed around him, and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors, and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his cloak. Because she thought, if I just touch his cloak, I will be healed. Immediately, her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was free from her suffering. At once, Jesus realised that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, who touched my cloak? You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered, and yet you can ask who touched me? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing that what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace, and be free from your suffering. While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the Senegal ruler. Your daughter is dead, they said. Why bother the teacher anymore? Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the Senegal ruler, don't be afraid, just believe. He didn't let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John, the brother of James. When they came to the home of the Senegal ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead, but asleep. But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Talitha Khun, which means little girl, I said to you, get up. Immediately the girl stood up and walked around. She was 12 years old. They were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. And let us turn to another passage in Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45 verse 3. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places. I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches stored in secret places. Many people thought the Lord is doing many works, in the sense that it's true. But actually the Lord has that one work, and that he is doing that one work all the time. That is that the Lord Jesus may have that first place in all things. So in all his dealings with us is to bring us to that place, that his Son may be all in all, in our lives individually as well as corporally. God's work, God's heart never deviated from that goal. He set his heart on that. So in all his dealings with us he is to bring us into that place, a complete union with him in life, that Christ may be all in all. But the way he does this, is often mystifies us. We think we should go upward. To reach that goal. But often times the Lord will take us just the opposite direction. Because the treasures are to be found in darkness, and riches are to be found in secret places. Things that are common, they are exposed, can be readily seen. Things that are of great value are often times hidden. That's why Isaiah mentions that God is God who hides himself, and he is our treasure, and we have to seek him, to find him. Therefore, what I shared the other day, is a costly way to enter into the fullness of Christ. Dr. Scroggie's book on Bible knowledge, he put it this way, in the book of Genesis we discover the principle of God's election, the aftermath call. In the book of Exodus, we discover the principle of how God brought this chosen people to himself. But that's not all. When you go to the book of Leviticus, God brought this people, God chosen this people, God brought this people to himself with one aim in mind, is to bring these people so that they can be in communion with him, and be in union with him. Therefore, in the book of Leviticus, we have all the sacrifices, all the ordinances, those are ways and means by which we can be brought into that complete union and communion with Christ, with God. So therefore, there are many sacrifices. All these sacrifices are just means and ways by which God can bring us to himself, that we can have that union in life, in communion with him. So we are chosen people, we are brought to himself. But just to be united with himself, we may be satisfied, but God is not satisfied. But he wants us to come to such a relationship with him that there will be a union and there will be a communion. And then he said we can move on. So the next book, Numbers, is their journey to God's purpose. Well, I hope we can learn some lessons from the story I just read in the book of Mark. This man, in some translation, said he was a rabbi, a ruler of Senegal, and he was in a desperate situation. His daughter was dying. Now, brothers and sisters, with many of us, we will not come to him, to the Lord, until we are desperate. If we have a way out, we took off. It's when all the options are gone now. We have no other way to go, no other doors available, then we tend to go. That's our condition. And that's how he's dealing with us. But he knows what he's doing and his ways are oftentimes the best. Well, this man, Jabba, is put in such a situation. But the problem with us, we are problem-oriented people. We come to the Lord to solve our problem. But without realizing, God is using these problems to bring us to himself. So all these problems and obstacles can be turned into the ways of entering into the fullness of Christ. It all depends on how we look at it. Do we look through the problems through Christ or we look through Christ through the problem? Am I making myself clear here? Maybe I get myself a little mixed up. But many of us, we look at as though the problems, they are bigger than Christ. But brothers, we need to refocus our sight. Christ is bigger than anything and everything. So Jarrah has a problem, a desperate problem, and all he can