Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Have you open your Bible with
me to Mark chapter five. Mark chapter five. We'll begin
reading in verse 25. Here we read 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. 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 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 the disciples said unto him,
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest, Who touch 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, came and fell down before him,
and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and behold of thy
plague. Here we read of a certain woman. In this large crowd of people,
no doubt there were many women that passed by the master that
day. Possibly many that were sick,
but here we're told of a certain woman. Her name's not even mentioned. Unlike Lydia, Mary, Martha, and
other of God's elect women, mentioned in the scripture, and though
we don't know her name, God does. Her name being written in the
Book of Life. Paul writing to the Philippian
church, he said this, he said, I entreat thee also, true yokefella,
help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and with other my fellow laborers, whose names are written
in the Book of Life. She's known of Almighty God.
And this certain woman, she's an object of God's mercy. What
if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endure with long-suffering the vessels of wrath, fitted for
destruction, that He might make known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared to glory? A certain woman, known of God,
not a vessel of wrath, but a vessel of mercy. Look at verse 25. A certain woman which had an
issue of blood for 12 years. Now her condition would have
made her unclean by the law. And this is a picture of sin.
She is a sinner. Leprosy, blindness, this woman's
issue of blood, these ailments in scripture, they had no natural
cure. And only Christ, only the Lord
Jesus Christ can heal. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could
make her whole. Sin has no natural cure. Man's
efforts, man's methods, man's work cannot save. Only God can
save a sinner. In Romans chapter six, verse
23, we read, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ his son. I can't help
think of that infant out there in the field, cast out in the
open field. Turn over to the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel chapter 16. Look, beginning with verse one
of Ezekiel 16. Again, the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
And say, thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, thy birth
and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an
Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the
day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, or
swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee. but thou was cast
out into the open field to the loathing of thy person in the
day that thou was born. Oh, but this infant's not left
there. Look at verse six. And when I passed by thee and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, Live. You see that? This one polluted
in their own blood. And the Lord passed by. He said,
one command, live. Live. Not, would you make a decision? Not, would you let me into your
heart? Not if you just put it all together,
you can do this. No. He speaks the word of life,
just as he did to Lazarus. Come forth. Well, this certain
woman, this certain woman with an issue of blood, again, she's
a sinner. She had this issue of blood for
12 years. Let me ask you, how long would
you seek salvation apart from the Lord Jesus Christ? This woman,
12 years like her, 18 years like that woman in the synagogue whom
the Lord healed on the Sabbath. or maybe 38 years, like that
impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda. To look to anything or to anyone
apart from Christ is to look to a physician of no value. That's what Job said. He said
there are forgers of lies and physicians of no value. Look
back at our text again at Mark chapter 5. Verse 26, we read,
she had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent
all that she had and was nothing bettered, but rather she grew
worse. My friends, this is a picture
of false religion. Isn't this a clear picture of
it? We'll go over to this place for a little while, maybe we'll
go down to the other church for a little while. All promising,
great things. But my friends, obeying the law,
there's no life there. To seek justification by the
law, to seek acceptance because of your church membership with
God is not gonna happen. No peace or no pardon is found
in the law. Two things are found in the law,
condemnation and guilt. She suffered many things of many
physicians. We read that she spent all that
she had. Religion, false religion, will
drain a man or a woman dry. And what's the result? Isaiah
said this, he said, wherefore do you spend money for that which
is not bread, your labor for that which satisfieth not. She
was nothing the bettered. In fact, she grew worse. Turn to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23. Look beginning with verse 13. This is our Lord speaking, and
he says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees. Those were the
religious men of that time. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men,
for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that
are entering to go in as well. You won't preach the truth, and
you'll discourage men from hearing the truth. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites. You devour widows' houses for
a pretense, making long prayers, wherefore you shall receive the
greater damnation, taking money from others for their own benefit.
