Begin in verse 25. Mark chapter
5 and verse 25. A certain woman, and a certain
woman, which had not issue of blood twelve years, had suffered
many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had,
and was nothing better, but rather grew worse. And when she had
heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch
but his clothes, I shall behold. 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 touch my clothes? And his disciples
said unto him, Thou seest a multitude thorn in thee, and sayest thou,
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 has made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of
thy plague. We know what kind of a physical
condition this woman was in. We're told that here, for twelve
years she had been bleeding. Some of you ladies might imagine
what something like that would be like. the weakness that would
be involved in it, the pain. I wonder what her mental state
was. I've often thought of that. What
kind of a mental state would this dear lady have been in?
You know, our bodies and our souls are so woven together that
you can't hardly flip one. very long and very hard that
you afflict the other. Mentally and physically we are
bound together. I would suppose that this poor
woman was very anxious and very oppressed. I think her situation
would indicate that because in verse 26, she suffered many fangs
of many physicians. and spent all she had and was
nothing better, but rather grew worse. One of the things I know
from experience that is associated with anxiety and depression is
a sense of helplessness. This woman could not be healed
of any. She had spent all she had. How
helpless she felt. She could not help herself, and
nobody else could help her. But I think probably she reached
the stage of hopelessness because Luke tells us she could not be
healed. She held out some hope, maybe
for 10 years, 11 years. And finally, the doctors convinced
her, Lady, your case is hopeless. We cannot help you. I've had
friends. I've had relatives. I've had
people that I loved very dearly, that have gotten so depressed
and felt so helpless and hopeless, they took their own lives. I had two friends that Joe and
I graduated with. Theirs were probably out of foolishness. I had another dear friend that
he felt so hopeless. Another friend that he got in
the same way. A dear uncle. that got in a hopeless situation
and took his own life. If anybody, I think, had a reason,
a right to despair of living, it would have probably been this
lady. But she didn't. She didn't. The Lord has put
something in a man and in a woman, even something naturally, that
wants to live. Wants to live. Twelve years this
woman had been afflicted, but she still wanted to live. She
wanted to enjoy life. You know that's a gift of God.
Turn over with me to the book of Job, chapter 3. You hold Mark and turn over to
the book of Job. Chapter 3. A couple of places.
Chapter 3 and chapter 5. Look in verse 12 of Job chapter
3. I'm sorry, it's not Job, it's
Ecclesiastes. It's Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
Turn over to Proverbs and go to your right in Ecclesiastes
chapter 3. Look here in verse 12. I know that there is no good
in them, but for a man to rejoice and
to do good in his life, and also that every man should eat and
drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of
God. To get up in the morning, to
go to work, whether you work at home or someplace outside
the home, to eat, to enjoy God's creatures in this world, To really
enjoy life, that's a gift of God. Look here at what he says
in chapter 5 in verse 18. Behold, that which I have seen
is this, it's good and comely for one to eat and to drink and
to enjoy the good of all his labor that he hath under the
sun, all the days of his life which God giveth him, for it
is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath
given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof,
and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor, this
is the gift of God. And I tell you, after you've
lived a few years, you begin to realize that, don't you? To
enjoy this life. And I don't know who could enjoy
this life more than a believer. More than a child of God. Because
you enjoy God. You enjoy God. Back over here in our text, what
was it that helped this woman? Where did her help begin? Twelve
years she felt helpless, and then that led to hopelessness.
But then she got some help. And here's where help began.
Where did it come from? We're told here in verse 27,
"...and when she heard of Jesus." That's where her help began.
When she heard of Jesus. If you and I want to help somebody,
and we want to help one another, here's what we have to do. Talk
about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what will help us and
what will help others. It doesn't have to be a deep theological
discourse. You don't have to sit down and
say, I've got a half a chapter here I want to open up to you. You know, seldom we're going
to help anybody by some deep theological discourse. We're
going to rack our brain. One of the reasons that a lot
of people don't say anything is because they think, I don't
know that much about the Scriptures. I can't sit down and explain
the Scriptures. You know sometimes when a person
is really, really in trouble, you ain't going to give them
some deep theological discourse to help them. Did you know that?
