Verse 21, verse 21, Mark 5. And when Jesus was passed over
again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto
him, and he was nigh 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. Besought him greatly, 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." We'll pause a moment right here to consider the universal
condition of the human race by nature. The fact that sin and depravity
reaches all nationalities and all ages, and it comes out in
disease and sickness and death, sorrow, pain and heartache, from
which none, none of Adam's race are exempt. The woman we're fixing
to read about here now, She had a blood disease. That's what
we all have. Adam's sinful blood flowing in
our veins. He rebelled against God and we
were born rebels against God. As we read on down in this passage,
she had this problem for 12 years. We've had it. as a race for 6,000
years. So you see the picture. Christ
has just returned from Gadara, the first 20 verses of this chapter,
where he had cast the demons out of a wild man living among
the tombs, and the Lord left him clothed and in his right
mind. You know that story. So Christ
crosses back over the sea and there comes a ruler of the synagogue,
Jairus by name, falls down at Jesus' feet and pleads with him
to come and heal his little daughter who lay dying. Verse 24, and Jesus went with
him and much people followed him and thrown him. And a certain
woman, which had an issue of blood twelve 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, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may but touch
his clothes, I shall be whole. So here's three different cases
in just a few verses. A demon-possessed man, a dying
child, and a diseased woman. It's male and female. It's old
and young. It's different places, different
diseases, different situations. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the answer. for all three cases. He's the
answer for your case. He's the answer for my case.
And it's this third case I want us to consider for a little bit
this morning, the woman that's introduced here in verse 25 as
a certain woman. And for the title of our message
this morning, we'll talk about what we just heard in that song,
touching Jesus. is all that really matters. Now if the physical healing of
this woman is all we get out of this this morning, then we
miss the message entirely. Because physically, somewhere
down the road in a few years she's going to die from something
else. So the physical healing is not
permanent. But the thing we need to see
this morning in this story is that there's something happened
in this woman's heart this day that'll never die, live forever,
live on forever. But she's called here a certain
woman, a certain woman. It's about all we can do to see
God in the end of our experience. But the scriptures clearly teach
us that God is in on everything from the beginning, not just
the end. I've often said he is not like
the news media. You've heard them say, we joined
this story already in progress. Well, our God never joins anything
already in progress. Isaiah 46.10, declaring the end
from the beginning. That's our God. Declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will
do all my pleasure. Don't talk to me about a failing
God. Don't talk to me about a God
who wants to do a whole lot more than he's able to get done. No,
he's running right on schedule. And I make this point because
of the way this woman is introduced. She's not just a woman, an average
woman, any woman, but a certain woman. Certain in the mind and
purpose of God from eternity. Now, she wasn't anything special
to the world. And God's children are not either.
But she's special to God, a certain woman. And so are the Lord's
little children here this morning. It's very interesting and rewarding
to take your concordance and follow that word certain through
the New Testament. You find it many times. God's
elect are a certain people. made certain from eternity in
Christ, certainly chosen, certainly claimed, certainly called, certainly
converted, certainly changed, and certainly to be converted
or conformed to the very image of Christ our Lord. A certain
woman, certain woman. So I want to talk about two or
three things about her this morning. First, the condition, the condition
that she's in. We would not even have this story
if this woman had not been in the condition she was in. We sometimes look at our situation
and say, oh, if this hadn't happened, I know God didn't want this to
happen. If God didn't want to happen, it wouldn't have happened. Had she not been in the condition
she was in, we wouldn't have this story. But here some tell
it, especially if you turn your TV on, sickness and disease has
no place in the Christian life. I mean, they'll tell you you're
supposed to place your hand on that radio or on that television
and send in the seed money and rid yourself of any sickness
and disease. They didn't get that in the New
Testament. The truth is, this woman's condition was no accident. It was no coincidence. Neither
is yours. Neither is mine. Whether it's
health, wealth, family, job, God has your whole situation. right in the palm of his hand,
if you but knew it and could believe it. And the frightening thing for
all of us is that it's not in our hands and we know it. We
can't handle it and we know it, but we keep trying to. As long
as a person thinks they can do anything without God, they'll
keep on doing without God. But the comforting thing for
the Lord's people this morning is that all our cases are in
His hands and He can handle it. Now this woman's condition, her
disease, twelve long years of it, understand, was not because God
hated her. It's because He loved her. See how backwards the devil tries
to turn everything? It's because God loved her. And the certain fruit of God's
love to any sinner is that that sinner is brought to love God. He loves his elect enough to
do whatever it takes to bring them to love Him in return. That's
how God works. This is plain and it's blunt,
but it's according to the Scriptures. And if you'll read the Bible,
you'll find this out. People God loves don't go to hell. He's bigger than that. He's bigger
than that. You don't need a God any smaller
than that. He loved me out of hell when
he sent his son to die for me on the cross. Hell was no longer an option.
