1. One of the most important doctrinal words in the Bible is "faith" (Matt. 9:22,29).
2. The prophet Habakkuk said "the just shall live by faith" (Hab.2:4), and this Scripture is quoted three times in the NT (Rom.1:17; Gal.3:11; Heb.10:38).
3. Our Lord often spoke on this subject and tonight it is the link connecting the three incidents that we will be looking at:

• the ruler with the daughter that Jesus raised from the dead (9:18).
• the woman with an issue of blood that was healed (9:20-22).
• the two blind men who received their eyesight (9:27-29).

4. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb.11:6). Jesus said that if we had the faith as a grain of mustard seed, we could move mountains.
5. Today, I would like for us to focus on this matter of faith.

I. THE FAITH OF THE CERTAIN RULER (9:18,19,23-26).

1. The great Baptist theologian, Augustus H. Strong, said that saving faith has three elements: an intellectual element, an emotional element, and there is a voluntary element. This certain ruler had all three elements.
2. First of all, let’s consider the intellectual element. He recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. This was an important step on his part because he was a ruler of the synagogue and most of the Jewish leaders were opposed to our Lord (cf. Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41).
3. I do want to remind you that an intellectual acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, that He rose from the dead, etc. is not enough to save anyone. There are many lost people who understand intellectually all these things and more but they have never been born again.
4. The second element is the emotional element, and you will notice that this ruler named Jairus "fell down at Jesus’ feet" (Luke 8:41).
5. Matthew says that he "worshipped" our Lord (9:18).
6. A Muslim man recently told one of our members that we are "evil" because we worship Jesus Christ. But it is the other way around. Those that humble themselves like this man named Jairus are blessed by God and receive eternal life but all the proud unbelievers will be cast into hell.
7. By the way, he should thank God that he is living in a country established by Christians where he has the freedom to worship his false god and attack the true God. In Muslim countries no such freedom is tolerated and those who oppose Islam are put in prison and executed!
8. The third element is the voluntary element, and you will notice that nobody had to force this man to come to Jesus – he came on his own, he came willingly, he came because he was desperate.
9. Unsaved friend: what about you? Will you come willingly to the Saviour?

II. THE FAITH OF THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD

1. This poor woman was sick for twelve years (Matt.9:19,20). Medical science had been unable to help her.
2. Mark tells us that she "had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse" (Mark 5:26).
3. In addition to her physical pain and sufferings, she was considered an outcast because she was ceremonially unclean (cf. Lev.15:25).
4. It was hard for this poor sick woman to get the attention of our Lord so she just reached out and touched the hem of His garment (Matt.9:21).
5. This little act of faith may seem insignificant to you or me but not to our Lord. He said to her: "Thy faith hath made thee whole" (9:22).
6. Luke gives us more information (Luke 8:43-50).
7. I want to stop for a moment and make an application. You and I are surrounded by dead people. The other night my daughters and I were out visiting in Glendale. Driving down Metropolitan Avenue, we were surrounded on both sides by grave yards. And I thought, this is a perfect picture of NYC – "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph.2:1).
8. And just as Jesus raised the dead physically, He is still raising the dead spiritually (cf. John 5:24).
9. Then we looked at the woman diseased with an issue of blood. She had a disease and Jesus healed her. Beloved, the most horrible disease of all is sin, and that can only be cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus.

III. THE FAITH OF THE TWO BLIND MEN (9:27-31).

1. And now we come to an account found only in the book of Matthew, the story of the two blind men. Sin blinds people. Look at the multitudes of people crying and leaving flowers in front of the apartment of JFK Jr. (The same thing happened when Princess Diana died.) Why? They are blind spiritually and are looking for something, anything, that will give them some measure of pleasure.
2. Oh, that we might be able to point them to Jesus, who raised the dead, who healed the sick, and who gave eyesight to the blind.
3. "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."
4. Notice the blind men addressed Jesus as the "son of David" (Matt.9:27); i.e. they recognized that He was the promised Messiah who would come through the house of David.
5. And they probably knew that the Messiah could give "sight to the blind" (cf. Luke 4:18).
6. Our Lord tested their faith by asking them: "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" (Matt.9:28). I believe God is testing our faith. He is asking, "Believe ye that I am able to fix this building up, etc.?"
7. The blind men passed the test. "They said unto Him, Yea, Lord" (9:28). Will we pass the test?
8. Well then, "According to your faith be it unto you" (9:29).
9. Man says, "Seeing is believing." But in their case, it was "Believing was seeing."

CONCLUSION:

1. One day the famous missionary, Hudson Taylor, was in a sailing ship not far from the coast of New Guinea. It was Sunday morning and they had their Sunday morning service on the deck.
2. During the service, Hudson Taylor noticed that the captain looked very troubled, and so afterwards he approached him and asked him what was wrong.
3. The captain replied that the current was leading the ship towards some sunken reefs, and he felt that at the rate they were going they would be in danger by late afternoon. He said to Taylor: "Well, we have done everything that can be done. We can only await the results."
4. Hudson Taylor wrote these words in his journal: "A thought occurred to me, and I replied, ‘No, there is one thing we have not done yet.’ ‘What is that?’ the captain asked.
5. Taylor said: "Four of us on board are Christians. Let us each retire to his own cabin, and in agreed prayer ask the Lord to give us immediately a breeze. He can as easily send it now as at sunset."
6. The four Christians went to their cabins and prayed. After praying about this, Hudson Taylor felt satisfied that God was going to answer their prayer and so he went back up on deck.
7. The first officer was an unsaved man, and he was in charge. Taylor told him to let down the corners of the mainsail, which had been drawn up.
8. The officer asked, "Why bother?" Taylor told him that they had been asking God for some wind and that it was coming immediately. Within a minute the wind came and the sailors started scrambling to get the sails in place.