Mark chapter 5. The Lord took ship from the land
of the Gadarenes and crossed the sea, Tiberias, and came to
Capernaum. Verse 21. And when he was passed
over again by ship unto the other side, Much people gathered unto
him. Much people, crowded people,
gathered unto him. These people had heard him preach,
had seen his miracles. In fact, chapter 2 of Mark tells
us about that, verse 1 and 2, and again he entered into Capernaum
after some days. It was noise that he was in the
house, and straightway many Many people were gathered. They got
in so much there was no room to receive them, not so much
as about the door. And he preached the word to them
and performed many miracles. And then in verse 22, you get
the picture. Now he's in the town of Capernaum
near the seashore. And this great host of people
just crowded about him. And it says in verse 22, now
this is interesting. Behold, there cometh one of the
rulers of the synagogue. This man was a minister of the
synagogue, a Jewish ruler of the synagogue. And his name was
Jairus. And when he saw Christ, he fell
down at his feet. This story is recorded in Matthew,
Mark, and Luke. And Matthew says he worshipped
him. This ruler of the synagogue, this Jew, in an office like Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a ruler of the
synagogue. And this man came, Jairus, and
fell down at the feet of Christ and worshipped him. This man
had heard of Christ. And like Nicodemus, he believed
that he came from God. Nicodemus said, I know you're
a teacher from God. No man could do what you do except
God be with him. And this man knew that. And he
fell down at the feet of Christ and worshiped him. And verse
23 says, he begged him earnestly. He besought him means he begged
him earnestly. Begged him, down at his feet,
saying, my little daughter, 12 years old, lies at the point
of death. Luke, or rather Matthew, in giving
this account, says the man also added, she may be already dead. When I left, she was at the point
of death. She may be already dead. But I pray thee, I pray
thee, come and lay thy hands on her. He believed Christ was able not
only to heal his daughter, but in the event she was already
dead, to raise her from the dead. He believed Christ was able.
This is a bold confession. Here in the presence of all these
Jews, he's a ruler of the synagogue. And here he is at the feet of
this man called Jesus of Nazareth, confessing his belief in the
power of Christ to raise the dead. Come and lay your hands
on her, lay your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she
shall live." I believe that. I believe she'll live if you
come and lay your hands on her. And our Lord went with him, and
all these folks followed him, thronged him, pressed about him,
so that an amplified version says he was scarcely able to
breathe, so many people thronging him and pressing about him. And
he, now get the processional here. This man lives in that
town. He was a ruler in the synagogue
there. And all these people started toward his house. Christ and
his disciples and all these people started toward his house and
the people were pressing together around him. And verse 25, And
a certain woman, a certain woman which had an
issue of blood for twelve years. This woman had been hemorrhaging
for twelve years, an issue of blood. And our Lord is going
to heal her, and I want you to see this. We know that the healing
of our Lord, all the healing miracles of our Lord, are types
and pictures of his healing our spiritual diseases. Every time
you see our Lord giving sight to the blind, or hearing to the
deaf, or healing to the sick, or a power to walk to the lame,
it's a picture of what he came to do. I want to show you that
in the book of Luke, chapter 4, when he identified his mission. In Luke, chapter 4, verse 18,
in this great synagogue in Nazareth, in his hometown, he identified
his mission. He said in Luke 4, 18, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me, he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, people in poverty. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight
to the blind. to set at liberty them that are
bruised." Now, that's spiritual deliverance, deliverance from
sin and spiritual wickedness and captivity, and being able
to see the truth of God and the salvation of God, blind being
able to see, deaf being able to hear, lame being able to walk,
dead living. It's Christ restoring us to spiritual
health. All of these are pictures of
that, and that's what this is. All right, back to my text now.
You see that when Christ deals with this woman, it's physically. It's Christ dealing with us spiritually. All right. It says she had an
issue of blood 12 years. This woman had a disease that
made her unclean before the That's a picture of us, unclean before
the Lord. I'll show you that in Leviticus
15. Turn to Leviticus, chapter 15. She was unclean before the
Lord, unclean before God. Unclean. Leviticus 15, verse
25. Back in verse 19, if a woman
have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be
blood, she shall be put apart for seven days. Whosoever toucheth
her shall be unclean, even to the evening." She is unclean
during that seven-day period. Now watch down here in verse
25. But if a woman have an issue of blood many days out of the
time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her
separation, this woman for twelve years, six hundred weeks How many days? This woman had bleeding, unclean,
unclean before the law. And all the days of the issue
of her uncleanness shall be the days of her separation. She separated
all that time, away from people, away from the synagogue, away
from the Lord, away from the feast. She shall be unclean. So this disease of sin, with
which all of Adam's sons and daughters are infected, renders
us unclean. She was unclean, she was ostracized,
she was set apart, separated from all the doings of religion.