It never was. No longer a possibility when
Christ took my place. He loved me out of hell when
he died on the cross. Now what he's been doing ever
since is loving hell out of me. And he's not quite through with
that yet. But He's working on it. He's
working on it. Nurturing my heart, bringing
me to love Him, and hate sin, which has done me so much wrong
and so much damage in my life, and it's done the same to you. And the Lord's going to get it
done. He's going to get it done. When will He get it done? when
I take my last breath, when you take your last breath. And this world says, He's gone
and we're glad of it. She's gone and we're glad of
it. But it'll be God's day of having completed what He started
in His Son in eternity past. He will have brought us totally
to the end of ourselves, conformed to the image of His
Son. But now in considering this woman's
condition, we see several things. Obviously, it's humanly incurable. It's been 12 years. And verse
26 says that she's seen many physicians. She's gotten lots
of second opinions. She's gone through many treatments. Now, I don't believe these are
ordinary doctors that have failed, but false religion, racketeers,
people's got all the answers, knowing they're lying. Job called
his friends false physicians. Job 13.4, he said, but you are
forgers of lies. You're all physicians of no value. And of course, that's what preachers
are that don't honor God's Word and God and tell the truth about
it. Many physicians, she suffered many things, it
says here. This, no doubt, included many
false hopes. Many of one had told her what
to do and said, this should take care of it. You'll be all right
in a day or two. and took her money and went on about their
business. Many false hopes. Then it said
here she'd spent all she had. She's to the end of her rope.
She has no money. She spent every dime for 12 years. It's gone towards seeking help
for her condition. And it's been very depressing.
Not only was she nothing bettered, Every hope was a false hope,
but it says, but rather grew worse. She's desperate and she's
dying and done everything in her power and means to better
the condition and she's got worse. It's not just that she was unfortunate,
people use that word. It's not just that she had bad
luck, people use that word. This my friends was divine providence,
bringing her to absolute hopelessness. She's not forsaken of God as
some would suppose. No. She is rather clay in the potter's
hands. God's the only one who knows
what is going on. He's the only one who knows what
is really going on with you. But I promise you, He knows.
He knows. So I think about clay in the
potter's hands, all the crushing, all the squeezing, all the shaping,
and all the molding, and all the grinding. None of it is without
purpose. And so all this condition this
woman is in, it is all a breaking up of the soil of her heart, a work of preparation to receive
the good seed of the Word of God. And it took 12 years, 12 years to give up on herself all her remedies, spend all her
money, give it to all the doctors, specialists, tests. It took going broke. It took
everything. It took giving up hope on oneself
to the point of total desperation. It took going that far for God
in grace to prepare her heart. You know, this cheap mind game
business today that people are playing, well, wouldn't you like
to accept Jesus as your Savior? It's the right thing to do. The
person answers, well, yes, I suppose I should do that. It's like it's
not something I have to do, but I guess I should. No, that mess
is straight out of hell. There is conviction. There is
turmoil. There is trouble of soul. There
is desperation. There is hopelessness. God don't save anyone that's
not desperate. This business of dancing down
the aisle and smacking the chewing gum and grinning like a possum,
don't get it. No way. A person that God's dealing
with is very troubled. in heart and soul, and He'll
create that desperation in the heart of everyone He saves. I promise you, as long as you
think you can do without Him, you'll be without Him. Not only her condition, but a
second thought, the call, the call of God. This is not mama's
call, it's not the preacher's call, it's not the church's call,
it's God's call. God's call is an effectual call. You know what effectual means,
don't you? It gets results. An effectual
call. Lasting results. Changes everything. Changes people's heart. Instead of wanting to come to
church two or three times a year, You'll be upset if you have to
miss two or three times a year. Instead of doing everything to
be away from God's people, you'll do anything you can to be with
them. It's a change, a call. This has an effect. I grew up Having a little old Bible. I
never did read it. Mama told me I ought to. I'd carry it to church and back
on Sunday. That about it. But when the Lord changed my
heart, I started getting into this business and couldn't get
enough of it. Learning, reading, studying God's
word. I'm telling you, when God does
a work, it'll bring you to close the magazines and open the Bible.
