May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the Gospel
of Mark chapter 5 and we'll read verses 25, 26 and 27. The Gospel
of Mark chapter 5 verses 25, 26 and 27. And a certain woman which had an issue of blood twelve
years, and had suffered many things and 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. We have here, in this account
of this woman, really a very encouraging account for the Church
of God. Encouraging because this woman
was one of a multitude. There were a great many people
thronging the Lord Jesus Christ. But this one woman She had a
very real and a very special need. And therefore her great desire
was to just come and to touch the garment of the Lord Jesus. She didn't want any great recognition. She just wanted to come. And
as we look at her situation, it wasn't as though she had a
withered hand or a crooked back or something which was very evident. She had something which was very
private, something which she would have been very embarrassed
to have had to spell out amongst the multitude. And so we have
the evidence here of the graciousness of the Lord, because He knew her condition
and He knew her true desire and her need. And therefore, she didn't have
to come as it were and explain before the multitude her situation. But she did come And she did
realise that Jesus was the only one that could do her any true,
real and lasting good. And it is for us today a wonderful
example and a wonderful account for us. We indeed may not have
perhaps a physical condition like this woman had. but we may
have a condition which the Lord knows about and we know about
and we may be too embarrassed to explain the situation to other
people. Well be encouraged that God knows
your situation and God knows your need. Now the great truth
was this woman She didn't stand a long way away. She knew that she had to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. What had been her experience?
What had been her testimony? Well, she suffered many things
of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing
bettered. She'd had a condition. She'd
gone to this one and that one and she sought for remedy. Sometimes those remedies which
had been prescribed made her grow worse. It didn't improve
her condition, it didn't help her. And how true that is, also
with regard to spiritual condition. You see, a person who may have
a specific and particular need, he may go here and he may go
there. By that I mean, he may go to this church and that church,
and he may hear this person and that person, and he may give
them advice, and he may perhaps take that advice, and he finds
it doesn't really help, doesn't really do them any good, Perhaps it may be, like this
woman here, she wasn't better at all by such things. Well, what was the effect of
this woman? What a blessed thing it would
be if we are blessed with the same effect. The effect was,
eventually, she went to the Lord Jesus Christ. She didn't go until
she had nothing. She suffered many things and
many physicians and spent all that she had. She had nothing
left. She was empty. Perhaps that may be so. We may
have tried every avenue, every resource. And what do we find? We've done everything, we've
spent everything, and we're nothing bettered. Well, we might think
this woman was surely near to despair. She'd been 12 years
like this. Wasn't a short time, was it?
12 long years, desiring to be healed, desiring to be cured,
without any result. Well, sometimes in our spiritual
life, we may perhaps, as it were, draw alongside and have a parallel
experience with this woman. It's been many years, it may
have been 12 years, but we've been under, as it were, under
a cloud, as it were, under temptation, as it were, under sickness, spiritual
darkness, and we are nothing better. That's a very draining
situation. It's a very hard experience to
have. But the Lord uses situations
like this to remove us from seeking unto man. This woman, she couldn't
go to any more physicians. She got no money left to buy
any more advice. It may be like that sometimes.
We've got nothing left. as it were, to get any more help,
any more advice. And she was nothing better. And
we may be nothing better. We may have been 12 years, struggling
on, in the wilderness as it were, and nothing better. And in fact,
as we read here, but rather grew worse. rather grew worse. That's a very painful experience. We have a natural condition here.
The woman has spent so much money and sought after so many physicians
and what was the effect? Did she got better at all? No,
she'd rather grown worse. I believe that's the same situation
in a spiritual sense. Sometimes as it were the Lord
allows us. In our own estimation of our
spiritual life, instead of growing, instead of getting better, we
seem to grow worse. I believe in that kind of condition. There may be that real temptation
that we must be out of the secret. We cannot in fact have anything
real within us, otherwise why Should the situation be like
this? Well, we should be encouraged.
