I want us to read two scriptures
to begin this message. And I'm not going to explain
the story around each one of these scriptures because I want
to get to a point. I have a very particular message
in this message. The first scripture is Luke 17. Turn with me, if you would, over
to Luke chapter 17. Luke 17 verse 5 says, and the
apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. They said,
that's what we need. Lord, we need for you to increase
our faith. All right, now turn with me to
Mark chapter nine. Mark chapter 9 verse 24 says,
In straightway the father of the child cried out and said
with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Increase our faith. Help my unbelief. Now everything that we're about
to say about faith needs to be said with this in mind. If our faith is going to be helped,
if it is going to be increased, our Lord himself is going to
have to do it. He's going to be the one who
increases it. He is the author of all faith. He is the finisher of all faith. He is the performer of all faith. Faith is His work. Faith is His gift. Faith is His chosen means. He gets all the glory for faith. All the glory, start to finish.
Everything that we have to say about faith has to begin with
and end with, to God be the glory, great things He hath done. It
has to. Now, with that in mind, I want
faith. I need increased faith for two
reasons. I must have it. I must have it. For two reasons. Number one,
it's because without faith, it is impossible for me to please
Him. It's impossible. Without faith
in Christ. There is no salvation. Without faith in Christ, there
is no salvation. Somebody will say, well, now
you're making a work out of faith, you're putting a condition on
it and you're making it worth work out of faith. That's not so.
That's just declaring what God said. Listen to these scriptures. And
he brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. If your house believes also,
they'll be saved too. That's Acts chapter 16 verses
30 and 31. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? That's Romans 10 verses 13 and
the first part of verse 14. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
That's John 3, 36. And I want to point out something.
It did not say he that believeth in the Son, although we do. You believe in Jesus Christ?
Oh, sure. I believe in Jesus Christ. Do you believe on Jesus
Christ? Big difference. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth, whosoever
believeth. For by grace are you saved through
faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That's not of yourself, it's
the gift of God, but it's through faith. So, I want and I need
strong faith. Without the God-given gift of
faith in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no hope for
me. If God does not put a desperate
need in me for Him, And that's what faith is. Faith is a desperate
need for Him. And that's our subject in this
message. That's the point of this message.
This is the one and only thing that I want us to leave with
a thought and an understanding of. If God does not put a desperate
need in me. If God does not put a
cry in me, if God does not put a look in me for Christ, I'm
a goner. Faith is not a mental understanding. Faith is a desperate need. It's been described as an open
hand. We see our children, young children come up to their parents
like this. You know, and not now, not now. They won't have
it. That's faith. That's what faith is. That's
all that faith is. That's all that faith is, a desperate
need. If anybody hears this, whether
it's right now or whether somebody hears it in the future on the
internet, If anybody hears this and says
in their own heart, if a person honestly assesses their heart,
everybody, let's go into our heart for just a minute, just,
you know, only in your mind, only you know and the Lord knows.
But if a person assesses their own heart and then after that
assessment is made, if that person says, Okay, I'm thinking about heaven.
I'm thinking about God. I'm thinking about Jesus Christ. I'm thinking about all these
things. If that person says, yes, I want to go to heaven.
Do I want to go to heaven? Yes. Do I want to see him? Yes. Do I want to be with him? Live
with him? Yes. But I don't know that I feel
a desperate need. I don't know that I feel myself
inside crying and begging and falling on my knees before him.
If that's what you mean by desperate need, I don't know that I feel
that. If that is the case for myself
or for any other person, then this is what both of us needs
to do. We need to start crying, Lord,
increase our faith. Increase my desperate need. Increase my crying, make me cry
more. Increase my begging. Increase
my falling prostrate. That means flat on my face at
your feet. Help my unbelief. If I don't see a desperate need
in me, then I need to start crying. Help my unbelief. Because Lord, if you do not put
that desperate need for Christ in me, I'm a goner. I'm a goner. No matter what my mind knows,
I'm a goner. So I personally want faith. I want His faith, as the scripture
says, the faith of Christ, the faith that is not of myself,
the faith that is a gift, because without that faith, without His
work on my heart, if He does not perform the operation of
faith on this heart right here, there is no salvation for me.
There's none for me. So that's the first reason that
I want faith. I really want faith. The second
reason that I desire for him to increase my faith and help
my unbelief is because I would like to have more rest. And I
would like to have more peace. I'd like to have more contentment.
I'd like to have more happiness in this life here on earth. I
want to stop trying to carry all the load. Somebody told the story of that
woman in the city who got on a trolley headed from one place
to another, got on a trolley with that big, heavy suitcase,
carrying a huge, heavy suitcase, standing room only, and she was
standing there holding on to one of those poles, and just
struggling with that big, heavy suitcase as that thing turned
and moved, and a man watched her for a minute, and he finally
said, ma'am, if you'll set that suitcase down, it'll make it
there all the same. The trolley will get it where
you are wanting it to go. The trolley is carrying it. You
don't have to carry it too. Faith is what lets us set the
suitcase down. Faith in the one who is truly
carrying the load is what will give us a moment of rest. So
I pray the Lord might increase my faith because I truly, truly
want to take my burden to the Lord and leave it there. I want to take it there and leave
it there. He said that I could, and He said you could too. And
I pray that faith for you. Now, go with me to our text,
which is Mark chapter 5, and I want us to see this faith Mark chapter 5 verse 25 says, a certain woman, and I'll remind
us again that all of God's saved people are certain people, on
purpose, salvation is on purpose. A certain woman which had an
issue of blood 12 years, and had suffered many things
of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing
bettered but rather grew worse. This woman had an issue of blood
for 12 years. This woman was sick. She had
an internal sickness. There was a problem on the inside
and that's our problem with sin. We have a problem on the inside.
