May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn
to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, and reading verse 48. The
Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, and reading verse 48. And he said
unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made
the whole go in peace. this short account of this woman
who had this issue of blood is very instructive for us. And
the Spirit of God ordained that it should be recorded in Matthew
and Mark as well as in Luke. And so we are able to realize
that there is a great teaching and importance in such a short
and simple account as this. We note that we have here a very
physical situation, but also of course it has a deeper meaning
and sets before us a very true spiritual situation, which is
so true in the lives of the people of God. Now we observe that This
woman, she'd had this issue of blood for 12 years. It wasn't a short time. It had
been upon her for 12 years. And there are other accounts
in the Word of God where people had afflictions for a long time
and were not able to be healed. And they were continually concerned
about them. We remember that man who was
by the port of Siloam, how many, many years he'd been there waiting
to be put down into the waters. And every time when the waters
were troubled, he was too late, somebody else stepped down before
him. But of course, in his life there
was an appointed time when God should come and heal him. And there was an appointed time
when God should come and heal this woman. And how true it is,
in our lives, our spiritual lives, Perhaps not in a physical way,
maybe in a physical way, but also in a spiritual way. There
is a time when the Lord will come and the Lord will bless
and the Lord will heal. But in order for that to be brought
to pass, we observe the gracious work of the Spirit of God. And
here was the gracious work of the Spirit of God. First of all,
this woman had done all she could to heal herself. She'd done all
she could. And we're told she spent all
her living upon physicians. And what benefit had it been
to her? Neither could be healed of any. She was still in that same condition. She hadn't been healed. She had
no more funds left to go to any more physicians. She was now
in a very destitute situation. She could do nothing of herself. She was bankrupt, as it were.
She spent everything. And as we think of that in a
spiritual sense, so it may be so, we may have done all that
we can do. We may have tried every avenue
to produce a blessing for our souls. And it just seems to have
failed. And we've come back to the beginning.
We haven't made any progress. We thought we would. And yet
there we are, still in the same place. And this woman therefore,
she hadn't been healed. Sometimes in our spiritual life,
especially perhaps in our beginning, we're like that. We desire that
we might be blessed. We desire that we might be healed. And we try all various avenues
to reach a satisfactory benefit conclusion. And everything seems
elusive. And we don't seem to make any
progress. We seem to stand still. Well, that was the situation
of this woman. Here she was then. She spent
all her living upon physicians. She had a real problem. She had
a real problem. She needed to be healed. my friends,
all of us have a real problem and we need to be healed. We
have that awful illness which is so necessary to be healed
and that illness of sin and how powerful it is and no doubt this
woman was struggling with her complaint how we struggle with
a complaint of sin. She couldn't get rid of this
illness that she had, and by nature we can't get rid of that
illness of sin. Now it seems to increase and
get heavier, the burden gets heavier with us, perhaps day
by day, and that which we desired to know the blessing and peace
of God is elusive. And so we, as it were, don't
seem to get higher, we seem to get lower. Well, we have this
testimony here then of the account of this woman. She'd had this
issue of blood for 12 years and spent all her living upon positions. Neither could be healed of any.