Unclean. For all these twelve years? And
this is a picture of us. We're unclean before the law
because of our sin, because of our sinful evil. It's in the
blood. Our sin's in the blood. Every member of our body, every
faculty is defiled. We're filthy in the sight of
God. We're unfit for the presence of God, unfit for the holiness
of heaven, unfit for the society of people. Unclean. That's what
they called the leper when he was blotched and spotted with
leprosy. He's unclean. And he used to
go around crying, I'm unclean, don't come near me, I'm unclean.
Cover his face, his mouth, I'm unclean. This woman was unclean. That's us. Picture of us. Now look at verse 26. And it
was a long time, too. She had this a long time. We've
had it a long time. Our sinful nature we've had a
long time. We were born with it. It's as old as we are. It cannot be healed like hers
couldn't be healed, not by natural means or methods. It required
the presence of God, the power of God. Now think about that
verse over in Ezekiel 16, I pass by thee, I saw thee polluted
in thy blood. I said unto thee, when thou wast
polluted in thy blood, I said, Live! I said, Live! I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, Live! All right, let's see something
else about this woman. She has an issue of blood which
made her unclean before the law, before God. And she suffered
many things of many positions. And she spent all that she had
and wasn't any better, grew worse. Can you imagine all of the things
she did suffer at the hands of physicians and people trying
to help her? All the nauseous medications
she must have drunk. All of the concoctions she must
have tried. All of the prescriptions and
the mixtures were given to her, the cures, the diets, the old
remedies. It said she had suffered many
things of many positions, many positions. And not only that,
she spent every dime she had. Mortgage, the house, everything.
And not only that, she wasn't any better. But not only that,
she was worse. How's that a picture of her?
Well, often people have some conviction. of the fact that
they have a problem with God. They have some kind of conviction
that they're aware that there is a God. There's a God, and he's a holy God. There is
a God, and he's God with whom I have to do, at least someday. And then they're aware of sin.
They're sensible to the presence of sin or the defilement of sin.
Well, we all have done wrong, that's what people say. We're
all sinners, I know that. We're sinners. And then, but
some become aware of the progress of evil. That their sin is getting
serious. That their evil nature is getting
serious. It's a progress of sin. Iniquity grows. Transgressions
increase. Evil thoughts become more dominant. As David said, my sins are ever
before me. And we feel helpless before this
onslaught of sin. Different things happen in our
lives, and we become disturbed. So we start visiting some physicians. This woman had this issue for
a while, and it went a day later and a day longer and a week longer
and a month longer. She began to look for some help. And so these people began to
look for some help, and they visited some physician preachers.
They advertise how to be saved and know it. They advertise how
to be saved and how to be healed and how to be filled with the
Holy Ghost. And our methods are a sure cure. You come to our
place and we'll heal you. We'll save you. We'll get you
fixed up. Now, if you prayed that prayer,
you say, welcome to the family of God. Welcome. Welcome. You're
healed. She went to a lot of those. She tried about everything
they told her to try, outwardly, but her disease was inside. It was inside. You couldn't put
a poultice on this. You couldn't get rid of this
by putting something in your mouth. Our Lord said, that which
a man puts in his mouth doesn't defile him and it doesn't save
him either. So these folks, they try, they go to different preachers
and they try their own righteousness and they try the duties of religion,
public and private. They make vows, they shed tears,
they make a trip to the altar, they reform outwardly, they give
the tithes, they give the offerings, they get busy in the church activities
and all the activities of the young people. They keep trying. And if this preacher doesn't
work, they try another one. If this one doesn't work, they
try another one. This is what she did in many positions. Many. I tune into this fellow and that
fellow and the other fellow and go to this church and that church.
Try all these different means and methods to get rid of this
awful issue of blood. She suffered, suffered many things
at many positions. She spent all she had. She paid
them well. She not only didn't get any better,
But she got worse. And that's the problem with dealing
with false religion. You don't get any better, but
you don't stand still either. You get worse. And it goes one
of two directions. This sin business inside, this
rotten nature, this evil heart, this wicked heart and nature
of Adam that basically hates God, loves self, rebellious,
All these outward remedies and recipes and plans and forms don't
help you. And what they do is one of two
things. They'll get you in a false refuge. They'll get you saying,
I'm well, when you're not. They'll get you in a false refuge
and you won't go to a real doctor. That's what some of these healers
are doing. They're telling people you're
healed and they quit taking their insulin. They tell them they're
healed, and they won't go to a real doctor. And they die. In that false belief that they're
healed. I'm alright. One fella told me one time, he
said, God's healed me. I said, you don't look like you're
healed. He said, well the symptoms are there, but the disease is
gone. Whoo! I said, the symptoms are
there, but the disease is gone. That's interesting. Honestly. He said, you're just seeing the
symptoms. Well brother, usually when the symptoms are there,
there's something wrong. And that's when they get a false
refuge, and they won't listen to the truth. My daddy was a Methodist, and
that's good enough for me. My daddy was a Baptist, my mother
was a Baptist, that's good enough for me. Just get a false refuge,
I'm all right! Or the second thing, they'll
quit. There's just nothing to all of
it. Nothing to all of it. Her problem here, she suffered
many things of many physicians. She spent all she had. She wasn't
any better. She got deeper and deeper into
this thing, overlooking one fact. There is a physician. There is
a cure. There is a new heart. There is
a new spirit. There is one who can make you
whole. And the next verse, thank God, she heard of him. She heard of Jesus. Someone told
her about him. Someone had seen him. Someone
had heard him. Someone had touched him. Someone
had been healed by him. Someone who knew, who experienced
his power, his grace, his love. Someone told her, I want to tell
you about the Lord. And she heard. And she came. She heard and she came. Came
where? She came to Him. She came to
Him. She came in the press behind
Him, timid and shy and unclean, knowing she didn't belong there.
