I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to those of you in the chapel here and those that are
joining online. The Lord be pleased to bless
us. Let us ask his blessing in prayer.
Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we ask thy blessing upon our worship here this morning. You grant us the aid of thy Holy
Spirit and thy power attending the word. We thank thee for thy
promise to be with our people assembled And we do seek, Lord,
that thou wouldst send none empty away, but get to thyself honour
and glory in the salvation of our souls. We ask through thy
name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn 906. Tune, Willingdon 815. This morning I wish to read from
two portions of God's holy word. The first we find in the gospel
according to Mark chapter 5. We'll read from verse 22 through
to 43. If you have one of our Ruby Bibles
from the Bible boxes, there's page 925. 925. Mark chapter 5 from verse 22. And behold, there cometh one of the
rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him,
he fell at his feet, and 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. And Jesus went with him, and
much people followed him and thronged 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 touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain
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, turned him about
in the press and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest thou, Who touched me? 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. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace, and be whole of
thy plague. While he yet spake, there came
from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy
daughter is dead, Why troublest thou the Master any further?
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto
the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow
him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of
the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that
wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith
unto them, Why make ye this ado? And weep, the damsel is not dead,
but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and
the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and
entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel
by the hand and said unto her, Talitha Kumai, which is being
interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway
the damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve
years. They were astonished with a great
astonishment. And he charged them straightly
that no man should know it and commanded that something should
be given her to eat. Now let us turn to the Gospel
according to Luke and chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. And we will just read the first
10 verses. Page 970 in the Ruby Bibles. Luke 19 from verse 1. And Jesus
entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was, and could not for the prayers, because he was little
of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up and saw him and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all
murmured, saying that he was gone to be guest with a man that
is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said
unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to
the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This
day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also
is a son of Abraham, for the son of man is come to seek and
to save that which was lost. Thus far the reading of God's
holy word, may he bless it to us and help us in prayer. Let us bow our heads in prayer. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
once more we come before Thy throne. Lord, Thou art He that
doth fill all things. Thou wert before all things,
and by Thee everything does consist. Lord, we would reverence Thy
great and Thy holy name. Remember, Lord, that thou seest
us exactly as we are. And, Lord, we know that thou
hast all power in heaven and in earth to do even exceedingly
far above all that we can ask or even think. And, O Lord, thou
art he before whom we must stand after death and at the last great
judgment day. and Lord, we must give an account
to thee. Lord, we gather in thy house
with others, but before thy throne, we must, as it were, appear as
the only one. O Lord, do grant that at that
time when we shall find none escape, and none to hide behind,
and none to deflect thy gaze, that we might be found clothed
in thy righteousness, and that thy precious blood will have
blotted out our many sins and iniquities. O Lord, we do seek
thy blessing again upon thy word, for thou hast exalted thy word,
and though heaven and earth shall pass away, thy word shall not
pass away. Lord, we do acknowledge that
there is a difference between reading thy word, hearing thy
word, and hearing it, and reading it, with the power of God attending
it. And we do seek, Lord, that we
might know that power that bringeth salvation, that we might be like
thee Thessalonians, who receive the word not in word only, but
in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. and we pray for
those blessings that come from heaven and lead to heaven, and
that set sinners free. We have read of those who received
of thy power and what could not be done by any other means. We
do seek, Lord, that power of God that bringeth salvation.
Lord, we live in a day when so few fear thy name, desire thy
unearthly courts, or walk in thy ways. And, O Lord, we thank
thee if thou hast been pleased to quicken us and to give us
the desire to be where thou art and where thy people are. And,
O Lord, do grant us to really value that great blessing of
a heavenly calling, the calling which is above every other calling,
and the greatest blessing that thou canst ever bestow upon a
poor sinner, but to pass by them and bid them live, and to give
them the new birth. O Lord, we do pray that thou
hast worked that work in our churches, with each that hears
thy word this morning, and that thou hast blessed us in the sanctuary,
and blessed each on thine. Be with those that are unwell,
to grant thy kind healing hand. Remember, Lord dear, brethren,
sisters in faith, Those in Holland, Lord, we pray for that full healing
and help. Do be pleased to be with Sandra. We commit her unto thee. And
Lord, do grant unto thy people in those deep and dark trying
paths the light of thy countenance. We thank thee for many, many
answers to prayer. And Lord, we seek that those
go on to do great things for those that walk the path of affliction. We pray for those in bereavement.