You're going to lose them, aren't you? You're going to lose them.
She heard of Jesus. And if you're going to tell somebody
of Jesus, You're not going to help them very much by just simply
saying Jesus is the answer. Trust Christ. That ain't going
to help them much either. It says here in verse 27 that
she heard of Jesus. What did she hear of Him? Probably
not very much. She probably didn't hear very
much of Him at all. But you know it don't always
take much, does it? If it's about Jesus. She heard of Jesus. I remember when Sturgeon told
the story of his conversion, when the Lord saved him, he was
out in the streets of London on a late evening and the snow
had got so deep that it cancelled the service that he was attending.
Just a young teenage boy, a miserable child, convicted of sin, and
he went into a little Methodist chapel. The pastor had not been
able to get there, so one of the men got up in the pulpit
to read a passage of Scripture. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the world, for I am God and there is none else.
And Spurgeon said he sat there as the man read his text, And
he was so illiterate, he said, you could hardly understand him.
But he read his text and repeated it two or three times, look unto
me and be ye saved, for I am God. And Spurgeon said, he looked
down at me and he said, young man, you're the most miserable
young man I've ever seen in my life. He just opened Spurgeon's
conscience up. Spurgeon said, I was indeed a
miserable young child. He examined him and he reached
this diagnosis, you're a miserable young man. And he said, young
man, you're going to live and you're going to die in your misery
if you don't look to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And that's all he said. But that's
all he needed to say. Because he told young Spurgeon
where he was and he told him about a Savior that could save
him. And Spurgeon said that very instant, I looked and I was saved. I looked and I lived. And he
never ceased to preach, look unto me and be saved. But it
don't take much if it's about the Lord Jesus Christ. She heard of Him. She heard of
Him. She probably heard of Him in
a simple story. That's probably what she heard,
I doubt seriously, if someone took the Scriptures and sat down
with her and explained who Christ was to her. I bet she heard of
Him from somebody that had experienced what He had done for them personally,
or they told about what He had done for somebody else. It came
in a true story, but I bet it came in a simple story that somebody
told her. Let me give you some examples.
Mark tells us of them in chapter 5 that you and I read our text
from. You remember when the Lord Jesus
had just came from the country of Gadara? He had found this
man that had a legion of devils? And he had cast the devils out
of this man. And they entered a swine and
went down over the hill and they all were choked. And that man
was sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus, clothed and in his
right mind. And the Lord Jesus was ready
to come back over here where this woman was. And the man said,
Lord, let me go with you. And he said, no, you go home.
And tell them. What great things the Lord has
done for you. I wonder if that was the story
that reached her. They were amazed when they heard
it. Did you hear what happened with
that maniac? The Lord Jesus, the Son of Mary,
rules over devils and He cast them out of that man. Did you
hear about that? She probably heard of Him in
a story, a simple story. And then in chapter 4, Mark tells
us of that crossing of the Sea of Galilee. Maybe she heard of
that. Maybe she heard from Peter, or
John, or James, or one of the other apostles. Boy, let me tell
you what happened out on the Sea of Galilee last night. You're
not going to believe this. We were out there and we thought
surely we were going to drown. These hurricane winds came through.
We couldn't see. We were so blinded by the mist
in the air. It burned our skin and the waves
was coming into the ship. And our Master rose and spoke
to the wind and the sea. And there was a calm. There was
a calm. I was there. You should have
been there and seen what He did. There was a calm, a great calm.
Boy, if she had heard that, don't you think that was appealing
to her soul? Oh, I haven't been calm in my soul for twelve long
years. Could the Lord Jesus calm my
soul? She heard of Him. And then in
chapter 3, we're told of this man that was in the synagogue
who had this withered hand. It was all drawn up. And the Lord Jesus spoke to that
man with a withered hand and said, stretch forth your hand.
