Luke chapter 8. The title of the message is Touching
God. Touching God. When she touched
our Lord, that's who she touched. She touched Almighty God, because
that's who Jesus Christ is. I often like to go back to the
Gospels and just watch and observe how the Lord of heaven and earth
handles sinners. It's so beautiful, so gentle,
just the way He handles sinners, and the way He is so approachable
by sinners. And this was on my mind yesterday
morning, about five o'clock in the morning, I woke up thinking
about this portion of Scripture. And I thought about it for a
couple of hours, And I turned to Psalm 58, which would be the
next one we would look at, but this one stayed on my mind, so
I want us to look at this. And I have no doubt that every
sinner in this room will be able to identify with this woman. It says in verse 43, Oftentimes, in the Word of God,
we are not given the name, a certain man, a certain woman. And I think one of the reasons
may be, first of all, there's one name here that's important,
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever you ask in My name,
I'll do it for you. His name is the name that's important.
But I was thinking about this today as I was looking over this.
And I thought, there's no name there. It's just a woman. But everybody that can identify
with this woman can put their name there. You can step right
into that place. A woman having an issue of blood,
12 years. She had to be very anemic. She
had to be very anemic, have that much blood loss. This woman,
life was just ebbing out of her as she knew it. She knew it.
And it says she had had this for 12 years. That's a long time to be sick
for something, isn't it? That's a long time. Well, you
and I have had a sickness a lot longer than that, haven't we?
She had a blood issue which can represent us having a sin issue. I've had a sin issue a long time.
And until the Lord called me and saved me by His grace, and
the same for you, it was draining away our life. Whatever life
we had on this earth, it was draining it away. We were going
to perish. We were going to perish. Her problem, this woman's problem
caused her a lot of grief, it caused her a lot of shame. I
read it to you in Leviticus. This woman was considered unclean. She couldn't even go out publicly.
She couldn't be touched by anyone. That to me is unimaginable. The one thing that I woke up
yesterday morning thinking about that got me onto this portion
of Scripture is the power of a touch. Maybe that's what I
ought to title it, the power of a touch. There is so much
power. You can convey so much just in
a touch. That leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. And what did the Lord do? He
touched him. He said he reached out and touched
him. He said, I will, be thou clean. You can't imagine the
power of a hug. I'm talking about just a human
touch. I'm not talking about even God
touching us, but just a human touch. And this woman could not be touched.
Like that leper, she couldn't be touched. The law says she's
unclean. She's considered an outcast. She's to be separated. Everything
she touched, as I read to you, became unclean. I can't imagine.
I've never experienced that as far as physically, I've never
experienced that. I've never experienced that I
couldn't touch someone. It was like, don't touch me.
I've never experienced that. But this woman couldn't even
touch anyone. And anyone who touched her was unclean. But
this is a good picture of us. By nature we are full of sin.
The corruption of sin flows through our veins. And God's law is against
us. God's law has pronounced us,
by nature, unclean. God says we are unclean. There
is none good, no, not one. That's what the law of God says.
And everything that we do and everything that we touch is unclean. Why? Because of our sin issue. It doesn't matter if you give
a million dollars to charity. In some way or another, there's
sin in it because of our sin issue. Everything we do, our
most sincere prayers have sin in them. There's nothing that
we can do that does not have sin in it. Listen to Isaiah chapter 1 verse
5 and 6, "...the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is
faint. From the sole of the foot even
unto the head there is no soundness in it. But wounds, and bruises,
and putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment." That's a description of us by
nature. And then it says, "...she spent
all her living over in Mark it says she spent all of her living
and she was none the better, but rather grew worse. But now
this woman, if she could find a cure, if there was a cure for
this, she was going to have it. This woman could not be charged
with being a fatalist. Well, whatever will be, will
be. No. She's out there searching for
somebody that can cure her of this disease, of this problem
that she's got. And buddy, she went about doing
it. And she spent, it says she spent all her living upon physicians. Every time she'd get a dime,
she'd go to the doctor. She'd hear about this doctor
might be able to help you. Then she'd hear about this doctor
might be able to help you. And then she'd go to this one and this one and
this. She went to every doctor that was possible for her to
go to. But they all proved out to be
physicians of no value. They took her money. They took
her money, but they didn't help her. She left worse because she
left broke. She left broke. Job said this
in Job 13.4 concerning his friends. He says, But ye are forgers of
lies, ye are all physicians of no value. That can be said of
the greatest part of preachers and pulpits. They are physicians
of no value. They are forgers of lies. They
help no one. Many preachers today are just
that. And it's sad how many people spend all their living, they
get widows to give their pension over to them, to charge credit
cards to them, and for what? a little bit of peace, trying
to get a little bit of quietness, and what happens? It comes back.