The Lord has ordained that such an account should be carefully
recorded with details like this to encourage us in our life today. So that as we may feel to rather
grow worse, may see that we aren't able to pray as we used to. It seems far more difficult. When we pray, our minds seem
to wander more than they used to. And instead of enjoying prayer,
instead of finding access, we find great barrenness and darkness
and difficulty. And so we find, rather than getting
better, we're rather growing worse. That's not a very encouraging
situation to our nature, is it? To our flesh. It may be very
difficult to face and to endure, but you see in this woman's case,
it worked for her good. And I believe it is so. With all God's children, these
situations come into their lives in measure. It may not be 12
years, it may be 12 years, it may be more, it may be less.
It may be a relatively short time. But, nonetheless, a situation
like this is very real. And so this woman confesses that
she'd rather growing worse. If you and I feel like that,
perhaps we should not be discouraged because here we have an example,
here we have the testimony of a woman who was blessed indeed. She had to wait a long time to
be healed, a long time to be blessed. But there was an appointed
time. And the appointed time came when
she was brought to a condition of destitution. That means a
condition when she had nothing. She had nothing to pay. Perhaps you understand what that
means. You have nothing to pay. Nothing
that can demand any blessing. You're bankrupt. You have nothing. Well, when the Lord brings us
to that condition, it's a good situation. I'll tell you why. Because we're emptied of ourselves. We're emptied of ourselves. come there easily. It took this woman 12 years to
come to that condition. But eventually she came there. And the people of God do come
there when they are empty of all their own religion, empty
of all their own ability. Yes, and they are ready perhaps
to give up. because they have nothing to
pay and they're nothing better and instead of that they're rather
growing worse. The opposite to what we might
expect and yet you see the Lord brings his people down first
before he raises them up. Sometimes we may have been relying
on things and situations which in fact did not emanate from
our God, they were of self. And the truth was that in our
minds, in our hearts, we were relying on certain things as
the evidence of the life of God in the soul, and perhaps if we
analysed our hearts very carefully, and as the Lord empties us from,
as it were, one vessel to another, He shows us then what really
was in our heart. And we find that it wasn't as
pure as we thought it was. We found there was self, we found
there was pride. My friends, all those things
have to be taken away. And so we have the testimony
of this woman here. who suffered many things. It
was a suffering time. So it will be, if you and I are
a true believer, it will be a suffering time. It wasn't that everybody knew
about this situation. No doubt those various physicians
did, but it was limited, no doubt, to them. She had to bear these
sufferings for many things, of many physicians, and spent all
that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, seemed to get farther away from
any cure. Again, that may be so in our
spiritual life. Instead of getting nearer, we
seem to get farther away. And the truth is, we seem to
rather grow worse. Well, no doubt, in that condition,
we're tempted to think, well, surely there can be no hope for
me. Well, this woman, we're told
what happened when she had heard of Jesus. She came in the press
behind and touched his garment. There were many people around
her, potentially to distract her, to turn her away. But that didn't stop her. And
then we also recognise that what she did, she came behind. She didn't expect a great recognition
from the Lord Jesus as somebody worthy of any recognition. She
didn't, as it were, make sure that she came before him so that
he couldn't miss her. She came behind, as it were, almost in secret. But what did she do? She stretched
out her hand and she touched his garment. It was just a touch. It wasn't
anything more than that. And again, sometimes in our lives
we may expect something rather wonderful, a great revelation
perhaps, some tremendous blessing. Well, here this woman just touched
his garment. You can imagine what that was,
just putting out the hand, just touching. But that was enough. And that was enough. And so she had that faith given
to her. That faith by God to pursue and
to reach out and to touch Jesus. Jesus is the only one who could
really heal her. The only one who could do her
any true good. She had to give up on everything
else, every outward thing, she had to give up. She had to come
only to Jesus. and then given that faith to
just stretch out a hand and to touch his garment. Well, it's a good thing, you
know, in our lives today, if we are given that faith to come
with nothing, ready to give up, and yet to have that hope that
we might be able to just touch the garments of the Lord Jesus. And clearly she had the confirmation
in her heart that if she was able to do that, it would do
her real good. So there she was, just as she
