If you would like to follow along
with me in your Bible this morning, we'll be looking at the Gospel
of Mark, chapter 5. Mark, chapter 5. And in this
chapter, we see the story of our Lord healing a desperate
and dying woman. I begin reading with verse 28.
And it says, Jesus went with him, or that is, a man named
Jairus. He was going to this man's home.
And it says, much people followed him, followed the Lord Jesus,
and thronged him. Much people. Always, everywhere,
a large crowd gathered around the Lord. But most of the time,
he did not stop or commit or concern himself with that large
crowd of people. For most of the time they followed
him to see the miracles or to get fed. But he did not stop
for the large crowds that thronged him, but he did stop to hear
and to heal and to save his own. When he was born, the angels
announced his birth and said, ìCall his name Jesus, for he
shall save his people.î Our Lord came to seek and to save his
lost sheep. Well, here is one of those lost
sheep of his. In verse 25 it says, ìA certain
woman.î Now, the reason it says ìa certain womanî is because
this woman was certainly one of the Lordís elect, one of the
Lord's chosen ones, one of the Lord's lost sheep, a certain
woman. And it says she had an issue
of blood twelve years. In other words, she had a blood
disorder, or perhaps severe monthly cycles, which left this woman,
after twelve years, left her severely anemic, weak, and sickly. This woman was slowly dying from
this problem. Now, this woman represents all
of us. She represents every son of Adam
by nature. Four, we have a dying issue. We have something in our blood
which is a dying issue. It is called sin. We cannot stop
the flow of sin that courses through our bodies and our souls. If the Lord doesn't deal with
us as he dealt with this woman in mercy and grace, if he doesn't
take care of this sin issue, we will die in and from our sins. Look at verse 26. It says this
woman had suffered many things of many physicians, many different
home remedies or many different cures for her problem which were
prescribed by various quacks or pretended experts. She'd suffered
many things of many positions and had spent all that she had,
all of her savings, and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse. If you'll allow me to use these
familiar terms, this woman, if she were In religion today, looking
for a cure for her problem, she would have gone to various different
pretended physicians or experts such as Dr. E. Z. Believism. If you'll just believe,
now all your problems will be over. She tried that and she
still had problems with sin, but she would go to another fellow
named You be baptized, doctor, you be baptized, or doctor, join
a church, or be a church member." And she tried that, and that
didn't seem to help her problem either. Or, doctor, you better
keep the law. Or, doctor, if you quit that,
if you just quit that, then everything will be all right, and all your
problems will be over. Well, she tried all these various
fellows, these quacks, and none could help her, but rather she
was worse, nothing better and grew worse, and had spent all
of her savings, all of her time on these
quacks. Many spend a lifetime, they spend
themselves searching for peace, happiness, life, especially in
religion, and are no better but rather worse. Just to add this, I believe there's
no one more miserable than someone who is religious but lost. I hope there is someone like
that listening this morning with a desperate issue and have tried
everything and gone everywhere and listened to every so-called
religious expert but are no better but rather worse. Well, there's
only one hope for you and me and all of us. The same and only
hope that this woman had. Verse 27, it says, when she had
heard of Jesus, she heard. Someone told her about the Great
Physician. Someone told her about the Lord
Jesus Christ, the only hope for one such as herself. Now, faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We need to hear of Christ, the
only hope for our sin issue is in this one called Jesus Christ,
the Lord and the Savior of sinners. Now, this woman had been told
by various different persons and so-called experts what she
needed to do. She was constantly being told,
well, you need to do this or do that or not do this or not
do that, stop doing this, stop doing that, start doing this,
start doing that. until finally someone told her,
what you need is just to get to Christ. You need to get to
Christ. Christ is all the religion that
you need. And only when we come to him
will the sin issue be resolved. Well, so she came. She heard
of him and came in the press, or that is, came in the midst
of this throng, this crowd that was pressing around the Lord,
came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she
said, If I just may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. She came in the press, or in
this huge throng or crowd, came up behind. She felt unworthy
to be up front. She thought within herself, The
great master doesn't need me, but I sure need him. The Sovereign
Lord doesn't need me, but I sure need Him. I'm not worthy to be
seen and heard. I'm not worthy to be up front
with all of these good folks, but I sure do need to get to
Him." So she did. And nothing and no one can keep
a needy sinner from coming to Christ, from being healed of
their issue. And I've often said this, and
I heard my pastor say this years ago. that it's not our sins which
keep us from Christ necessarily, but generally our self-righteousness.
