I want us to look in Luke chapter
8 verses 43 through 48. Our subject this morning is this. Somebody has touched me. In these
verses we have the woman with the issue of blood. And I believe
you and I can identify with this woman a great deal. That is,
if God has done something for you and for me, we can identify
with this woman. As I read this portion of scripture,
I could see our condition by nature. And the only hope we
have, which is the only hope she had, the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 43, a woman
having an issue of blood for 12 years. A woman, her name is
not important. Like the publican who said, Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. Just a publican. And the only
name here that is of great importance is Jesus Christ. God only hears
one name, that's the name of his son. Whatsoever our Lord
said, whatsoever you ask in my name. Now this woman had an issue
of blood. Her problem caused her much grief
and much shame. It was a problem that she did
not want to talk about publicly. And by the law she was considered
an unclean, an outcast, separated. You can read that over Leviticus
15. And everything she touched was unclean. Anyone who touched
her was unclean. If she had children she could
not touch her children. She could not hug her children. She could
not hug her parents or touch them. Everything she touched
was unclean by the law. Is this not a picture of ourselves?
By nature we are full of sin. The corruption of sin flows through
our veins. God's holy law is against us
and everything we do and everything that we touch is unclean because
of our sin issue. God said in Isaiah chapter 1
the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. In verse
6 of Isaiah 1 he says from the sole of the foot even to 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 picture of us We are
like a running sore in God's sight. Now it says in verse 43,
she spent all her living upon physicians. Now this woman, in
one sense of the word, is to be commended. When she found
out that she had a problem, she didn't say, what shall be, shall
be. She was no fatalist. If a cure
could be had, she was going to have it. And she sought out those
who were supposed to know something about her problem. who could
tell her what she must do or take to cure her. But they all
proved to be physicians of no value. That's what Job said about
his friends in Job 13.4. He said, Ye are forgers of lies. Ye are all physicians of no value.
Most preachers today, not just a few, but I think most preachers
today are physicians of no value. They are forgers of lies. It
is sad that many people spend all their living upon these religious
hoofsters only to find out that they are none the better, but
rather, like it says over in Mark, Mark gives the occasion
of this woman, and over there it says, but rather grew worse.
By the misuse of the scriptures, by the twisting of the scriptures,
the false preachers make those who hear them to suffer and grow
worse, using superstitious notions upon poor souls. And how many
of us have spent our living upon false preachers and false hopes?
We've tried Dr. Morality, we've tried Dr. Ceremonies,
we've tried this and we've tried that. And the only thing that
has happened is this, we have grown worse. Anything short of
Jesus Christ himself is worse. Now it says in verse 43, neither
could be healed. This poor woman could not be
healed. There was nothing that that the physicians could do
for her, but watch her slowly die while they took her money.
This poor woman had come to the end of herself. She was broke
and without hope now. Is this not us? We cannot cure
ourselves of sin. We are helpless in ourselves.
Sin has rendered us helpless. No one can help us with this
sin issue. We are bankrupt before God. We
have no good works. We have no righteousness at all.
We have nothing, nothing to offer unto God because of this sin
issue. And like this woman, we must
come to the end of ourselves for as long as we can spend or
offer, Christ will profit us nothing. Christ only saves broken,
poor sinners. And He does it freely at no charge.
Salvation is a free gift of God by His grace. And then it says
in verse 44, She came behind him, too ashamed to look him
in the face, for she was unclean and she knew it. A true knowledge
of sin, a true knowledge of ourselves, will cause true humility. Men
are proud because they think themselves to be what they are
really not, good and honest. The Word of God says they're
evil and liars. But she kept saying within herself,
that's what it says over in Mark in the Amplified Version. She
kept saying, if I can but touch him, if I can but touch him.
She touched the border of his garment, there in verse 44. Unlike
Judas, who kissed the Lord on the face, she just wanted to
touch the lowest part of his garment. If I can just get to
his feet. The poor sinner cannot even lift
up his eyes to heaven like that publican who smote upon his breast. He could not even lift up his
eyes to heaven. But the sinner, the sinner whom the Lord has
brought to the end of himself is well satisfied just to touch,
just to kiss the master's feet. If I can just have some crumbs
that fall from the master's table, I'll be all right. I have no
right to mercy, but I sure need it. Lord, I need mercy. And then
here in verse 44 we have the results. Immediately her issue
of blood dried up. He did not put her on probation.
