The Four Ps of Perfect Faith: A Journey Through Crisis and Belief

SPEAKER 01 : 0:06

Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I’m Sharon Knotts, thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today’s message, The Four Ps of Perfect Faith, is illustrated in the crises faced by Jairus, a ruler of the Jewish synagogue whose 12-year-old daughter was dying. When he found Jesus and asked him to come lay hands on her and she shall live, Jesus followed him home without hesitation. But a game-changing problem presented on the way, and Jairus got a crash course in the four Ps of perfect faith. Thank the Lord for his marvelous gifts. He said in John 14, 27, my peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Amen? Only that supernatural peace that comes from heaven. can sustain you in a time when all you hear are bad reports, bad news, things come into your life, amen, that just would turn you upside down. And yet you have this cushion of peace. You know, I read one time that the oceans, you know, they are so powerful. Water is so powerful, really. Hydropower of water is really probably the greatest power on earth. And we know how powerful the oceans are, but do you know at the very, very, very lowest depth is something called the cushion of the sea. And in that place, things are undisturbed. There is no current. There is no upheaval. There’s no movement. There’s nothing. As powerful as all those waves and currents and tides are, down there at the cushion of the sea, it’s just serene and placid and motionless. And see, that is the picture of our soul when our trust is in God. Amen. All this stuff is happening all around us and one thing after another. You can be in a cyclone. But yet, deep down in your soul, there’s a cushion of peace that is undisturbable, that is unperturbable. Amen? And that can only come from the Lord. We’re going to begin in Psalm 138 and read two verses there before we go into the New Testament. And these are some of my favorite verses in the Psalms period. And Psalms 138 and verse 7 says, Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. Verse 8. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. For thy mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of thine hands. Amen. Amen. Let me tell you something. If you haven’t already found out, you probably have. Sometimes you’re going to walk in the midst of trouble. Amen. You’re going to walk in the midst of trouble. David said, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. So we could say many are the troubles. the righteous but in the midst of that when you’re walking in the midst of those troubles the Lord will revive you and actually that word means to remain alive to recover from sickness from weakness connected to the word in Hebrew for life chi which is life or chi yin which is plural it’s connected to that word and so it means to recover from sickness or recover from something that is threatening to take your life and we know that it can be on two planes it can be literally in the natural and the physical or it could be in the spiritual realm as well amen but he said if i’m in that place the lord is going to revive me And literally what he’s saying is the Lord is going to keep me alive. He’s going to keep me alive and he’s going to preserve me. He’s going to sustain me. But not only that, he’s going to perfect that which concerns me. You know, usually we don’t see the word perfect used as a verb. I mean, it’s mostly used as an adjective, right? We speak of something being perfect. Amen? Oh, that is the perfect picture. Oh, that dress fits you perfectly. We make it an adverb. But we don’t see it as a verb. Generally speaking, we do not use it as a verb. Amen? But here it’s being used as a verb. And a verb means action. Amen? So you have an action word, then that means there’s got to be a subject or a noun or a person or something that’s performing the action. Amen? And so here in this case, it’s the Lord. It’s God who’s performing the action and it’s a very special action because He is perfecting His child. He’s working on someone through the midst of their troubles. While they’re walking in the trouble, God is in action and He’s working and perfecting someone to bring them to a place of completion and fulfillment and victory. Amen? So God uses all those troubles and hindrances and obstacles and things that come against us and they don’t shake God up. They don’t alter his plan. They don’t make him have to think, now what am I going to do about this? He just puts it all together. And like we know in the New Testament that Paul said in Romans 8, 28, and all things work together for good to them that love God, that are called according to his purpose. Amen. So all things are working together for good. But who’s working them together for good? God is doing that. Amen. And I love what Paul said in Philippians 1, 6. And he said, but he that hath begun a good work in you, he shall complete it. He shall perform it. Let me borrow David’s word. He shall perfect it. He’s going to perfect everything. Amen. So I’m here to tell you the truth. Sometimes you’re going to walk in trouble. Sometimes you’re going to be in the midst of many troubles. But don’t become discouraged or weary or faint in the midst of it. Amen? Don’t doubt in your heart and don’t cast away your confidence because know that in the midst of your trouble, God is perfecting something in your life. Amen? But you see, the devil tries to get us to focus on we’re surrounded. By troubles. David once said that he had so many troubles they were surrounding him like a green bay tree. And I’m not exactly sure what a green bay tree is, but I have to assume that it’s one of those trees that’s just so full. You almost could stand under it like it’s an umbrella. Amen? And that’s how he saw the enemy coming against him. Amen? But he said in Psalm 27, this is what I do in those situations. Two steps. He said in Psalm 27, 13, I had fainted. I like to say it the way we would say