It sure will. It'll soften the heart. It'll bring having compassion
on others. Not being so quick to crucify
somebody else that made a mistake. It's what the Lord will do. Not only that, it'll even open
the pocketbook. I'm talking about God's work,
not somebody else's work. I'm preaching to you what I've
experienced and what I've seen through the years. We hadn't
had any money raising campaigns around here. Might should have
a time or two, might need two now, but we never have. The Lord
handles it. He handles it. I was thinking this week about
a certain businessman. I don't want to get too sidetracked
now, but I run into him, haven't seen him in a long time. But
I've watched this for many years, not just him, but others. Let
a man be successful in business, and first thing you know, he'll
be politicked into such and such church around the area. And the first thing you know,
he'll be on some kind of board or in some position. of authority,
and he don't know deadly about the Bible or about God. Well, see, they don't care. All
they want to do is get in his pocketbook. And I'm not going that way. If
God don't get in your pocketbook, I'm not trying. I'm not trying. And I've seen this so many times
in just a few weeks or a few months at most, the fellas, he's
falling out with something. Quit the church and you better
believe then his pocketbook is shut tighter than it ever was.
See that's, that's man's doing. I'm talking to you about God's
doing. I'm trusting him. If he don't
come through, I don't want to get through. This is not about
us being somebody. It's about our Lord being honored.
My heart's desire is that this place would be a place where
God would be honored, whether the crowd be small or whether
it be many. But if the Lord be honored, that's what it's about. How did this call, this effectual
call work with this woman? Verse 27 said, when she had heard
of Jesus. He's the great physician. What caused her to believe that
his doctrine would affect her case any different
from all the rest? I'll tell you what it was. It
wasn't her. It was God Almighty imputing
living faith in her heart through that word that she had heard
when she heard of Jesus. Faith is the gift of God. It's not mustered up confidence
in the flesh. No, no. It's not patting one
another on the back and saying, we can make it. You can make
it. You can make it. You see, faith is not like the
little children's book, The Little Engine That Could. Any of you
ever read that? You ever read that, Hunter? The little engine
that could? Alright. Trying to make it up
the mountain. Puffing and puffing and puffing.
And the train is running the engine saying, I think I can,
I think I can, I think I can. Trying to get up a mountain. That's pretty religious. But it's not faith. This woman
had done, quit saying that, I think I can. She had long ago quit
saying that. She's been saying for a long
time now, I know I can't. I know I can't. But when faith
entered her heart, when she heard of Jesus with no hesitation,
she said, He can. He can. This hit her heart. He can. He can. Not only can, but does. She didn't just say, I've heard about.
Her faith went further. He can. He does. I believe he
will. And from that moment, her mind,
heart, and entire being was fixed on this one thing. Touching Jesus
is all that really matters. It's so for me. It's so for you.
And if God ever does for you what he did for this woman, strips
you to the point of desperation to say, I can't make it, and
leaves you with a single heartbeat, trusting Jesus is all that matters. He does that for you, nothing
else in this world will stop you. Never, never. And then a third thought, the
courage that faith produced in this woman's heart. It's the
gift of God. It works something in her heart. Courage. Faith does that. Don't you reckon she'd said as
much as any of us? I guess there's no use in me
trying anymore. I guess I may as well give up. It'll never work for me. No.
When faith struck her heart, she said, I'm going to him. I am going to him. I'm going
to get there. Oh, may God strip us of a so-called
faith that don't work. May God strip us of a so-called
faith that don't move us. Stand and sing living by faith
to the top of our lungs. And then don't really trust God
for anything. But when she heard of Jesus,
this don't mean that she heard He existed. She knew that. But
when she heard and had heard testimonies of who he is and
what he's done. Oh my. Has anyone heard of Jesus from
you? They know you go to church. You
don't have to tell anybody that. But have they heard of Jesus? You say, oh, I'm a believer.