think about is his dying daughter. And in desperation, he came to Lord Jesus and he pleaded earnestly. He said, my daughter is dying. When you are brought into such a situation, you are in a different state emotionally. So if you read the three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, you can see the description of the daughter is not quite the same. Because in Matthew it definitely says that she was dead. She was dead. And then in Mark it says she was at the point of dying. And in Luke, she later died. So you can see the emotional state that was in Jarrah's mind and heart. A desperate situation. But he came to the Lord, looked to the Lord to ask for help. Now the interesting thing is that this man Jarrah, this name is very meaningful. If you look into Bible dictionary, you know that Jarrah is the enlightened one. No one can come to Lord Jesus without being enlightened. Who enlightens him? Who can enlighten anyone? This world is dark and dark and dark and getting darker and darker. The prince of this world has blinded everyone. We have no sight, we have no way of seeing anything. And yet this man Jarrah means he is the enlightened one. So apparently he was a godly man. A God fearing man. And somehow in his spirit, in his heart, God enlightened him. And he saw something about this man Jesus. That he is a unique man. And in his desperation he knew there is no one else he can turn to, not but to this man, one man. This man that stands out among all men. So he came to him, asked for help. Now brothers and sisters, for a rabbi, for a ruler of a synagogue to come to Lord Jesus for help, in that particular time, in his time, in Jarrah's time, was not a very popular thing to do. You know the religious system, they were at odds with the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees and the scribes. So to come to Lord Jesus for help was not a popular move on his part. So when he came, he laid aside his religious position and standing and came. Now in contrary to that, we know another person, also a rabbi, Nicodemus. Nicodemus, he dared not to come to Lord Jesus during the daytime. He came to him at night. And if you look in the Bible dictionary, Nicodemus means a victor of populace. In other words, he is the conqueror of man. He is a God-man. He controls man. He controls popular opinion. But Nicodemus, that name, the victor of populace or the conqueror of man, other man, didn't mean anything to him. His life was contrary to his name, his life. Because he was afraid, he was fearful of what people would think of him. He dared not to come to the Lord Jesus during the daytime. He came at night. But this man was enlightened, he came during the day. Now if the Bible says when it's day, then we can walk. When night comes, no one can walk. It's during the day, we see where we are going. So Jared was enlightened, he wanted to know that Lord Jesus is the way. There is no other way. The truth. There is no other truth. And the life, the real life as our brother, the big L. So he came. Even though it was not very popular, but because he was desperate, he was desperate. And the Lord responded, because of his sincerity and pleading for help, the Lord was touched and the Lord responded. Now if you look into the account in the book of Matthew, in the old translation it says, he arose and followed him. As I look through that phrase, as I was reading through the account in Matthew 9, I was struck with that particular phrase. The Lord Jesus arose and followed him. Now, as I look through and look at my concordance, that was only mentioned once, that the Lord Jesus followed someone. Only mentioned once. Maybe I'm wrong, but as I look into the concordance, only recorded once, that he arose and he followed him. Now you record on many occasions, the Lord was the one who called people to follow him. There were multitudes following him. The disciples followed him. He called them to follow him. He said, if you want to follow me, take up your cross and follow me. And on many occasions. And some even come voluntarily and say, I'll follow you. So that phrase just stuck with me. The Lord arose, and as I read that account, I know why, I think I can understand why the Lord arose and followed him. Because the Lord knows the journey they are about to take together will not be the easy one. The Lord said, I'll be behind you. If we're going to get to the end, I'm behind you. If I'm behind you, we'll make it. Now often times we hear messages that the Lord is leading us. He's in front, leading us. Forgetting that sometimes, he follows us. He's in front of us. He's also what? Behind us. It's a precious thought. You recall even in the old testament, when the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt, and Exodus 14, verse 19, let me just read it for you. It says there, the angel of God, who had been travelling in front of the Israelites army, withdrew and went behind them. She now opened the way for them to come out of Egypt, across the Red Sea. But he also what? Came around, came behind them and followed them. Let me just read a bit further. