Would you turn with me to Mark
chapter five? The Lord willing tonight, I'm
going to be preaching from that passage of scripture where the
Lord said in Matthew chapter seven, ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock. And it shall be opened
unto you. I'm going to try to speak on
asking, seeking and knocking. And one of the things that I
thought about that passage of scripture is which of us have
not read that and thought, well, I asked and I didn't receive.
I've sought and I didn't find I've knocked and it was not open
to me. What about that? Well, I hope we'll understand
that by the end of that message. I've entitled this message, The
Right Physician. The Right Physician. Verse 25 of Mark chapter 5, And a certain woman, Lord always saves certain individuals,
doesn't he? 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. Now under the law, this woman
had no right to touch the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the law,
she was unclean. Leviticus chapter 15 verse 25
lets us know that anything she touched was unclean. She had
a menstrual disease. For 12 years, for 12 years, she
had a continual issue of blood running from her. Now the Hebrew
word that would describe this woman is called rejected, impure,
filthy, and minstrel. She had this horrible disease
for 12 years. She had this continual issue,
her body casting off that which has no life. And under the law,
she was to be separated, not allowed to take part in worship. Anything she touched was unclean. And if you touch something she
touched, you were unclean. And she was so anemic. Can you
imagine how weak this woman must have been? And she was a social
outcast. She was not allowed to participate
in worship. 12 long years. And she had become impoverished
by going to these many different physicians. Have you ever gone
to the doctor and been misdiagnosed? They said, this is what you need
to do. And it didn't work. Well, she had been to many physicians
like this and they were all quacks, physicians of no value. All they
removed from her was her money and left her impoverished. Now this typifies the sinner
going to religion to be healed. All of these physicians, all
of these quacks, the average preacher, would give her ways
to be healed. She went to Dr. Freewill. And
Dr. Freewill says, all you need to
do is decide to be healed. You need to decide to let God
heal you, and then you'll be healed. Didn't do her any good. She went to Dr. Keep the Law. All you need to
do is keep the law and you'll be healed. She couldn't keep
the law. It did her no good. She went
to Dr. Be Orthodox and his assistant,
Dr. Reformed. Get your doctrine straight. Give a scent to the right things.
Believe the right things. Believe all the doctrines of
the Bible and you'll be healed. She tried to become completely
Orthodox. And it didn't do her any good. She went to doctors,
stopped sinning. Now you need to stop sinning.
If you quit sinning and straighten up your life, you'll be healed.
She couldn't. It did her no good. She went
to doctor be baptized. She went to doctor speak in tongues.
She went to all these different doctors trying to get something
that would heal this issue of blood. She continued till she
lost everything she had. She didn't get better, but rather
she grew worse. Now, all of these doctors had
two things in common. First, you had to do what they
said before you could be healed. There's something you needed
to do before you could be healed. And only if you did that, would
you be healed. The burden of healing lay ultimately
in your hand. If you do the right thing, you
will be healed. And secondly, they were all quacks. There was no healing in their
medicine. Look in verse 26. She had suffered
many things of many physicians and spent all that she had and
was nothing better, but rather grew worse. She was bankrupt. She was suffering. She was in
turmoil. physical turmoil, emotional turmoil,
all that she'd experienced at the hand of these doctors. Now, what that reminds me is
human religion is an evil thing. All it does is take and it never
gives. Such was the position of this
woman. But in verse 27, the best thing
that ever happened to her took place. Verse 27, when she had
heard of Jesus. This one who in the previous
chapter, even the winds and the sea obeyed him. The one who could do what only
God could do. The one who healed the sick.
gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, the one who had all
authority, the one whose will must be done. That's the Jesus
she heard of. When she heard of Jesus, now
perhaps she'd heard of him before, But she didn't quite need him
yet because she was still going to these physicians, finding
some hope in him. But when she lost all hope, when
all of these physicians did her no good and she was not bettered,
but rather grew worse. Oh, then when she heard of Jesus,
it says she came in the press behind. She had such a high and
glorious view of him. She wouldn't dare come before
him. She came in the press behind and touched his garment. Now we know what she believed
from verse 28, for she said, if I may touch, but his clothes, I shall be. whole. She had such a high and exalted
view of the Lord Jesus Christ. She knew if I come in contact
with him, if I can just touch his clothes, if I can just come
in the press behind and just reach out and touch the hem of
his garment, I don't expect him to look my way. I don't expect
him to say anything to me, but if I can just come into contact
with him, I shall be whole. She knew she was sick and she
knew that if she came in contact with him, that's all it took. I tried to put myself in this
woman's place. I know this. I've got an issue of blood from
the inside that I can't heal myself. And I do know this, I
know this, if somehow by the grace of God, I can come in contact
with him. If I can just touch the hem of
his garment, if he died for me, if he does something for me,
I shall be whole. I must be whole. If I can just
touch the bottom of his garment. So I guess let's go on reading. I love to think about this. When
she heard of Jesus, verse 27, she came in the press behind
and touched his garment. I guess she was on her hands
and knees trying to get through the crowd. For she said, if I
may be touched by his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway,
as soon as she touched his garment, the fountain of her blood was
dried up. He wasn't gradual. It wasn't
a process. As soon as she came in contact
with him, she was completely healed. And she felt it. She knew in her body that she
had been whole of that plague. Now, remember, she had no right
to do this. You know, that comforts me. She
had no right to do this. Under the law, she was unclean.
She had no right to touch anybody. While she didn't have a right,
she had a desperate need. She needed the Lord Jesus Christ. There wasn't anywhere else for
her to go. Now, if you ever need, you may
have no right. but that need will drive you
to him. She had a need of the Lord Jesus
Christ to get into touch with him. Verse 29, straightway, 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 Jesus,
Immediately knowing in himself that virtue, saving power, virtuous
power had gone out of him, he felt something leave. He felt
something leave him. Turned about him 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 touch
me? Now, it's interesting, I believe,
that a whole lot of people touched the Lord Jesus Christ at that
time, didn't they? The multitude pressed him, thronged him, touched
him, but no saving power came out of him. He didn't feel anything
leave at this time. But when this woman who was unclean,
touched him. Saving power went out. Now for the person who wasn't
unclean, nothing happened. But for that person who was unclean,
who had no right to touch him, saving power and virtue went
out of him. and into her and healed her of
her disease. Now question, where did her disease
go? Something went out of him into
her and something went out of her. That disease she had went
out of her. Where did it go? Turn to Matthew chapter eight
for just a moment. Now this is a quotation from
Isaiah chapter 53. You remember what Isaiah 53 says. It's where he himself bore our
sins and carried our sorrows and so on talking about the great
substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in
verse 16. 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, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah, the
prophet saying himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now, you know, as well as I do,
that Isaiah 53 says he was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities. That's what Isaiah 53 says, but
yet when Matthew quotes Isaiah here, he talks about him bearing
our sicknesses and our infirmities. Now I say this with reverence,
I hope with reverence, and I hope with fear and trembling, but
listen to me real carefully. Sin was more than charged to
his account. If my sin was only charged to
his account, that really gives me no peace. If my sin was simply charged
to him, that gives me no peace. Sickness cannot be charged to
your account, can you? Can it? Sickness cannot be charged to
someone's account. If my sin left me, it came to
him and he bore it. Sin can't be two places at once. My sin left me. She felt that disease leave her. The Lord felt saving power and
virtue leave him, my sin came into him. His saving power and virtue
comes to me. And because of who he is, he
has an infinite amount of it. It never runs dry. He can do
this with billions and trillions of people and his vast supply
of saving virtue and power is still in act. He can still, his
arm is never short that it can't saved. Now this woman, she felt
in her body that that plague had left her and it went into
him. He bore our sins. Not just the punishment of them,
And beloved, this is the only thing that gives me any peace.
