this evening about the king's
dominion over disease and death. So if you'll turn with me to
the 9th chapter of the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 9, verses 18 through 26. While he
spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain
ruler and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead,
but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live. Jesus
arose and followed him. So did his disciples. There is
something a little different about this 19th verse than most
verses in the Bible that you read relative to a relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. You notice here,
and I just point this out, you can make of it what you want,
it says, Jesus arose and followed him. Jesus followed him and so
did his disciples. And behold, a woman which was
diseased with an issue of blood, twelve years, came behind him
and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself,
If I may touch this garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned
him about when he saw her. He said, Daughter, be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus
came into the ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people
making the noise, he said unto them, Give place. for the maid
is not dead, but sleepeth, and they left him to scorn. And when
the people were put forth, he went in and took her by the hand,
and the lady rose, and the fame hereof went abroad into all that
land." Now, we have here, as I said, the king's dominion over
disease and death. prior to this, prior to the ruler, which was a believing
person, prior to his coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Scriptures
say that some things were going on here, some conversation about
some other matters. But the Lord had a better work
to do than to be talking about meats, about drink, and about
fasting. Here we have the preacher stepping
down from the pulpit and becoming a visiting surgeon and making
his rounds. He does that. He seizes from
discussing church questions and turns aside and seeks to
help a little girl. He goes about doing good, which
was certainly a manifestation of the heart of the Lord Jesus.
Notice now, in this ninth chapter, at the beginning of it, it says,
He entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city.
And behold, they brought unto him a man of palsy, lying on
a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of
the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now
certain of the scribes," notice the reaction, certain of the
scribes, said within themselves, This man blasphemes. Jesus, knowing
their heart, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your heart?
He performed a miracle here, a man of the palsy. But these
religious people were very indignant, intolerant towards him. And they said, well, he blasphemes.
Well, it goes on down here and he, in the 9th verse it says,
Jesus passed forth and said he saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the receipt of custom. Matthew was a publican. And he
saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
And it came to pass, as Jesus said, that at meeting the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with him and
his disciples. And the Pharisees saw it. This
is what the Pharisees had to say. They said unto his disciples,
Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? So you see what
I'm talking about when the Lord The indication is he seemed to
be tired of talking about little details, church questions. He gets to the main point of
his purpose. He came not to settle disputes
or settle debates or debate, did he? What did he come for?
What was the mission of the Son of God? He came to seek and to
save that which was lost. That's the reason he came. He
came on a desperate mission. That mission took him to the
cross, costing his life. He came to save four sinners,
not to settle arguments, but these people... And so it is
today. It hasn't changed. People are still wondering where
Cain got his wife. They want to know that. I wonder
where he got his wife. It was only just two or three
people living that time. He went out and he got him a
wife. What happened there? Always wanting to argue and debate
over incidentals, things that avail nothing, will not profit
you nothing. You'll not grow a single solitary
inch in spiritual maturity if you knew the right answer. Anyhow,
Jesus heard what he said unto them, and he said, They that
behold need not a physician, but they that are sick." Now
notice, he said, but go ye and learn what that means. What's
he going to talk about? What's the emphasis upon it?
The emphasis is upon the gospel of the Lord Jesus. What I'm trying
to say is this, if we learn the gospel, learn the gospel, if
we learn Jesus Christ, if Christ be formed in us, Then we'll know
some other things. But first let us learn Jesus. And to learn Jesus, we're going
to have to learn who we are. Learn this. They that are sick,
they that are sick need a physician. They that are whole don't need
a physician. Go learn this. Go learn what I'm talking about.
Find out what I'm talking about. Find out that you're a sinner.
You're a sinner. And Christ came to seek and to
save that which was love. He saved sinners. He doesn't
save, as I said before, he doesn't save doctors, he doesn't save
dentists, he doesn't save engineers, he doesn't save architectural
giants, but he saves sinners. Sinners. That's all that he saves,
sinners. Not mine superintendents, not
school teachers. He saves sinners. Sinners. Go learn that, he said. I will
have mercy and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance." Notice what they said. Then came
to him the disciples of John saying, why do we and the Pharisees
fast off but thy disciples don't fast? They don't want to talk
about Jesus, do they? They don't want to talk about
their sinnership. They want some answers to some
questions of some incidentals. won't make them any better, won't
render them any more fit for the kingdom of God whether they
fast or whether they don't fast. I don't know how many times in
my short ministry I've had people say, well, I wish you'd preach
on fasting. I don't know enough about it. I don't know enough
about fasting to preach on it, and even if I did know something
about it and preached on it, in all probability it wouldn't
render us any more acceptable than what we are now. I'm speaking lightly of fasting. Certainly there's something to
fasting. But let's not make that of such a great importance to
the extent that that which is more important becomes nothing
to us. They came and they said, why do we and the Pharisees fast
often? We fast often. Why do we do that?