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them. You know when Jairus came to the Lord Jesus, I do not know how many miles he travelled, but I would imagine he came very quickly. I think we can put it, he came at a human supersonic speed. Because his daughter is dying. I imagine when he fell at the Lord's feet, he was out of breath. But the returning journey, Jairus thought it would be a journey of hope. Quickly return to his home so that the child would be touched by the Lord and be raised. A journey of hope. That's why she came, that's why he came. So the returning journey, he was thinking it would be a journey of hope. At the end there would be something beautiful, bright. The child's life would be restored. But for instance, if you read the account, that returning journey was a slow, long march. Obstacles after obstacles. Despair, a journey of despair, a great despair. And as they journeyed home, it gets darker and darker and darker. And hope was gone. But the only consolation for Jairus is that the Lord rose and followed him. He was in front, but the Lord was behind. Now, inordinarily, when you walk, follow someone, who set the pace of your movement? The one in front or the one in the back? Usually the one in front, isn't it? And if he walks fast, you follow fast. If he's slow, you slow down. Because he's leading the way. But in this case, Jairus, even though he was in front, he had no chance, no way to set the pace of their movement. The Lord set the pace. It proves the Lord said, I'm in control of this situation. When I stop, you stop. When I go, we go. The Lord took full charge of this situation. So I thought the Lord said, he arose and followed him. The Lord said, I'll follow you through. That's what he means. And I was greatly comforted when I said, the Lord, he said, he followed. And the Lord said, when I follow, I'll follow you all the way, and follow you through. Well, the journey, the retreating journey turned into a very long, disruptive, full obstacles. And as they journeyed home, Jairus' heart sank lower and lower and lower. Well, the first obstacle, we all know, is that huge crowd. Praise the Lord Jesus. Now, for those who have been to the old country, you know how the streets and alleys, they look. Not like here in Richmond, you have super highways and good roads. They have these winding alleys and small. And not only people, they have domesticated animals. I remember when I took my trip to China, it's wherever you turn, you see people. You don't see the street, you see people. They're just packed with people. And to find your way through that crowd is almost impossible. Now, Jairus, knowing that his daughter was dying, and that huge crowd was praising around the Lord Jesus, can you imagine what went through his heart? Timing is a factor now. If you don't hurry back to his home, it may be just too late. It may be just too late. And this crowd was all around the Lord Jesus and Jairus. The amazing thing is that the Lord knew how desperate he was when he came to, and yet the Lord didn't do anything about the crowd. He didn't mind. He didn't mind the crowd. Now, I was thinking, if I were Jairus, I didn't know what I would do. I'd probably scream and shout. Now, if I dare not to say anything to the Lord Jesus, at least I would say something to the crowd to try to catch their attention. He said, now, can you understand why I came here? My daughter is dying. Now, please don't block our way. Let us just get through. Now, for Jairus to fight his way through that crowd would not be easy, because the streets in those old countries are very, very narrow, very narrow. And whenever the Lord Jesus went in that particular period, he drew a large crowd. It's not just a small crowd. But the amazing thing is that through all that, Jairus remained one silent. If you read his account, you only notice that he spoke at the beginning when he came to Lord Jesus, fell at his feet and pleaded with him. And from that moment on to the very end, he did not utter one word. Now, to me, that is humanly impossible. There are many occasions he had a legitimate right to complain and to say something, but he didn't say it. He remained silent. Now, the reason why he was able to remain calm and silent, I think it's whenever he looked back, that meant Jesus was still behind him. That's all. The Lord said, I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. So every time he looked in desperation, he looked and he looked and he was still with him. What is in front? We don't know. But as he looked back, he was behind him. Now, for instance, that's why the Lord rose up and followed him. Because if the Lord did not follow him, he would have fainted along the way. He would be in total despair. But the Lord was behind him, supported him, encouraged him, whispered in him words of comfort. We will find later. So, brothers and sisters, it's good to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus this way. But it's not for death. When we fix our eyes on him, often times we lose sight of him. Because things come between, crowds come between, and we lose sight of him. It's so easy. But thank God when we lose sight of him, we look back and say, I'm still behind you. And that's our Lord. He's faithful. Well, the next obstacle they encountered was this woman who had this issue of blood for twelve years. She was also in a very desperate situation. I'm sure she thought she was dying too. She had this disease for twelve years. And Mark told us that she consulted doctors and other doctors and spent all she had. And instead of getting better, she grew worse. So in desperation, she came to the Lord Jesus. She