Mark chapter 5. A great physician is known by his work. He's known by his work. When
we go to the doctor's office, we usually see their credentials
hanging on the wall. I always look. I do. I always look on the wall because
I want to see his credentials. And that tells me he's been to
school. That he should know what he's
doing. Our Lord's person is all the credentials that he
needs. His deity is his credentials. That's his credentials. He's
God. He's God. He is the great physician of
souls. Now, while he was preaching,
he was still in Matthew's house, there came a certain ruler. A ruler, it says, of the synagogue,
Jairus by name. He was an important, a very important
man. He was over the synagogue. He conducted the service. He
chose men to read. This man could order scourges. This man had the power to excommunicate. And in Israel in that day especially,
that really meant something, you got excommunicated. And he
had the power to do it. But our Lord brought this man
into a great need. He put him into a desperate situation. He brought this man to a point
where He couldn't do anything. He was helpless. Helpless. You ever been there? You ever
been in a situation where you were just absolutely helpless? Helpless. There's four things about this
ruler, let me point out. He came to the Lord Jesus as
a beggar. not as a ruler he didn't he had
to lay that that title he had to lay his authority to the side
and when he came to our lord he came as a beggar it is amazing
how need kills prejudice it's amazing how need kills prejudice
A drowning man cares not the nationality of the Savior. Not
if he's drowning, not if he's drowning. And then when he came, he came
to worship first. He fell down at his feet. Over
in Matthew, it says he worshiped. Worship happens when you from
your heart recognize who Jesus Christ is. And when you give
unto him the glory and the honor that's due unto his name. And that's what that ruler was
doing. He laid aside his authority and
submitted himself to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he prayed to him for
help, for mercy. He had a situation where he was
totally helpless. His 12-year-old daughter was
dying. She was at the point, at this
time when he came, she was at the point of death. Helpless. I watched, especially
I watched one person die one time. a lost person. And I'm telling you what, I've
never felt so helpless in my life as watching her pass away. And this is his daughter. This
is his daughter. And he comes to the Lord and
he prays for help, he prays for mercy. He asks, and here's a
good lesson. This is a good lesson for us,
especially in prayer. He asked for what he needed. He didn't beat around the bush.
I tell you what, when you have a real genuine need, you don't
beat around the bush. You ask. You know, when Peter
stepped out on the water and he started to go under, he was
going to drown. It was the shortest prayer he
ever prayed and probably the strongest prayer and the best
prayer he ever prayed. He said, Lord, save me. Save
me. There's not a better prayer than
that. Lord, save me. Have you ever asked God to just
simply save you? Not going about this long prayer
like that Pharisee. No, just save me. Lord, save
me. Save my soul. And then the fourth thing that's
evident about him is this. He believes. He believed the
Lord could do it. And this man, listen, he's a
ruler of the synagogue. So no doubt he has heard the
Lord speak in the synagogue. He has watched him perform miracles.
