The Touch of Faith

If you'll turn to Mark chapter
5, I'd like you to keep your Bibles open while we look at
this scripture together. There was a certain woman, this
is not a parable, because our Lord is careful to say, and a
certain woman had been sick 12 years, hemorrhaging with an issue
of blood. She had spent all of her money,
everything that she had, she had already spent going to quack
doctors, healers, all manner of physicians. And the scripture
says she was no better, but actually she was worse. She heard reports
of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. She heard how that he
had healed the blind, how he had healed the sick, how he had
made the lame to walk, even raised the dead, how he had healed many. And she said in her heart, if
I can but touch his clothes, if I can get to him and touch
his clothes, I shall be healed. So she came, when she found out
he was in town, she came. And she came in the crowd behind
him. She reached out, and she touched his garment. And the
scripture says, straightway, immediately, her hemorrhaging
stopped, and she was healed. And our Lord, knowing that the
word is virtue, but it's power, had gone from him, he said, The disciples were confused. They said, Why, Lord? You see
the crowd thronging about thee. Everyone has brushed against
you. But the Lord looked around him,
and he said, Someone touched me. Who touched me? And the woman,
knowing what had taken place in her, that's what it says in
verse 33. The woman, fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done, in her, came forth and confessed that
she had touched his garment and she had been made whole. And
the Lord Jesus Christ said, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole,
go in peace and be whole of the flesh. Now, if you are content,
if you are content to dwell upon the power of Christ to heal,
if that's your cup of tea, The power of Christ to work miracles,
if that's your religious inclination, the power of Christ to perform
these mighty miracles, if that's your interest, then you can stand
aside with Nicodemus, who said, Master, we know that your teacher
come from God, because no man could do the miracles you do
except God be with him. If that's your interest, he can. Oh my, he certainly can, he did,
he can, he will. Heal the body. Our Lord is able
to take this poor, sick, broken, victim of twelve years of suffering,
victim of cracked physicians, witch doctors, and make her whole
immediately. That's a miracle. If that's your
interest, You stand aside with Nicodemus and stay over there
and look on in wonder, or stand aside with that crowd in John
2.23 that followed him because of the miracles. They were astounded,
they were amazed, they were filled with wonder. They saw the power
of the Master to heal, but he didn't commit himself to them.
He actually did not commit himself to Nicodemus either. I don't
know whether Nicodemus was saved or not, he may have been, he
may not have been, but it doesn't say. Christ our Lord said, if
I told you earthly things and you don't understand them, how
can you understand if I tell you heavenly things? Stand aside
with Simon Magus. He made a profession of religion,
was baptized, and he saw the disciples lay their hands on
someone, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and spake
in other languages, and he said, give me this power, my, my, think
what I could do if I had this power. I lay my hands on people
and give them the Holy Ghost. But if you wish to see in this
story the greater glory of Christ, then you stick around and you
ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, and you pray, God, give
me some understanding, and you'll be able to see something in here
above and beyond the healing of a body. Because this woman's
body later died. But something happened to her
in that moment that never died. This woman's body finally was
overtaken by another disease and she died, but she had at
that moment something given to her by the power of Christ, by
the hand of Christ, that no one could ever take from her. That's
what I'm interested in. I'd like to see every one of
you in perfect health, but I'd whole lots rather see you in
spiritual maturity in your hearts. I really have. I'd whole lots
rather see you. I'd like to see everybody here
be able to see and hear and speak and walk and talk and live all
of the Three score and ten plus that God has promised you. But
I'd rather you live one year and know Christ than to live
500 and perish. So there's something here better
than what happened to her physically. There's something here more important
than what happened to her in the flesh. And that's what I'm
interested in. You know, I look on the hand
of Christ to heal, and I say, praise the Lord, but I want to
go deeper. So first of all, there are about
4 or 5 things. Look at verse 25. And a certain
woman had an issue of blood 12 years. She'd been sick a long
time. She'd been sick a long time.
And let me tell you something. We've been sick a long time too.