came with one aim, that's all. With one aim, single-hearted, she said, if I can only touch him, then that's everything. We'll touch on that later. Now, how she managed to come to the Lord Jesus, we do not know. Apparently she was a very sickly person, very weak. But somehow, because of her determination to come to the Lord Jesus, she used every ounce of her strength to get closer and closer, ever closer to that man. And somehow, she touched him. And when she touched him, something happened. So someone said, faith, true faith, living faith, make demands of God. So she came with faith, with one heart, one purpose, one aim. She said, touch that one, and I know I'll be healed. And that faith demands that power be released from the Lord Jesus. And the Lord knew immediately. Power was released from him. And instantly she was healed. Now the interesting thing is, the obstacle lies before Jairus and the Lord Jesus. After this sister was healed, the Lord said, who touched me? The Lord wanted to single her out. We will touch that just a little bit later. But anyway, when she came before the Lord, fell at his feet and trembling in fear, she knew she could not hide anymore. You remember when she first came, she thought if I just touch her and heal, she will just slip away and not be seen by anyone. That's her purpose. But the Lord would not allow that to happen. The Lord said, who touched me? The Lord wanted to single her out. The Lord has a purpose. Because many came to the Lord Jesus without any purpose. They look at his face, they look at his eyes, but they never touch him. But this lady, in desperation, never get a chance to see the Lord's face, but just simply touch his garment. She was cured. Well, she could not hide any longer and then the scripture said she tell her whole twelve years of suffering. Twelve years under the care of many doctors and grew worse and worse. Spent all she had. And I had brought my sister until she had a long testimony to share. And especially with that curious crowd, I'm sure her testimony drew even a larger crowd. Because that was an amazing story. An amazing story. Well, that Hindu, that desperate movement that Jair was looking for, hurry, hurry home, and now it's destructed again. Obstacle is right there in front of her. They could not move. The Lord stood there and they listened to this lengthy testimony of their sister. Now, here's another occasion that Jair always says something. If not to the Lord, at least to their sister. Would you please make a brief, so we can hurry on, or save it for another time. But we do that in our assemblies, don't we? I mean, when a sister or brother have a lengthy testimony, you know, from birth and all the way on, we say, oh no, no, no, not that lengthy. You know, and then some response, brother, I think there's a time we have to, you know, would you please make a brief or something. Well, the Lord didn't seem to mind. And the scribe said, she told the whole story. Now, how long it took, we don't know. But Jair just took it all in. Knowing that his daughter was dying, it's hard to imagine what went into his heart. It's hard to imagine. But every time Jair doubts and everything came through, and somehow he looked, that man was behind him again. The Lord is still behind him. Brothers and sisters, when we go down and down, often we have the expression, we're hitting the bottom. So I don't know what that really means. I mean, that was the end of everything? Is that what we mean when we hit the bottom? Is that the American expression? I mean, when we say, you know, I hit the bottom, that means that's the end. You cannot go further down, right? Well, brothers and sisters, I tell you, when we say we hit the bottom, our bottoms are all false bottoms. We go through it. So as we go with Jairus through this journey, he hit many bottoms, and he went through, down, down, down, until he hit the real bottom. We'll touch that in a little bit. Well, as they move on, then bad news came. The report came from home saying, your daughter is now dead. Why bother? Now, if you say he hit the bottom, that was the bottom. And then the Lord spoke. The Lord spoke. He said, don't be afraid. Just what? Believe. And then in Mark, in NIV translation, the Lord ignoring that report. Now, that is difficult. Now, who sees the fact? The Lord sees the fact, or Jairus sees the fact? The report is that the daughter is now dead. But the Lord said, believe, and do not be afraid. The Lord's words sometimes are hard to believe. Sometimes we think his words are almost unbelievable. It is true. But yet the Lord said, you believe. Because we see only part of the picture, and the Lord sees the whole thing. We see the immediate, but the Lord sees the total picture. The Lord ignored the report, and told Jairus, say, do not be afraid, and just believe. The Lord ignored the report. Actually, he's ignoring death, because death is stranger to the Lord. Death was rare to Jairus, but death is not a threat to the Lord Jesus. The Lord ignored death, the report of death. The question now, can Jairus believe that? Can Jairus ignore what the Lord ignored? And I believe there was a real deep struggle within him. But at this point, Jairus, he had no more option left with him. It's gone now. So the only hope that he had is to stick with the Lord Jesus, and see what happens, to the very end. And he did. Therefore