Do comfort them that have been recently bereaved in South Chard. Help them be with them in their
great trial. And Lord, be with those who laid
their loved ones mortal remains in the tomb on Friday. and Lord
help them and do be with those who shall in the week or two
ahead also attend to the same, to lay the mortal remains in
the tomb. We thank thee where there is
a good hope and we do pray Lord that those comfort those that
remain that they might know that it was well. But Lord do make
it work together for good for us that it might be evident to
us and to those round about us, while we are yet alive, whose
we are, and whom we serve, and where our eternal home is. O Lord, we bless thee for that
good hope through grace, that we do pray to be kept on praying
ground, lively in our souls, tender in thy fear, holy in our
walk and conversation, and as oft as sin defiles, to be found
confessing it before thee, and that thou hast break'd the chains
that hold us to our sins, and every evil that thou seest, make
it known to us, and make us willing to part with it. Deliver us from
the adversary that comes in as an angel of light, and deliver
him us out of his hand when he comes as a roaring lion. We do pray that thou has bless
and build us up as a church and people. We seek Lord that thou
has blesses that gather with us and Lord remember us this
week as we come to our thanksgiving services. Help thy dear servant
Jew to be with us on Thursday and Lord do bless him amongst
us as thou hast done in time past, and, Lord, gather a goodly
number here. O Lord, we thank thee for the
help of dear friends, and we do seek it might be a good and
blessed occasion. And, O Lord, do be pleased to
be with each of those servants that labour today up and down
this land. Keep them safe that travel long
distances, And Lord, do be with those that visit. We pray thy blessing on those
visiting us here and all, Lord, that are not where they usually
worship. Bless their home churches. And
Lord, do be pleased to grant that those times of change might
be also times of refreshing from thine hand. We do pray for those
that administer the sermon audio and the streaming that we do.
Thou hast helped them in maintaining, Lord, the technology. We only
really value it when something goes wrong and we do pray for
help for them. And that thou hast blessed that
means to many that hear thy word which otherwise they would not
do. O Lord, do be pleased to grant
unto us thy blessing then this morning. Lord, shine upon thy
word that is before us. O Lord, we do pray that we might
find in this world an oasis and a blessing as we gather round
thy word. We pray for those in this town. Lord, we bless those that we've
spoken to. Bless those round about us and
constrain them to come. to thy house. Bless the Bibles
that are taken, those that are given out locally, and those
that are distributed throughout the UK. May thy blessing be upon
all who receive them. And Lord, we pray for our government
and those in authority over us. Pray especially concerning the
assisted dying bill, that that might not succeed, that thou
hast put it into the hearts each of our representatives to vote
against that. And O Lord, we thank Thee that
it came to nothing those years ago. Lord, do deliver us in these
islands from unbiblical legislation. O Lord, we pray for wisdom for
those that guide us. But Lord, do preserve unto us
our religious liberties and freedom of worship. and preserve, Lord,
and help those that are vulnerable in our society. We pray for our
Pilgrim and Bethesda homes. We thank Thee for them. Do be
with our dear aged friends in those homes and do bless them
and do help them. Do bless the staff. We thank
Thee for them. Pray that Thou hast raised up
those that shall desire to work for Thy aged people. We thank
Thee for those that do. O bless them in their labours.