it. I would have fainted. unless Had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living See, that’s what you got to do when you’re walking in the midst of trouble You got to believe I am going to see the goodness of the Lord because one thing I am totally convinced of and the devil will not Persuade me otherwise and that is God is good Amen God is good all the time and what I And all the time God is good. You’ve got to be convinced in your heart, in your mind that God is good. It’s the lying devil that comes and sits on our shoulders sometimes and tries to say, well, why didn’t God do this? Or how come God’s not that? Amen. And you may not have the answer and you don’t need to. All you have to say is Satan. You’re a liar. God is good. And David said, because I know God is good, I didn’t faint. But I believed I will eventually see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I don’t know when it’s coming about. I don’t know how it’s coming about. But I believe because God is good, I will eventually see his goodness in my life. So I’m going to believe the report of the Lord. And then he said in the next verse, he said, so wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. So first step to victory is to believe that God is good. And second step to victory is to say, I’m going to wait on God’s goodness. to be manifest because though I’m walking in trouble right now he’s going to use this thing and he’s going to perfect the things concerning me now that is a very broad broad subject and you can fill in the blank according to your need whatever it may be you committed and submitted to God and he’s going to perfect the outcome and perfect you in the process Amen? So now let’s turn to Mark, the fifth chapter, a very, very common story, one of Jesus’ miracles. Actually, it’s going to be two miracles in this story. And we know it well, but I would like to go through it today, if you just don’t mind, because I’m preparing myself for victory as well. Amen? And faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and so I can hear my own self preaching, and while I’m hearing it, faith is being… are processed in my spirit a man so in Mark 5 let’s look at verse 21 and when Jesus was passed over again by ship on to the other side much people much people gathered unto him and he was nigh or he was near unto the sea and behold there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue Jairus by name and when he saw him he fell at his feet he fell at Jesus feet and besought, very strong word, and besought him greatly, intensifying the word, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed, and she shall live. Very positive. And she shall live. And you know what? And Jesus went with him. But so did a whole lot of other people. And much people followed him and thronged him. So now we have an urgent crisis. A distraught father has come to seek Jesus out personally and ask him to come and pray for his little daughter, specifically lay hands on her. And heal her and she shall live. Now we find that he was a ruler of the synagogue. He was a very important person. Amen. He held a high position in the synagogue of the Jews. But he didn’t send an assistant. He didn’t send his secretary. He didn’t send his aide to go to Jesus. He came personally. He dropped everything and he personally came because his little daughter was dying. And he was in a desperate place. Now we can only assume that he had already had the doctors in. We must assume surely that whatever he could have done in the natural had already been done. Amen. But she only got worse. And now she was at the point of death. And he besought him greatly, saying, I pray thee, lay your hands on her and she shall live. Now we’re going to look at what I call the four P’s. P’s of perfect faith. And here is P number one. The first P of perfect faith is the prayer of faith. Amen. He came and said, come with me, come home with me, lay hands on her. And she shall be healed and she shall live. A very specific request. Amen? And his faith was geared to receive the answer. He didn’t say she might live. I hope that she will live. She shall live. She shall live. Amen? Now… All these people are thronging Jesus. They also want to be healed. Couldn’t Jesus have just sent his word? Amen. and healed her like he did the Centurion’s servant? Could he not have done that? Could he have not just sent his word like he did for the Seraphim woman whose daughter was grievously vexed of the devil? And in those two cases, he sent his word because that’s where the level of faith those people had. That Centurion had so much faith in Jesus’ spoken word of authority, he said, you don’t need to come to my house. You know, actually it’s not a good idea for you to come to my house. I am a Roman and you are a Jew and I understand the Jewish customs. You should not do that. I don’t need you to do that. All you got to do is speak the word only. And Jesus said, I have never seen faith like this, not in all of Israel. Now he could have done the same thing here. He could have said to Jairus, he could have said, go home, your daughter lives. but he met Jairus at the point of his faith. And his faith was, you come home with me and lay hands on her, she shall live. And so Jesus responded to his specific request and met him at the point of his faith and he started along with him and was going to his house. But now, having met the first P of faith, having prayed the prayer of faith, having touched the Lord, touched God, made contact, and now Jesus is on the way to answer his prayer, enters a big problem. all of these people around them. Let’s look at verse 25. And a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, meaning the press of all the people, and touched his garment. For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway or immediately the fountain of her blood, the issue of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, and virtue is another word for power. It comes from the Greek dunamis. Knowing