Let us turn again to the Word
of God and to the Gospel according to Luke. And I want to read in
chapter 8, verse 48. In the Gospel according to Luke,
we read chapter 8, verse 48. And he said unto her, Daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. And he said unto
her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. We were singing
about this incident in that hymn 731 and you noticed perhaps in
the last verse of the hymn it speaks of this woman and I was
struck as I was thinking about this service that there's that
word may at the end of the second line of that last verse. The
hymn writer says, like her, with hopes and fears we come to touch
the if we may, to touch the if we may. Why does he say if we
may as if there's some uncertainty about this? Well, it seems to
be a symptom of his weak faith. And he confesses that, doesn't
he, William Cooper, in this hymn? In the second verse he says our
faith is feeble. We confess. We faintly trust
thy word. It's as if he's not sure if he
may come in the same way as this woman came. And perhaps that's
your uncertainty as you come to this word this morning. Do you come with those hopes
and fears? desiring to come to the Lord
Jesus with your needs as this woman came with her needs, and
yet you say, I'm not sure if I may. Well, this account that
we have here, and especially these words of the Lord Jesus
at the end of this account in verse 48, that they ought to
be an encouragement to us, an encouragement to you if you come
with that doubt, with that uncertainty. because he said unto her, daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
Go in peace. And a wonderful thing it would
be, wouldn't it, if we were by the end of this service, instead
of saying, to touch thee if we may, if we came to say, to touch
thee as we must and as I shall. If that faith was strengthened
so as to come as this woman came, and find that same healing and
that same blessing as she found from the Lord Jesus. This is
one of a number of healing miracles that we see in this chapter. We read the parallel chapter
in Mark's Gospel and there we have the account of this man
who's called Legion. who has an unclean spirit. It says here in this chapter,
in verse 27, he had devil's long time. He'd been for a long time
in this tragic condition that we read about, where he seems to be insane,
really. He doesn't wear any clothes.
He doesn't abide in a house, but he just spends his time in
the tombs. And as we read in Mark's gospel,
he's cutting himself with stones in the mountains. And men had
tried to tame him, tie him up with chains and fetters, but
he's so strong that the chains are broken. And he's driven back
of the devil into the wilderness. And Jesus heals him. And he goes away, doesn't he?
Publishing throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had
done unto him. And then we come to the account
of this man Jairus. who finds Jesus on the other
side of the sea and falls down before him and beseeches him
to come and heal his daughter. Only one daughter he has, about
12 years of age, and she's dying. And Jesus follows him to his
house. And of course, at the end of the chapter, we read about
how Jesus raises her from the dead and restores her to her
parents. And again, we read her parents
were astonished Well, in the middle of this account, in the
middle of this interaction between Jairus and the Lord Jesus, we're
introduced to this woman who comes creeping through the crowd
with her issue of blood. She has this problem with her
health and she's been like that for a long time, 12 years it
says she's suffered with this condition. And Jesus, ultimately she too
is healed as she touches the border of Jesus' garment. There's
many healing miracles, not just in this chapter, but in the previous
chapters. You are familiar, I expect, with
some of the other miracles of healing that Jesus performs.
And this has resulted in him becoming well known. And many
people are gathered together. You look in chapter, if you look
in verse four of this chapter, it says, much people were gathered
together and were come to him out of every city. There's a
great crowd that now is surrounding the Lord Jesus. And as we read
in verse 40, when Jesus comes back across the sea from the
country of the Gadarenes, having healed that man Legion, we're
told the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting
for him. He's got many followers now. because of his healing miracles.
What's the purpose of these miracles? Why is it that Jesus heals in
this way? Well, the miracles, and I'm sure pastor has said
this to you, just as he's often said it to us at Hedge End, these
miracles are signs. They point to something. They're
not just done for their own sake, but they point to something greater.
And John picks up on that, doesn't he, in his gospel. At the end
of chapter 20, he talks about those signs which Jesus did,
and he says, well, I haven't written about them all. Many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book. But these are written.