Now, O Lord, do grant us Thy blessing upon Thy Word. Help
us further to sing Thy worthy praise. And we ask, Lord, these
mercies with the forgiveness of our every sin, through our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I am expected to preach here this evening at 6.30pm and next
Lord's Day at 11am and 6.30pm. On Thursday we hold our Harvest
Thanksgiving services, commencing at 3.30pm and 6.30pm with tea
between. when Mr Stephen Hyatt, the pastor
at Redhill, Shores Corner, is expected to preach. There's also
special services at Redhill the following day, when I'm expected
to preach at four o'clock and 6.30. May the Lord bless those
arrangements made subject to his will. Hymn 302, Tune. Hillmartin 713. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Mark chapter 5, and reading
for our text, verses 27 and 28. Gospel according to Mark chapter
5, verses 27, 28. But when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and
touched his garment for she said if I may touch but his clothes
I shall be whole. Mark 5 verses 27 to 28. This woman with the issue of
blood that she'd had for 12 years experience the opposition or
difficulty of the crowd that was about the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read of several places
in the Word where those wanted to come to the Lord and yet were
hindered by those roundabout. And one of them we read of, we
read of Zacchaeus and how that he had to climb up into a tree
to see the Lord because of the crowd, because of the press,
and he was small in stature. That proved to be one of the
appointed times of the Lord, when the Lord was to meet at
his house, a time when he was to be called by grace and blessed
with real repentance. We think of the time when our
Lord's mother, Mary, and his brethren were without and could
not enter in at the door where he was, again because of the
crowd. The Lord on that occasion used
it to say, who are my mother, my brethren? He looked on those
round about, he said, those that hear the word of God and keep
it, they are my brethren. But we have the illustration
there of those that had the opposition coming to the Lord. We think
of how the Apostle Paul says things in the Philippians that
he had to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. It wasn't just an easy path with
no opposition, no discouragements, but to actually have to make
a real effort and press to be able to get to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Then in Hebrews 12, as well,
we have a laying aside of every weight and the sin that does
so easily beset us, running the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus. Again, there is a resistance,
there is a difficulty, there is a striving. The path to our
Lord, the path to heaven, is never going to be an easy one. It is not going to be one where
we do not get opposition and those that hinder us or would
turn us back. You might say we need a pressing
case like this woman so that we are helped to press towards
our Lord Jesus Christ. with the time that our Lord had
on earth. That time was, we'd say, a real
time. He was God manifest in the flesh,
truly God, truly man. He dwelt among us. We beheld
his glory, those that witnessed it testified and said of. But he dealt with real men and
women, who had physical illnesses and those also that were spiritually
dead. And he healed, he exercised his
divine power and might to prove who he was, truly God. And at
last, in rising from the dead, after offering himself as a sacrifice
for sin, he proved again and God His Father proved him to
be what he said he was, the Son of God, and that the sacrifice
that he offered was truly accepted. When we come to the things of
God, we come to them, as Paul speaks to the Ephesians, of spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The natural
man receives not the things of God, neither can he know them.
They are spiritually discerned. Many times in the Word, especially
in the Gospel according to John, we have highlighted how, like
Nicodemus, could only understand the new birth in terms of a natural
birth, and he struggled to understand how man could be born again,
and yet the Lord was teaching it in a spiritual way. In John
6, they again struggled. They knew the value of the loaves
and the fishes to eat. But the Lord said, labour not
for the meat that perisheth, but that which endureth to eternal
life. And again they struggled, how
can this man give us his flesh to eat? And the Lord emphasized,
except you eat the flesh of a son of man, you have no life in you. So there is taught, right the
way through, a spiritual teaching. But when we come to these accounts,
we must emphasize as well, These are real accounts. Always like
with the book of Romans, in the first 15 chapters you have doctrine,
spiritual teaching and doctrine. The last chapter, suddenly a
lot of names, a lot of people. All of our teaching, all of our
doctrine, avails nothing if it is not applied to people, to
us, to real people. And so when we come to a camp
like this, you might say, this can't be replicated. This cannot happen again. The
Lord is in heaven. We are on earth. How can this
help us who may be sick as well, but we have no Lord to go to
here? and many of the accounts that
we read of in the Word, you cannot have the same thing happen again
in a literal sense. But every one of them are in
the Word of God because there is spiritual teaching. There
are lessons that God would have us to learn from what actually
happened while he was on Earth. And it is in that way that we
need to look at this word and apply the word to ourselves. One thing that will be the same
is that sickness, illness, physical afflictions, they are with us
now, just the same as it was in this woman's time, and the
time in Christ was on earth. So on that, that still does apply,
that those tribulations, sicknesses, troubles and sorrows that come,
often God does use them to bring people to seek after the Lord,
to bring them into soul trouble, bring them to seek help first
physically, maybe mentally, but then in a spiritual way brought
to the Lord. This woman had tried many, many
other physicians, many other ways first to be healed before
she was brought to the Lord. There was a lead up to when she
was brought to seek the Lord. It's always good for us to look
at what leads up to a blessing, what leads up to us needing the
Lord and valuing what he does for the soul. You think of the
children of Israel in Egypt. They had hard labor, they had
bondage, they groaned, they were in captivity there. It was the
Lord then that came and set them free. When the children of Israel
had gone after Baal, the Lord sent through Elijah three and
a half years of famine. And after that time, then they
were willing to listen, willing to come to Mount Carmel and put
their God on trial. The Lord knows what is needed
for us. to seek Him, to bow before Him,
to come to Him. And there are many things that
Lord may use, but one thing is the work of the Holy Spirit in
quickening into divine life, showing us our sinnership, our
need of a Saviour, showing us that we have a soul, Eternity
is before us, and that we cannot save ourselves, that by the deeds
of the law no man living shall be justified. Many, like this
woman, when they are first convinced of sin, they will seek to put
it right by their own efforts, by their resolutions, by their
works, by their deeds, to manage the working of sin within them,
to manage their lives in such a way that they turn out good
lives. But if we were to succeed in
that, in our own thoughts, we would never come to the Lord.