He immediately saved her. Christ did what no other physician
could do. He healed her completely. Christ
is the true physician of souls. He's the physician, listen, He's
the cure. The blood of Christ cleanses
us, the scripture says, from all sin. His blood is the healing
balm of Gilead. Christ crucified Christ by the
blood of his cross did what the law could not do, and that is
save a sinner and make that sinner completely whole. The law can
only condemn, Christ saves. Christ did by his obedience what
the ceremonies could not do, and that is make a sinner perfectly
righteous before God's law. Christ did what the blood of
bulls and goats could not do, and that is cleanse from every
sin, put away sin. It says in Hebrews 10.14, For
by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And our Lord in verse 45, He
turned around and said, Who touched me? He wasn't asking for information. He knew He was going to bring
her out. The people were thronging about
Christ. Curiosity was getting the best of them. Many were touching
Him as He went by. They had seen the miracles that
He did. But this woman, this woman only heard of Him. She
saw no miracles. She heard of Him. When God saves
a man, when He saves a sinner, He makes that sinner to hear
of Jesus Christ. He makes that sinner to hear
of His person. He makes that sinner to hear of His work. He
makes that sinner to hear of His obedience. He makes that
sinner to hear of His offices. He makes that sinner to hear
of Jesus Christ, His Son. Job said, By the hearing of the
ear, I heard of thee. In Romans 10, 17 it says, Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now what
brought them together? What brought them together? Here's
what brought them together. This poor woman's condition drove
her to seek Christ. The thing that will bring sinners
to Christ is their sins and his ability to save them from sin.
That which brings us to Him is not our righteousness. Righteousness
will not bring you to Christ. Your self-righteousness will
keep you from Him. It's sin that brings us to Him
because we need Him. Death brings us to Him. Knowing
our death. Knowing that we are dying and
we shall die. And they were all denied when
he said, who touched me? All denied, everyone was touching
him. But when he stopped and asked who touched me, they said,
not me, not me. The whole need not a physician,
but the sick. There was only one person in that whole crowd
that needed Jesus Christ, and she touched him. Not just with
her hand, her heart touched him. A lot of them touched him with
their hand. Her heart touched his heart.
Her need touched him. Somebody, he said there in verse
46, somebody has touched me. Jesus Christ can be touched with
the feelings of our infirmities. Come to Christ like you are.
Don't dress up. He knows who you are. Come like
you are. Come to him like you are. Is your heart broken over
sin? Look to Christ. Look to the Lamb
of God. Is your heart broken over your deadness? Look to Christ.
Does death scare you? Look to Christ. It says in Hebrews
4.15, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was at all points tempted
like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. Christ can be touched. It says
in Philippians 4.6, Be careful for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving let your request
be made known unto God. He can be touched. God, absolute
holy God on Mount Sinai cannot be touched. Not even that mount
can be touched. He could not be spoken to, he
could not be seen, looked upon by a sinner, but God in Christ
can be touched. He can be spoken to, he can be
seen. Christ said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
In 1 John 1 John says this, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word
of life, God meets sinners in Christ as they are. Christ is God manifested in the
flesh and He can be touched by sinners. Then there in verse 47, she saw
that she was not hid, The first thing a sinner wants to do is
hide. Adam wear our style, God said. Men try to hide from God
in many ways. Adam tried hiding in the garden.
Some try hiding in the church thinking that it numbers their
safety. Some try to hide in a profession they made years ago. Some try
to hide in their ignorance. They don't want to know the truth.
They love darkness rather than light. Some try to hide in their
heritage. The Jews did. They said we'll
be Abraham's seed. But when God awakens a sinner,
he knows he's not hidden from the all-searching eye of God.
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him,
saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord? That's what he says in Jeremiah
23-24. The sinner knows that everything that he does has been
in God's sight. David said, Against thee and
thee only have I done this evil in thy sight. He knows there's
no use trying to make excuses, for God knows the very thoughts
and imaginations of his heart. She came trembling, falling down
before him, falling down before him, not the disciples, not some
priest, but the Lord. She came, Christ said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. When the shepherd calls
the sheep, come. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them and they follow me. When God gives an effectual call
to a sinner, that sinner comes. And notice how she came. She
came trembling and falling down at his feet where she belonged.
She didn't run up into his face and say, it was me, it was me.
No, she fell down trembling. The sinner is no longer proud
and arrogant. He's no longer cocky and boastful. No, he trembles
because he's in the presence of God. He's in the presence
of the sovereign God of heaven and earth, who said, I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and whom I will I'll harden.
He's in the presence of the one who said, I kill and I make alive,
I wound and I heal. If we ever realize whose presence
we are in, we'll stand trembling, we'll fall down trembling. Oh,
the sinner knows that the one who can save him can also justly
damn him. If God sends every one of us
to hell, he's a just God. And she declared unto him before
all the people what call she had touched him. The Lord has
no secret disciples. She confessed her disease and
her need of him. And that's what every sinner
will do. The sinner confesses himself to be just that, a sinner
in need of mercy. And we don't confess to the priest
or the preacher, but to God himself who alone can put away sin. We
confess there's nothing good in us by nature. We confess that
God's true and everybody's a liar. We confess ourselves to be totally
depraved of spiritual life. We declare this before God and
we declare it before the people. What we declare before God we
declare before the people. And she tells how she was healed
by touching him. The sinner declares how that
just by believing he was made whole. And listen to this. He
said daughter be of good cheer. I not only hear the son speaking
I hear the father speaking. He says daughter He said, Thy
faith has saved thee. Who saved her? Christ did. It's
the object of faith that saves and the object of faith is Christ.
May the Lord enable us to touch Him this day and lay hold of
eternal life.