We go without food. We go without water. And why
do the disciples fast not? And then he begins to tell them
about new cloth on an old garment and so forth. Well, you see here,
he has better work to do than to be talking about meat and
drink and fasting. So the preacher steps down from
the pulpit and he becomes a visiting surgeon, making his rounds from
discussing church questions, our great rabbi or our great
king, our great master, turns aside to see a sick girl. He is more at home doing good
than anything else. Now, this 18th verse, it says,
While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain
ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead.
but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live." Sorrow
comes even to the families of the most excellent people upon
the earth, the richest people, the most noblest people upon
the face of the earth. Sorrow and suffering and sickness
oft times visit their homes as well as the poor and the lonely
and the oppressed and so forth. So they are not immune, or no
one, for that matter of fact, is immune from sickness. But
here's a ruler of the synagogue, a man of importance, a man of
great significance, a ruler in the synagogue, and a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, has such sickness befallen his daughter,
and she is at death's door. In fact, by the time that he
had conversation with the Lord Jesus, she in all probability
was actually dead. But he comes. Notice his conduct. Notice his attitude. He comes
to the Lord Jesus and he pleads with him. He says, come and lay
your hand on her. Just come and lay your hand on
her and I know you'll do her good. I know she'll be resurrected
if you'll just come. He makes his plea, a passionate
plea that only comes from the heart of a father who loves his
child. Come, he says. So he came to
Jesus, he worshipped Jesus, he prayed to the Lord Jesus, and
he trusted in the Lord Jesus. Now notice in the 19th verse,
the Lord follows believers, for believers follow the Lord. The
Lord follows believers, for believers follow the Lord. They follow
the Lord. My sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me. That's truth, brethren. They
follow Him. The sheep of God, they follow
Him. It's not a... I don't know how
we go about excusing ourselves in light of these Scriptures,
but we need to face the reality of, My sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice. Another voice
they will not hear. Another shepherd they will not
hear. They hear my voice. And they follow me. They follow
me. Now here it says the Lord follows
this man. The Lord follows this believer. For believers follow the Lord. That's the order here in verse
19 anyhow. Now, in verse 20 and 21, it says,
Behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve
years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she
said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall
be whole. Now, while the Lord was on the
road or moving towards the ruler of the synagogue's house where
the dying daughter was, He works a miracle here without a word. Now this afflicted woman, she
had a weakening hemorrhage. She was bleeding. She was bleeding. She had been bleeding for 12
years. Now you can imagine what a fix she was in. She was
bleeding for 12 years and she could find no cure. She was in
a hopeless situation. Now, in passing, let me say that
this is the picture of every soul outside of the Lord Jesus.
Every poor, poor, hopeless, helpless sinner who has never come to
trust in the Lord Jesus is like this poor woman. They're a hopeless
case. They've been bleeding for 12
years and they can find no cure and they'll never find no cure
until they can touch the hem of His garment. If they can just
touch Him by faith, by faith, if they can just lay hold, if
they can just see, if they can just see with the eyes of faith
and say, He's mine, He's mine, I have an issue of blood, I've
been bleeding inwardly for twelve years, and without hoping, this
is my last chance if I can just reach up there and put my finger
on the hem of His garment. Well, this woman, afflicted woman,
find no cure after 12 years. Well, she beholds this great
miracle worker, the Lord Jesus Christ, and with timid courage,
she pushes into the crowd, and she touches the hem of his garment,
the Scriptures say. Now great fear, great fear and
bashfulness and being timid kept her from facing Him, but great
faith led her to believe that a touch of His robe from behind
would make her whole. Great faith, great faith this
woman had. Great fear, but she had great
faith. She said, well, I'll just touch it. That's all I need to
do. It's my only chance. My only chance. I've been gone
for 12 years. It's my only chance. I know that
if I can just get in there, I can steal a cure. I can steal a cure
and He'll never even know it. That's what she thought. She
was ignorant there. She was ignorant there when she
thought that the Lord Jesus Christ would not know it. That healing would come from
Him unconsciously and Him not knowing it. He knew it. He knew
it. But yet her faith lived despite
her ignorance and triumphed despite her bashfulness. She said within
herself, that's what she said within herself. She talked to
herself that this is what I'll do. I'll make a run for it. I'll
make a run for it. This is my only hope, my only
chance. There he is! I've had this 12 years. I can't
go on. I'm going to die. Something's
going to happen. I can't live very long like this. You can't
live very long bleeding 12 years, can you, Raymond? Can't do it.