that power had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, do you see the multitude thronging me? And you say, who touched me? And he looked around about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. You see, sometimes when you have exercised the first P of faith and you have truly prayed the prayer of faith, you know that you’ve touched God. Amen? You may, though, before you see the manifestation of the request that you’ve made unto God, encounter a problem, a huge problem. Amen? Jesus was on his way, but now all these people begin to throng him, and it was slowing them down considerably. slowing them down as they were trying to make their way to Jaira’s home, and time was of the essence because the girl was at the point of death. If you read all three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you put them all together, and I will paraphrase what is not in Mark for you. So she was at the point of death, and they were being slowed down, but they were still making, you know, progress ever so slowly. They were still on their way. Until a bigger problem an outright interruption stopped them all together All together they came to a stop because this woman had made her way to Jesus and we assumed she did it on her hands and knees the Bible doesn’t tell us that but we see a picture in our mind of a woman trying to touch the hem of his garment and Amen. And so that meant that she had to press her way. It says she came in the press in order to reach Jesus. Now we read that she had suffered for 12 years. And if we read the other gospels, we find out later that Jairus’ daughter was 12 years old. So this woman had suffered as long as this little girl had lived. And not only that, she had spent all her money on all the doctors. She had seen all the specialists and all the experts. And not only did she not get better, she got worse. And then to add insult to injury, she was broke. So if there was a new medical cure that came on the horizon, amen, she didn’t have any money. Amen? But she heard. See, if you can just hear the word of faith. Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing. Hear this word today. Not with your ears only, but with your spiritual ears. Hear the word of the Lord. Because as you are hearing, faith is growing in your heart and in your spirit. Because faith is not created in your mind. In fact, your mind is the enemy of faith. In your mind is reasoning. In your mind is you will be logical and you will look at everything in a logical order. And the logical order will often, almost invariably, will counteract and contradict faith. Because the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4.13 that faith is a spirit. I’m not talking about the fruit of faith in Galatians 2.22. Actually, that would be better to be called faithfulness. He said, I had the same spirit of faith. I believed, therefore I spoke. See, faith always speaks. It always talks. I mean, sometimes it sings, okay? Sometimes faith sings, but it’s vocal. It’s vocalized, amen? Where it said that she said, if I can touch his clothes, I’ll be made whole. The Greek is in the present tense, which denotes continual habitual action, which really should have been translated, she kept on saying. she kept on saying she said it over and over if I can but touch his clothes I shall be whole she kept on saying that means she kept on hearing she kept on hearing her own voice as she vocalized what she believed in her spirit she heard about Jesus she knew that he was a healer she knew that he was a miracle worker and she knew that he was the only one that That could turn her situation from total defeat into victory. And she kept on saying, you know, she’s trying to get through all these people. And she kept on saying. She was focused. And she finally made her way to a point and a place and a position that she was able to reach out and touch his clothes. Now think about this for one second here. Jaira’s faith was in Jesus coming and touching, laying his hands on his girl. The woman’s faith was in her laying her hands on Jesus. It doesn’t matter which way the Lord does it. Don’t put God in a box. Amen. But just reach out by faith and touch the master. Hallelujah. Amen. Reach out and touch him. says that she touched his clothes amen she touched his clothes now we’re told in luke that she touched the border of his garment we’re told in matthew she touched the hem of his garment i have a message called the hem of his garment that i preached many years ago and in it i explained that What I believe, and so do many ministers and Bible scholars, that what she actually touched was the fringes on his prayer shawl. He was a rabbi. He would have worn a prayer shawl. Most of you, I didn’t bring mine today, but most of you know what a prayer shawl looks like, a Jewish prayer shawl. And it’s white, and it’s got the blue embroidering gold here, and it’s got the stripes. But then on the bottom are these fringes that hang down. And those fringes, if you want to know more about it, you can get that message. But those fringes were tied in knots. And the knots were not just any knots, but they actually were sort of like a code for the alphabet, for the Hebrew alphabet. So if you tied the knots in certain ways, it said something. The name of God. Amen. It said the name of God, Jehovah, the name of God, the word of God. So we can use that metaphor and say, we can bring it over to say that when she touched those fringes, she was touching the word of God. Now, she didn’t have the written New Testament, of course. She was going to be part of it. Amen? But we have the Gospels, and we have the Word of God. Amen? And she reached out and touched the Word of God. Amen? And that’s what we’ve got to do. Amen? And immediately, it happened straightway. She felt that issue, that flow of blood in her body. Amen? Just stop just like that. And we know that she said she felt it in her body that that plague was gone. She felt the power of God come into her body. And we