was. She came to the Saviour when
she had heard of Jesus. She came in the press behind
and touched His garment. What a blessing if you and I
are able just to come and touch the garment of the Saviour. To
think that we are able by His grace just to stretch out our
hand in faith, believing that He can come. He can do us good. He can heal us. He can bless
us. That's how this woman came. What did she say? Her faith said,
If I may touch by this God's clothes, I shall be whole. What faith that was. Living faith
is a great blessing. It's the gift of God. He gives
faith to his people. You might say, well, why didn't
she have faith before? Well, she was putting her trust
in man. And now, she was putting her
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a difference. What a difference. Man is but puny and helpless
and sinful. God is pure and He is able. and he is willing. Doubt no more. She said, if I may, if I may. Yes, gives the impression she
wasn't sure if she would be able to. But, if I may. Touched by his clothes, I shall
behold Well, she was blessed with that faith then, to come
to Jesus, to come behind and to stretch out her hand and to
touch his garment. Now, what was the effect? Did she then go away nothing
better? Did she then go away rather growing
worse? Oh no. That was a very, very
different situation now. And it wasn't a long delay. And
the Lord gives living faith, you see. That faith does great
things. And we read, and straightway,
immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried
up And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. She knew she'd received the blessing. She knew that she was healed. And today as we consider this
in a spiritual sense, as it were, when we put out our hand and
just touch the garments of the Saviour and that we receive that
in ourselves. She felt in her body that she
was healed of that plague. What a blessing to know that
we are healed of that plague of sin. which has been so difficult
for us to bear. And it dragged us down. When
it got worse, we seemed to have added sin to sin. And it's been
a plague to us. This was a plague to this woman.
Sin is a plague to the child of God. And if you can't get
any relief from that sin, it will be a real burden. and especially
as sin seems to mount up and seem to get worse. She said, if I may touch by his
clothes, I shall behold him straightway. The fountain of her blood was
drying up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that
plague. Yes, she knew that she had been
healed. She knew that touch had received
a wonderful blessing. And really in a spiritual sense
it's like this, if we come with nothing in our hand, perhaps
like this, simply to thy cross I cling. What does it mean? It means that we are relying
on what the Lord Jesus Christ has done We are looking to Him
for salvation. We are looking to His death on
that cross at Calvary, because on that glorious day, He atoned
for all the sins of His church. And then as we come like this,
that touch produces the evidence that He has died for all our
sins and we are washed and we are clean and we are healed from
all our sin through the precious sin-atoning blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. She was healed and we shall be
healed and it will be a wonderful deliverance and a wonderful blessing. This woman had been like it for
all those years and now she was healed. To even give her that
faith to come to the Lord Jesus and Him only. As you and I may
have faith to come to the suffering Saviour and to come as it were
to the foot of the cross and view the Lord Jesus Christ. dying
on our behalf, on your behalf, what does it bring with it? It
brings freedom. Freedom from the curse. The curse
which said, the soul that sinneth it shall die. And as we've been
under that curse, perhaps for years, and it's got higher and
more difficult. And we've grown worse. We seem
to be farther off. And then the Lord comes like
this. And we are blessed with that
faith to Him. And we're healed. And she was healed
of that plague. What a blessed relief it was.
What a wonderful favour it was. What a glorious situation for
her now. Jesus knew, of course, what was
done. He knew immediately, of course. In himself, the virtue had gone
out of him. He turned about in the press and said, who touched
my clothes? Who touched my clothes? Well,
the disciples responded in the way which we would expect. 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. The Lord knew who it was. And we see the very beautiful
picture of this woman. This healed woman. We see her
demeanour. We see the reaction. We see the
picture of a child of God blessed by the Spirit of God. The woman
fearing and trembling. Fearing and trembling. That's the evidence of the Lord's
work in the soul. Here we fear and tremble before
a holy God. Because we have a little view
and a little feeling and revelation. of the greatness of God and of
our total inadequacy and insufficiency and utter sinfulness. But the woman, fearing and trembling,
she knew what was done. My friends, when the Spirit of
God comes to us, we know what is done. That's an effect. We don't doubt. We know. The Lord has graciously blessed us.