Sometimes we don't always look like it on the outside, like
that leper we looked at last week. But there's a problem on
the inside. There's a sickness on the inside. And this woman tried many things. And it is always such great mercy
when the Lord starts convicting a man or a woman of his own sin.
When those sins just eat at him. When they won't go away. And
so they start searching for a remedy. They start searching for peace.
This woman had tried many things and she spent all that she had. She did everything she could
do. And that's what men and women
do in regard to their sin. They do try to turn over that
new leaf and straighten up and fly right. And they go back to
people and say, I'm sorry, I did you wrong. I shouldn't have done
that. And she had done all that she
could and spent all that she had, but she was not one bit
better for it. And neither is any other sinner
who tries to go around doing everything they can do. It says she only grew worse.
Sometimes that is the position we have to be put in. Worse and
worse and worse. Our Lord said that he would make
his people willing in the day of his power. And sometimes that's
what it takes. Verse 26 says, and had suffered
many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had
and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse when she had
heard though of Jesus, this man Jesus Christ. Somebody told her who this man
was and what he was able to do. And that is a revelation that
comes to a sinner in God's good time. Men all over the place
right now are standing up in the name of this man Jesus, but
they are not telling men and women who He really is and what
He's able to do. Had this woman been told what
the average person is told, she would have never come running
to Him. Never. Never. But somebody told her, this man can cure anything. I
just saw him cure a leper. He can cure you. Somebody told her that the final
cure was that man right there, the person. And they pointed
her to him. And that's all that we're doing
when we stand up and preach this gospel. We're pointing men and
women, we're pointing sinners to a man. The only cure for sin. The sin that is going to eternally
take men and women to an eternal grave, an eternal hell, eternal
destruction and they don't even realize it. But somebody pointed her to the
Lord Jesus Christ and it says in verse 27, when she had heard
of Jesus, she came in the press behind and touched the hem of
His garment. For she said, if I may touch
but his clothes, I shall be whole. Now that's what faith does for
a sinner. That right there is what faith
does for a sinner. This is not, this little illustration
is not worthy to be compared to this story. But not long ago
when everybody was getting sick, everybody I knew was getting
sick, I got sick too. I woke up one morning and I didn't
feel right. So I did what my mother taught
me to do from a child up. I started taking vitamins and
echinacea. She wasn't a run right out to
the doctor kind of person. And because of that, I'm not
either. You know, something would happen with us, vitamin C and
echinacea. I don't even know what echinacea
is. I just take it. That's what my mom said to do. Don't you want to go ahead and
knock that thing out? Nah, I'll just take my echinacea. But anyway,
I wasn't feeling good so I started taking my vitamins and I came
on to the church and it took me not long at all to realize
these vitamins are not working. It started to get really uncomfortable
to swallow. I was having pain in my ear,
and I'm having a hard time swallowing. And it got to a place where I
couldn't even study. So I went down to Mac's Medicine
Mart, and I bought some cough drops. And I thought, this will
get me. I coughed drop after cough drop
after cough drop for about two hours. And the pain got worse. It wasn't just uncomfortable.
It started to feel like needles in my throat. I started dreading
swallowing. So I went and got antiseptic
spray. That'll take care of it. And finally, when I went home, no relief, so I took ibuprofen.
That'll reduce all my swelling. And when I realized, when I finally
realized nothing is helping me, Nothing is helping me. It was
so painful to swallow. I experienced pain in my throat
I've never had before. I finally told Hannah, I want
antibiotics. I want antibiotics. I don't care
what I have. I don't care. I want antibiotics. Call a doctor. I have to have
antibiotics. What I'm getting at is, all of
a sudden, I had a desperate need that I did not have before. Well, no, I don't feel just right. I have a remedy for that. That
didn't work. How about this one? But I got to a place where I
had exhausted every avenue I knew. And I had a desperate need, and
I said, you have got to get me in contact with a doctor. I have
to have antibiotics. And so she made me an appointment,
and she said, now you're going to have to tell him everything.
Don't hold anything back. Because he may not give you the
antibiotics. If you don't tell him how bad
you really are, he may say, well, let's wait and see. So she made that appointment
and I willingly told that man every infirmity I had. I told it all. I mean, I told
it all. I confessed it all. When he said,
how do you feel? I did not say, oh, I feel pretty
good. I feel, I'm not that bad. I'm not perfect. I'm not as bad
as others. No sir, I didn't say that at
all. I said, I don't feel well. I don't feel good at all. I'm
sick. I'm hurting. I'm in pain. I'm
in misery. I can't swallow. Nothing I've
done has helped. I need you. I need you. I was thinking in my mind, in
my heart, please don't turn me away. I had that appointment
waiting on his response thinking, Please don't turn me away, don't
send me away without giving me what I need. I have to have it. That's what that old sinner Jacob
cried. I can't let you go unless I receive what I need.