he remains silent. Words are useless now. The doubt is, what was there more to say? It's gone. Words are useless. So brothers and sisters, the Lord often brings us to a place where there is no option left for us. Especially in this country. We always have the right to choose. And often times we always choose the wrong thing. And I always thank the Lord, I am the way, and there is no other way. No more option. Take it or leave it. That's grace, brothers and sisters. Because he knew we do not know how to choose wisely, therefore he chose the way for us. That's grace. Well, the report was very, very difficult for Jairus to take it in. And the Lord said, you just believe in me. And it's very difficult. Very difficult. But what else can he do? The reasons say, it's gone. No hope, no hope. But the heart says, hang on there, hang on there. That's it. Here it says, give it up, give it up. But here it's saying, stick it out, stick it out. And he said, stick it out. Don't be afraid, just believe. I am behind you. I am behind the whole thing. And because of Jairus, it would remain quiet and not say anything. Now the last obstacle they encounter is that when they arrive home, they discover the scene, the commotion, the crying and the wailing of the people. I was told that in the Jewish tradition when someone passed away, you had to hire professional mourners to cry with the family. Apparently when they arrived home, relatives and friends were already in preparation for her burial. And when you read the Gospel account, that seems to be the thing that was happening. And the Lord said, why all this commotion? And he said, the child is not dead, but what? Asleep. Everything the Lord says seems to be in total contrary, just the exact opposite of everything they see with their naked eye. So when Jairus came home, everything smelled bad. What he saw was bad, what he smelled was bad. But through all this, you can see the Lord was in charge of this whole situation. So when he saw that commotion, he said, why all this commotion? And then he asked those doubters to get out of that situation. So he removed all the unbelieving party away from there. And he took the child's father and mother and his three disciples into the child's room and raised them up. Now as I say that Jairus, as they were on their way home, his heart was sinking lower and lower and lower. And many times he thought he had hit the bottom. When they encountered the crowd, he said, that's it, no more chance. Because the child was what? Was dying or already dead. When they encountered this woman who had this 12-year issue of blood, that delay, he thought that was the first time he thought that was the bottom. But again that bottom fell through another bottom. You know what I mean? Keep going down and going down until the Lord came into the picture. Remove all the doubters and he raised the child. To me, that's when he really hit the bottom. Now when he hit the bottom, it means he cannot go down any further. Brothers and sisters, the Lord wants us to get down to himself. The Lord is the solid rock. So when they went down and went down, all the human bottoms fell through until we came to that real bottom, the rock, the solid rock, the rock of Egypt. And that was the real bottom. Now oftentimes the Lord has to bring us into that situation. Now F. B. Meyer has a way of putting this way that we go down into the rock to enter into God's reality. He said when he was young, he thought all God's gifts and all God's riches are in shelves, one above the other. As you grow taller spiritually, you can reach all those nice gifts. But he said, as I grew older in the Lord, I discovered all those nice gifts and riches of Christ there on the shelves, down beneath one beneath the other. As you go lower and lower, you discover those real treasures that are down there. And Jarrah's trip, journey home was simply going down and down because the Lord has a treasure he wanted to discover, and that's himself. So when he went down, down, down, he fell at the bottom, and he finally discovered it all. Now in that, I want you to turn to one verse of Scripture, and we can just look at it. In the book of Deuteronomy 27, Deuteronomy 33, 27, The eternal God is your refuge, sometimes we say your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. That's all we're going to register as two phrases. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath is the everlasting arm. Now I'm a late comer in Bible study, and I was not fortunate to be like Dana and the others. They had their own cemetery education. I came quite late, and I'm not good at that, but I do have a few concordance in books I can really look into it. But I understand this word underneath only mentioned once in the Scripture. And in Hebrew, it means bottom. So at the rear bottom, you will find the everlasting arm. I hope you will go back and look at this and see what this underneath in Hebrew means. From what I heard, from what I looked in the dictionary, it means bottom. If you look into Young's Concordance, you will find this underneath means bottom. It means the lowest part underneath, the bottom. You cannot go any further. So you touch the bedrock. You touch the rear foundation. You touch the end. And from the Lord Jesus, from a spiritual point of view, when you touch the end, you touch the beginning. Because Christ is