And therefore, what was she to do? Well, she no doubt heard. the Lord Jesus Christ. She may
have met with those who had been healed and yet here she is and
we see her not in a brazen position, no, not stepping out as it were
in front of the Lord Jesus demanding that he would heal her, but she
comes behind. She came behind and She didn't
do it in any bold way. She came behind, but she was
blessed with faith to come to the Lord Jesus. Now there was
a crowd all around him, but she pressed on and she came behind
him and she stretched out her hand And she just touched, as
we have it in this account, the border of his garment. The very lowest place perhaps,
just above the ground, she stooped down as it were, very low, stretched
out her hand and just touched the hem of his garment. Just
touched it. Why did she do that? Because she was given faith to
believe. that such a touch could bring
healing into her body. Remember she had run out of funds
to do anything? All she could do was to venture
in this way, almost the last opportunity we might think of
any way to be healed. Here she came then like this,
she came behind and touched the border of his garment. She was humbled. She came behind. There wasn't any great show. And I believe when the Spirit
of God works in our hearts to show to us something of our true
condition, our real condition before a holy God, We aren't
able to come, as it were, proudly. We have to come very lowly. Just like this woman, touch,
as it were, the border of the garment. Seek the Lord will do
that for us which we cannot do for ourselves. The faith that
she was given, and let us just remember this, that it wasn't
her faith. In one sense it was her faith,
but it wasn't her natural faith. No, it was the faith given to
her by God. There is a very distinct difference
between those two faiths. People might say they have faith,
and they may have faith, but it may be their own faith, and
that's not the faith that is given by God. That faith which
is given by God brings a person to walk humbly before their God
and yet trusting in the Lord that he will appear and he will
do something for them and he will hear their prayers and answer
their cries. And so we can believe that this
woman was given that faith. Now she didn't know that she
was given that faith. It's not something that we understand
until we received it and it's been worked out in us. And then
we observe that we have received that faith from Almighty God. It's not something that we come
and say, well, God's given me this faith and therefore I can
do this. No, she pressed forward. God had given her that faith
to believe, to hope that she might indeed receive the blessing. How very clearly does the Apostle
Paul define this gift of faith in that 11th chapter to the Hebrews
when he said, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence
of things not seen. Faith is not something which
is tangible to our natural understanding. It's that which God gives. And
because God gives it, we can't glory in ourselves But we can
glory in the grace of our God which gives us the blessing of
faith. And as we know in that 11th chapter
of the Hebrews, we read the account of so many people who were blessed
with this true faith to believe. And we might say that faith laughs
at impossibilities and says it shall be done. because God receives
the honour and the glory from such operations of the Spirit
of God in our hearts by giving us that gift of faith. You know, faith is a wonderful
blessing. Faith is an essential blessing. For my friends, without
faith it is impossible to please God. impossible without that
faith and so God gives faith and as he gives that faith you
see then we do believe and then we do trust and we do press forward
hoping against hope, hoping against hope. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen and we read
that the elders obtained a good report through that And what
a wonderful account it is, as we read in that 11th chapter
to the Hebrews, of all that God did through that gift of faith. The gift of faith. Let us not
lose sight of that. This woman possessed living faith
given to her by Almighty God. And remember, she didn't realize
that she was blessed with it, but the Lord told her that she
had received it, thy faith Hath made thee whole, the God given
faith. What a blessing it is to receive
that faith from God. Now then, here was this woman
then, she stretched out and she touched the hem of his garment,
and what was the effect? Immediately, her issue of blood
staunched, immediately. Faith was given, she stretched
out her hand, She touched the hem of his garment, immediately
there was that healing. And as the Lord blesses us with
living faith to stretch out our hand to the Lord Jesus Christ,
seeking for that mercy, seeking for that forgiveness. Surely
that's what it comes down to, is it not? Because we would not
come to the Lord Jesus unless we had a need. Jesus is ready
to receive us. To receive us in all our blackness,
in all perhaps our black despair. Perhaps we're willing to give
up, perhaps one last time as it were, we'll seek unto the
Lord. And maybe it's that last time
when the Spirit of God gives us that true faith, not of ourselves,
But from himself, we've been brought to that condition where
we have nothing in ourselves. This woman had no ability in
herself, as it were, to pay for anything, to do anything. All
she could do was to stretch out her hand, coming behind and hoping
the Lord would indeed heal her. And so the outcome was, immediately,
her issue of blood stanched. Now then, What occurred then? Jesus said, who touched me? Who touched me? What had occurred? The woman had been healed. And Peter said quite reasonably,
and they that were with him, master, the multitude thronged
thee, impressed thee, and sayest thou, who touched me? Naturally
speaking, it was an absurd situation to question who touched me. There
were so many people that thronged and were pressing against the
Lord Jesus, but there was this particular person who had been
blessed with living faith, with a real need to be healed. Many people were there perhaps
with not the same need. They hadn't received the same
gift of faith This woman was blessed with living faith and
she stretched out her hand and touched the board of his garment
and it was immediately healed. And Jesus knew. Why? Because virtue had gone out of
him. And the Lord said, somebody hath
touched me. What a blessing if you and I
are blessed with that faith then. to touch, as it were, the head
of his garment. Yes, just the border. Living
faith to do that, we have a great need and we're desperate really
to be healed. This woman was, was she not?
Yes, she could do nothing else but come to the Lord Jesus, just
as she was, with nothing. I came to Jesus as I was. a blessing for you and me tonight.
We can come to Jesus as we are. He knew all about this woman. He knew all the details in her
life. He knew the situation. He does so in your life and my
life. Nothing is hidden from Almighty
God. And as the Lord may bless us,
it's very humbling to think that as we're given that living faith
to come and touch the hem of his garment, the virtue passes
from the Lord Jesus Christ to us, to cleanse us from all sin. And that virtue is contained
in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the blood that cleanses
without shedding a blood, there's no remission, there's no forgiveness.