That man pointed me to a pharmacy. That's what I'm trying to do
at this moment. That man pointed me to a pharmacy. Inside that
pharmacy was my balm of Gilead. I urgently drove to the pharmacy. I walked up to the counter and
they said, what is your name? And I said, Gabe Stoniker. And
they said, yep, we have it right here, ready and waiting with
your name on it, reserved for you specifically. And when I got those antibiotics,
I didn't lay hold on that bottle and look at it and say, yep,
antibiotics, I got them, and then take it home and set it
on the shelf. I didn't go around telling all
the other sick people I know, if you want to find some relief,
you need to go get some antibiotics. I have mine there at home on
the shelf. I got those antibiotics. I opened
them up. I laid hold on a pill. I put it in my mouth and I swallowed
it. That's exactly what our Lord
said to do when he broke bread with his disciples. And he said,
you take this and eat it. You eat this. Don't hold it. Don't look at it. Don't smell
it and say, yeah, I like that. He said, this represents the
only thing that will cure you. My broken body, my shed blood,
me being slain on a cross. That's the only thing that will
cure you. And he said, you take this and
you eat it, you chew it, you swallow it, you become one with
it, vitally joined to it. And he said, the cup of the blood
of my covenant, drink it, drink it. Because my body broken for you,
my blood poured out on you, for you, that's your life. That's your health. That is marrow
to your bones. That is what faith does. That is what faith reveals. God-given faith causes a sinner
to see Christ as his only cure. And then God, inside that sinner,
makes him go like this. That's what faith does. Every other self help has failed
and it will. Don't self help. No home remedies. Not with a sickness like this.
There's only one thing that will cure, and faith that God given,
God worked, God wrought, God performed, faith will not let
that sinner rest until he comes to Christ and receives what he
needs. Our Lord said, they that be whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick do. Sick with sin. Now, if I find myself not needing
the physician, there's only one thing for me to do. There's only
one thing. I need to start crying, Lord,
please increase my faith. Help my unbelief. Please, Lord,
don't leave me to myself. Cause me to believe that I'm
as sick as you say I am. Cause me to see that, Lord. Cause
me to see my desperate need. Open my eyes. Let me see my desperate
need because of my sickness and point me to the only cure. Please,
please, please increase my faith. Well, this woman, that's what
God did for her. Verse 25 says, A certain woman,
which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many
things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and
was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard
of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, If I may but touch
his clothes, I shall be whole. and straightway, as soon as she
did, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in
her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his
disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging
thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about
to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing
and trembling, knowing what was done in her. She didn't do it
to herself. She didn't do it for herself.
She knew what was done in her. She came and she fell down before
him and she told him all the truth. She started saying, I'm
as sick as I've ever been. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith, the gift of God given to you, the work of God's Holy
Spirit in you, the creation of a desperate need, that looking
to and crying out for and begging for the broken body in the shed
blood of Christ, seeing that a vital union with him is your
only hope, That faith hath made thee whole. It's made you whole. If we ever look, we'll live. If we ever seek, we'll find. And then this is what he said.
He said in verse 34, go in peace. That means you can put your suitcase
down now. It's time to put your suitcase
down. You can rest. You've brought your burden to
me, and now you can rest. No, and I'll carry it. Leave
it here. Leave it here. No more burden
for you. You can be happy that you have
the God of Jacob for your help. You have the Savior of sinners. You have the healer of the truly
sick, sick with sin. Verse 34, and he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be
whole of thy plague. Never has one sinner ever who
came to Christ with a desperate need. Never has one sinner ever
been turned away. I said that with the last story
we looked at, and I'm going to say it with every story we looked
at. Never, if God produces that desperate need for Christ, he'll
never turn that sinner away. Never. Our Lord said, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you
rest. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. This right here is the gospel
message that faith brings. There's a song, and I love this
song. It says, Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded,
sick and sore. The Lord Jesus, ready, stands
to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Here's the response
that faith cries in the heart. Faith brings the call. Faith
cries the response. And here it is. I will arise
and go to the Lord Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms. In the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
Faith does the calling. Faith does the responding. Through
faith, we see our salvation, and through that faith, God gives
us rest. Let's all, honestly, let me not just close the message
with this statement, let's all actually start crying for, let's
actually start praying, Lord, increase our faith, help us,
Lord, help our unbelief, please help our unbelief, Reveal to
me that I'm a sinner, not just that I commit sins, that I am
sin. Show me that and then show me
the Savior of sinners. Let me run. Let me run to the one who heals
and the one who will have mercy, the one who bore the sins of
his people on the tree. Let me run to him. Cause me to
cry this. I need thee. I need Thee every
hour. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Lord, help our unbelief. Let's sing that song. Stand together
with me.