knowing that if anybody knew her condition, they would condemn
her for being that. But she came in the prayer, she
came in that big crowd, came, slipped up behind him, slipped
up behind him, and with her own hand, softly, silently, and personally,
and in a helpless situation, she touched his her and him. For she said, if
I may touch but his clothes, I'll be healed. I've tried all
these folks and their remedies and their concoctions and all
their different recipes and plans, but I know this one. I've heard
of him. And she slipped up behind him
and reached out and touched him. She said, if I may touch but
his clothes, I shall be whole. She said, though I am unclean,
helplessly, hopelessly unclean, yet in him there is strength,
in him there is power, in him there is healing. And if I can just a touch, just a touch of
his garments, I'll be whole. everything I know to try, and
I've found no help and no hope, I'll reach out to him. Though
he slay me, I'll trust him. He shall be my salvation. He
shall be my righteousness. He shall be my Lord. I'll touch
him." And the scripture said in verse
29, in a straight way, the fountain of her blood dried She felt in
her body that she was healed of that plague. That's faith. That's confidence in Christ.
She came behind him. Modesty wouldn't let her go in
front of him. Shame wouldn't let her make any
noise. Fear wouldn't let her be acknowledged
by the people. She has earned him. And she touched,
the scripture says in some places, the border of his garment. She
must have been on the ground. She didn't grab his hand, she
didn't cling to him, she didn't raise her hands and holler and
yell and wrap them around him, don't leave me! She said any contact with him
will heal me. And I'm telling you this, and
I'll go on record, I'll go on record, stake everything I believe
on this. Any personal contact between
you and him will save you. They tell me all this stuff I
got to know and do. You ever get in touch with a
master, you've been made whole. Just you and him now. No Chamberlains
or chaperones or soul winners, anywhere around, just you and
him, you get in touch with him, a needy sinner and a full Savior. I'll tell you, what brought her
to Christ was not her strength, it was her weakness. It wasn't
her beauty, it was her ugliness. It wasn't her health, it was
her disease. It wasn't her riches, it was
her poverty. It wasn't her talents, it was
his power. And she knew, if I can just touch
this garment, I'll be made whole. You see, once you come in contact
with him, you'll never leave. Nobody like him. Once you ever, once you ever
touch, or are touched, ever touch our touch by him, whatsoever
aware of, made aware, made conscious, made convinced, he is the Lord. He has the power in him to save
and to heal and to keep and to give life. That one touch will
take you into treasure houses you've never dreamed. That one
touch. There's the key. She touched him. And he says
what's it? And straightway the fountain
of her blood was dried up, just like that. The fountain of her
blood. And here's the word. She felt
in her body she was healed of that plague. Turn to 1 Kings,
chapter 8. Plague. She was healed of the
plague. Solomon called this corruption
of human nature the plague of the heart. In 1 Kings 8, verse
38, listen, he's praying here. 1 Kings 8, verse 38, Solomon's
praying. And he said, he prayed to the
Lord, verse 38, praying about this house he built in the Lord.
Solomon's prayer at the temple dedication. What prayer and supplication
soever be made by any man, or by all the people of Israel,
which shall know every man the plague of his own heart?" Do
you know that? The plague of your own heart.
This woman knew the plague. Oh, she had lived with it, lived
with this unclean, wretched, strength-sapping, and all the
things they'd done to her. And he was her only help. And
she touched him and the plague was gone. Oh, the plague of his
own heart. And spread forth his hands toward
this house. Then, Lord, hear thou in heaven,
thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man
according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest. The Lord
thou knowest, even thou only knowest the heart of all the
children of men. You know. And if anybody knows
the plague of his heart, and spreads forth his hand like this
woman reached, reach out and touch the Lord. Lord, hear from
heaven. Those people that know their
hearts, and you know their hearts, hear from heaven. Oh, this woman
straightway, immediately, she was healed of the plague. The
fountain was dried up. I tell you, she had a new fountain.