But to know that we have possessed, we have received and then possessed
this great blessing of this virtue passing to us from the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it's really a tremendous
thought, is it not? As we think of the Almighty God,
the great God, the ruler of the universe, who graciously, wonderfully,
condescends to remember us in our lowest state, individually,
personally. The vast concern of the whole
world, the billions of people in the world, and to think that
Almighty God remembers us, gives us that faith to come to Him,
to stretch out our hand, to receive the blessing and that virtue
passes from the Saviour to us, that cleansing virtue to cleanse
us from all sin. This woman was made whole, made
whole on a blessing when the Lord God makes us whole, He cleanses
us from all sin, every sin washed away forever and ever. I perceive
that virtue is gone out of me." Now, what's the reaction of this
woman? What's the reaction? And when
the woman saw that she was not hid, she may have thought that
she was hidden, but you see the Lord asked the question. has touched me. Who is it? Who
is the person that's touched me? The Lord knew who had touched
her. The Lord knew. And my friends,
the Lord knows about us, doesn't he? He knows whether we've received
that faith to stretch out our hand and touch, as it were, the
hem of his garment. And what's the effect, this woman,
when she saw that she was not hid? She came trembling and falling
down before him. we have a good testimony, don't
we? This woman, she came trembling, trembling because of that which
had been done in her, and done in her by that touch in the garment,
that virtue passing upon her. She came trembling. We tremble
before Almighty God. It's a wonderful indication of
the true work of God when the Spirit of God causes us to tremble
before Him. Tremble to realise that the Lord
has looked upon us and had mercy upon us. As it were, all our self-respect
and everything else and all our wonderful plans then disappear.
And here we come trembling and we come to the Lord. She couldn't
be hid. No, she couldn't be hid. And
my friends, you know, we're not hid, are we? You see, when the
Lord works in the heart of his great work, it has an effect. An effect which is to be observed.
And, you know, it's not hidden. The Church of God, the living
Church of God, are watching and waiting and praying that there
may be those who are moved and blessed by the Spirit of God
and possess that gift of living faith. And the effect of that
is to produce this effect, trembling and falling down before Him. She fell down. We spoke this
morning of the situation of bowing the knee before Almighty God. And here we see the similar situation,
isn't it? She came trembling and falling
down before Him. We fall down before God. Well, I wonder whether you and
I have, as it were, fallen down before our God because of what
He's done for us. Trembling and falling down before
Him. She declared unto him before
all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she
was healed immediately. She had something to declare. She had something to say. And
so does the Church of God. When the Lord gives faith, when
the Lord heals, There is something to say. There's something to
declare. And this woman told the whole
story. Told the whole story. Declared
on him before all the people. Yes, it wasn't just a silent
witness. It was a declaration before all
the people for what cause she had touched him. She had to confess
the situation. which she'd been involved with.
It wasn't something that naturally, perhaps, she would want to say.
She'd had this issue of blood, it hadn't been healed. We might
say, well, it was a bit of a private, personal thing. She had to declare
it. She had to acknowledge what had
been done. And so it will be in our spiritual
life. We may, as it were, have been
very black sinners, very vile sinners. but it has to be declared. And it's declared so that God
receives the honour and glory for the mercy and the healing
that was received. And she declared unto him, unto
the Lord, but the people were witnesses. of that declaration
for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. What a wonderful scene it must
have been. What a wonderful evidence of
the power of Almighty God and the faith which had been given.
There was no secret. Here was the evidence and here
was the honour and glory brought to God and how she was healed
immediately. And what was the response of
the Lord Jesus? Very simple, very beautiful. Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith, remember, her faith,
but God-given faith, not her natural faith, God-given faith. It's a clear distinction. We
need to understand it. Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace. Well, the word here
is, be of good comfort. Be of good comfort. Surely we
must think of those words that Isaiah wrote in the 40th chapter
in that prophecy. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
the church of God, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned. for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins.' What comforting words
they are, are they not? As we may have recognised and
realised and felt and known something in the depth of our sin, we shall
never really know the enormity of it, but the Lord shows us
in measure the sins that we have committed, and the evil of our
heart, to direct us to the only means of restoration, the only
means of forgiveness, the only means to be absolved from our
sin, is to direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman came.