The Lord has graciously come to us. He has graciously healed
us. She knew. She knew. She feared and trembled. No one
was done in her came. And she fell down before him
and told him all the truth. She fell down, she bowed down
before her Lord and Master, before her gracious Saviour. Oh, she
didn't hide, she couldn't hide. In fact, she didn't want to hide,
because she'd been blessed, she'd been healed. And so she came,
trembling and fell down, and told Him all the truths. You see, there was a time then
to declare, a time to speak. The multitude was still there.
They hadn't all disappeared. But now you see, the Lord came
and she testified of what had occurred. She told him all the
truth. She wasn't embarrassed now. He
was able to declare what she was and what she'd been and what
God had done. And what was it? It brought honour
and glory to her gracious Saviour. So if you think of that in our
spiritual life, the Lord comes and hears our prayer as it were,
as we come in faith, stretching out our hand to the Saviour.
He does do us good. There is that virtue which comes
into our heart, You know, it's a cleansing virtue through the
shed blood of the Saviour. It's a powerful virtue. It does
that for us that we couldn't do for ourselves. It's a virtue
that comes from heaven. It's a virtue of the Saviour. Oh, my friends, to enjoy that. What a deliverance. What a deliverance. This woman was wonderfully delivered,
wasn't she? In a moment. In a moment. What a change in her life. What a change in our lives. When
the Lord comes like this and when that virtue from the Saviour
comes into our heart. Now she came trembling and fearing
and fell down. and told Him all that was in
her heart. There is a declaring of what
God has done. There is a declaring of His great
mercy, and of His love, and of His favour. All the truth, didn't
hold anything back. What a blessing, what a time
it is, when we are brought like that, when the Spirit moves us,
as it were when the Lord looks upon us, And we have to acknowledge,
yes, the Lord has blessed me. So she told him all the truth. And what did the Lord say? Daughter. Yes, daughter. A child of God. Daughter. Thy faith. Well, it was the faith
that God had given her. But it was her faith. It was
God who had given her that faith. And what a blessing it is for
us today when the Lord gives us faith to believe. God gave this woman faith to
believe that if she could just but touch His clothes, she should
be made whole. God gave her that faith, and
it was her God-given faith, the way we possess, that God-given
faith. She didn't manufacture it. You
might have thought she tried to do it all these years, but
no. When God came and gave her that living faith, that she might touch Buddy's
clothes, and behold, and so it came to pass, and so the Lord
then comes to her. and speaks these words, daughter. Well, I wonder if you've been
longing to hear such words spoken by none less than the Saviour,
the Lord Himself. And that's what we need, isn't
it? We need the Saviour to speak to us. We need His voice. We need to hear the voice of
our Beloved. She heard it here. Gorta, thy
faith hath made thee whole. God given faith, given to her
that it was her faith. And then that statement, yes,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and behold of thy
plague. Peace. What peace there was. No doubt, 12 years, she'd been
in turmoil. Going from one place to another,
trying this and trying that. No success, getting worse. Perhaps getting more miserable,
perhaps getting more downcast. And then, the eyes directed to
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in coming with nothing, she
had nothing left. She came with nothing. She came
to the Lord Jesus. All the people around her, it
didn't matter. It didn't matter. No, she pressed
through. She came behind and stretched
out her hand and touched his garment. And she had that faith
to believe. that if she was able to do that,
she would be cleansed, she would be healed. And straightway, the
fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that
she was healed of that plague. What a blessing to know the effect
of the power of the Spirit God upon us, to know in ourselves
that we are healed of that plague which had been upon us. And so
Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone
out, he turned about him and pressed, who touched me? He knew,
what a blessing if he looks upon us, who touched me? We can't
hide, we can't be hidden, we come fearing and trembling, knowing
that what was done in us We fall down before Jesus. Yeah, we fall
down. We bow down. We acknowledge Him
as our God, our Lord and Master and Saviour. What a blessed thing
it is to fall down before the Lord Jesus Christ and tell Him
everything, all the truth. And He said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole, Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague. Well may the Lord bless such
an application to our hearts that we may indeed rejoice in
the Saviour and be made whole. Amen.