My sin's gone. He bore it, not just the punishment
of it, but the sin itself, who his own self bear our sins in
his own body on the tree. Verse 30, And Jesus, immediately
knowing himself that virtue had gone out of him, Mark 5, 30,
turned 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? Now, do you reckon he knew
who touched her? You know he knew exactly who
touched her. And if somebody's touching him
right now this morning like this, he knows exactly who it is. Verse 32, and he looked round
about to see her that had done this thing. Can you imagine how she must
have felt when he looked at her? Can you imagine how you would
feel to see him? looking at you, a certain individual
saving power going out of him. Verse 33, but the woman fearing
and trembling, knowing what was done in her came and fell down
before him and told him, all the truth. Now this woman now
experienced the fear of God. Now she's healed. Saving power
has gone out of him into her. Her disease has left her and
gone into him. And what does she do at this
time? She comes fearing and trembling. Now, understand this. May God
give us grace to see this. The fear of God does not come
until you're saved. Until the Lord does something
for you. Until your sin is put away, your disease is gone, and
saving virtue has come out of him to you. Now is when you begin
to fear. There's no fear of God with the
natural man. Now there's fear of consequences.
There's fear of things that will happen if you don't act right,
if you don't do right. There's fear of what might take
place and there's fear of what you might lose. There's all kinds
of that fear, but that's not the fear of God. That's the fear
of punishment. That's the fear of loss. That's
not the fear of God. But when she saw that she was whole of
her plague, she came fearing and trembling. David put it this
way, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. The forgiveness comes before
the fear. But when you see the forgiveness,
that's what creates this true fear of God that is the beginning
of wisdom. She came before him, fearing
and trembling. This is what everybody does who
sees the Lord and note what it says in verse 33, knowing what
was done. Knowing what was done. Not what she did. But what was
done? I have not seen the gospel until
I see what was done. There's only two views of salvation.
Only two. One is due. The other is done. It really is that simple. One
is due. Here's what you need to do. If
you do this, if you do that, then you'll be saved. Then your
sins will be forgiven. Go and do. And the other is. It's done. There's nothing for you to do. It is done. Look in this same chapter in
Mark 5 verse 18. And when he was come into the
ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that
he might be with him. How be it Jesus suffered him
not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends and tell him how
great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion
on thee. The great things He has done. Now, understand this. This is
the only thing that gives me any peace and comfort and joy
and assurance. It's what He has done. Not what I am to do in order
to get, but what He has done. In Matthew chapter 1, verse 21,
we read these words. Thou shalt call His name Jesus.
This is the opening chapter of the New Testament. Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall Save his people from their sins. And here's my question. Did he
do it? Is it something that is done
or did he leave anything undone or incomplete? Did he do it? Let me show you a passage of
scripture in revelation 21. I love the words to that song.
When I stand with Christ in glory, looking over life's finished
story, everything's already done. Everything's already complete.
Then Lord, shall I fully know not to then how much I owe. Now
look in verse five, Revelation 21. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write for
these words are true and faithful. Now here's what he said he's
going to do. He said, I make, not I will make,
but I make all things new. I've said this recently. What good would it do you if
God gave you a new start? And he gave you a completely
blank slate. All the sins of your past were
washed away and you've got a brand new start. Beloved. A new start won't do me any good
at all if I don't have a new heart. Not only that, I don't just need
a new start. I need a new history. Now, history is what is already
done. I need my history changed. I
need to have a new history where there's no sin, where there's
no guilt, where there's been nothing but obedience. And the
Lord promises, I make all things new. And look what he says in
verse six. And he said unto me, it is done. A brand new history. Without
guilt. Without sin. Knowing what was
done and don't miss this. Knowing what was done. In her. Not just what was done for her.