A whole lot longer than 12 years. This disease which we have, it
dates back to Adam's fall. That's what scripture says, in
Adam all died, every one of us. In Adam our representative, in
Adam our federal head, in Adam the root of all mankind, every
one of us were contaminated with spiritual death. We died in Adam. Wherefore by one man's disobedience,
Sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men. My disease is 6,000 years old. That's how long I've been lame
and crippled and blind and hoarse. By the disobedience of one, the
many were made sinners. Our disease dates back to Adam's
fall, and then personally, my corruption dates back to my birth. Or as David said, in sin my mother
conceived me. I was shapen in iniquity, I was
brought forth speaking lies. The wicked are strained from
the wounds, speaking lies. And our disease not only affects
our blood, but our hearts as well. So the scripture says the
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Our minds, the natural mind is
enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be. Our affections. Men love darkness,
hate light. Our thoughts, your thoughts are
not my thoughts. Every imagination of man's heart
is evil, evil, every imagination, evil continually. Our throats
are an open sepulcher. Our tongues are set on fire with
hell. Our mouths are full of cursing
and bitterness. Our feet are swift in running
to mischief. You talk about a sickness. This
woman had been hemorrhaging with an issue of blood for twelve
years. You and I have been from the
sole of our feet to the top of our head so contaminated that
God said in Isaiah 1, there is no soundness in you anywhere. Nothing but open running sores
that have not been bound up neither mollified with art, but your
whole head is sick. He said your whole heart is faint.
God looked down from heaven to see if there were any that did
do good and he said they're all gone out of the way. They're
all together become unprofitable. There's none that do us good.
No, not one. We're just a leper colony. The
whole world is a leper colony. And this woman had been sick
a long time. And you and I had been sick a long time. All right,
look at verse 26. And she had suffered. She not
only suffered from her disease, she suffered from that. But she
had suffered many things of many physicians. She had suffered many things
of many physicians. Oh, how she had suffered. I've
read some old writings of some of the so-called cures they had
back years ago, the bleeding of people, actually putting leeches
on people and bleeding them, cutting, burning, blistering,
all manner of just the most horrible, horrible types of cures. And she'd gone to all these positions,
all these, she'd recommended, somebody recommended this one
and that one. She'd gone and she'd listened to them and she'd
tried their remedies and tried their cures and she spent everything
she had supporting their quackery. And she wasn't any better. Just
kept getting worse. And I'll tell you, I grieve in
my heart, I mourn in my soul, at the way sinners today are
being deceived and robbed and butchered by false preachers.
False physicians. They've set themselves up in
business. They've hung out their shingles and they have their
credentials and they've gone out to butcher the people of
this world. The religionists and the preachers
are butchering people just like these old heathen doctors of
years ago butchered their patients. false religionists who, like
leeches, are living on the support of deceived multitudes. Why couldn't
these men help this woman? Now think a minute. They were
quacks, they were phonies, they were false physicians, and this
poor woman came and she gave and she supported them and she
paid them, she spent everything she had. Why couldn't they help
her? You know why? the first thing,
they didn't understand her disease. They didn't understand her disease. Now, if preachers today, you
know why they can't help sinners? You know why these phoneys on
TV and out yonder today preaching all over this town in their tents
and their healing meetings and their so-called revivals and
all of their gospel magic and gospel music and gospel shows. You know why they can't help
sinners? Why people, poor old sinful creatures, diseased with
sin, on their road to eternal condemnation, no peace, no joy,
no rest in their hearts, and they come to these butchers of
human souls, hucksters making merchandise of the souls of men,
and while they can't help them, they don't know what's wrong
with them. If our disease of sin is only
a matter of my outward acts, then moral reformation could
help me. But moral reformation can't get
down to where my problem is. If my disease of seeing is only
a matter of outward dirt, maybe this pool of water could wash
me. But this pool of water can't get down to the heart of my problem.
This woman came and she had a blood disease. They didn't understand
it. She had something deep down,
the root of her problem, the infection was deep, and they'd
rub cream all over her body, or they'd give her some kind
of bath to take, or they'd give her some kind of exercise to
perform, and the problem was way down deep in the heart of
the matter, the root of the matter. They couldn't get to it, they
didn't understand it. The disease of sin goes deep. wounded on the outside, he's
dead in sin, the fountain is polluted, the foundation is rotten,
the heart, the seed of the affection is all wrong. And these preachers
today who, the medicine they prescribe can't touch the disease. One of them says, well, feel.
I say, I can't feel, my heart's dead. Another one says, well,
decide. I can't decide. I don't know
what to decide. I don't have the ability to decide.