Verse 15, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for
you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he's
made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. It's not about God's word, it's
about large crowds and drawing people in and how many people
they can say they led to the Lord. Listen, salvation is of
the Lord. And false religion, it makes
men twofold more the child of hell than when they began. Well,
false religion tells you what you can and cannot do. The Lord says what he's done,
what he's accomplished. Let's read on here. Let me ask
you this. Have I stopped sinning enough? Have I done enough good works? Have I given enough? Two-fold
more the child of hell than when you began. No better. This woman
was no better, but rather she grew worse. Well, Mark 5, verse
27, here's some good news. Here we read, this is my third
point, when she had heard of Jesus. Listen, I don't know when
she heard, I don't know how she heard, but it says she'd heard
of him. The scriptures declare this,
this certain woman, this woman with an issue of blood, this
sinner who had tried everything, spent everything to rid herself
of this ailment and only grew worse, she heard of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Looking back in this first chapter,
these first few chapters of the book of Mark, I read and I wonder,
when did she hear of him? What had she heard of him? Could
it have been in chapter one, after our Lord had baptized or
was baptized and it says the heavens opened up and the spirit
descended like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven
saying this. Think about this. Almighty God
spoke from heaven and said, thou art my beloved son in whom I
am well pleased. Maybe she had heard the Lord
Jesus Christ is the son of God. Or how the Lord Jesus Christ
had spoke saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of
God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. Or of that leper, maybe there
at the end of chapter one. Remember what he said? He said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. How the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke to him and he said, I will. Be thou clean. And we read immediately. He wasn't
put on a waiting list. Immediately, the leprosy was
departed from him. And that man went out and he
began to tell everybody in town about what the Lord Jesus Christ
had done for him to the point that the Lord couldn't even enter
into the city. She had heard of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In chapter two, our Lord entered
into Capernaum. And there was so many in and
around that house where he was preaching that four men carried
a man sick of palsy up onto the rooftop and opened the lid of
that roof and let the fella down. And the Lord Jesus Christ spoke
these words. Only he can. Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee. Maybe she heard how those scribes
and Pharisees had murmured and said, how is it that this man
eateth with publicans and sinners? And the Lord replied, and he
said this, the whole need not a physician. Who needs a physician? They that are sick. Well, I'm
sick. Could there be mercy? Oh, could
there be mercy for me? The Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. She had heard
of Jesus. Maybe she heard how in chapter
three in the book of Mark, how that man with the withered hand,
now you think about that, the Lord told him, he had that withered
hand and the Lord told him, stretch forth now thy hand and it'll
be as restored just like the other. And that happened, didn't
it? With the command comes the power. In chapter four, we read that
our Lord's sovereign power over his creation. When that great
storm arose and the waves beat on that ship, and that ship was
filling up with water, and the Lord was sleeping, he lay there
sleeping on a pillow, and his disciples came and cried. And
they said, Master, carest thou not that we perish? how the Lord
arose, and he rebuked the wind and the waves, and he said unto
the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and we read
that there was a great calm. This woman, with this issue of
blood, she had heard of Jesus. Maybe she heard how the Lord
had healed that man of the Gadarenes. The man who'd, this man lived
among the tombs. A wild man with an unclean spirit. A man that could not be bound
with chains. You know, that's what religion
does. False religion, it tries to,
they'll find something for a man to do. They'll bind him with
chains. But listen, even though he's
bound, it does not change what's in this sick and sinful heart.
He couldn't be bound with chains. He cut himself with the stones,
and we read that no man could tame him. How the Lord Jesus
Christ crossed his path in love and mercy. When the people came
out, they'd heard something, something going on here, and
they came out to see what had happened. Others had heard, and
what did they see? They found this man sitting. clothed in his right mind, desiring
to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet. Maybe she
had heard what was written in the Old Testament concerning
him, of his humiliation and of his suffering over there in Isaiah
53. Could it be, could it be she
had heard these things about Christ and asked herself, oh,
could there be mercy? Could there be mercy for me?
The old hymn writer wrote this, depth of mercy, can there be
mercy still reserved for me? All this certain woman with an
issue of blood, this unclean sinner. She'd suffered many things
of many physicians. She spent all that she had and
she was no better. She grew worse. when she heard
of Jesus, when she heard of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, He is God, when she heard of His power to save, His sovereign
power over all things, His power to heal those in even the most
desperate of conditions, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would
suffer and die for the sins of his people. Listen, that he would
be made sin, made sin when she heard of Jesus. Are you listening
right now? The scriptures say this, faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Have you
heard? Have you heard of him? In Romans
chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, verse 13, we read, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And how
shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how
shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good joy. When she heard of Jesus, listen,
we read on here in our text, she came in the press behind
him. She came humbly and touched his
garment. For she said, if I may but touch
his clothes, I shall be whole. She came by faith. Hebrews 11
6 says but without faith it is impossible to believe him for
he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him brother Henry wrote this
in one of his commentaries in Hebrews let just listen without
faith it is impossible to please God to be without faith is to
be without Christ Christ who is our peace, Christ who is our
righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ who is our sanctification.
