I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. I've entitled this morning's
message, The Right Physician. If you could follow along in
your Bibles, it would be helpful. I'm going to read a passage of
scripture from the fifth chapter of Mark. Mark chapter 5, beginning
in verse 25. And a certain woman which had
an issue of blood, 12 years, that means she had a menstrual
disease. She had a continual flowing and
she had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent
all she had and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she'd
heard of Jesus, came in the press or the crowd behind and touched
his garment, for she said, if I may but touch his clothes,
I shall be whole. And straightway, immediately,
the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her
body that she had been 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 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 be whole of thy
plague. The right physician. Have you
ever gone to a physician and he could not find out what was
wrong with you? Perhaps you've gone to many physicians
and all of them had different theories as to what was wrong
with you, but they were not able to find out what was wrong with
you and give you a cure for whatever it is that's wrong with you.
Now, this woman that we read about under the law was unclean. If you read Leviticus 15, verse
25, because she had this menstrual disease, she was considered unclean
and anything she touched was unclean. And she really had no
right under the Mosaic law to come and touch the Lord Jesus
Christ or anybody else for that matter. You see, anything she
touched would be considered unclean because of her ceremonial uncleanness
that was used to describe her by the law. Now, she had a menstrual
disease. This woman had a continual issue,
her body casting off that which has no life. And under the law,
she was unclean. separated, not allowed to participate
in public worship, and anything she touched was unclean. And
she'd had this disease for 12 long years, and she was so anemic
and weak and emaciated by this disease. And she was also a social
outcast. She was not allowed to go out
in public, according to the law, because of this disease that
she had. And she had become impoverished
by going to so many different physicians, none of which did
her any good. They were all quacks. Physicians
of no value. All they removed from her was
her money. And this typifies the sinner
going to religion to be healed. All of these physicians were
physicians of no value. That reminds me of the average
preacher. People going to try to find some
kind of healing for themselves. She went to Dr. Free Will, and
he said, well, all you've got to do is decide to be healed.
If you are willing to be healed, you will be healed. It's up to
an act of your will. And since when do you just will
to be healed? She went to Dr. Keep the Law.
All you have to do is keep the law and you'll be healed, but
she couldn't. She went to Dr. Be Orthodox and his assistant,
Dr. Reformed, and they told her,
you need to believe the right things and get your doctrine
straight and then everything will be okay. She went to Dr. Quit Sinning, who just said,
all you need to do is stop sinning and everything will be okay.
Well, she couldn't stop sinning. She went to Dr. Be Baptized.
He said, if you're baptized, you'll be cleansed and saved.
He didn't do anything for her either. She went to doctors speaking
tongues and doctor miracle workers and it was all just that, talk. It did her no good. And all of
these doctors she went to had two things in common. Number
one, you had to do what they said before you could be healed. In other words, the burden of
healing was up to you. If you didn't do this certain
thing that they gave you to do, you would not be healed. The
burden of healing lay ultimately in your hand. And that's really
the message I hear preached in our day. Preachers of no value
who do not tell the truth. Say God loves you, Christ died
for you, wants to save you, but it's up to you as to whether
or not you will be saved. Salvation is in your hands, not
in God's hands. That's somebody who is not telling
the truth. That's a physician of no value
who can do you no good at all. And the second thing that I would
say about these physicians she went to, they were all quacks. They had no healing in their
medicine at all. And oh, the suffering this woman
experienced under their hand. Verse 26, she had suffered many
things of many physicians. All the wild things she did in
obedience to what they said, trying to get healed. She suffered
many things of many physicians and spent all that she had and
was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. Oh, the suffering,
the emotional turmoil she experienced and she did not get better, but
rather she grew worse and she was left with nothing. She spent
all and she was bankrupt. You know, this reminds me, I
want you to listen to this statement. Religion is an evil thing. I want to repeat that. Religion is an evil thing. Man's religion. It does no good
at all. All it does is destroy. Religion is an evil thing. This woman went to all these
physicians and she only grew worse. But verse 27, the best
thing to ever happen to her when she had heard of Jesus. Now perhaps she'd heard of him
before, but she was still dealing with her doctors. But now that
she's spent all she had, and all other hopes are gone, all
other avenues are gone, now she hears of Jesus. She hears of
that one who healed the sick. who raised the dead, who controlled
the weather, who cast out demons, who did only what God can do. That's the Jesus she heard of.