Our Lord said to the woman at the well, You drink of the water
I give you, and there will be in you wells of living water springing
up. She had a polluted fountain before. Now it's a living fountain, living
water springing forth. And you know, she knew it. She
said she felt in her body that she was healed. this contact
with Christ, this touching of Christ personally. Nobody else involved in this.
And she knew she was healed. She knew it in her body. She
felt it. And he said, verse 30, I want
to give you this before I let you go. Jesus immediately, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue You write in your margin of your
Bible, that word virtue is dunamis, be dunamis. That's the Greek
word, dunamis. And it means power. It means
miraculous power. It means mighty, wonderful power. It means abundant power. Jesus
knowing that virtue, power, abundant power, dynamite, dunamis had
gone out of him. into her. And you know this is
the same word, look it up when you get home with your concordance,
it's the same word in Romans 1, 16. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, it's the dunamis, the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. When this woman touched Christ
by faith, he said, wonderful, abundant power had
gone out of him into her. And when you hear the gospel,
Christ is here today in his word, in his gospel. And you hear the
gospel. It is that same power. It's also
that same word in, let me turn over here and read, in Hebrews
1. Listen to this. who being in the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of God." This
word our Lord used here, he knew that virtue, power, had gone
out of him. And he turned about in the crowd
and said, Who touched my clothes? This is for her benefit and the
benefit of others. He knew who touched him. You can be sure that before she
crawled up there, he knew her. You can be sure that before she
heard of him, he had heard of her. He knew her. You can be
sure before she even got this disease that he knew her. He
knows all things. He knows the end from the beginning.
But he said, who touched me? And the disciples responded just
like you and I would have. They said in verse 31, Lord,
you see the multitude pressing you, thronging you. And you say,
who touched me? Who touched me? Well, I'll tell you why he's
saying that. He looked round about verse 32 to see her that
had done this thing. He's not going to rebuke her.
He's not going to rebuke her. And he's not doing this for his
own sake. He's not doing it for information to himself. He knew
her, and he knew she'd come to him. But he wants this cure to
be known to others, that it was he who healed her. Our Lord has no secret friends.
They all give him the glory. He's going to give her an opportunity
to give him the glory. This is going to encourage that
man, Jairus, who was standing right there. This centurion, the sick daughter,
the dead daughter, he's standing right beside him. And when our
Lord turns and says, Who touched me? Power has gone out of me.
Jairus is going to be encouraged by this. And the Lord is going
to be glorified in this. And then this is important. He's got to say a word of confirmation
to her. He's got to say a word of confirmation. Something, this woman was sick
and dying. She touched him with made whole.
And then she goes away and he doesn't say anything? You reckon maybe when she gets
home she says, when is this coming back? When's this coming back? No, sir, he's got to confirm
this thing, his word. And he said, who touched me? Somebody touched me. And the
woman, fearing and trembling, and I'm telling you this, I still,
I've heard the gospel and believed the gospel 50 years ago, but
I'm still fearing and trembling. In his presence, before his word,
before his people, trying to worship, trying to pray, trying
to preach. She's feared and trembling. You'll
never get out of the fear and trembling stage. Paul did, and
he said, I came, I was with you in fear and trembling. And she's scared, fear and trembling,
knowing what was done in her. I tell you, she knew. She knew
what she was. She knew what she was. She knew
what a mess she was in. She knew whose presence she was
in. She felt his power. This wasn't shaking the hands
of some jack-legged preacher. This was touching the hymn of
majesty. That's different. I know where
I'm saved. I went down there and I shook
Brother Jones' hand. She knew what was done in her,
and she knew who did it. And she knew who he was. And
she was in fear and trembling. And she came before him and fell
down and told him the truth. And all the witnesses there,
they heard her. And then he confirmed it with
his word. And that's what you and I need.
I need the confirmation of the word. I know what I was. I know what I would be, except
for his grace. I know what he did for me. I
know he died on that cross to redeem me. I know he touched
me. But I have to have him tell me I wasn't a liar, don't you?
I have to be reminded. I have to have the word to confirm
it. He said, daughter, thy faith
hath made thee whole. That's his word for you. Do you
think she ever thought he'd come back? How do you know it won't come
back? He told me. He told me. He often tells me. My sheep here,
my boys, I give them eternal life. They'll never perish. I
don't pay any attention to these arguing preachers talking about
falling from grace and losing your salvation. He told me. He said, Thy faith hath made
thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of that
plague." You'll never be bothered by that anymore. Isn't that good
news? You'll never be bothered by that
anymore. That's gone. Gone. But I'll tell you where it left
her, at his feet.