Returning to the Gospel of Mark
chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. And we're going to read these
lines and listen carefully to what thus saith the Lord. It
is said, that so much of the so-called preaching and teaching
in our day and time, in our part of the country, the so-called
Bible Belt, is not much about the Bible at all. So much is about some little
humorous incident that a preacher experienced through the week
Or about something he heard from the news media, no. Not much about the Bible. Or
about something he heard on TV or something he heard him talking
about over at the barbershop. Just all kind of stuff except
what the Bible says. So as we read this, I want us
to be careful to understand that this is God's Word, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. It does not and will not and
cannot change. Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter
5, and I'll pick up in verse 25. And if you've never studied this
passage, it certainly has been a blessing to me. Mark 5, 25. And 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,
she came in the press behind and touched his garment. For
she said, if I may, but touch, if I may touch, but 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 his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and
sayest thou who touched me? And he looked around 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 be whole of thy
plague. There is far more in these ten
verses than first meets the eye. And I want to say first that
unless the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit, arrests our souls and
quickens our spirit, this will be for you nothing more than
just another boring day in church. Everybody realizes that from
the creation, the Old Testament time, God the Father spoke. Yes, Christ was there. Yes, the
Holy Spirit was there. But the Old Testament emphasis
is God, God the Father. When we come to the New Testament,
the emphasis is God the Son. the Lord Jesus who came and this
is one of the passages concerning his being here. He came and promised
when he left I will pray the Father that he might send you
another comforter like unto myself and that is the blessed Holy
Spirit. He is the executive member of
the Godhead. He is the administrator of the
person and work of Christ. He is the revealer of God's Holy
Word. The Holy Spirit must do for us
in this hour or we're left to ourselves and left hopeless in
ourselves. This passage, these 10 verses,
is a story within a story. And you have to look at your
Bible to get what I'm going to say. I don't have any newspaper
up here. I don't have any radio or TV
or anything up here. I have the Bible. It's a story within a story.
In verse 22, a ruler of the synagogue named Jairus came to Jesus and
besought him to come to his house, because his daughter was a very
sick young daughter. In verse 23, he said, She lieth
at the point of death. So Jesus went with him. And while
on the way, this woman we read about, beginning in verse 25,
she interrupts the procession to Jireh's house. And then after
her story, verse 25 picks up again, and a messenger comes from Jireh's
house, verse 35, and says to him, it's too late. Your daughter
is dead. There's no point in troubling
the master any further. It's too late. At that point,
Jairus could have complained to Jesus and said, I came to
you first. If you hadn't taken time with
that woman, we could have made it to my house in time. But Jairus never had time to
say anything. Verse 36 says, as soon as Jesus
heard that, He spake five words to Jairus, be not afraid, only believe. The Lord was saying to him, it's
too late for you. It's not too late for me. Some
of you sitting here today. Need those five words so desperately. With the quickening power of
the Holy Spirit to receive them. Words from the Lord Jesus. Be
not afraid. Only believe. But you don't know
where I'm at. He does. Be not afraid. Only believe. So he went on to
Jairus' house and raised his daughter from the dead. So what
I said in the beginning of that story, beginning in verse 22,
all the way to the end of the chapter, is divided. And in between it is the story
of this woman. The lesson in that is that our
Lord is not limited to doing one thing at a time. With him, even time is not an
issue. Notably, this woman had been
sick the same period of time Jairus' daughter had been in
the world. The little girl was 12 years
old, verse 42 says, and this woman had suffered 12 years,
verse 25 says. The circumstances were different. But circumstances are not an
issue with the Lord. And how very needful it is for
you and I to be able to look in the mirror and say, my circumstances
are a very big issue with me, but my circumstances are no issue
with the Lord. How needful, how needful that
is. Now in verse 25, the first thing
we're told is that this was a certain woman. She is introduced to us not by
name, but as a certain woman. Certain in the purpose of God. Many times in the New Testament,
we read of a certain man, a certain woman, a certain beggar, a certain
Samaritan, a certain lawyer, a certain king, a certain ruler,
a certain nobleman, a certain householder, a certain poor widow,
a certain creditor, a certain centurion, a certain priest,
a certain little maid, a certain of the scribes, certain of the
Pharisees, certain of the Sadducees, lots and lots of certain people. God deals in certainties. Not possibilities. And the certain
thing is today, you might not know Him, but He knows you. This woman may not have been
anything in this world to anyone else, but she's certain to the
Lord. With a certain purpose of the
Lord. So I just want to have, look at three thoughts
this morning from this passage, desperation, determination, and
deliverance. She comes to Christ first in
desperation. What does that mean? It means
she is at her wits end. She's tried everything else. She's tried everything she could
try. And nothing has worked. Now, if God had been pleased,
some of the many doctors she went to could have found the
remedy. Or God could have done it without
a doctor and healed her. That wasn't God's way, this is
God's way. And this is what we're looking
at. This example of a physical dilemma, desperation is a picture
of spiritual desperation. And no one comes to the Lord
without it. This business of walking down
the aisle, grinning like a possum, chomping you gum. I'm coming
to accept Jesus. No, you're not. I'm coming to
be seen, heard. Desperation is a necessity, dire
necessity to come to the Lord. She has nowhere else to turn.