Can't do it. Well, this woman was bleeding
twelve years out of the condition of the Everett Center. You can't,
you can't make it. You can't make it. And she said,
this is my only hope, my only chance. I'm going to make a run
for it. I'm going to make a run for it.
I'm going to, I'm going to, I get in that, through that crowd somewhere
and I'm going to touch the hem of his garment. The only chance,
and I'm not going to lose it. Just able with her finger to
reach up the hem of his garment. She believed that this would
be enough. That's all. She said, I don't have to, Oh,
these fellas nowadays, you know, they talk about the full gospel,
the full gospel, the fullness of the gospel. We've got to have
that. Not only why they said just touch
the hem of his garment. That's just the start of it.
That's just the start. That's only the fringer of the
gospel. You've got to have the gift.
You've got to have the gifts. You've got to be able to interpret.
You've got to be able to speak in other tongues. You've got
to have the gift of knowledge. You've got to be healed. You've
got to do this and you've got to do that. She believed this
was enough, brethren. I believe it's enough, too. I
believe if you ever touch Jesus, that'll be enough. I believe
if you ever touch Jesus, you'll have all He's got right there. I believe that God gives. I believe
when God gives Christ, He gives all that He had to give and nothing
more. He doesn't need anything else. A man has Jesus, he doesn't
need anything. You've got everything. You've
got Jesus. If you've got Jesus, brother, you've got it all. Ralph
Barnes said, God put all of his eggs in one basket, and that's
Christ. She believed if I could just make a run for it, dash
in there and steal a cure, and take a chance here. She said,
I believe if I could just touch the hem of his garment, this
would be enough. Listen, dear brethren, and see.
Oh, that we were as eager to be saved as she was to be healed. All the people I'm speaking to
this evening, young people, young people, teenagers, people middle-aged,
if you would be as eager to be healed or to be saved as this
woman was to be healed, you'd be saved. You'd be saved. God
would save you if you was eager to be saved. She was like this
woman who said, I know if I could just touch him, if I could just
reach up there and say he's got his back to me, if I could reach
up there and just lay my finger, just fondle the hem of that garment,
then I know that'd be enough. That'd be enough. That'd take
care of me. That'd wind me up. That'd do me in. That's all I'd
need. Oh, boy. Oh, that we were bigger sheep.
Oh, that we had such confidence in Him as to be sure that if
we come in contact with Him, even by the least, the smallest
faith, He can and He will save us. Well, in verse 22 it says,
But Jesus turned him about. That is, He turned around. Now,
I want you to notice this. He knew all the time what was
going on in the back of Him. He knew what was going on. He
didn't have to just turn around like that to find out what was
going on. He knew all the time he was God. He knew that woman
was in the crowd. And I have a sneaking suspicion
and feeling, brethren, that he was there for that particular
reason. At that particular time, there's no incidents or accidents
with God. He must go and pass through Jericho. He must go by way of Samaria. There's other sheep that's in
this fold. They must come. God's got them all scattered
out in every land, from every tribe, and every nation, and
every tongue. He's got them, and they'll hear
one of these days, and they'll come. They'll be wounded in heart,
and smitten in conscience, and they'll come down. And the miracle
worker will pass by, and they'll say, this is my only chance.
And they'll reach out, and they'll touch the hem of his garment.