It comes back. There's no real value to it,
there's no lasting peace to it, no lasting happiness to it or
lasting joy to it. They're physicians of no value. And listen here, it says this
in verse 43, that neither could she be healed. A woman having an issue of blood,
12 years, spent all of her living upon physicians, neither could
be healed of any. Can you imagine the quackery
they put her through? They probably had her doing all
kinds of stupid stuff. My brother told me once, he was
talking about trying to get over a, I don't know if it was a cough
or something. He said, you hold your nose,
you hold your mouth wide open. He started telling me all this
stupid stuff. I started cracking up. I said, are you serious?
You think that's going to work? And I have no idea. I mean, I
have no doubt that they gave her all kind of just off-the-wall
stuff to do. And she did it. She did it. If it gave her a little bit of
hope, she did it. But this disease that she had
was beyond their ability to cure. They were just completely stupefied. They could not cure it at all.
This poor woman spent all of her living on all these physicians
and she couldn't be healed. And she had finally come to the
end of herself. I have a feeling she's broke.
This woman's broke now. After 12 years, she's broke. She's broken. She's at the end
of herself. She's now sitting at home with no hope. She's just
waiting to die. She says, there's no cure for
this. I'm going to die with this. It's going to take my life away. I see us in this. I see myself
in this. We can't cure ourselves of sin.
Well, I'm not going to do that no more. Well, you didn't stop
sinning. You didn't cure yourself of sin. Man can't cure sin. He's trying
to cure the problems that sin causes. But when you get one
cure for one thing, something else pops up. You get a cold,
you get over that. Then you get a sinus infection,
you get over that. Just one thing after another.
It's just cures for the symptoms. But they can't cure sin. There's no cure for it. Man's
tried a lot of things, but he can't cure sin. We're like this
woman too. We've got to be brought to the
end of ourselves. We've got to come to the place
where we're really bankrupt. Really. Have you ever really
been bankrupt before God? Have I really been there? Nothing. I am nothing. I have
nothing. I can offer nothing. Nothing. All because of my sin issue. But I tell you this, our Lord
only saves poor, broken sinners. That's the only kind He saves.
He doesn't save any other kind. And He does it, listen, here's
the part of the good news, He does it freely. They took her
money. They took her money, gave her
some quackery thing to do, and then she'd come back and that
didn't work, and give her something else, took her money, and just
kept taking her money. Our Lord saves freely. He saves us from
the very root of our problem, which is sin, and He does it
freely. Freely. Salvation is the free gift of
God in Jesus Christ. He said in Isaiah 55, "...whoever
one that thirsteth come to the water, he that hath no money, I've never seen a doctor in my
lifetime that says, he that has no money, come to me. But only Christ, the physician
of souls. He says, he that has no money,
you come to me. As long as you've got something
to offer, something you can do, Christ will profit you nothing.
But it says here in verse 44, And I have, over in Mark, I want
you to, let me read something to you over here in Mark, this
same Mark chapter 5. It's the same story. It says
in verse 26 that she had suffered many things of many physicians.
She suffered many things. That's why I said they gave her
a lot of stupid stuff to do. Spent all that she had and was
nothing better, but rather grew worse. She just kept getting
worse. Now listen, verse 27, "...and
when she had heard of Jesus..." It came in the press. "...when she heard..." I have
no doubt. I was thinking about this the
other morning. She's sitting in her house, dying,
slowly dying, anemic, weak, frail. She's sitting there. She's broke. She spent everything she had. And she's got a friend that has
heard the Lord speak. A friend has heard Him speak
and probably seen Him perform miracles. And she turns and she
runs to her house. She says, I've got it. There's
a man named Jesus. He can heal you of your problems. And she probably tells her of
the miracles that she has witnessed. She's witnessed the miracles.
She's heard him speak, and she goes and tells her. And this
woman just... You ever see anybody have hope?
You ever see anybody have really hope, how their countenance just
lightens up when they have hope? And I bet you she just got dressed,
and she headed out into that crowd, which she is not supposed
to be there. But I tell you what, if you're
dying, do you care? If you're dying, you don't care
if you're supposed to be there or not. If there's someone there that
can help you, if there's someone there that can save you, it doesn't
matter. No one else matters. It doesn't
matter. The crowd doesn't matter. What they think doesn't matter.