the beginning. Christ is also the what? The end. When you touch the end, he brings you to the beginning. And that was restored. And that was given. And Jairus told you this. That's the way the Lord is dealing with any of us. Particularly in some of the provinces in our area, recently suffered a great deal. Many problems, we don't know how it came about. Seemingly there's no hope. And yet, we discover that when they hit the bottom, they hit the Lord himself. And they were raised up again. Because the Lord said I am the resurrection. Even though you are dead, you will live again. And that's what some of us experience. In recent weeks, we think the Christian life is up and going, brighter and brighter. But often time it gets dark. And Isaiah says, those treasures are to be found in darkness. The riches are in hidden places. And Jairus' journey home was a journey of long despair. But in the end, the Lord was there. And life was given. When he touched the bottom, life was restored. So this world underneath, that's the bottom. When you hit the bottom, the Lord said, my hand is there. And now he lifts you up. Now this woman that had 12 years of blood issue, that came to the Lord and touched him. Now just touch Elizabeth. According to the Mosaic Law, this woman had this disease, was an unclean person. Ceremonially unclean. She was cut off from the rest of the Israelite people as far as their privilege to go into the temple to worship and to make sacrifices. She was out. Unclean. An unclean person cannot approach. If she was married, most likely she will be abandoned by her husband because she's unclean. Anyone touches her is unclean. Anything that she touches is also unclean. Rejected as an outcast. And she lived that life for 12 years, getting weaker and weaker in great agony. But she had one thing in her mind, that she heard something about the Lord Jesus and she was willing to come and try him out. She was willing. And she came and cast herself at the Lord's mercy, hidden in the crowd. Now as I said before, when she came she had one thing in mind, just to be healed. When I touch him and when he heals me, when I'm healed, she will just slip away unnoticed. Now this unnoticed way of living or isolated life is not really something new to this person because she's been isolated for too long now. For her to readjust to live with the crowd would be a difficult thing for her to do. 12 years of complete isolation. So she thought if I just touch and heal, I'll slip out unnoticed by anyone. But the Lord did notice her. The Lord would not let her get away that quickly. Now you remember when she came, she came from behind. But when the Lord called her, she came and stood or kneeled right here before the Lord. Well, in a sense, this woman also hit the bottom. If you read the account of the Gospel, she really had 12 years, spent all she had, consulted all the doctors. Instead of getting better, she grew worse and worse. Where can she turn? If you say she hit the bottom, she hit the bottom. But thank God she came to the real bottom, the big rock, the solid rock of Lord Jesus, and she touched that. And she was cured. She was made whole instantly. And then the Lord said, who touched me? The Lord said, who touched me? Now when the Lord was looking for her, she knew she could not hide in herself anymore. And the Lord was very selective who that one particular person. In a sense, the Lord was teaching all of us. All those people that are present around the Lord Jesus, many of them were really touching him. That's true. So the disciples said, why are you asking such a question? There are people all around you. All of them were touching you. Brothers and sisters, but this person, her touch was a touch of faith. And power was released from Lord Jesus to her. Many came because of curiosity to look at this person, just what he looks like and so forth. But they never had a real touch of him as a servant of man. You recall at the end of the raising up of Jared's daughter, the Lord said, do not tell anybody what happened. He gives strict order to the family not to tell anyone what happened. Brothers and sisters, many times the Lord did that before. Don't tell anybody. After the miracle was performed, he said, don't say anything to anyone. The reason why is that the Lord did not want us to know him as miracle workers. He wanted us to believe him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, that through believing him we may have life. That is what he came for. Not to do miracles, but to give life. Well, she could not hide herself anymore and she came right in front of the Lord. Now, St. Augustine has a phrase, he said, flesh praises but faith touches. And I think that is a very beautiful way he puts it. Flesh praises but faith touches. So there are many of those in their fleshly way, they praise around the Lord, but only those who came in faith, they touch him. You know, when we come to the Lord, we have some expectation of the Lord when we come. We all do. We all do. We all come to be blessed. It is all of us. We all come to be blessed. We say, if I can only just get that and I will be satisfied. But the Lord often gives us more than we ask for. So this sister came, just wanted to be healed and then go home, slip away. The Lord called her to himself and the Lord used one very tender word to give her the blessing that she never