I can't decide or believe what I don't know. One of them says, well, work for
the Lord. My work only adds to my woes. All of the outward rites
and ceremonies and rituals and these things, the fleshly medicine,
can't touch the seed, the root, the fountain of my problem. They
don't understand it. And you know something? These
remedies only made her worse. She came to this quack. He didn't
know her problem. He didn't understand the disease. And he recommended medicines
that did not touch her disease. They only made her worse. And
some of these remedies prescribed were more painful, actually,
than the disease. The false religionists cannot
touch the soul, they cannot touch the heart, the deep-seated root
of sin, they cannot touch, they cannot help. And they give to
the sinner a false refuge that only adds to his condemnation
and gives him a false refuge and gives him pride and self-righteousness
and familiarity with holy things and a totally wrong concept of
God. It gives him strong delusions. He's really worse off. This poor
woman came to this physician. He didn't understand her disease.
He gave her medicine that would not help her, and she went away
thinking it would, and she used it, and it made her worse. And
false men and women come to false preachers, and they don't have
peace, and they're grieved in their hearts, and they're pained
in their souls, and they know something's wrong, they're filled
with sin, and all of this separated from the Holy God and they feel
his wrath and these false preachers prescribe works and baptism and
ceremony and rituals and abstinence from this and taking on that
and serving God and doing all these things and the sinner goes
away not only not better but worse. Worse. Strong delusions, false
refuges, self-righteousness, religious pride. praying to God
he doesn't know, thanking God for a gift he hasn't received. Verse 27, when she heard of Jesus. When she heard of Jesus. What
a blessed day for that woman. I want you to think about it.
I want you to just think about that. You know, her neighbors Many
of them were her enemies. Some neighbor here was her friend.
A lot of them told her, you ought to go down and see Dr. So-and-so.
You ought to go see Dr. So-and-so. She'd gone to see
all these cracks, and she'd listened to them. They'd passed out for
her the home remedies, you know. Everybody's got a home remedy.
All these soul winners got a home remedy. Well, this is how I got
cured. They're not cured, but they just
think they're cured. Well, here's what did it for
me. And this poor woman had tried all of it, but somebody told
her about the Lord. Somebody told her about the Lord.
What a blessed day when she heard. The most blessed day of your
life may be today. It may be tomorrow. Maybe it's
already past. The most blessed day of your
life, though, is when somebody turns your eyes away from religion
to the Redeemer. When somebody turned your eyes
away from the quacks of this world to the Christ of Calvary,
what a day it was when somebody led by God's Holy Spirit told
you about him who can heal, who can redeem, who can forgive,
who can make you whole. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear of Unless
somebody preaches it to them. Oh, I love this verse.
Watch it. She heard of Christ. She heard of Christ. That's the
first thing. You can't trust an unrevealed Savior. And let
me tell you something. Paul said we don't preach ourselves,
we preach Christ. And this is one of the failures
of the ministry today. They're preaching about Christ,
they're not preaching Christ. They're preaching about, or they're
using his name. And they even once in a while will meet you
in a cross, or a blood, or a Bible, or something. Last night I was
watching TV, and this preacher came on, 11.25. He comes on the Lexington station
about 11.25 every night. Got in the middle of the news.
He's a high-muckety-muck in education. In fact, he is chairman of the
Kentucky State Board of Education. I've been watching him for years.
He never has said anything, not anything. He doesn't know anything,
the reason he hasn't said anything. He hasn't even slipped up and
said anything yet. Once in a while, one of them will slip up and
say something, but he hasn't even slipped up yet and said anything.
And last night he said, you know, he said, we have this treasure
in earthen vessels. Now you know what that is, don't
you? The treasure in earthen vessels. That's the gospel Paul's
talking about. That's Christ. This treasure is Christ, and
Paul said, God has given us this treasure. We're just human beings,
that's all I am. I'm a human being, I'm a vessel
of clay, I'm an earthen vessel, but I have in this earthen vessel
the treasure Christ, the gospel of Christ, the good news of redemption. But you don't think he hit that,
do you? Oh, no, no. He talked about in every earthen
vessel there's some treasure, there's some good in you, Charlie.
You didn't know that, did you? There's some good in you, Jim.