We would never seek His salvation. The Lord has never meant that
sinful fallen man could undo what was done at the fall and
give himself spiritual life, or to do what Adam and Eve didn't
do, keep the whole law of God perfectly. The law is given that
sin might abound. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. And we need to always bear this
in mind, that anything that we are seeking after that leads
us away from Christ was a substitute to Him that is of no profit,
no good for our own souls. So it is really a blessed thing
if we come where our text starts, where this woman had the issue
of blood, had a condition that she could not get healed, tried
everything else, And then she comes and she hears of Jesus. Now I want that to be our first
point this morning. We have three points. Firstly,
her hearing of Jesus. Secondly, her aim and the opposition
to achieving that aim. And thirdly, her faith and that
when it was proved to be true faith. that firstly of hearing of Jesus. It is easy for us who have been
brought up under the sound of the truth to just pass over this
and think, well, we may have heard of the Lord Jesus from
our birth, from our childhood. We've come in and out of God's
house And we know who he is. We have had the word read. We've
had this passage probably read many, many times before us. How could we come into this path
of this woman? There are, of course, those in
this world who have been brought up and they've never heard of
Jesus, never, literally. They might have heard him only
as a swear word and so hate to use the name of Jesus because
the only time they've heard that name used is as cursing and swearing. There are those in this land,
those that even though they may have seen churches and seen little
bits in religion, have no idea of the Lord at all. It is a great
blessing to be brought up under the sound of the truth. It is
a great blessing to be instructed by parents and the Church of
God in the things of God. But hearing in a natural way,
it needs to be more than that. We might ask ourselves regarding
this woman, what had she heard? Had she heard what the Jews said? They said that he by Beelzebub
cast out devils. Had she heard of those that were
speaking evil of him? Or those that had been healed
and spoke well of him? as she heard the report that
so many people were going after him that there must be something
attractive in him. But I believe what she heard
was the Lord could deal with cases like hers, that he could
heal sicknesses, that he could do what others could not do.
He had the power to do that. Now we know that the signs of
healing, for the most part, have finished with the apostles. It was given of signs to clearly
show that the Lord was with them and the word that they were preaching
was the same as the Lord. The Lord said, that he must needs
go away. If I go not away, the Holy Spirit
will not come unto you. But greater deeds shall you do because
I go to my Father." And we see in the Acts of the Apostles how
the Apostles were also given the power through our Lord Jesus
Christ to heal, to raise the dead, to preach the word, and
to work miracles. Their ministry was greatly blessed,
so thousands were brought from darkness to light, spiritual
death to spiritual life. We know the Lord still is able,
if it was his will, to do miracles just the same. But for the most
part, it is the blessing on the means for healing. But in a spiritual
way, there is only one. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ
that can ever deliver and save from sin. His name is Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Make such a
difference when we are in a case of needing someone. we might
hear about a wonderful surgeon. And we think, yeah, we hear about
what has been said and what he's done for others. And it's just
vaguely in our mind. But then when we get ill and
we have the condition that that surgeon is specialist in doing,
then when we hear of him, or we remember what we heard of
him, then it means so much more because it applies to us. And that is what is vital for
us. By nature, we are dead in sin,
and yet we hear of Jesus. By nature, we do not feel our
sin, though we are told about sin and can understand about
sin. But we do not feel it working
within, we don't see its evil, we don't realize the sentence
of death, we don't see the danger at all. But when we are quickened into
life, then we see and then we feel, and then we know the danger,
and then we know what a sickness it is, even unto death. And then,
when we hear of Jesus, We hear of him in a different way. How many of us, how many of our
loved ones have said when they were converted, we never heard
this. I said, but we have preached
it. Since you were a child, you've heard this. But they hadn't got
ears to hear it. They didn't hear it, really hear
it. Didn't really understand what it meant. How many times
we might be told something by someone who not realized what
it means. You might think, well, I'm going
to emigrate to Australia. We're going to get a visa and
we're going to get citizenship and we're going to go over there.