And this is exactly God's design that she has nowhere else to
turn. It's been a long time. Twelve
years. And these doctors looking at
this spiritually are preachers. She suffered many things from
many preachers. Abused, misused, accused, deceived,
and disappointed. She's been to every church and she's been told if she didn't
have sin in her life, she wouldn't be in this shape. You ever heard that? She's been given many prescriptions and much religious literature.
None of it's helped her. And over the period of 12 years,
we read that she spent all that she had. These false preachers have taken
every dime she had and made promises of improvement. And your miracle is right around
the bend. And she said, they built my hopes
up. They deceived me only to be disappointed in the end every
single time. And they said, we'll send you
a prayer cloth. That'll make a big difference.
We'll send you a little bottle of anointed water right out of
the Jordan River. That'll do the job. In appreciation of your gift,
of course. But what they don't say is, we
can't help you. We can't help you. They all lied. And the text here says, she was
nothing bettered. Not a bit better. And hopelessness overwhelmed
her and she rather grew worse. In Luke's account, the eighth
chapter, in Luke he knows a physician. And instead of standing up for
his occupation, profession, as a doctor, he said it like this,
none of the physicians could help her. That desperation, desperation. And this morning, to bring this
home, except the Holy Spirit, brings you to see your real desperation. Your real desperation is not
physical. It's not financial. It's spiritual. And unless the Holy Spirit of
God quickens you to see that, you'll not know it. You will
not know it. Unless he does that, you'll continue
to grab at straws and contend as so many do, I'll figure something
out. I'm as good as anybody else.
I'm not a bad person. I don't hurt people. I've been
told all those things a lot of times. I can't claim any of that. I am a bad person. I have hurt
people. And the Lord showed me that I
can't make it any other way. I can't figure anything out. Verse 27 says, When she had heard of Jesus. Now don't jump over that little
word of. It didn't say when she heard about Jesus. It said when
she heard of Jesus. She didn't hear just another
religious nut politicking for Jesus. She heard the effectual call
of the Holy Spirit convincing her in her heart, this is your
answer. That's what the effectual call
of God does. It convinces. It convinces. We're in a world of religion
that God is throwing out offers. Would you accept? Would you accept? Would you accept? When the Holy Spirit comes in
the effectual call to one of God's elect, it's convincing. It's convincing. You'll believe. You'll know this is your answer.
This is the only answer. The God-appointed desperation. This was God-appointed. It wasn't a matter of she could
have got this taken care of in four years, six years, eight
years. Ten years? No, no. Twelve years. God appointed. And this God-appointed desperation
brought about, secondly, a God-given determination. And the less God gives it, it's
not a real determination. You see, this is God, start to
finish. It never has been about your deciding to turn over a
new leaf. You don't have one to turn over. But this is God-appointed desperation
working a God-given determination. And this God-given determination
is faith. Faith is not a New Year's resolution
on your part. that'll last maybe two weeks
to the middle of January. It is God-brought confidence
in the heart that Christ is my answer. He's committed all to me. I must
commit all to Him or perish in my sins. And she said, here's how it worked. It did in her heart. She said
to herself, if I may but touch His clothes, that's all it'll take. Faith is not believing God can.
It's believing He will. And it's the gift of God. You
can't do that for yourself. Notice the crowd here as Jesus
passes by. Much people gathered unto Him. That's back up in verse 21. Verse 24, much people followed
Him. And verse 27, she came in the
press behind. The press being the crowd, pushing
and shoving, carrying on. They were there for religious
recreation, but she came for physical and
spiritual restoration. Big difference, big difference.
They were testifying, I'm happy like I am. She was testifying, I'm not.
I'm in a mess. That's the difference. Big difference. I sometimes wonder if we ever come to church truly
conscious of our need for Him. These were qualified to bump shoulders with
the Lord Jesus. Laugh and talk among themselves. Sing about that old time religion.