And there are two fundamental things in this passage. He that
cometh to God, only in Christ, we only approach God in the Lord
Jesus Christ, must believe that God is. Not just that there is
a God, but that God is who He says He is revealed in the Scripture.
That He's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as He's revealed in His
Word. He's holy, eternal, unchangeable. He's love, He's mercy, He's truth.
He's the God of creation, the God of providence, and the God
of all grace. He must believe that he will
fulfill every promise and purpose toward believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's one way to seek God,
and that's in Christ. True faith believes that God
will give us all that the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased. Why
did Noah build that ark? He believed God. What about Abraham? Scriptures say he believed God
over and over in the scriptures. Men believe, women believe. Paul
and Silas, they told that prison guard, remember that desperate
prison guard about to take his life? And they said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. This woman,
this certain woman, she believed God. This is the record. God hath given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. I've written these things that
you might believe on the name of the Son of God. She believed
that he was able to heal her. That he was able to do what man
could not do. What she could not do for herself. That he was able to make her
whole. If I can just touch his garment. Listen, there's no other hope.
No other help. There's a song, Reach Out. Reach
out and touch the Lord as He passes by. You'll find He's not
too busy to hear your hearts cry. He's passing by this moment.
You need to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord
as He goes by. Now look at Mark chapter 5 verse
29. We read in straight way. That word means immediately.
The fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her
body that she was healed of that plague. Verse 30, and the Lord
Jesus Christ immediately, knowing in himself that virtue, that
power had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and he
said, who touched my clothes? Consider this transaction. Consider that great transaction
in which the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for his people.
Think about this. Made sin, he was made sin for
his people. And his people in return are
made the very righteousness of God in him. Verse 31, and his
disciples said unto him, thou seest the multitude thronging.
I think they mocked him a little bit here. You see this great
crowd, and you say, who touched me? And he looked around about. to see her who had done this
thing. Listen, let there be no doubt. He knew, he knew who had
touched him. He knows all of his sheep. He knows the very hairs of our
head. He knows his sheep. But the woman, verse 33, fearing
and trembling, knowing what was done in her. Salvation, it's
a work for us. but it's a work in us, what was
done in her. She knowing what was done in
her, listen, in that throng of people, that great gathering
of all those that were there, there were only two that knew
what happened here. This thing of salvation, it's
a matter between the Savior and the sinner. and it's gonna be
dealt with right here. I tell you, now they were the
only two knew about it right then, but I promise you, it wasn't
a secret thing for long. If Christ dwells in a man or
a woman or a young person, that can't be hid. And he must be
confessed. Back in verse 33, it said, knowing
what was done in her, she came and she fell down before him
and told him all the truth. The scripture says this, if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and shalt
believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. And here we have a public confession. Believers publicly confess their
Savior. Believers' baptism. It's the
answer. Scriptures say it's an answer
of good conscience toward God. And when a believer's baptized,
they're identifying with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Well, verse 34, He said unto
her, Daughter, Boy, that's an endearing term, isn't it? Huh?
What's he saying there? Daughter, you're mine. You're
mine. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague. For 12 years, 12 years this woman
must have wrestled with a multitude of things concerning her condition. Oh, but listen, at some point,
we read here, a certain woman, a particular woman, with an issue
of blood, this poor, lost, sick, sinful woman, unjust and undone,
this woman who had spent all that she'd had, and she'd tried
everything. Maybe you can say that as well.
Had tried everything. But boy, something happened here
in this passage of scripture. We read, she heard of Jesus. She heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. And she said this, if I can,
just touch his garment. She believed what she had heard
of him was true, didn't she? And by faith, she reached out
and touched him. And then we read that she was
made perfectly whole. and she confessed him publicly.
And his command to her and to every believer is this, go in
peace. Aren't we thankful for his word?
May God be pleased to bless his word to our hearts.