He's seen these things. And then when his daughter was
at the point of death, in his heart, He said, I know, I know
one that can save her. I know one, I am a hundred percent
sure. I know one who can heal her,
who can help me. He believed, this man believed
in his heart. He believed the Lord could give
life. He could give health. He believed
that. He that cometh to God, it says
in Hebrews chapter 11, He that cometh to God must believe that
He is. We're not just out there blindly
feeling for Him. He must believe that He is and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently, that diligently,
this is where we usually fall off the wagon. The diligent part. Like that woman who Went and
talked to that judge, that unjust judge. She kept knocking, knocking,
knocking. He said, this woman's gonna drive me crazy if I don't
give her what she wants. He said, though I don't fear
God or man. He said, I don't fear either one, but this woman
is driving me crazy. And the Lord used her as an example
of persistence. Not that we drive the Lord crazy,
we know that, but he's using her persistence. Diligence, that's
what diligence is. If you and I ever have a real
need of salvation, of forgiveness or whatever else it is that the
Lord puts us in. Be diligent in seeking Him. Be diligent. He teaches us to
do that. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him. That's Hebrews 11, six. And the Lord arose and he followed
him and his disciples got up and they followed him. We see
here a willing savior. I wish, oh, if you and I only
knew how willing the Lord is to save sinners. Come unto me
all you that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. The
scripture teaches us he delights to show mercy. He delights to
show mercy. He's compassionate. He's forgiving. If the love of God, if the mercy
of God, if it could be wore out, if it could be drained, I would
have drained it a long time ago. But you know what it says? His
compassions fail not. They're new every morning. Every
morning. The Lord arose and followed him,
mercy and grace followed that sinner home. And the Lord went
where he was needed. You know, in one place it says,
as many as needed healing, he healed. He healed. By the readiness of Christ. Turn
to Psalm 86. Psalm 86. Hang on, I'll read
this. We need to read this. Sometime
down the road, you'll need it, I'll need it. Psalm 86, verse five. For thou, Lord, art good and
ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
upon thee. Write that down, hang that one
on your refrigerator. I guarantee you, you're gonna use it. You're
gonna need that. More than once. Now while he's on his way to
this ruler's house, a woman with an issue of blood came behind
him saying within herself, if I can but touch the hem of his
garment, I shall be made whole. She kept saying within herself,
she kept encouraging herself, if I can just get to him. Remember, there's a big throng
there. There's a great number of people. And this woman wasn't
even supposed to be out there. See, she's unclean. She has this
issue of blood. Everything she touched is unclean.
Everybody that touched her is unclean by the law, by the ceremonial
law. She had an issue of blood. Her
life was slowly draining out of her. She was bleeding to death.
She was bleeding to death. She was anemic by now. She'd
had this for 12 years. This is God's child. And for
12 years, he let her go through this. He let her come to the
end of herself. He let her suffer this for 12
years. Like that other man had it for
30, had an infirmity for what, 38 years? That's his child. But
He did this to bring her to Himself. What He puts us through is to
bring us to Him. She could not be cured, so she
spent all her money. Look at verse 26 of Mark 5. It says, She had suffered many
things of many physicians. and spent all that she had. She
spent, I think it's overlooked, she spent all of her living.
She spent every penny she had trying to find a cure so she
could live one more day. And was nothing better, but rather
grew worse. I tell you this, many spend all their money and
time on religion, going through ceremonies only
to find out that they've grown worse. Men can't cure what we have.
Sin. Now it says she suffered many
things of many physicians. People suffer needless. They
suffer many needless things by false religion. It's so sad.
to watch what people go through that's totally, absolutely useless,
needless. How many needless fears and bondage
does religion without Christ strap you with? Needless fears,
needless bondage. It says she was none the better,
grew worse. They took her money But they
didn't give her any cure. Well, they took the money all
right. Anything, now listen, anything
short of Christ is worse. Anything short of Christ is worse. You'll grow worse. But notice
here, notice her faith. Like this ruler, this woman believed. She believed. See, in verse 27,
she heard of Him. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. Somebody told this woman of this
man, Jesus Christ, what He was able to do, who He is. She heard of Him. God the Father
brought her to the end of herself, burst all her hopes. God let
her spin. Every dime she had to find out
that there was no hope in anything on this earth for her except
one. Except one. The Lord Jesus Christ. And when He finally broke all
her hopes and she spent herself broke, then He calls her to hear
of Him. Him. She heard of His person,
the Son of David. Son of David, now that meant
Messiah. That meant Messiah. She heard
of his power. She heard of his grace and his
mercy. This man receives sinners and he eats with them. She heard
of that. Nobody else wanted anything to
do with her. If you touch her, you're unclean. The law says
you're unclean. Everybody else scattered. But when she heard the good news
of the one who could heal her disease, she came to Him. She finally came to the right
position. Every sinner whom the Lord saves
must first be brought to the end of all their hopes, because until that happens, Christ
will profit them nothing. Our Lord only saves poor, broken
sinners. Now she said within herself,
she kept saying within herself. That's where faith starts is
in the heart. It's in the heart. With the heart man believes unto
righteousness. If I can but touch His garment. Or that God would bring us to
that place continually. I mean continually. If I can
just get to Him, I can just get to Him. And it says this woman
came in the press. Can you imagine how weak this
woman was? How anemic she was? How drained she was? This woman
was weak. And she pushed her way through that press. This
woman, she was so desperate. Her knee was so great. She pushed
her way through that press and touched the hem of his garment.