And lo and behold, he did. And it was restored whole as
the other. Maybe somebody told her of that. Maybe he told her. And then in
Mark chapter 2, we have this man with a policy. Remember that? He couldn't walk. He laid on
the street. Sometimes they'd take him out
and lay him down on his little cot and he'd lay there with his
cup. Maybe this lady had come by and put a little money, a
little change in his cup if she had any left over from the doctors. And those four men carried this
man with a palsy and led him down through the roof in the
presence of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord saw their faith.
And He said to that man that lay there upon that cot, your
sins be forgiven. Take up your bed and go into
your house. And here comes this woman down the street. And in a day or two, she comes
back down and she don't see this man laying on his cot. Where's
old so-and-so that had been laying on the cot? Oh, you haven't heard?
And they tell her the story. Oh, this Jesus of Nazareth can
forgive sins? He can say to a man that can't
walk, take up your bed? Didn't even have to go to therapy?
Send him home glorifying God? Oh, that's just what I need.
And then you go back to chapter 1 and we're told the story of
that leper. That was full of leprosy. So
the Word was out. The Lord Jesus could do great
things, and He was doing great things. He was the great physician. Devils were subject to Him. Sickness
was subject to Him. And this woman thought to herself,
He could do that for me. And that's the first encouragement
she had had for all of these years. A little ray of light
come into her darkness. And her despair began to vanish. And she thought within herself,
if I can just touch Him, I'll be whole. But when did this start? When she heard of Jesus. If you and I want to help one
another, brothers and sisters, in our time of trouble, Just tell what you know and what
you've experienced with the Lord Jesus yourself. You don't have to tell something
you don't know. Just tell what He's done for you. Or tell what
you know that He's done for somebody else. Don't ever underestimate
the power of a personal testimony. something you've experienced
with the Lord. Dear old John Bunyan, he got religion, and
he started sitting under these deep theological preachers, and
it had no effect upon him at all. And one day, he was walking
down the street, and on the other side of the fence, he heard these
two old ladies talking about the love of Christ to their souls,
and how the Lord had visited them. And he was convicted and
brought to the Lord by that means. Why was it so critical that she
hear of the Lord Jesus? It encouraged her to come to
Him. Hearing of Him encouraged her to come to Him. And when she had heard of Him,
she said, if I can just touch the hem of His garment, You know
why we love to read the book of Psalms. Brother Torrance read
the book of Psalms this evening to us. You know why we like the
book of Psalms so much. It's full of experience. Most of the time when you go
to the book of Psalms, you start out and David or one of the other
writers is in trouble. And they're talking to themselves
about it. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieting
within me? Why are you so troubled? Hope
in God! And they tell us about all the
trouble they're in and having, and they're seeking the Lord,
and before the psalm's over with, somebody's obtained deliverance.
The Lord has visited. It's experience. And we go there
to the psalm, and they say, I can relate to that. When I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, The Lord is with me. I can relate
to that. I like that. It's a story that
David had experienced. Tell people what you know of
the Lord. And don't underestimate the value
of it if the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it. In verse 27 through
verse 29, this woman not only heard of Jesus, she came to Him
and experienced His power. Wouldn't that be wonderful if
you told someone a story of Him, and that enticed somebody to
say, I think I'll go to Him. And they'd come to Him, as this
woman did. She heard of Jesus and came in
the press and touched His garment. For she said, If I may 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. If I may but touch." Boy, the
Lord did a lot of miracles when He was here. And you know one
of the ways He did a lot of them? Either by touching somebody or
being touched by somebody. Listen to these passages. Remember
when Peter's mother was sick of the fever? The Lord touched her hand, and
the fever left her, and she arose and ministered to Him. There
were two blind men crying out to the Lord Jesus, and they came
to Him, and the Scripture said He touched their eyes. And immediately
they saw and followed Him in the way. In Mark chapter 7, the
man that was deaf and had an impendiment in his tongue, the
Lord put his fingers in his ears and touched his tongue. And immediately
his ears were opened and his tongue was loose and he spoke
plainly. Just the touch of the Master's
hand. Matthew chapter 17, the apostles,
three of them were on the Mount of Transfiguration, remember
that? And this bright cloud overshadowed them, and this voice spake out
of the cloud and said, This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him. And they were so fearful they
fell on their faces. And the Scripture says the Lord
Jesus touched them. And that dispelled their fear.