read that Jesus felt the power go out. He felt the power go out. She felt the power come in. It was so remarkable that Jesus stopped and said, who touched me? And thinking with the logical, natural mind, and we can only assume that he was thinking to himself when he said it, whenever disciple it was. I don’t know. They don’t tell us what disciple it was, do they? How many want to just take a guess who it might have been? Probably Peter. Yeah, I think you’re right. Probably Peter. Amen. Impetuous, Peter. You’ve got the P.E.T. right there in his name. Amen. And he said, Lord, do you see all these people? Everybody’s bumping into you, pushing up against you. And you want to know who touched you? But he said, I felt power go out of me. I felt the anointing go out of me. I felt the virtue go out of me. Then that means somebody touched me with faith. Somebody touched me with faith who had said again and again, if I can just touch his clothes. And because she had set her mind and spirit in that direction, she could not and would not let all the throngs keep her from doing it. She couldn’t. In order for her to be healed, she had to do exactly what she said. She couldn’t yell, Hey, Jesus, I’m over here. Can you come over here for a minute? No. She said, I got to touch his clothes. I got to reach out and touch him. He doesn’t even have to know. I don’t have to talk to him. I don’t have to explain my history. I don’t have to tell him I’ve been to doctors and specialists for 12 years. I don’t have to tell him any of that. I just want to touch him. I don’t care what it’s been like up to now. I don’t care how many disappointments you’ve been through. I don’t care how many doctors have shaken their head at you. I don’t care how many times you’ve tried to figure this out. Forget it and reach out today and touch the master. the more you rehearse your disappointments and the failures and the people that have done you wrong and the doctors that have misdiagnosed you and the doctors that have given you something that made you worse than you were before you went to them. The more you rehearse that, the more turmoil will be in your spirit and it will prevent your faith from operating without hindrance. Amen? And so she knew that it was wrong for her to touch him because what does it say? She came fearing and trembling. fearing and trembling because she knew what the law of Moses said. The law of Moses said that when a woman had an active flow of blood, that she was not to touch anyone, and especially a rabbi, especially a man of God. So she knew that what she was doing was breaking the commandment of Moses. But I have to believe that the Holy Spirit had put it in her heart that I’ve got to touch him. So when she thought she could touch him and nobody would be the wiser, they would know that she touched him. They would know her condition. She would just come in. You know, she would come in under the radar and reach out and touch him, get her miracle done. And go home and live happily ever after. She didn’t know that Jesus was going to stop. And say, I felt the touch of faith. I felt the power leave my body. And I want to know who it is that had that faith to do that. So she came fearing and trembling and she told him all about her history. You know, technically her touch would have made Jesus unclean. But instead, her touch made her clean. Made an unclean woman clean. Amen? Made her clean. And Jesus said, daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. What did he say? Thy faith has made thee whole. What did she say? If I can touch him, I shall be made whole. She got exactly what she kept on saying. Exactly what she said over and over again. I shall be made whole. I shall be made whole. I shall be made whole. And Jesus said, Thy faith has made thee whole. Mark tells us in the 11th chapter, if you will believe in your heart and not doubt in your heart, you will have whatever you say. You’re going to have what you say. If you say negative things, you’ll have a negative result. If you keep rehearsing over and over again. Oh, we’re in a bad way here. We’re falling behind. Oh, this is happening. Oh, I can’t pay my bills. Oh, this, that, and the other. You’re going to have it. You know what? You’re going to have it some more. You just keep having it and keep having it. Amen. I pray your faith is being divinely inspired by this word, the four Ps of perfect faith. This story is actually two stories overlapping one another, and it birthed two miracles. Jairus, ruler of the synagogue, sought Jesus to come and pray for his dying daughter, and his first P of petition was immediately granted. but enter a problem an interruption by a suffering woman who too was desperate she did not plan on being seen or heard she just wanted to touch jesus clothes and she would be made whole after 12 years of misery but when she touched jesus she made a supernatural connection immediately jesus felt the power go out and she felt it come in It was in this interim, as Jesus conversed with the woman, that Jairus exercised his second pee of patience. He uttered no protest of the delay she caused. But then servants came saying it was too late. The girl was dead. In that cliffhanging moment, Jesus commanded, do not fear, only believe. Discover how Jairus exhibited the third P of perseverance, even when things got worse when they arrived at the house, until his faith was rewarded with a final P of the promise. The four Ps of faith is an excellent resource for anyone who is facing catastrophic illness such as cancer. I share about my own diagnosis of breast cancer in this message. It can be ordered on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for our radio ministry. Request SK204. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or shop online at our e-store at soundoffaith.org where you can order on MP3s as well. But to order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10, request offer SK204, and mail to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.