Yeah, but it was do or die. Do or die. Listen, coming to
Christ is never easy. It's never easy. There's always
a press in the way. There's sin. There's Satan. There's self. There's excuses. There's always a press in the
way. Coming to Him is never easy. But if you and I ever really,
really, really come to need Him, I mean need Him. And brother,
I need Him as much today as I did 40 years ago. You will come regardless of the
press, regardless of the discouragements. If anyone leaves here this morning
lost, lost, I can tell you this, your greatest problem is this,
you don't need him. You don't need him. That's why many, many don't come
to him. They don't need him. If you ever come to need him
for mercy, for forgiveness, for pardon, for righteousness, you'll
come. You'll come. Notice the process here. She
heard. She believed, she came, she received. And immediately, it says, her
blood dried up. Salvation's immediate. Immediately. Only the Lord, only the Lord
can put away our sins immediately. And the Lord, it says there in
verse 30, and Jesus immediately, see, her blood dried up immediately.
And the Lord knew immediately in Himself that virtue had gone
out of Him. Power to save, power to heal
went out of Him. It went out of Him. I'll tell you what it did, it
went out of Him into her. That's exactly what happened.
It went out of Him into her. And He turned to look at her. You see, he turned himself about
in the press and said, who touched my clothes? You know how many people were
touching him? The disciple said that. And his disciple said unto
him, thou seest a multitude thronging thee. They're all reaching out
and touching you. They're all touching you as you go by. And
you say, who touched me? I mean, everybody was going like
this. But only one person in that crowd needed him. Only one
person really needed him and her heart touched his heart. I should say his heart touched
hers. Because all this time, he knew who touched him. He knew
exactly the person who touched him. Even though all of them
were touching him, there was only one that really touched
him. Only one that really touched him. And he knew it. And he knew
who it was. But what he's going to do is
he's going to draw her out. He has no secret disciples. Because
it says in Luke that she confessed before all for the reason why
she touched him. She confessed him before that
whole crowd. She told why she touched him
and she told what happened. I'm healed. I'm healed. And then the narrative goes back
now to the ruler. He goes back here, says the woman
fearing, let me go to verse 33, but the woman fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done in her. You know what? When God saves
a sinner, that sinner knows it. You know God's done something
for you. You know it. How in the world How in the world
can somebody be born of God and not know it? How can you be born into this
world and not know it? Eventually, you're going to be
brought to a knowledge of it. You're going to grow up. You're
going to be educated. All thy children shall be taught
of God. He's going to educate his children. But she came and fell down before
him and told him all the truth. And he said to her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and behold of thy
plagues. You see, in verse 34, I not only hear the master speaking,
I hear the father speaking. He calls her daughter. Only the
father calls her daughter. There is the father standing
there saying, call her daughter. God was in Christ. Reconciled
the world to himself. Thy faith, the object of thy
faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is your faith? Really, Christ
is, Christ is, Christ is. Yes, we have faith, God's given
it to us, we exercise it, but our faith is in a person. It's
in a person. Now while you expect there came
from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, your daughter's dead. See, while
she was sick and still had a little life in her, the ruler had hope. There's some
life here. There's still a pulse. The heart's
still beating. There's still a little hope here.
But now they come from the house and they say, she's dead. She's
dead. You can imagine the heart of
that ruler just absolutely dropping to the ground. His 12-year-old
daughter did. And they said, why troublest
thou the Master any further? Now as soon as Jesus heard the
word that was spoken, he said to the ruler, he said, don't
be afraid. I tell you, there's nothing that
can calm our fears than the Lord speak to our hearts. and say,
don't be afraid.