And why are they written? Well, says John, they are written
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
and that believing you might have life through his name. They are signs to strengthen
faith, to work faith, to increase faith. And we have a picture of that
faith here in this woman, don't we? Jesus talks about her faith here
in verse 48. Daughter, be of good comfort.
Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. She was a woman
of faith. It's a picture of the faith of
the sinner as they come to the Lord Jesus to receive that pardon
and forgiveness for their sins. And we see something about faith
here in this account. And what we see is that faith
is something that has to fight. Paul, in his epistles, he often
emphasises this, doesn't he? He talks about the fight of faith.
And when he comes to the end of his own life, he can say,
I have fought a good fight. He talks about the shield of
faith, doesn't he? Well, a shield is something that
you use in a battle. You don't need a shield unless
you've got something to fight with. Faith is something that
fights. And faith is something that overcomes.
And perhaps your faith is fighting this morning. with the same things
as this woman's faith had to fight with. Perhaps you are struggling
to overcome what this woman had to overcome as she comes to the
Lord Jesus. And really what I wanted to do
this morning was to talk about four things that this woman's
faith has to overcome. And four things that sometimes
our faith, your faith, and my faith, may have to overcome. Well, what was it that she had
to fight with? The first thing is this. Her faith had to overcome
the hopelessness of her condition. The hopelessness of her condition.
Again, look at her here in verse 43. She's got this issue of blood. She keeps bleeding and She's
had this problem for 12 years. 12 years is a long time, isn't
it, to be ill? I don't know whether you've ever
had any serious illness, but even a minor illness, if it lasts
a week, it seems like a long time, doesn't it? And certainly when you're ill
for months, it must seem like it goes on forever. It must seem
interminable. And this woman, She's had this
for 12 years. And not only has she had it for
such a long time, but she's been to many doctors. We read in Mark's gospel, when
we come to this same account, We read that this woman had suffered
many things of many physicians. She'd been to doctor after doctor,
and the doctors had prescribed her various different treatments,
some of them very painful treatments, it seems, because it says she
had suffered many things of many physicians. She'd been in this condition
for a long time. She'd been to see lots of doctors
about it, and she'd spent all her money on it, hadn't she? As Mark records, she had spent
all that she had. And as Luke says here, she had
spent all her living. This wasn't something that she
could ignore. It wasn't something that she could just say, well,
I'll just have to live with it then. But every time she got
some money in, she was spending that money trying to find a cure
for this condition. And yet, what do we read? In
Mark's Gospel, she'd suffered many things of many positions.
She had spent all that she had. But how much better was she?
Well, Mark says she was no better at all. She was nothing bettered. These positions, it's not that
they had been able to make a small improvement, but they hadn't
been able to do anything. And in fact, Mark says she rather
grew worse. It was a hopeless condition. Well, many people with that kind
of condition might have been inclined to give up. Many people
might have said, well, I've done what I can. I've been to see
all the doctors. I've tried all the treatment.
I spent all my money. I've got nothing left now. All
there is left for me is to suffer from this disease forever and
to just ultimately die of it. Many people would have given
up, but this woman didn't give up, did she? When she heard of
Jesus, she saw a hope there, didn't
she? Mark says, this woman, when she
heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind. She saw some hope
in the Lord Jesus, and there's something here about the hope
of the gospel, isn't there? There's something here that reminds
us of that same truth that the hymn writer reminds us of. If
you look in Hymn 585, there's a sinner there at the beginning
of that hymn who feels himself undone. And the hymn writer,
William Gadsby, in this hymn, he talks about this man who has
tried to find help in different places, just like this woman. He says his reason can't help
him. He can't be helped by the works
of righteousness. The creatures can't help him.