If you're dying and you need help, and her friend tells her this,
and she takes off, and she heads looking at verse 44. She takes
off, she goes for him. She came behind him. Can you
imagine her? When I was thinking about her,
I just kept picturing this woman, this frail woman in my mind,
and she's trying to push her away through this crowd, this
multitude. I mean, he is surrounded, thronged. It's called a throng. He's surrounded
by this throng, and this frail little woman is pushing herself
through that throng. She came behind him and touched
the border of his garment. And immediately her issue of
blood stanched or dried up. Over in Matthew, it says, she
said within herself, after she heard of him, faith comes by
hearing, hearing by the Word of God. When she heard of him,
God created faith in her heart. God gave her the ability to believe
that that man, Jesus Christ, can save me. He can heal me.
And it says over, I think it's in Matthew, it says, she said
in her heart, and in the Amplified it says, she kept saying, she
kept repeating. She kept repeating in her heart
all the way that she got to Him. She kept saying, if I can just
touch Him, if I can just touch Him. And that's what she kept
repeating. If I can just touch Him, if I can just touch the
hem of His garment, I'll be made whole. She kept encouraging herself.
David did that. He spoke to himself, he said,
so why art thou cast down? Hope thou in God. She kept saying
to herself, I can just touch him, I can just get to him. You know, I'm convinced of this.
I'm convinced of this. Lord, if you will, you can save
me. I have no doubt about that. I want to get to Christ. I want
to get to Him. Get all the other rubbish out
of the way. Get all the religiosity, whatever
you want to call it, out of the way. I just want to get to Him.
Because I know He is my salvation. He can save me from my sins.
He can save me from myself. He can do it. And she came behind
him and touched the border of his garment. She came behind
him. I think she's too ashamed to
look him in the face. She felt her uncleanness. Have you really, I'm serious,
have you really felt, and I'm not one to just try to go on
feelings, but have you really felt your uncleanness? Job, what
did Job say? By the hearing of the ear I heard
of thee, but now when I see of thee, I abhor myself. I abhor myself. I can't stand
myself. You'll never be lifted up above
anybody when you see yourself in God's sight. When you really
see and understand who and what you are, and me too, we won't
feel that we're bigger than somebody else or better than somebody
else. We won't look down on anybody. You can't look down on anybody
when you're on the bottom. If you're on the bottom, you
can't look down, you've got to look up. And this woman was on
the bottom. She was on the bottom. She came behind him, too ashamed
to look him in the face. I tell you this, a true knowledge
of yourself, a true knowledge of myself, will cause shame and
humility. It will not cause pride. It will
not cause arrogance. It'll cause shame and humility.
A real look at yourself, it'll cause that. Men are proud. You know why they're proud? Because
they think themselves to be what they're not. They think themselves
to be somebody and they're not. God said, I lift up, I bring
down, I make rich, I make poor. I the Lord do all these things. And she came behind Him, and
she touched the border of His garment. She was so convinced
that He could save her, that if she could just touch the border
of His garment, she'd be made whole. I mean, she was that convinced. That's faith. Now, that's true
faith. And the reason I know that is because at the end of
this, he calls her daughter. That's the father speaking as well as
the son. Daughter. But she touched the border of
his garment. What did Judas do when he came to the Lord with
that crowd? Kissed him on the face. He's walked up and just
kissed him on the cheek. She comes to him and falls down
at his feet where she belonged. All she wanted to do was just
touch the lowest part of his garment. She didn't want to touch
him around the collar or get up in his face. She just wanted
to touch the lowest part of his garment. If I can just get to his feet.
If I can just get there. The poor sinner who's been convicted
of his or her sins cannot even lift their eyes up to heaven.
It's like that publican. What did he do? He smote upon
his breast. We don't know what his name is.
What is he? A publican. My name, as far as John, is not
important, is it? I'll tell you what, my name as
a sinner is. My name as a sinner is. I'm a
sinner saved by grace. That's what I am. That publican,
that publican smote upon his breast. And he said, Lord, be
merciful, meet a sinner. A sinner is well satisfied just
to touch, just to kiss the master's feet. Like that woman who crawled
in there when the Lord was in Simon the Pharisee's house, and
the Pharisee didn't offer him any of the things, the custom
of that day, didn't wash his feet, or didn't give him anything
to wash his feet, nothing. And this woman comes crawling
in. You know how much you've got to cry to wash somebody's
feet? I mean, you don't shed a tear or two there and wash
somebody's feet. She had to be bawling. And she
washed his feet and then dried them with the hairs of her head.
I tell you, if God ever saves us,
we'd be glad to get just to His feet, just to kiss the Master's
feet. And listen, I want you to see
here the result. Verse 44, "...she came behind him, touched the
border of his garment, and immediately her issue of blood dried up."
Immediately! Salvation, listen now, salvation
is immediate. It's immediate. There's no probation. It's immediate. When the Lord
saves a sinner, that salvation That transaction is immediate.