Be not afraid. And they lifted up their eyes
and all they saw was Jesus Christ the Lord. Just touching people. Just touching people. Or just a touch, and we can see. Just a touch, and we can hear.
Just a touch, and we can talk. And just a touch from Him, our
fears are dispelled. Our doubts flee. Just a touch
of the Master's hand. And then we're told here in this
passage, she touched Him. And she was made whole of the
plague. Look over here in Matthew chapter
14. Look in Matthew chapter 14 and
look here in verse 35. Matthew chapter 14 and verse
35. And when the men of that place Matthew 14, verse 35. When they
had knowledge of him, knowledge that he was there, knowledge
of who he was and what he was doing, look what they did. They
sent out unto all that country round about, and brought unto
him all that were diseased, and besought him, they begged him,
asked him, that they might only touch the hem of his garment. And as many as touched were made
perfectly whole. Luke chapter 6 said the whole
multitude sought Him to touch Him. For there went virtue out
of Him and healed them. That's what happened to this
woman. There was a lot of people touching Him. That's what the
disciples said. But this woman really touched
Him. She touched Him by faith. She said, He has power to heal
me if I can just touch Him. And as soon as she touched Him,
there went virtue, there went power out of Him into her. If He touches you, He's going
to heal you. If you touch Him, you're going
to be healed by Him. Virtue is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 29, it makes this wonderful
statement, and she felt, in her body that she was healed. She felt in her body that she
was healed. You and I sometimes talk about
faith. We live by faith. We are saved
by faith. We walk by faith. And some people think when we
say that, that we mean that we are blindly walking along. We are so weak. We are so helpless. We're just ready to stumble and
fall. We don't know hardly where we're
going. We're just walking by faith.
That's not what we mean when we say that. There's help, and we receive
it. Really and actually receive it. There is strength that we feel
in our souls. There is light that actually
drives away our darkness. There is a joy that is so real
that it replaces our sadness and the heaviness of our spirit. If you come to me and you said,
I'm in trouble, and I said, well, you go to the Lord, But I can't be for sure that
you'll know it when He helps you. I ain't going to help you
by telling you something like that. Saved and never know it? Healed and never realized it?
Touched by the Lord of glory and never feel it? I'm not about
to tell you something like that. Do you and I ever feel Guilt
in our soul? Have you ever felt guilt in your
conscience? And we felt blood come from His
side to heal us. Have you ever had the Lord to
touch you? Have you ever touched the Lord? He touched you with
His Spirit? Touched you with His Word, His
presence. Touched you with a song. Touched you with a look. He looked
at you. And He's made you aware of it
in your soul. To this man will I look. To him
that's of a broken and contrite heart. And I'll make him to know
that I've looked upon him with my eyes of pity. Psalms 147 verse 3 says this,
He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their spirits. Have you ever had your heart
crushed? That's what that word contract
means. When you read that, in the spirit of the contract spirit,
that means it's being crushed. Have you ever had your spirit
crushed? Your heart broken? And you felt
the heaviness of all of that. You felt it. Haven't you felt
that? And you feel it when He begins
to bind you up. He takes that sore, that wound
that's opened and gushing, and He begins to bind it up and heal
it. And you know it. You feel it.
I'm talking about a conscience work, a soul work, a work upon
our hearts. We know it when He works upon
us. Come unto Me, all ye that labor. You know something about that,
don't you? You know what it is in your heart to be heavy laden?