anticipated because the Lord's intention is to bring her to himself. Not just to give her life but to recover her to himself. So there will be a relationship, there will be fellowship, there will be a union of life. So a relationship can be restored. So the Lord called her daughter. She was now cast before and clean. The Lord said, now you are part of the family. Now you are brought into the fellowship and now we can commune. Before you came from behind and now you are sitting right in front of me. You see, all she thought was if I can only get behind and just touch and that's enough. That's good enough. But the Lord said, that's not good enough. I'll make you a daughter of mine and I'll put you right in front of me that we may commune. Now for the Lord to bring her to such a place, sometimes the Lord has to use strange ways. With some, he might have to bring her deeper and deeper and deeper. Go through bottoms after bottoms until we hit a big rock. And that's the Lord Jesus. Then we are revived, recovered. And when we hit the end, actually we hit the beginning. Because he's the first, he's the last. Well, brothers and sisters, how can we apply this in our practical everyday Christian life? As we look into the future, we always hope that the future will be brighter and brighter. Brothers and sisters, that is a false hope. The world is getting darker and darker. Even in our physical body, the threat of death is always there. We cannot be sure. But there's one thing we can be sure. If we had to fall back, we fall back on him. Because he said, I'll follow you. With many of us, somehow by the grace of God we are still here today. It's because many times we fell and fell miserably, he was behind us to pick us up again and again. So when I read that account in Matthew 9, when Jairus came and pleaded for help, it says, the Lord arose and followed him. Brothers and sisters, the Lord knew without him following us, we were not going to make it. We are all potential dropouts. We cannot even trust ourselves. If he's in front of us, we can see him, thank God for that. But sometimes there are things get between, and we are out of focus. But thank, even though we are out of focus, he is still behind. He will not let us go homeward. Once we are marked out, we are forever his. That's why the Lord said, who touched me? If you ever touch me once, I will not let you go anymore. You are stuck with me for life, forever, for eternity. And he put her right in front of him, and called her daughter, an eternal relationship with himself, to commune and to share, and to be his friend. So brothers and sisters, the way to fullness sometimes is costly. Doesn't mean we get fuller and fuller of himself immediately. Sometimes we have to go down, down, down into the dark, and to discover the treasure that is there. Sometimes we have to go to those secret places. Nobody seems to understand what we are going through. But the treasure, riches are there. I'm privileged. To me, people, they found treasure. They found those riches. Because what they are going through, we are enriched. We are enriched. And that is one way we can enter into fullness. Sharing the suffering of our brothers and sisters. What they went through, we go through with them spiritually. And what they discover in Dakhne is all rich, all gain. Brothers and sisters, that is God. Our God is doing it. So there are many mysterious ways God is leading us. We do not know why. But those are ways for us to discover the riches that are in secret places, and treasure that are in Dakhne. And thank God for brothers and sisters that are going through that way. Brothers and sisters, not for themselves, but for the riches, for the fullness of the body of Christ. And that is very real. And may God help us. If we have to go down, the road is there. Brothers and sisters, remember, the Lord says, I'm behind you. If you have to go through one bottom and another, the Lord says, I'm that rear bottom. Once you hit me, you cannot go further down, but up. And that's himself. So may the Lord help us. Those words I share are very, very feeble, and I'm sure you know all about it. But I think we need to be reminded. And may the Lord help us. What we see is only part of the picture. He sees the total picture. So do not doubt him. Do not question him. As long as he is leading us, as long as he is behind us, we will reach the goal. So we bow our heads. Lord, we look to you to be very merciful to us. Help us not to choose our own ways, but to listen to the small voice that comes from behind. Not from in front, but from behind, saying, this is the way. Lord, we do not know what's ahead. We do not know the end. As long as you are with us, as long as you are behind us, the end is secure. Because you are the first and you are the last. And we can put our faith in you and trust you for it. Lord, give us faith to believe. Give us faith to commit our ways and our lives to you. That you may bring us to discover the hidden riches that are in secret places, and the treasure that's in darkness. Thank you for favoring us to discover some of the riches. Even though the road is difficult, a way of despair, for desolation, but Lord, as we look back, we can only say, Lord, it's worth it. And it's your mercy, it's your grace to us. Help us all to follow you and to give our lives to you. We give praise and give thanks to you.