Immediately her blood dried up. Oh my. Christ did, listen, the Lord
Jesus Christ did what no other physician could do. He healed
her completely. I mean completely. He is the true physician of souls. He can heal us completely. I
tell you, if you need healing, anybody who hears this tape needs
healing, go to the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Him. Believing a doctor won't save
you, but I tell you what, believing Him will. Believing Him will. He's the Physician, listen, He's
the Physician and He is the Cure. He's the physician. What physician
did you ever go to that was the cure? You'd go to Rx and get
the medicine and take it for 14 days and... No. It was immediate. Because He's the cure. He's the cure. The blood of Jesus Christ, it
says, cleanses us from all sin. His blood is the healing balm
of Gilead. Christ crucified. Christ, by
the blood of the cross, did what the law could not do. The law
pronounced her unclean, but it could not make her clean. And
the reason the law couldn't make her clean, it couldn't put away
the problem. It couldn't cure the problem.
The law cannot cure my unlawfulness. It can't do that. It can just
say, you're a thief, but it can't stop me from being one. But Jesus
Christ, God in human flesh, can stop me from being a thief. He
can stop me from being mean. He can stop me from being whatever. He can stop me from being that,
a drunkard. He can stop me, but the law can't
stop me. It can't do it. It can only condemn me. It can
only point out what I am. But the Lord can save me. Our
Lord did by His obedience what the ceremonies could not do,
and that was make her completely whole. There's no ceremony that
you can go through that will put away your sins or enable
you to stop being whatever you are. There's no ceremony you
can do. that you can perform. But Christ
can. He's able. Those two blind men,
they cried out, and the Lord said, What would you have me
to do? And they said, Give us our sight. He said, Do you believe
that I'm able to do this? They said, Yes, Lord. And what
happened? They received their sight. It
was evident. They did believe. They did believe. Our Lord did what the blood of
bulls and goats could not do, and has cleansed us from every
sin." You know, those millions, millions of bulls and goats were
offered blood flow. Can you imagine how much blood
from all those sacrifices, daily sacrifices included? Can you
imagine all that blood? And it never put away one sin? But Christ, by the sacrifice
of Himself, has put away all our sins? Not just mine, but
all of God's elect. A number that Scripture says,
a number that you can't number, innumerable. And He put them
all away in one sacrifice. And you know the reason He can
put away in that one sacrifice? First of all, it was a perfect
sacrifice, and that sacrifice is still living. They killed
that goat, they had to take it out, and that goat was dead.
That goat was gone. John said, when he was taken
to third heaven, John said, I saw a lamb as it had been slain standing
in the midst of the throne. He saw Jesus Christ in His sacrificial
character. The sacrifice for our sins is
still alive and still before God's throne. Boy, that gives
me encouragement to go to the throne of grace because the sacrifice
for my sins and the atonement for my sins is right there. It
is right there. And it's alive. My sacrifice
is alive. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And then he turns around after
this happened. She came to him. She touched
the border of her garment. She felt, it says over Mark,
she felt in her body. She felt that healing. His Spirit,
now listen, His Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that
we are the sons of God. And in verse 45, and Jesus said,
because she came behind Him, although God, He's omnipotent,
He's omnipresent, He's not asking for information. But he's going
to draw, listen, he has no secret disciples, he's going to draw
her out. And Jesus said, who touched me? This is interesting. This is very interesting. Because
Peter said, listen, when all denied, everybody's going to
go, oh, when he turned around and said, who touched me? And
they're like, oh, not me. You know, this is all denying.
It's just, we didn't do it. We didn't touch you. Yeah, I
know you didn't. He knows everyone there that
didn't touch you. But Peter and they that were with him said,
Master, the multitude thronged thee. They're pressing on you.
They're reaching out and grabbing you and touching you. And you
say, and you say, is that who touched me? Peter. And you know
it had to be Peter to say this. But Peter said, look at this
throne. Everybody's touching him. Everybody's
reaching out. But no, there's one there that touched him. There's
one there. There's one that needed him.
I mean one that needed him. Her heart, listen, her heart
touched his heart. There was just one there that
needed him out of that whole throne because they all denied.