A real needy, poor and needy sinner may come to Christ freely. Christ receiveth sinful men,
the scripture said. I had a call from a woman who
told me that she was a convicted felon, and I said, That's the
kind of people that the Lord Jesus Christ saves. That shouldn't
keep you from coming to hear the gospel and coming to Christ.
Verse 29, it says, "...the woman, after she just touched his clothes,
straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up." The fountain,
the overflowing, reigning, ruling sin that is within us. If we can get to Christ by his
mercy and grace and sovereign providence, come to him as a
poor and needy sinner, but touch his clothes." Now what does his
clothes represent here? Well, it represents that righteousness
which the Lord Jesus Christ worked out for his people, a perfect
holiness and spotless robe of righteousness which alone will
cover our sins. We must have it without this
wedding garment on, which only Christ can make for his people,
did make for his people, and apply. Christ himself must clothe
the naked. He must clothe those with his
righteousness. If we may have this garment upon
us, but touch his clothes, then this sin issue will be resolved. It says, well, she touched his
clothes immediately. She knew immediately, she felt
in her body that she was healed of that plague. Now, she felt
healed after she came to Christ and touched Him. Don't wait for
a feeling. Don't wait for a feeling. Don't
wait to feel sinful enough or feel like you believe strongly
enough. Don't wait for that. Come as
a needy sinner. Come as you are. The song says,
just as I am. Come as a needy sinner. Come
to Christ. Lay hold on Him as a needy, helpless
beggar. And after you come to Christ,
He speaks peace to you. You hear the gospel. Then the
feelings of joy and peace and happiness will follow. The only
need we need is to feel our need of him. Verse 30, it says, Jesus
immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him,
turned him about in the crowd and said, Who touched my cloak? Our Lord, it says, knew in himself
that virtue had gone out of him. We are saved by virtue of Christ's
righteousness imputed to us. This righteousness has gone out
from him to us, covering us with the holiness of Christ, whereby
God may see us as holy and righteous as his Son. We are saved by virtue
of his blood shed to pay for our sin. His blood which made
the sin payment, the penalty of sin, death, bloodshed. Without the shedding of blood,
no remission of sin. We are saved by virtue of the
shed blood of Christ to pay for our sin. We are not saved by
virtue of our faith, by virtue of our works, by virtue of our
resolve, by virtue of anything from us. but virtue which comes
from the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Even the faith that we have comes
from him. It is the gift of God, not of
ourselves. Well, Christ knew that someone
touched him because he ordained it to be, and this virtue came
out from him, and he turned and said, Who touched my clothes?
Now, he knew who touched his clothes, but Christ demands a
confession from every saved sinner. Look at verse 31 and 32, and
I close with this. And his disciples said unto him,
While you see the multitude thronging you, crowding around you, and
you say, Who touched me? But Christ looked round about
to see her that had done this thing. He knew who touched him,
but he was looking for a confession from her. He knew who touched
her, for he foreknew her. long before she ever knew of
him. Verse 33, the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was
done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the
truth. Fearing and trembling. That's
the mark of true conversion. Fear and trembling. And this
thing was done in her. It was not just outward reformation,
but inward healing and peace and salvation. And she told him
the truth, it said, all about herself. She told her about her
wasted life and wasted attempts in various ways to help herself
and could not. In verse 34, he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. That is, the one
whom you came to, the one whom you came to trust, he is the
one who had made you whole. Go in peace, he said, and be
whole of thy flesh." Well, the believer in Christ becomes a
whole person. They have the mind of Christ,
the walk by faith, the purpose of life now, led by his Spirit
and by his Word. Only a true believer, one who
has come to Christ by his mercy and grace in faith, which was
his gift, only they are whole indeed, a whole person. Hope by His grace you'll come
to Christ like this desperate and dying woman. Until next Sunday,
good day.