No human arm can reach his case. Nor men, nor angels. It's as
if he's tried all these things. And just like this woman, it
wouldn't have been surprising for this man in this hymn to
have given up. that the hymn writer, at the
end of that hymn, he talks about a door of hope, doesn't he? And
notice what he says about the door of hope. He doesn't say
it's just a little door. He says a door of hope is opened
wide. It's a wide door that is opened
through the work of the Lord Jesus. And this woman saw a hope
in him. And she had this faith that overcame
all the hopelessness of her situation. In fact, it was a strong faith,
wasn't it? Because Mark tells us that she
said, if I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole. There's
a certainty in the faith of this woman. She doesn't just say,
well, who knows whether this will help, but I may as well
give it a go. She doesn't just say, when I've got nothing to
lose, I may as well touch the hem of his garment, but she has
this certainty. Her faith overcomes the hopelessness
of her situation. Well, you and I may sometimes
come to see something of the hopelessness of our condition.
And we might be like that man in that hymn who has tried to
do better. try to measure up to the standard
of God's law, and yet constantly we find that we fall short of
it. And you might say, well, there's no hope then. I can't
get rid of this sin. I can't make myself worthy of
God's blessing. I can't be healed. Well, there
is a hope, a door of hope that is opened wide in Jesus' bleeding
hands and side. And this woman's faith had to
fight with her hopelessness and had to overcome the hopelessness
of her situation. That's the first thing that her
faith had to overcome. And I wonder if there aren't
many today who find themselves having to fight with that same
enemy, that same factor, that same hopelessness. When we read through the Word
of God and we see the standard of God's law, certainly it was
something that brought the Israelites to tremble, didn't it? When they
received the law at the mouth of God back there in Exodus, when God spoke to them, the Ten
Commandments, The people, they removed and they stood afar off,
they couldn't bear it, they couldn't stand it. And they said to Moses,
speak now with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with
us, lest we die. They realised that this God was
a holy God and that they couldn't approach him by themselves. And as I say, isn't it common,
if you've read through the experiences of Christians, if you've read
the biographies or autobiographies of Christians that have gone
before us, don't they often come to this point where they're almost
ready to give up? And they say, well, I'm just too much of a
sinner to be saved. Well, this woman, She didn't
give up and she went forward and her faith overcame her hopelessness,
the hopelessness of her situation. And so she comes and she finds
healing. That's the first thing that her
faith had to overcome. But then secondly, think about
this. Her faith had to overcome her own unworthiness, didn't
it? This issue of blood that she
has. There are references to this
back in the book of Leviticus. If you turn back to Leviticus
chapter 15, you'll find that just as there are many rules
concerning leprosy in the Old Testament, there are also many
rules concerning this illness that this woman has. She has
an issue of blood in Leviticus chapter 15, verses 19. And we're
told, aren't we, that if a woman have an issue of blood, she has
to be separate from everybody. She's not allowed to be near
everybody. She can't live with everyone
else. She has to be, almost as it were, ostracised. Not very
dissimilar to the leper. You remember the lepers in Israel
in the Old Testament, they had to live outside the city. They
couldn't live inside the gates. They had to live by themselves.
And this woman was like that. She had no right even to mix
in company and certainly not to mix in this great crowd. According to the law, she was
forbidden. She was so unworthy to come. And yet her faith, it overcomes
that, doesn't it? And her faith has to overcome
that. She's unworthy, but she knows something of his power.
She knows that he can help her. Again, remember her words. She
said, if I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole. Perhaps
she had heard about some of the other healings that Jesus had
performed. And her faith, it latches onto
those things. And her faith says, well, if
I come, I shall be healed just as those others were. Well, again, this is common,
isn't it? Don't we always feel unworthy of this gospel, of this
Christ? When we read about the forgiveness
of sins, When we read about all that Jesus did, all that he suffered,
all that he went through, it's almost inevitable that we sometimes
look at those things and we say, well, it's wonderful, but I'm
not worthy of that kind of thing. And when we read about the blessings
of the gospel, of the things that Paul speaks about, joy unspeakable
and full of glory, a peace that passes all understanding, we
might look at those things and say, well, it sounds wonderful,
but surely it's not for people like me. We feel that we don't deserve
it. We feel that we're unworthy of it. And we say, well, I long to come. I would long to touch him and
to experience his blessing. But it's always that, isn't it?