I just don't talk about it. Uh-oh. What you believe is what you
talk about. She said, I'm going to Him. I
don't care how far it is, how rough it is, how bad I feel,
what anybody says. I'll not stop with just seeing
the crowd at a distance. I'll not stop with just getting
in the crowd. I'll not stop with just getting
through the crowd. Touching Jesus is all that really
matters. Now we read here, she didn't
try to get in front of Him. I said, blessed God, I'm going
to get in front of Him. I'm going to have Him look at
me. I'm going to get face to face. I'm going to say, here
I am. I've decided to let you save me. No, no, none of that. None of that religious pride
mess. The Scripture says here that
she came behind. Came behind. Unworthy. This kind of faith was effectual. She touched him. She touched
him. And when she touched him, verse 29 says, straightway. That means immediately. Immediately. When she touched him, it was
like a bolt of lightning. Like a 220 shock. It wasn't her. But it was the principle of faith,
God, who had moved into her heart. It was God in her touching God
in him. That's what faith is. God in
her touching God in him. And something powerful happened.
When there's a power source coming from two directions, something's
going to happen. Heard some time ago about a house
down in South Carolina. that blew up when the electricity
was off and these people had a generator running and they
had just run the generator power straight in. You can't do that. You have to turn the main off
and just run it through a secondary and then turn on whatever you
want on. But they'd just run it straight in, left the main
on. Well, that generator was running when power, the electricity
come back on. And here comes power from both
directions. And it came with a bang, and
an explosion, and a fire, and done a whole lot of damage. Well
now, that's what happened here. God had moved into her heart,
and when she touched God in her, touching God in Jesus, there
was an explosion. Something greater than sin, greater
than sickness, greater than disease has took over. And verse 30 said, Jesus immediately
knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press, that is in the crowd, and said, who touched
my clothes? Who touched my clothes?" Now
I've told you many times the Lord Jesus never asked any questions
because he didn't know the answers. No. He asked questions for people
to testify to the truth about it. And the disciples said to
him, why, this crowd pushing and shoving and bumping, there's
lots of people touching you. What do you mean who touched
you? But none of them touched him like this woman touched him. None. Verse 32, and he looked
round 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. That's what God's effectual call
will do, bring you to bow to him and tell him the whole truth
about you. Not that he don't know it, but
bring you to acknowledge that you know that he knows it. Bow to him for mercy, to acknowledge
that you can't hide anything from him. And he said unto her,
daughter, Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and
be whole of thy plague." He is not saying, he says, Thy
faith hath made... He's not saying, as so many imply,
you've mustered up enough confidence to do the job. No, he's saying
The gift of God. What my father has put in your
failing, feeble heart. That's done the job. Even in
a wretch like you. Even in a desperate soul like
you. Thank God. And then fourthly
and finally, just a thought, the continuing power of God.
The continuing power. This work of grace in her. never
exhausted the resources of the great physician. He can do more
and we'll do more. Now, remember we read when this
woman stepped into the picture, verse 25, Christ was on his way
to the ruler's house to do something about that little
daughter that lay dying. And so when Jesus got through
with this certain woman, he never said, oh my, that's
enough for one day. I believe I'll go to the house.
No. Verse 35, while yet spake, there came from the ruler of
the synagogue's house, certain said, thy daughter is dead. Why
troublest thou the master? any further. The servant said
to Jairus, it's too late now. You never made it in time. Your
little girl is gone. No need to trouble the master
any further. Now look at verse 36. As soon
as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the
ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid, only believe. You know what he's really saying
to this man? When people say it's too late, it's not too late. When people say there's no hope,
there's hope. When people say it's over for
you, it's not over. That's what he's saying. And
he went on to Jairus' house and raised his daughter from the
dead. Can I say to us this morning,
even in this dark hour, this late hour, even though the mirror is saying
it's too late for many of us, everything around us and everybody
around us is saying it's too late. The master would say, it's
not too late for me. Oh, for this precious gift of
faith to believe, to penetrate our very being, that our only
heartbeat would be touching Jesus is all that really matters. We've all got so much in our
lives that we think so important that really matters. It's the Lord's business that
brings us to this point. Touching Jesus is all that really
matters. There's only one way to touch
him. Just believe when you call upon his name. That's what the
song said. Let's stand together.