But none of them were desperate. This woman was desperate. And she didn't have strength
to fight through the crowd standing up. She got down. And she gets down and comes from
behind and touches the hem of his garment. You see the work was as good
as done before she left the house. Verse 28, she had said, if I
may but touch his clothes. Who gave her that determination? if somehow the garment of His
righteousness, if I could touch that, and the garment of His
righteousness could be put on me. She was desperate and she
was determined. And then came the deliverance,
verse 30, and Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue
had gone out of Him, turned him about in the press and said,
who touched me? And in verse 31, the disciples
speak and we don't criticize the disciples. They said, what
do you mean who touched you? You see this crowd, this multitude
thronging thee, people bumping into you from every side. What
do you mean asking who touched me? Jesus said, yeah, I know a lot
of people are bumping into me. That's one thing. But somebody touched me, really
touched me. And that's who I'm looking for. It's not that he didn't know. He'd done been to her house in
his spirit. He went to her before she came
to him. His going to her is why she came
to Him. His going to her is what made
the desperation move to determination. So he looked around to see her.
In verse 33, she knew the work was done. The woman fearing and
trembling, knowing what was done in her. She knew it was done. And she
told him all the truth. Not that he didn't know. But until now, she didn't really
know. That's what our Lord taught concerning
prayer. You don't have to make any show.
He knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. Prayer is not informing him,
prayer is believing in him. Believing that it's not a waste
of time to speak to him. Verse 34, And he said unto her,
Daughter, remember she started out in verse
25, a certain woman, chosen from eternity, to be adopted
into God's family. Now he addresses her as such.
Daughter. Daughter. Could you imagine that ignorant
bunch saying, I didn't know he had a daughter. Yeah, he's got
lots of them. Christ attributes her deliverance
to God-given faith, thy faith. He's not talking about your mustered
up confidence, but God-given faith. That's what moves you. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And here is the extent of the
deliverance. Faith had told her something
back in verse 25. Convinced her of something. Because
she said, if I may, but touch his clothes, I shall be healed. Is that what
it says? No, it's not what it says. If I may but touch his clothes,
I shall be whole. Difference. Being healed is physical. Being
whole is spiritual. Verse 34, Daughter, thy faith
hath made thee whole. Made whole, it's more than physical
healing, it's spiritual restoration. And what was the sure result
of that? Go in peace. And that peace is Christ. And then the sickness is gone.
Be whole of thy plague. The spiritual was first. She's
made whole. It's a spiritual thing. A lot of false prophets today abuse
that beautiful 53rd chapter of Isaiah. which so vividly describes
the crucifixion. And they use that chapter to
promote physical healing and ignore the spiritual. And they quote this line a hundred
times, by his stripes, we are healed. And then they form long lines
of diseased people, people with cancer, heart issues, lung disease, arthritis,
you name it. Healing line, they call it. Come,
claim it, contribute. That's their line. That's their
game. Let me just tell you what the Bible says in that chapter,
Isaiah 53, 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs. That's the griefs of our sins
and shame with the light of God shined on it. And carried our sorrows. That's
the sorrow of my desperation. to be able to fix myself before
God. I'm nothing bettered, but only
grow worse. But he was wounded for what? Arthritis? Bad back? Headache? No, he was wounded for our transgressions. having transgressed the holy
laws of God. He was bruised for what? My sore
neck? No. He was bruised for our iniquities, our sins, and the shame of them. His suffering and shame on the
cross was not for symptoms. That's what this mess is. Symptoms
of sin and that's why this is dying and going back to the dust. He didn't suffer and die for
symptoms. He suffered for the real disease
and he bore the real disease away for all his people. I'll say
this and I'm through. Many of us here Not all of us, thank goodness,
but many of us here have attained to the age, as the saying is,
one foot in the grave. Y'all know what that means. But whatever your age today,
young or old, you'd better be facing death
one way and one way only, pleading the mercy of God, because you sure haven't made
the grade. So we say with Paul the Apostle
in Philippians 3, that I might be found in Him, in Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
God forbid, I've never done enough good to speak of." Well, Paul
had done plenty, but he said, that's worthless. God forbid. That I be found in him with the righteousness, which
is through the faith of Christ. the righteousness of God by faith. And like this woman, having tried
all else, I urge you, come to Christ. Of all the games you've played,
He alone will not be a dead end. Everything else will be. All right. Thank you so much
for your attention today.