She didn't hear of a false Jesus that is so often preached in
our day. She heard of the Lord Jesus Christ
of the Bible. She heard of Him and that was
the best day she ever had. Now, look what it says in verse
27, when she heard of Jesus, she came in the press, in the
crowd, behind. She didn't feel the confidence
to come in front of him. She thought maybe he would cast
her away because she knew she was unclean. She knew, as far
as the law goes, she had no right to come into his presence, but
she had to have him. And we know exactly what she
believed because it says in verse 28, for she said, if I may but
touch his clothes, I shall be whole. I shall be cleansed. She had such a high view of the
Lord Jesus Christ. She knew if I can come into contact
with Him, I will be made whole. Now, I know this. If somehow
I can come into contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, if somehow
He died for me, if somehow He does something for me, I know
I must be healed. I know it's a necessity for me
to be healed. So I guess she was on her hands
and knees because the other two accounts in the Gospels of this
story says she said, if I could touch the hem of his garment,
the border of his garment down on the ground. So I suppose she
came on her hands and knees through this crowd around the Lord Jesus
Christ in order to touch him. And let me remind you, under
the law, she had no right to do this. The unclean were not
allowed to come into contact with people. Under the law, it
was wrong for her to touch Christ. So she came behind, afraid to
come in any other direction, and reached out and touched the
border of His garment. And look what happened. Verse
29, and straightway, immediately, The fountain of her blood was
dried up. This wasn't a gradual healing.
It took place immediately, just like that. And she felt in her
body that she was healed of that plague. She knew she had been
healed. Now, I think it's interesting
that there were a whole lot of people, the scripture says, that
were touching the Lord Jesus Christ at that time. Because
the disciples, when he said, who touched me, They said, Master,
the crowds are thronging thee. Everybody's touching and pressing
you, and everybody's coming to contact with you. How is it that
you ask this question? Many people touched him, that
nothing was done for them. But when this one woman who was
unclean touched him, something happened. You see, the only people
He does anything for are the unclean, are for sinners, are
for people who cannot help themselves. And the only hope they have is
found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they know that. All other
hopes have been taken away. And they see that Christ Jesus
is their only hope. But immediately she felt that
she was healed of that plague. And verse 30 says, and Jesus
immediately, knowing in himself that virtue, saving power, powerful
virtue had gone out of him. It left him. and it went somewhere
else, just like this woman's disease left her and went somewhere
else. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about
in the press, the people pressing against him, the crowd, and said,
who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him,
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched
me? Now, virtue went out of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Saving power, virtue, healing
power went out of the Lord Jesus Christ at that time. He felt
it leave him. He said, Virtue hath Virtue has,
he turned and the priest said, who touched my clothes? The disciple
said, thou seest the multitude thronging, and sayest thou who
touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done
this thing. You see, he perceived that virtue
had gone out of him. Now, this woman, she had this
disease. Now I'd like to read you a passage
of scripture from Matthew chapter eight. Beginning in verse 16,
and I hope this will help us to understand what was taking
place. Matthew 8, verse 16. And when the even was come, they
brought unto him many that were possessed with devils. And he
cast out the spirits with his word, and he healed all that
were sick. I would like to see some of these
phony faith healers do something like this. Why don't they go
into hospitals and truly heal people? The Lord healed all that
were sick. And verse 17 says that it might
be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now he's quoting Isaiah 53, where
Isaiah tells us he was wounded for our transgressions. and he
was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes were healed. He's talking about
the great substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, where
the sins of God's elect were charged to him and became his,
and he became guilty of them, and that's why he was wounded,
because he was guilty of those sins. The sins of his people,
the sins of all who believe, became his sin. That's why He
died on the cross. Now, in this passage of Scripture
I just read, it says He took our infirmities and bare our
sicknesses. It doesn't say sins here, it's talking about sickness.
And here's the point behind this. A lot of folks, when they think
of the death of Christ, they think, well, our sins were charged
to His account. More than that. I don't understand
this. I just believe it. But sickness
cannot be charged to someone's account. Disease cannot be charged
to someone's account. Somehow the sins of God's people
left them and actually came into his body. Who his own self bear
our sins in his own body on the tree. Her sickness, her sin,
it left her and came to Him, and His saving power and His
saving virtue left Him and came into her, and she felt immediately
that she would be healed of her plague. You see, that's the way
salvation works. It happens immediately. You're
healed. You're healed. Your sin is taken
away. That's what the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ did when God saves you. You're made to understand
that all your salvation was accomplished by your contact with Him. His
saving righteousness comes to you and your sin came to Him. The great glorious doctrine of
substitution, the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
She felt immediately that she had been whole of her plague. And in verse 32, when he looked
round about to see her that had done this thing, we read in verse
33, but the woman fearing and trembling. Now this was not the
fear of unbelief. This was that fear of the Lord
because she saw for sure who Christ really was. And she came
fearing and trembling, the scripture says, knowing what was done. Knowing what was done. in her. She came and fell down
before him and told him all the truth." Now let's consider what
this verse says. It says, she knowing what was
done. Now there are two views of salvation. One is represented by the word
do, and the other is represented by the word done. Do and done. And these two views are mutually
exclusive. One is right. The other is wrong. One gives life, the other ends
in death. Summarized by the words do and
done. Now, I have not seen the gospel
until I see what was done. Knowing what was done. What was done? What did the Lord
Jesus Christ actually accomplish? Do you remember his last words
from the cross? It is finished. Not it's left
undone, it is finished. Matthew 121 says thou shall call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And
that is exactly what he did. When he said it is finished,
salvation was done. My salvation was accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ without any reference to anything I ever
do. It's done. It's done. As a matter of fact, Revelation
21, five and six, the Lord says, it's done. He said, behold, I
make all things new. It's done. All things have been
made new. Now here's what I need for me
to be saved. I need a new history. Not just a new clean slate and
a new chance, no, a new history where all my history is nothing
but that which is perfect and that's exactly what Christ Jesus
accomplished for me on the cross. It is done. Not go and do, not
do something. When have you done enough? No,
nothing. They which believe have entered into a rest. It is done. She knowing what was done in
her. Salvation is what God does for
you, but it's also what He does in you. It's not enough for me
to have Christ revealed to me. I need to have Him revealed in
me. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. He said in Galatians 2 20, I
live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now
live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. She knew what
was done in her. Salvation's a work on the inside.