Ah, brethren, he turned about. His spies are out. He saw her,
the scripture says, but he didn't scold her. He didn't chide with
her. He wasn't angry or mad at her. She was afraid, it indicates,
but her fear soon vanished because he said this. He called her daughter. Daughter? Daughter? The Lord
Jesus called this woman daughter. He fathered her. He fathered
her. called her daughter. And from
now on, she's going to call him father. Even now, she calls him
father. He fathered her. He gave her
good comfort. The moment that she touched Jesus,
she was made whole. Touch him now. Touch him now. If you touch Jesus, by faith
can you reach for him. Touch him. You'll be made whole. All right. I want you to notice
something else now. Verse 23 and 24. Jesus now healed this woman. He healed this woman. Great faith
she had. Great faith. He healed her. He didn't say a word hardly. Well, he didn't. He didn't say
anything. He didn't say anything. She just touched him and that
was it. And now he comes to the house of this rich, I believe,
ruler of the synagogue, whose daughter lay dying. He comes
to her house. And it says that when Jesus came
into the ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people
making the noise, he said unto them, Give place, for the maid
is not dead, but sleepeth, and they laughed him to scorn. Now,
when he came there, the funeral wailing had already begun. You know, friends, friends are
in a hurry to bury us before our time. That's right. Unbelievers
call in the undertaker and hire the mourners before it's time
for us to die. Sometimes people have us dead,
you know, before it's time. That's what
happened here. They were in an awful hurry to
bury this girl. Jesus, when He comes, He'll have
the deaf music quieted. They said, well, you can be quiet
now. You can tone these professional
mourners down, and these minstrels, and these flutes, and these pipers,
and you can kind of tone them down now. It's all premature. He says to the mourners, He says,
Give place! Now what He says, The 24th verse,
he said, unto them. Unto who? Unto the minstrels
and the people making a noise. They're making a big noise at
this funeral. They're in a hurry to bury this
girl. And he said, give place. That means, he says, move over.
Get out of the way. The kings come. Move over. I'll
tell you, when the king comes, someone's got to make room. There's
some things that's got to go. That's right. If any man be in
Christ, he's a new creature. All things become new. Some things
have got to go when Jesus comes. That's all there are to it. Make
room. Give place. Ah, boy. Many things have to
give place when Jesus comes on the scene. And He puts them out
of the room. Puts them out. Boy, that Witches
of the flesh will never please God. It's got to be put aside.
Get him out of the room. He doesn't want any flute players,
any pipers, any wailers. His own still voice is more fit
for the work in the death room than the wailers and the undertakers. He's going to do a great wonder.
And the hired performers here are not in tune with what he's
about to do. So they've got to give room for
him. Now, when he tells these hired
performers that there's no need to proceed with the funeral,
for this girl will live, they answer him with a laugh. This
is the most astounding thing in the whole Bible right here.
Here's some people that actually laugh. at the face of Jesus. They actually laughed at Jesus
Christ. The Bible says here, listen,
it says, and they laughed him to scorn. They laughed at Jesus
Christ. It's a terrible thing. It's a
terrible thing to laugh at Jesus. Did you ever hear a tale of anyone,
anyone in your whole lifetime laughing at God, making fun of
God? I never did hear of anyone so
vile, so wicked, that so unbelieving, so rotten in character, so depraved
that they would make fun of God Almighty, laugh at His face,
laugh Him to scorn. He said to them, and He came
on to the scene. He came on to the scene. And
when He comes on to the scene, brethren, there is no need of
the undertaker. There is no need of the flutes
and the pipers and the music and the wailing and the weeping
and the mourning. There is no need of that when He comes on
to the scene. He doesn't need it, he doesn't need it. But they laughed him to scorn,
made fun of him, made fun of him. He said, this girl will
live. Well, the Bible says yet he endured
such contradictions of sinners against himself and he was not So you need not be dismayed this
evening if people ever laugh at you. If people ever laugh
at you for what you've done, probably you deserve to be laughed
at. But the Lord Jesus Christ didn't deserve to be laughed
at. He comes on to the scene. Let's be quiet. Let's not laugh.
Let's listen. They laughed at him. Someone
said, well, told me one time, said, If I believe what you preach
and what you say is right, well, I'd be considered as a fanatic. I said, no, you wouldn't. No,
you don't have to worry about being a fanatic. No. We never
have to worry about being a fanatic. We're not going to go that far.