If I may. If I may, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I'm good enough
to come. Well, this woman, her faith has
to overcome this. And you know, really, there's
more to encourage us today in our coming than there ever was
for this woman. What do I mean? Well, this woman
had, she had some experience that she could hope in. She had
probably heard of the kind of things that Jesus had been doing.
We read again in Mark's Gospel, she heard of Jesus. She evidently
knew something about him that led her to have this hope that
he could heal her. She could look back and think
about others that had been healed by him. But she had no promise,
did she? There was no promise that she
could build upon. The Lord Jesus never gave her
a promise that said, if you come, I'll heal you. She had experience and she had
these others that she could think of to encourage her, but she
had no promise. But we, as we think of Christ
today, it's true, isn't it, that not only do we have the experience
of those who have gone before us, and we can think about those
who have come unworthy and received forgiveness for their sins. The
hymn writer, one of the hymn writers in a hymn that's not
in Gadsby's hymn book, He says, finding, following, keeping,
struggling, is he sure to bless? Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs
answer yes. He looks back to those who have
gone before and he encourages himself by remembering how they
came and how they were blessed. But as I say, we not only have
their testimony, but we have the promise of the Lord Jesus
himself. And in a sense, It's true to
say that we can come with, if we find ourselves with a need,
with a desire to know the forgiveness of our sins, with a hunger and
thirst, then we can come depending not just on the testimony of
others, but on the words of the Lord Jesus himself. He said, so often did he come
unto me. Come unto me all ye that labour. and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. In the last day, the great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. And when he speaks to Nicodemus,
he uses that lovely word, whosoever doesn't. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. There are these whosoever
promises. And there is something for faith
to be strengthened by, to rest upon, to plead as we come to
him. something by which faith can
overcome all those feelings of unworthiness. I remember reading
of a preacher, and he said one of his biggest frustrations was
that people would come to him, and they'd come to him privately
perhaps, and they'd say, look, I hear what you say about the
Gospel, and I would long-term know the blessings of the Gospel,
but I just don't seem good enough to receive it. And he said he
would spend some time explaining to them that it was not a question
of worthiness. and explaining to them that the
Gospel is not for those who are worthy of it, not for the righteous,
but for sinners. And he said at the end of the
conversation he would often say to them, well, are you any clearer
in your mind now? And he said very often the response
was something like this. They would say, well, thank you
so much for explaining that to me. I'm going to go away now
and I'm going to try much harder. I'm going to try much harder.
And he said it was as if he had been wasting his breath. They
still were trying to make themselves worthy of the blessing of God.
Well, this woman's faith, it got past all that, didn't it?
She's not coming saying, well, I'm not so bad. She's not coming
saying, well, I'm just the kind of person that Jesus would bless.
I'm worthy of his blessing. She comes with nothing, doesn't
she? Nothing but her disease. Nothing but her illness. Her faith overcomes her unworthiness. Despite her issue of blood, despite
the fact that she was not permitted really to be as close to people
as she was, certainly not permitted to lay her hand upon anyone's
garment, but her faith overcomes all of that unworthiness. Well,
as I say, we have the experience of people like this woman, experience
of others who have gone before us, who have had to come unworthy,
who have had to come as the hymn writer came with nothing in his
hand. and yet who have known his blessing, and we also have
his promise, whoever was turned away from the Lord Jesus because
they were unworthy. Look through the Gospels. You
won't find anyone who came where Jesus says, well, I came to save
sinners, but not sinners so bad as you are. And as you read through
the history of the church, you will not find anyone who has
come to the Lord Jesus with their sin in confession and repentance,
with this great need, far greater than the need of this woman.