She came to the Lord Jesus Christ. She'd come to him. There was
a multitude, nonetheless she came. She didn't say, well, I've
got to have a personal interview now. No, she came. There was
a crowd. It didn't matter. She pressed
on. She stretched forth her hand and touched the hem of his garment. There will be opposition in your
life and my life as we desire to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It will never be easy. It will always be a battle. It will always be, as it were,
a multitude around us. The devil will always endeavor.
to distract us and to say, well, now is not a suitable time. There's
just too much happening and it's not right. This woman, she came
and she pressed through the crowd. What a wonderful thing it is
if you and I come in that way. She came from behind and touched
the hem, the border of his garment. And so the Lord came And he spoke
these words of comfort and these words of blessing to her, be
of good comfort. How comforting it is. And we
need comfort, don't we? We need some comfort, and that
comfort can only come from God. You see, people can speak words.
They may think they're good words. They may think they're comforting,
but my friends, they fall so far short. When the Lord speaks,
when the Lord heals, the work is done. And it is then a wonderful
comfort to us to know that God, God has given us that living
faith to believe and remember. Faith laughs at impossibilities
and says it shall be done. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Yes, this woman was healed. She
was healed completely. And the work of God is a complete
work. It's not half done. It's a complete
salvation. When the Lord works, the work
is done. The healing is complete because
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. It doesn't say, well, now there's
a few sins left. It cleanses from all sin. Every
sin. Yes, every sin. Sins that perhaps
we don't remember, didn't observe. Every sin. Sins perhaps that
we think will not be forgiven. We may have thought sometimes
we've sinned against light and knowledge. Every sin. Cleanseth
from all sin. What a wonderful thing it is
then to be blessed with this living faith and to know that
we've been made whole. We've been cleansed from all
our guilt, washed in the blood of the Lamb. What does this do?
It makes the Lord Jesus Christ precious. It makes the Lord Jesus Christ
very real. And we then know something of
His great love toward us, in looking upon us. may as it were
crept behind. God gives us that faith to stretch
out in hope, in hope. Remember, it is in hope. But my friends, if God gives
us that living faith, it's a good hope. It's a hope which will
not fail. It's God given, a blessed hope. Thy faith has made thee whole,
And the Lord says then, go in peace. Peace, it's a wonderful
thing, isn't it? True peace is not really to be
known in the things of our natural life. But true peace is to be
known in the fellowship and union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And those words are very true.
Peace by his cross has Jesus made. The church's ever lasting
head. It is a wonderful gift and a
wonderful favor to indeed receive that peace of God in our hearts. This woman was told, go in peace,
go in peace. What a favour it is for us to
be blessed with that true living peace from Almighty God. The Lord Jesus spoke about the
Comforter. He spoke about the peace in that
14th chapter of John when he said, But the Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things. and bring you, bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I
leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth,
we don't earn peace, God gives peace. And because he gives peace,
that's why we desire to praise and honor and glorify him. I give unto you, not as the world
giveth, give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid." What a wonderful word it was to the disciples
in the upper room. With all that was to come before
them, all the things that they were to be revealed and the situation
they had to face, to remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Really a repetition of the first
words the Lord spoke. Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. And he says before them,
the wonderful picture in my father's house are many mansions. If it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to a place, prepare
a place for you. A personal statement. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. and receive you unto myself,
that where I am there ye may be also eternal blessings with
Christ. Remember it all begins from God
and it ends with God. It's his work from beginning
to end and because it's his work from beginning to end that's
why there is brought from us that true desire to praise and
glorify God for what He's done, for His mercy which is so great,
for His love, for His compassion, for His favour toward us. And
so we read these words, Thy faith has made thee whole, go in peace. Yes, she was a free woman. And if the Son shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed. Oh, what a blessing it is to
have such a God. a God who brings to us such great
and glorious favours and blessings, and to think that this woman
here gives us this picture of healing, God-given faith, the
pressing through and the touching of the garment, and the healing
virtue that passed from the Saviour. And my friends, blessed be God,
if you and I know something of the wonder of redeeming love,
such unworthy sinners, to know the Lord has looked upon us,
he's known about us, he looked upon us, he's dealt with us as
his children. Yes, as sons and daughters of
the Most High God. He hasn't left us, he hasn't
forsaken us, but he's drawn us to himself and he's blessed us.
And may he say to us tonight, be of Good comfort, thy faith
hath made thee whole. Go in peace. Amen.