We're not going to become that involved, are we? No, we don't
have to worry about becoming a fanatic. No. Well, in verse
25 here, it says, when the people were put forth, now, in His majestic mystery of resurrection,
the crowd must be put forth. Get them out of here. Put them
out of here so He can go in. The people were put forth and
He went in. That is, the people were turned
out and our Lord went in to work a miracle. He loves to work in
the quiet. That's right. There is so much
noise and popular excitement in modern church age that I doubt
it seriously if God will ever do much. Too much noise. Too much noise. Too much popular
excitement. He works in the quiet. Get the
crowd out. Get the crowd out and let our
Lord go in. Let Him do His work. He is going
to work a miracle here. Well, he took her by the hand. He took her by the hand. Oh,
this says something to my heart. Listen, let me share this with
you. He shows a sacred familiarity with those whom he saves. He
took her by the hand. We just found out about a woman
who had an issue of blood for 12 years, a weakening hemorrhage,
And she just touched him. She touched the hem of his garment
and she is made whole. Greed was her fate. But here
we have a girl, a daughter of a believing ruler of the synagogue
who was dead. And the Lord Jesus got the crowd
aside. Hushed up the funeral proceedings,
told the undertaker to take his seat, the wailers, the mourners,
and he went in, and when he went in, he reached down and got her
by the hand. Familiarity. He got her by the
hand. Yeah, he knew her. He knew her. Boy, I'll tell you, we had chosen
in Christ before the world ever was. We have known in Christ
in eternity past. You know that? That's right. You're saved by the grace of
God. God knew you. God knew you. He knew you before
time ever was. He knew you in Christ. He chose
you. If He hadn't have chose you, He'd have never come and
held your hand in sacred familiarity. He wouldn't have done it. There's going to come a time,
listen, there's going to come a time, I'll tell you about it in this
book here, come a time when it says that many will come before
Him and they'll say, Lord, Lord, we have done this Thy name. We
have preached in your name. Cast out devils in your name.
We have done so and so in your name. He'll say, Depart from
me. What's the rest of it? I never knew you. I never knew
you. I never knew you in sacred familiarity. I never knew you. I never knew
you. I never knew you in eternity past. I never knew you in time. I have never known you. Oh, those
that he knows, he comes. And he took this sweet little
girl by the hand and he touched her. I wish Pat McGinnis would
learn to sing that song. He touched me. He touched me. And oh, the joy that filled my
soul. He touched me. He touched me. Oh, the joy that filled my soul. Oh, he didn't speak. He didn't
speak. People were put forth and he
went in, when the Lord comes in, and he took her by the hand,
just took her by the hand. He touched her. Oh, my brethren, this evening,
may the Lord take us and our dear children by the hand and
raise us up to everlasting life. I know that we are not worthy
of all this or any of this, but may it be the plea and be the
prayer of every heart that knows the value of a human soul that
we might make our plea to God that he come where we are and
touch us and take us by the hand. Wouldn't you want the Lord Jesus
Christ to take you by the hand? If He ever takes you by the hand,
it's all over. If He ever takes you by the hand,
you're saved. If you ever touch Him by the
hand of your God, if you ever come in contact with God in Christ,
you're saved for time and eternity. Your sins are washed away. You
touch Him. You touch Him. I don't know why. I don't know why you won't touch
Him. I don't know why you won't touch
Him. He says, He bids you to come and touch Him. He says,
come to me. You come to me and I'll give
you life. I'll give you rest for your weary soul. Come to
me. Oh may he come and take us by the hand in sacred familiarity
and make us whole. That's what he did to this girl.
And that 26th verse says, and the fame hereof went abroad into
all that land. He will have fame and glory.
He'll have it. We ought to see to it that he'll
have it. That's right. And that's what I've been saying
all these years. I've been saying if we're saved
by the grace of God, then the grace of God will work in our
hearts to the extent that outwardly, men will know it. Men will know
it. Even, I think it was old T.T. Martin, an old evangelist
years ago, he said, if God ever saves you, He said, someone will
know about it. He said, even the dog, even the
old hound out in the yard says he'll know that there'll be a
change in you. And I think that's right. If God ever saves us,
people will know it. That's right. People will know
it. And his fame hereof went abroad into all the land. The
miracle worker. So that's the story of the king
and his dominion. over disease and death. May he
touch us. May we touch him by faith.