But what was done in her. Christ in you. The hope of glory. In Galatians 1 verses 15 and
16, 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, not just to me, but in me. And I know this beyond a shadow
of a doubt. If all Christ has revealed is
to me, I'll lose him. I need him revealed. in me. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I live yet not
I but Christ liveth in me. That's what I need. I need him
to be revealed in me. So what did she do? She fell
down prostrate before him in worship and everybody who ever
sees who Christ is does the exact same thing. Now back to Mark
chapter 5. But the woman, verse 33, fearing
and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down
before him and told him all the truth. All the truth. Beloved, May God give me the
grace and you the grace to do just this. Fall down before him
and tell him all the truth. Tell the truth about your disease.
Don't hide your disease. Don't hide your sin. Don't gloss
over it. Tell the truth. Tell the suffering
that you brought on yourself because of your sin. Tell him
of your futile attempts to have your sin cured. Tell him about
your fears. Tell him how you fear you're
nothing but a hypocrite. Tell him how you fear that you're
not one of the elect, that you're not one of the chosen, that God,
perhaps Christ didn't even die for you. Tell him your fears.
Tell him of the hardness of your heart and your incested unbelief
and the raging lust warring in your souls. Tell him the truth.
Tell him all the truth. If we confess. There it is. Not to me, not to one another. But if we confess our sins, he's faithful and he's just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. She told him all the truth. You
know something all of God's people have in common. They love the
truth. Remember those people in Thessalonians
we read about who received not the love of the truth. We love
the truth and we love all the truth. Give me all the truth.
What's a half-truth? It's a lie. I want all the truth
concerning who he is, concerning who I am, concerning how he saves. I want all the truth. God's people
love all the truth. She came and she told him all
the truth, verse 34. And he said unto her, daughter,
what do you reckon she felt when he said that? Oh, the assurance. He said, you're my daughter.
You're my child. You see, that's what children
do. They tell all the truth. She came and told him all the
truth. And he said, daughter, thy faith What was her faith? He said,
Thy faith has made thee whole. There's no salvation apart from
faith. What was her faith? Well, here's what she believed.
She believed that if I can just touch the border of His garment,
I'll be whole. She had such high and exalted
views of the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't that what great faith
is? Great faith believes in a great Savior. Great faith believes
that if I can just touch the border of His garment, I'll be
whole. Oh, what great faith this woman
had. Wasn't in herself, but she had
great faith in the saving power and virtue of Jesus Christ, the
Lord. He said, thy faith hath made
thee whole. Go in peace. And the only way
that I can have peace, I want to be as honest with you as I
can be. The only way that I can have peace is if my sin is all
gone. He was manifested to take away
our sins. Now has he appeared once in the
end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, if you tell me, or if God
tells me, or if the Bible tells me that my sin is gone, really
it won't do any good for you to tell me. God's got to tell
me. His word's got to tell me. But if his word tells me my sin
is gone, I have peace. The only way I can have peace
is if I'm justified. That means I never sin. I stand
before God without guilt. The only way I can have peace
is if I'm sanctified, holy, not something that knows of a process.
Holy, holier and holy. No, I'm altogether holy without
any sin. The only thing that gives me
any peace is if I'm already glorified. Not as sure for heaven as if
I get there, but I'm already there in the person of my substitute,
my savior. The only way I can have peace
is if I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, these things have I
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world
you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. Now, the only way I can have
peace is if there really is a biblical ground for my peace. Therefore, being justified. That's the gospel right there.
Now understand, listen real carefully. When Jesus Christ died on the
tree, he didn't make salvation available. He saved everybody
he died for and he justified them and their sin was put away. And that's the only thing that
gives this sinner peace, that he did it all. Do you believe he did it all?
I do. Daughter, thy faith hath made
thee whole, go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. That's
interesting, isn't it? She's already whole. And yet
he says to her, be whole of thy plague. I think that has something
to do with having to hear the gospel over and over again. She's already whole. And yet
she has to hear him say it again, behold of thy plague. Now, may the Lord give everybody
in this room the same faith this woman had. That we can put forth
the trembling hand in the press, knowing we're unclean. And knowing
this, if I can just touch the border of his garment, I'll be
whole. Anybody and everybody who believes
that will touch the border of his garment and they will be
whole. Let's pray together.