And everything seems right in our minds. And then someone reads
in the newspaper and say, well, they don't want ministers and
preachers over there. It's only doctors and nurses
and you'll never ever get a visa. and you'll never be able to go
over there. But they might just tell you as a matter of fact,
and you not realize that actually what is being told you has a
real effect. It will really affect what you
want to do. And so we can be told about sin,
we can be told about hell, the judgment to come, And it never
sinks in. We never realise that this is
us. We've got a soul. We must die. We must stand before the judgement
of God. But when the Lord gives us spiritual
life, then we realise that. Then our ears are open, our eyes
are open. Remember all the letters to the
Revelation. He that hath... In the Revelation,
he that... I don't mean. He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. All
of us by nature do not have a hearing ear, lest the Lord, if the Lord
has opened our ears and opened our eyes. And so her hearing
of Jesus is hearing of him as one that was able to save her. one that met her case, one that
was doing things that related to her. The question for us is, how have
we heard of Jesus? Has it just been in that natural
way all our days? who never viewed him as the one
thing needful, never viewed him as the only name given among
men whereby we must be saved, never heard of him as one that
is absolutely vital for us to know and to be brought to. You know, one of the reasons why
we We have the Bible boxes here
at the chapel and we have the free Bible offer, sending Bibles
throughout the UK. It's so that people will hear
of Jesus, so that they are brought to read the Word of God and brought
to hear of Him. How vital it is that those who
know the Lord those who know his name, that they speak of
him, that they testify of him and what he is to them. If we know the blessing of knowing
the Lord, may we recommend him to others, you know, may be reproved
to us, reproved to me. The amount of times we may know
a good painter, or a good carpenter, or a good doctor. You're speaking
to someone who wants some carpentry work done. You're speaking to
someone who wants their house painted. What do you do? You
recommend that painter. You recommend that carpenter. How many times have we recommended
the Lord and set the Lord before sinners? She heard. of Jesus. We're not told how, whether anyone
was the instrument of it, or how it was so, but she heard. And may that be us, hearing the
Lord as what our soul needs, and then having an aim that she
then had. I want to look at this In the
second point, what her aim was, and the opposition to achieving
that aim. Is it wrong to have aims of a
soul? To have a real point, naturally
speaking, any one of us working in A job must have an aim. A cleaner, their aim is to clean
the house, the room, the chapel that they're working on. The
aim of the doctor is to heal and to treat his patient. If we are going to travel to
a certain place, our aim is to get to the boat, the train on
time, to know the way that we are to go, All the time in life
we have something that we are aiming to do, wanting to do. And this woman had an aim that
she'd never had before. And that was that she should
get close to the Lord and that she should touch Him. We read that she had said, if
I may touch Butty's clothes. That was her aim. Let's put this
in a spiritual way to ask what our aim is. Not just to read
our Bible. Not just to have a time of prayer.