You'll not find anyone who has come who has not been received,
because he himself said, didn't he, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. But then he goes on to say, him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Her faith overcomes her unworthiness.
Our faith will have to do the same if we are to come. But then
there's a third thing that her faith has to overcome. And that
is a very practical thing, isn't it? Where is Jesus at this time?
Well, he's in the middle of a great crowd, isn't he? He's surrounded
by people. They're jostling him and thronging
him. And that would have been hard,
wouldn't it? Hard for this woman. She was probably not very strong.
She'd been ill for 12 years. Many things in the way. You know the hymn writer John
Berridge? He's one of my favourite hymn
writers. And one of his hymns, it picks up the account of this
woman. It's hymn 302, we're going to
sing it at the end of the service. And he turns this account of
this woman into a parable. And he says, you know, the way
that this woman came is still the way that sinners come to
the Lord Jesus. And he picks up on the fact that
this woman had to press through this crowd, didn't she? And he
says, if unto Jesus thou art bound, a crowd about him will
be found, attending day and night. What kind of crowd? Well, he
says, a worldly crowd to din thy ears, and crowds of unbelieving
fears to hide him from thy sight. Must have been true for this
woman, mustn't it? She knew roughly where Jesus was, but he's in
the middle of this great company. She can't perhaps see him? It's
not that he's just by himself over there, and it's very obvious
which direction she needs to go in. But she's having to battle
through this crowd. Perhaps you've been in a situation
like that, and you've been to some event, and perhaps you're
coming out afterwards, and everyone else is coming out at the same
time, and you know where you want to get to, but it's hard
to make progress. And you have to press through
the crowd. Well, it was like that with this woman. Her faith
has to overcome all these difficulties. And perhaps there were times
when she began to think, well, I'm never going to get there.
She was perhaps fighting through this crowd for some period of
time. But she doesn't give up, does
she? Well, John Berridge, he picks up on this point, and he
says, you know this, if you're coming to the Lord Jesus, you
will find these things that will get in the way. You will find
these things that daily come, as he says, this only way can
pilgrims go. And all complain, as thou wilt
do, of crowds that daily come. Why will there be obstacles in
the way? It's because it's not natural to come to him. It's not normal to come to him.
It's not It's not human reason and understanding that will bring
you to him. These things will often get in the way. They'll
say, well, there's no point. Your situation is too bad or
you're too unworthy. These things that get in the
way, John Berridge says, don't be discouraged by those things. In fact, he goes further, doesn't
he? He says, if you find it easy to come, you need to question
whether you really are coming. He says, such as seem to run
the race and meet no crowd to check their pace are only rambling
still. Not fairly entered on the list,
the gate and narrow way they missed which lead to Zion's Hill.
If you ever read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, you know
the kind of things that he had to fight with as he travelled
to the beautiful city. But there were those that he
met on his way who didn't seem to have to fight with the same
things. And yet whilst he made it to the end, they didn't. These practical things that get
in the way, these difficulties that are associated with coming,
well, her faith had to overcome them. And we often have to take
up the words of the Song of Solomon, don't we? In that conversation
that there is between the church and Christ and the prayer of
the church is this, isn't it? Draw me. We will run after thee,
draw me, we need to be drawn. Well, again, remember the words
of the Lord Jesus. He spoke about that drawing,
didn't he? In John's Gospel, two occasions, chapter six, verse
44, he says, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And
again in another place he says, no man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. But the Father which
has sent him does draw sinners to him. And as they're drawn,
they come. Do you see an attraction in him?
Are you being drawn to him? Is there a fighting to get to
him as this woman probably had to fight to get to him? That's
what faith does. It fights. Faith is not fatalism. It wouldn't have been faith if
this woman had said on the, as she stood at the outside of the
crowd, if she'd just said, well, if I'm meant to come to him,
I will. And if I'm not meant to, I won't. And there's not
much I can do about it. That's not faith. That's fatalism.