When God gives you a new heart, then you believe, then you repent,
then you love. Now what did she do? Verse 33,
but the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her,
came and fell down before him in worship. That's what you do
when you worship. You fall down at his feet, and
she told him all the truth. She told him all the truth. Has the Lord done something for
you? You tell him all the truth. Tell him the truth about your
disease. Don't try to hide it. Don't try
to hide your sin and gloss over it. Confess it before him. Tell
him all the truth. Tell him of the suffering that
you brought on yourself because of your sin. Tell him all the
truth. Tell him of your futile attempts
to have your sin cured and nothing has worked. Tell him all your
fears and your doubts and your incest and unbelief and the wickedness
of your heart. Tell him all the truth. Tell
him all the truth as to how he is the only hope that you have,
and that you cannot be saved if he doesn't do something for
you. Tell him all the truth. I love that scripture in 1 John
1, 9, if we confess our sins. It doesn't mean confess them
to men. We confess them to God. If we confess our sins, if we
tell him all the truth, He is faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Now, something that all of God's people have in common, they tell
all the truth. They all love the truth. You
know, Paul warned us in 2 Thessalonians 2.10 of those who receive not
the love of the truth. God's people love the truth.
I love the truth regarding the true character of God, who He
is, how He reveals Himself in His Word. I love all of His attributes. We love the truth concerning
ourselves. I want to know the truth about myself. That I'm
nothing but sin and that my only hope is Christ. I need to know
the truth. I need to know the truth of how God saves by his
grace. How God saves by the blood of
Christ. How God saves by an act of his
free and sovereign will. Love the truth. All of God's
people love the truth and they love all the truth. If all you
have is a half a truth, you have a lie. No, she told him all the
truth. Verse 34. And he said unto her,
Daughter, you're my child. She's a child of the truth. Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Now, there's no salvation apart
from faith. And we know exactly what her
faith was. She said, if I could just touch his clothes, if I
can come into contact with him, I'll be made whole. She believed
that with all her heart. She believed that he was salvation. Now, I'm asking you. I'm not
asking you if you believe you're saved. I'm not asking you if
you know you'll go to heaven when you die. I'm asking you
this. Do you believe that if somehow
you come into contact with him, You must be made whole. That's what faith is. Faith has
to do with Christ. Faith isn't believing you're
saved. It's believing that He is salvation. Now, if you believe
He is salvation, you'll believe you're saved. But that's assurance. That's not faith. He said, daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. and behold of thy
plague." Now he said, go in peace. Now this woman had been in wretchedness
for 12 years, constant turmoil, wondering what was going to happen
to her. But now he says, go in peace. Now the only way I can
have peace, true peace, is if all my sin is gone. Any other kind of peace is a
false peace. It's putting a Band-Aid over
a gaping wound. No, the only true peace I can
have is if my sin is actually taken away. If God has actually
justified me and made me not guilty before His sight, that's
the only way I can have peace. The only way I can have peace
is if I'm in Christ. The Lord said in John 6 31, these
things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you'll have tribulation
and trial, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The only way I can have peace
is if He tells me, go in peace. It won't do me any good for you
to tell me to have peace. The only way I can truly have
peace is if He speaks peace to my conscience. through His work
on the cross. Therefore, having been justified,
being justified, by faith we have peace with God. Now here
is true peace, knowing that all God requires of me I have, and
that I stand before God without guilt, because of the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ in my behalf. Having been justified, He was
delivered from our offenses and raised again for our justification.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Go in peace. And the last thing
he said to her was, Behold of thy plague. You know, she was
already whole of her plague. He'd already healed her. And
yet he said to her again, Behold of thy plague. Go in peace. Behold
of thy plague. She needed to hear him say it
again. This has something to do with
needing to hear the preaching of the gospel over and over again. I need to hear this same message
from him. Go in peace. To request a copy of the sermon
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