Not just to attend the chapel or to hear the preaching. but an aim that we might get
close to the Lord, that we might have communion with Him, that
we might really know Him, have fellowship with Him. You might
say, how can we do that? The Lord is in heaven. The disciples
were asked, or the disciples asked the Lord, how, how shalt
thou manifest thyself to us and not to the world? and it was
because the world could not see the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit,
he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. It is
through the Spirit that the Lord is made known to his people and
dwells in his people, I in them and thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one. John says in his epistle, First
Epistle, he says of that fellowship that they have. The life was
manifested. We have seen it bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father
was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ. And this is when the Lord has
ascended up into heaven, and this is the disciples, this is
the Lord's people, and they are having fellowship, time with,
communion with the Father and with the Lord. That's very different
than just reading the word and passing over and said, I've done
my devotions for the day. To actually have time with the
Lord, meditation, communion, fellowship, dwelling on the word,
seeking to have this aim that through prayer and through our
time with the Lord, our time in the closet, that we get close
to the Lord. This was her aim and this should
be our aim. Now perhaps to go back a little
bit, she heard of Jesus. Now maybe with us we hear of
the Lord's people. We hear of those that are blessed. We may see them and we may see
their lives and realize that they live close to the Lord. Like Mary, she sat at Jesus'
feet and heard his word, not like Martha, though Martha was
loved and knew the Lord, yet she was so cumbered with much
serving, she could not be close and hear the word of the Lord. So as there's that desire to
Be close to the Lord. Live a life of faith and prayer. Live spiritually. If you walk
after the spirit, you shall live. If you walk after the flesh,
you shall die. To be kindly minded is death. To be spiritually minded is life
and peace. To this woman, her desire would
be in a spiritual way, to be spiritually minded, to be walking
after the Spirit, to be at one with the Lord, take my yoke upon
you, learn in me, I am meek and lowly in heart, you shall find
rest unto your souls. Sin has made a separation between
God and man. What is so vital is God and sinners
reconciled, and that reconciliation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we could possibly live a holy,
upright, godly life, but not be close to the Lord,
it would not glorify God. It would not be what this woman's
aim was, and it would not be what the Lord desired. His desire
at last is that they which thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory. And his desire for all
that are quickened into life, that they walk with him here
below. And this then should be our aim
and be a distinct aim. Now if it is so, and if we desire
to have that time with the Lord, quality time, and our affections
placed on things above, and to be spiritually minded, and to
have the mind of Christ, and to walk with Him, we can be sure
that we will find, just like this woman did, that there is
much opposition to it. You say, well what kind of opposition? Can it be like this woman had
this physical crowd? No, it's very seldom would it
be in that situation. But there are real parallels,
the opposition. There are many, many things that
crowd out the Lord. that come between us and the
Lord. Many things that would prevent
us from achieving that aim. We think of the things of this
world. We are encompassed with them,
we have lawful callings, we have our families, our loved ones,
and things that must be done. And we can be like Martha, but
we just cannot lay down those things. We have no time for the
Lord at all because it's all the things of this world. Spoke to one at a funeral just
this week and tried to exhort them to come to hear the word
preached. Oh, can't. Too busy. Got too
much on. Too much to do. Can't possibly
stop, have time on the Lord's day. No. So filled with the things
of this world. Sadly, I don't think that that
was then a trouble to him, that it was a hindrance. But if we
have a name like this woman, and then have these things that
keep coming, we think, surely I'm going to get to the end of
this to-do list, and then I'm going to be able to have time
with the Lord, but we never get to the end of the to-do list.
We think of those besetting sins, those weights that we spoke of,
in Hebrews 12, they constantly come, sin rising up within, sin
making us to feel unclean, unfit, and discouraging us from the
throne of grace, and those things that are really weighing upon
us. Our relatives, our Lord spoke
of those that love father, mother, daughter, son, more than me,
is not worthy of me, and is a very real thing. There's many that
have first been brought into soul concern and sought after
the Lord, and it is their own close family that have opposed
it. They have sought to put things
in the way, to hinder, and there's a cross to be taken up if we
are ever to be brought close to the Lord. The fear of man,
that bringeth a snare. What will my friends think? What
will those think that know me if I change, if I start to seek
the Lord instead of going out with them or spending time with
them? The multitude of teaching. Now,
I think that's one thing so much today. a soul that is in need. If they go to the internet, you
get a teacher here and a teacher there and a preacher there, and
one says one thing and another says another thing. And there's
just a crowd of teachers all giving all advice on this or
that. And for a soul that is seeking
after the Lord to get so confused and so muddled and so troubled
in their soul, may we be given a real Simplicity may be kept
to the word of God and not listen to all these that complicate
the gospel and make it a difficult thing and put up obstacles. No soul that lives to feel his
need is welcome to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood
to plead. There is to be no barrier, no
stumbling block, no hindrance to a sinner that feels his sin
in coming to the Lord. As often as sin defiles, he is
the great physician. He is the healer that is vital. Then we have even disciples.
We think of the Syrophoenician woman that came with her sick
daughter, Lord help me. Again, there was that need, not
in herself, but in a loved one. But the Lord didn't answer her. And the disciples, they said,
send her away. She followeth after us. They couldn't help. And we can
have that as well. Even God's people, perhaps sometimes
unwittingly, or sometimes even in a deliberate way, discourage
us. in that which is vital and seeking
after the Lord. Another thing is vain thoughts.