But faith fights. Labour, therefore, says Paul,
to enter into that rest. Fight the good fight of faith.
There must be a pressing through the crowd, as this woman did. Those difficulties that are associated
with coming. But then fourthly and lastly,
there's another thing that would have got in the way of this woman.
And that is this, I suppose we could call it her shyness. Doesn't
want to be seen, does she? When she's healed, what does
she want to do? She just wants to slip away.
And notice she came behind him. She came behind him. She doesn't
want him to notice her. She doesn't want the crowd to
notice her. She just wants to slip quietly through the crowd
and put her hand on the border of his garment. And when she
feels that she's healed, she just turns around and tries to
get away as quickly as she can. She wants to slip away quietly
and enjoy the blessing, doesn't she? She doesn't want anyone
to know about it, but she's not allowed to. very strongly emphasised, isn't
it? Jesus, he's conscious that something has happened, that
someone has been healed, and he stops, and he begins to turn
round and to look for this woman. And it's not just that he says,
well, that was interesting, something's happened, but I can't see this
woman, so I'll just carry on. He turns him about in the press.
He says, who touched my clothes? And we read the response of the
disciples, don't we? Here in Luke's Gospel, we read
of Peter and those that were with him, and what do they say?
They say, well, Master, there's, of course somebody's touched
you. You're in the middle of a great multitude, and they're
thronging you, they're pressing on you. It doesn't make sense
to say who touched me. Again, in Mark's account, his
disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging
thee, and sayest thou who touched me? But Jesus doesn't just give
up at that point, does he? He looks round about to see her
that had done this thing. It's as if he's not going to
carry on until he's found this woman, until he's spoken to this
woman. He's not going to let her get
away quietly and enjoy the blessing. Why is that? Why doesn't he just
say, well, it doesn't matter? She's been healed, that's the
important thing. She can go on her way and I'll
go on my way. Why does he stop her? Why does
he have to speak to her? Well, firstly, it's for her benefit,
isn't it? I often wonder how it would have
been with this woman if she'd been allowed to just slip away
like that. I think she would have probably
felt guilty. I think she probably would have felt a little bit
uncertain. Don't you think she might always have been wondering,
is someone going to find out what happened? Jesus says, no, you need to be
open. Openness is a good thing. And so he brings her to speak
of what the Lord has done for her. It says in verse 47, when
the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling. She
knew that she couldn't get away with it, and falling down before
him, she declared unto him, before all the people. He does it for
her benefit, but he also does it for the benefit of the others.
She declared unto him before all the people. Jesus doesn't
want this miracle to go unnoticed. Again, remember the miracles
are signs. What's the point of a sign if nobody can see it? You see sometimes when you're
driving, you get to a sign and the plants have grown over it
and the trees have grown over it, you can't see it. Well, that
sign might as well not be there. Someone needs to come along and
clear it, don't they? And Jesus doesn't want this sign to be
hidden. It's meant to point people to
something greater, to reveal his glory, to show something
of his power. And so he stops and he calls
this woman to him. and he brings her to speak before
all for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. You know, when we receive some
blessing, if a person is brought to know the forgiveness of their
sins, that blessing is not given to them in order that they might
keep it hidden within themselves. When Paul writes to the Philippians
He's very emphatic, isn't he, about what their responsibility
is. He says you are to shine forth as lights in the world,
holding forth the word of life. It's to be held forth, it's not
to be held in, it's to be held out. And this woman, she has
to come and speak of her blessing, doesn't she, of what she'd received.