You felt that. Well, in the same way, I will
give you rest. Go to Christ. Go to the Lord
Jesus. But you'll never know whether
He does you any good or not. Perish such a doctrine. Perish
such a thought. Go to Him, and He'll not only
help you, He'll make you to know it. You go to Him with a heavy
heart, He'll give you rest for your soul. Go to Him with wounds,
and He'll heal you. Peace, peace be to Him that's
far off, and to Him that's nice, saith the Lord. and I will heal
him." I tell you, it would make you to know it. It would make
you to know it. She felt in her body. She knew what was done in her. Look here at another passage.
Look here in Isaiah chapter 57. Oh, don't you just long for Him
to touch you? And don't you long to touch Him? Touch Him as often as you can. I don't think it would be right
for me to tell you that you just touch Him one time and that's
it. You feel like you need to touch Him? Touch Him again. Reach
out and touch the Lord as He goes by. You'll find He's not
too busy to hear your hearts cry. He's passing by this moment
your need to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord.
You've reached out and touched Him, haven't you? Many times
you've reached out and touched Him. And there's been times He's
reached out and touched you. You've come hearing in a message,
He's touched you. In a song, He's touched you.
In the reading of His Word, in a prayer, He's touched you. And
you've reached out and you've got to look at Him. You saw Him.
Just a flash. Just a moment. And you saw Him
through the eye of your understanding. And you've touched Him. Look here at what He says in
verse 15. Isaiah 57, Thus saith the High and Lofty One, that
inhabiteth eternity." Isaiah 57, verse 15. Boy, he's high,
isn't he? High and lofty, and he inhabiteth
eternity. And his name is holy. And I dwell
in the high and holy place. But look at this. With him also
that is of a crushed and humble spirit. What does he dwell there
for? Well, look at this, to quicken,
to restore and recover, revive the spirit of the humble and
revive the heart of the crushed ones. That's why his eye is upon
the crushed ones, the humble ones. His eye of sympathy and
pity is towards them, and His hand is underneath them, and
He restores them and recovers them. If He doesn't, well, they're
going to fall. They can't make it through life
by themselves. They'll reach the same place
this woman was, depressed because they begin to feel helpless and
hopeless. So here the Lord is. He said,
I don't dwell alone. I dwell with these people like
this, and I dwell with them. to restore them and revive them. And how does He do that? By touching
us. And by letting us touch Him.
That's the way He does it. I will not contend forever, neither
will I be always wrought. For the Spirit shall fell before
me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of His
covetousness I was wrought, and I smote Him. I broke him. I hid
myself. And boy, he cried. And I was
wrought. As a father, I was wrought. And
I chastened him so. And he went on forward in the
way of his heart. In verse 18, I have seen his
ways. I think I'll just go ahead and
destroy him. I've seen how covetous he is. I've smote him and he's
went on. Like a wild ass is cold out in
the desert. I'm going to destroy him. Is
that what he said? No. I've seen his ways and I
will heal him. Ain't that mercy? Ain't that
free grace? I will lead him also and restore
comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit
of the lip, peace, peace, to him that is afar off and to him
that is near, saith the Lord. And I will heal him. I'll touch
him. And I'll heal him. And I'll let
him touch me. And it'll heal him. I tell you,
there's just one step. I told somebody the other day,
they was talking about how their mind was going. There's just
one step, a half a step between dust and insanity. Do you know
that? I've seen people myself that
were brilliant people. It wasn't long until they were
half crazy. Strong mentally. Strong in their souls. And now
they're half crazy. Can only have a good thought.
That's how close we are to utter insanity. Letting our spittle
drop down on our chin. Scratching on the walls in some
insane asylum somewhere. I need to touch him, don't you?
That's the only way I can keep my insanity, keep from despairing
about this sinful life. Lord, touch me. Lord, let me
touch you. Let's pray.