And this one frail woman came there for one reason, and it
wasn't to have a religious service or to be part of the crowd, it
was to touch the Master. It was to touch Him. No doubt whoever told her about
him probably had to say something about the power of his touch
or his power just being with him there. Because her faith
and hope was in the fact that if she just touched him, he didn't
have to say anything. He didn't have to say anything. He's on
his way to heal Jairus' daughter who's dying and who ended up
dying. You would think he would have
hurried up and just get on about business because his little girl
is dying. Oh my. Along the way he stops
and takes time for this one sinner here. And Jairus' daughter was raised
from the dead. He didn't leave her that way,
as you know. But Jesus said, Who touched me? That to me is a... I don't think
I can put it into words what's being said here. There is a God touching us. The hand of God, Job said, the
hand of God has touched me. Christ reached out and touched
that leper. But there really is also the center touching God,
touching the heart of God. Her need, listen, her need touched
His heart. The very thing that brings any
center to Christ is that center's need of Christ. Who touched me? That's what I
said. There's the power of a touch. I mean, so much can be conveyed
in just a touch. People that don't like to hug
are missing a lot. Because there's a power in touch. And the Lord said, who touched
me? Everybody denied. Peter said,
Lord, everybody's touching you. No, they're not. No, they're
not. And Jesus says, "...somebody hath touched me. For I perceive
that power..." I looked that word virtue up. It's miraculous
power. Miraculous power. Listen, "...has
gone out of me." Saving power. Saving power has gone out of
me. I perceive that saving power
has gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she
was not hid, I just got a feeling he turned around and looked right
at her when he said, who touched me? And everybody denied, but
they locked eyes. Not only did they lock eyes,
they locked heart, heart to heart. His heart touching her heart,
her heart touching his heart. And when they locked eyes and
she saw that she's not hid, She came trembling when nobody else
in that throng trembling being around Him. There's a God of
heaven and earth. But here's a woman who just received her
life. She just received life. And she's trembling in His presence. Isn't it amazing how we don't
tremble in God's presence? We should tremble at His Word
when we read it. Not out of a slavish fear or
trembling like that, but she was standing in awe of him. He
just healed her. Nobody else could do that. And
when the woman saw she was not healed, she came trembling, falling
down before him, right there at his feet. I can imagine the crowd kind
of backing up now. And he's standing there with
her. And she declared, listen now, she declared unto him. She
didn't just turn around to the crowd and say, well, let me tell
you why I touched him. No, she declared to him, she looked at
him right eye to eye, and she's telling him why she touched him.
And she's probably explaining to him over the years, and for
12 years she's had this, and she tried all the physicians,
and he knows all that. But she's gonna confess him before,
she's gonna publicly confess him. Now this is interesting.
Hold on here. She falls down, she declares
unto him, for all the people, for what cause, that she had
touched him, and how she was healed immediately. The Lord
saved me. Now listen. And he said unto her, Daughter,
be of good comfort. You don't need to tremble, fear
not. He's calming her down. Only the Lord can calm our fears.
I'm telling you, He's the only one who can truly calm our fears. Be of good comfort, thy faith
hath made thee whole, go in peace. He calls her daughter. Now, if
you're going to call someone daughter, you're the father. You see, not only is the son
speaking to her, but the father is speaking to her. He not only saved her physically,
He saved her soul. It's His daughter. This is His
daughter. But here's what I want you to
get, okay? In verse 47, He calls her out.
She makes a public confession as to why she touched Him. Verse
48, now comes assurance. Assurance of salvation does not
come until you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you just
follow at His feet. Then assurance comes. People
want assurance. You know, I don't know if the
Lord saved me or not. They're waiting for a feeling. She didn't
wait for a feeling. She's about to die. She's going
to die. And she touched it. She believed
He can do it. And He doesn't give her any assurance
until after she confesses. After she confesses why she touched
it. Boy, that to me is powerful.
That's powerful. Somebody waiting on a feeling,
waiting for a certain thing. No. No. It's believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And He said to her, Go in peace. Go in peace. Thy faith hath saved
thee. Yes, the object of her faith
is Christ, and He's the one who saved her. He did it. But there's
something in that faith that God gives. There's power in that
faith that God gives that's saving power. Because God gives it. It's of God. It's a gift of God. Christ, the object of faith,
saves, and the faith that He gives saves, because it's in
Him. I wrote in the bulletin, the
just shall live by faith, and that faith lives upon Christ. Well, I tell you this, I pray
the Lord will enable me to reach out and touch Him again. I want
to touch Him all over again. Just do it every time. Every
day. Every day. Lord, enable me to
touch You every day. To think upon You. Call upon
You. Meditate upon You. My, my, my. What we have. I wish to God I
could give to you what we have in Jesus Christ and what He has
saved us from. We are completely saved. Do I
feel like it? If I go on feelings, I'll be
up and down like crazy. But according to God's Word, and I take God
at His Word, God has completely saved me. And some of you, He
has completely saved you. You've been made whole. In Jesus
Christ, you are as complete as you can be. You can't be any
more complete.