Before all the people, she's declaring for what cause she
had touched him and how she was healed immediately. She is holding
forth this blessing that she's received and how others can see
it. Well, these are the things that
her faith has to overcome. Her own hopelessness, her own
sense of unworthiness, those practical difficulties, this
great crowd of people that is surrounding the Lord Jesus, that's
getting in the way, that's stopping her seeing him, and her own reluctance
to be seen, her shyness really. And so she's brought to come
trembling, and she comes trembling, she comes afraid, but she's got
no reason to be afraid, has she? Why is she afraid? Well, perhaps
she's afraid of what Jesus is going to say to her. But she
had no cause to be worried about that, did she? Because he'd already
healed her. He'd already blessed her. He'd
already been kind to her. He'd already solved her greatest
problem. But she comes trembling. What
does Jesus say? He doesn't tell her off, does
he? He doesn't say, well, you shouldn't have come like that.
He doesn't criticise her for trying to creep away. No, it's
all words of grace, isn't it? Daughter, be of good comfort.
Be of good comfort. You know, Jesus often says this.
If you look at many of the healing miracles that Jesus performs,
often this is something that he says at the end of those miracles. He says it to the disciples when
they're in the ship. You remember how afraid they
are when Jesus is not with them. They're in the ship by themselves.
Jesus has sent them away and now the storm has come. and they're
tossed by the waves and then they see Jesus walking on the
sea and they're full of fear and troubled and they say it's
the spirit and they cry out for fear. What does Jesus say? Be
of good cheer. It's the same word really, be
of good comfort. Be of good cheer, be of good comfort, be encouraged. He says it to the man that he
restores his sight to, that man Bartimaeus. Be of good comfort, he says it
to this woman here. Daughter, be of good comfort.
Thy faith hath made thee whole. Well, you might be ready to say,
well, if I long to come to this Christ, but what will he say
to me? Well, I don't think he'll say anything other than what
he said to this woman. Do you find anyone who comes with a
need, who is condemned, who is cast out, who is even criticised? No, this is the kind of saviour
that he is. He comes to bless. Daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
Why does he say thy faith hath made thee whole? Surely we might
say it was Jesus that made her whole. It was his power that
made her whole. Well, her faith brought her to
him, didn't it? This is how faith saves. It's
not that faith itself has some magical power that saves, but
all that faith does is bring the person to the saviour. So
when Paul writes to the Ephesians, he says, you are saved by grace
through faith, for by grace you are saved. through faith, and
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, this faith that
is given, this faith that fights, this faith that overcomes. And
just as this woman is brought by her faith to the feet of Jesus,
so faith today. This is all it does, it brings
us to him, to that door of hope that is opened wide in Jesus'
bleeding hands and side. When the woman saw that she was
not hid, she came 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. And he
said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath
made thee whole. Go in peace. May God bless his
word to us. Amen. We're going to sing as
our closing hymn, that hymn that I've already referred to, that
hymn of John Berridge. Number 302, and the tune is number
750. If unto Jesus thou art bound, a
crowd about him will be found, attending day and night, a worldly
crowd to din thy ears. and crowds of unbelieving fears
to hide him from thy sight. Yet all the vain and noisy crowd
is but a thin and lowering cloud, a mist before thy eyes. If thou
press on, the crowds will fly. Or if thou faint, to Jesus cry,
and he will send supplies. Hymn number 302. will be found, attending day
and night. A worldly crowd to deny it, and
crowds of unbelieving fears, to hide him from ? For the vain and noisy crowd
? ? Is but a thin and erring cloud ? ? Amidst before thy eyes
? ? If thou press on the crowds will fly ? to Jesus Christ, and He will
send surprise. pain as thou wilt do of grows
that they become. Yet though beset by crowding
birds, and passing through a thousand worlds, they get secure to check their place. Our only May they miss which liters I
am still. to help me through, and draw
me up to Thee. And when through fear I only
prayed, more than a club of a single stem yet We ask thy blessing, O Lord,
once again to rest upon thy word. We do pray that thou wilt teach
us and guide us and draw us by those things that we have seen
in thy word this morning and bring us to that same point as
thee, hymn writer. We thank thee that even at those
times when we only creep or dare not move a single step, yet thou
can still come to us. Come and bless us then, we pray.
Be with us through the rest of this day. We ask for Jesus' sake. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all. Amen.