How often the apostle speaks of guarding our thoughts. Are they pure? Are they true? Is there any virtue? Are they
honest thoughts? The psalmist, he says, I hate
vain thoughts, but thy law, do I love? How many of us know what
it is to try and go to the throne of grace, and as you're trying
to pray, in come all of these foolish, sinful, wrong thoughts,
and before we know it, we think, well, I'm here in the attitude
of prayer, and I've been thinking about my job and my work, and
my mind has gone completely from the Lord. And we find these things
are real opposition They really come against us all, and I say
it to really encourage you in seeking after the Lord. You will
have these things that come. You will have these oppositions. It will be hard work to find
time with the Lord and to get near Him and to touch Him. But may we be like this woman
who pressed through this crowd and she did touch him. So often
it may be the problem is we do not have the aim. We do not have
that desire. We just go from week to week
and are just happy with our stated worship times. And we don't think,
we don't concern. Have we really known the Lord
this week? Have we really had time with
Him today? May we have a real aim and desire. And it may be first to even ask
the Lord, give me this aim and give me this desire. So we've spoken of her aim and
the opposition to achieving it, but she did achieve it. She did,
she did touch, she did get close to him. She did touch him. And I want then to look thirdly
at her faith and that which proved right. We read in our text, for
she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. May we desire that same light,
precious faith. to believe that though ever sinful
and black we are, yet if we got to the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord himself would heal us. He is able to do exceeding far
above all we can ask or think. This is faith that will keep
us at the throne of grace. I will not let thee go until
the blessing thou bestows, says the hymn writer. is what brings us like the publican,
even stand afar off, God be merciful to me, a sinner. How many times
the Lord asked those that came to Him for healing, for help,
believest thou that I'm able to do this? The man that brought
his son that was cast into the fire and into the water, And
the disciples could not cure him, as when the Lord came down
from the mount, the Lord said to that man, if thou believest,
all things are possible to him that believeth. You know, the
man could have just said, well, I've so much unbelief, there's
no hope for me, there's no hope for my son. But he said, Lord,
I believe, help thou my unbelief. And how many times that should
be encouragement to us, to be able to testify that we do believe,
but at the same time saying, Lord, I have so much unbelief
as well. And that is so much pressing
on me. And to confess it before the
Lord. Well, this woman had faith, faith
to believe that the Lord was able to do this, and willing
to do it as well. And that was proved, because
as she touched him, then she received virtue, then she received
healing. It must have been with the issue
of blood, a constant bleeding, and that immediately was stopped
as she touched our Lord. Physical healing. We know what
spiritual, some of us have known and proved what spiritual healing
and blessing is as well. And to have peace and pardon
and forgiveness. In the world you shall have tribulation,
in me you shall have peace. To have joy and peace in believing. To look for our sins and they're
all gone. To find that they are blotted
out. The law which was against us is suddenly silenced. The devil that was accusing us
has nothing more to say and he's fled and gone. And the Lord brings
us to hear of him and commune with him and have fellowship
with him and to have sweet assurance of a hope beyond the grave. The
blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with
it. They are real spiritual blessings. They are joys that this world
cannot afford. They are those that have a token
of heaven in them and bring sweet comfort and peace for the people
of God. May we prove, as she did, that as she touched the Lord,
As he got near him, the blessing was there. And we're
told here Jesus knew. The disciples, they thought it
was a strange thing. All this crowd, all these other
people, and the Lord was saying one person. You know, the Lord
knows every one of his dear people, and he knows every blessing he
gives them. He knows their trials, he knows
their sinnership, He knows those He's quickened into life, those
that He's drawing, and this woman was one of those. Our Lord said,
no man can come unto me, a woman, except the Father which sent
me draw him. I'll raise him up at the last
day. She was drawn, same as Zacchaeus was. May we know the same drawing,
and the same blessing, and the same vested, outcome of that
faith that the Lord himself gave. What a word the Lord gave her. You know, it followed on from
that touch, wasn't it? When she had to come and confess
and tell to those round about what had been done and the blessing. We can't be, you know, private
Christians. With the heart man believeth,
but with the mouth Confession is made unto salvation. It is
vital. She had to confess. She had to
tell to those round about. And the Lord said to her, daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
faith. The Lord is the author and finisher
of faith. And may he give us that same
light, precious faith that has these ingredients, a hearing
of Jesus and an aim of coming to him and touching him, a pressing
through that opposition and the realisation of faith and the
blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ in our souls to go in
peace. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Hymn 747. Tune, Heap 156. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.