And you come down to the church, and we'll tell you about this
treasure. You'll find treasure in the church, you'll find treasure
in people, and you'll find treasure in the choir, and you'll find
treasure in this, that, and the other. That's where you'll find
treasure, if you just look hard enough for it. How ungodly it is, but all the
people being deceived. These false preachers. But somebody
told her about Christ. Some I told her about Christ.
I want you to look at her humility. Look at this. I wish we could
get a hold of some of this. When she heard of Jesus, she
came in the press behind him. Now watch out. We're proud, arrogant,
haughty people. We walk in church like they ought
to be glad we're there. They ought to be glad to have
me. I have a bad cold. I was talking to a friend of
mine on the phone yesterday, and I could hardly talk yesterday
morning. He said, Won't you get somebody to preach to you tomorrow?
I said, No, I'll preach tomorrow. He said, They can get along without
you. I said, I know they can't, but I don't want them to find
it out. We are so proud. We think God's
kingdom is blessed to have us. And we're going to debate whether
or not we'll condescend to let Christ do something for us. I
believe I'll let the Lord save me. We don't hesitate to come
right out in the open and boast of our contribution to the kingdom
of God. This poor woman, now watch it,
she was an unclean woman according to the ceremonial law. And she
didn't run around here in front of him and say, Lord, here I
am! around behind him. That's right,
she slipped around behind him. She didn't dare face him. She
viewed him as holy, herself as unholy. She viewed him as powerful,
herself as weak. She viewed him as the majesty
of glory and herself unclean. That's right. And she slipped
around behind him and feebly reached up. She said, if I can
just touch, watch your faith, if I can but touch his clothes. Now, here's the difference here.
You know what we say, if I can do this, if I can repent, if
I can believe, and if I can surrender to Christ, and if I can understand
it. No, she said, if I can but touch
the emphasis areas, his clothes. It's not what she did at all.
his clothes. Are you getting what I'm saying
here? If I can but touch his clothes. It's not if I can touch
him, but if his clothes come in contact with me. It's not
if I come in contact with him, because plenty of people had
brushed against him and nothing happened. They bumped him and
shoved him and bragged on him and did all that, but she slipped
around behind. And here was her faith. If this
old sinner, this old unclean, defiled, wretched, dying sinner
can just come in contact with him, this is the key. Come, humble
sinner, in whose breast a thousand thoughts revolve, come with your
sin, your guilt, and fear oppressed, and make this last resolve, I'll
go to Jesus. I'll go to Jesus. Though my sin
hath like a mountain rose, and I know his courts I'll enter
in, whatever may oppose, prostrate. I'll lie before his throne, and
there my uncleanness confess. I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone
without his sovereign grace. Out to the gracious King approach,
whose scepter mercy gives. Perhaps he will command my touch
and the old sinner will live. Perhaps he'll hear my plea. Perhaps
he'll hear my prayer. But if I perish, I'll perish
there. I can't but perish. If I go,
I am resolved to try. But if I stay away, I know I
shall forever die. can but touch his clothes, I'll
be made whole." That's the place of mercy for you and me. Reach
out and touch the Lord while he passes by. Blind Bartimaeus
did. This poor woman did. Now look
at verse 29, at her healing, and straightway, and straightway,
she was made whole, healed of the flesh. What did it? What did the Scripture say? He
said, I perceive that power has gone out of me. It was from him
that she got her nourishment. It was from him that she got
her healing. It was from him that she got
her holiness. It was from him that she got
her sanctification. It was from him that she got
her cleanliness. It came right out of him. When
she touched him, all of the life came into her from him. from
him. She had nothing to give to him,
she received it. She had nothing to play, to plead,
nothing to bring, nothing to pay, she was made whole when
she touched him. And last of all, this is something
I've never seen here before. It was confession time. I'll
show you something beautiful here. And Jesus, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue, power, had gone out of him, he
turned him about in the crowd. He said, Who touched my clothes?
Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said, Why,
you see the multitude thronging thee, sayest thou, Who touched
me? And he looked round about to see her. He knew who it was,
and he looked at her. The woman, he looked at her who
had done this thing. He looked at her. The work was
done. Christ had made her whole. She knew that she had received
life. She knew. Look at that next verse.
And the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her. What was Christ doing here? He
was calling on this woman to confess publicly what he had
done for her. to confess openly, to confess
to him, to confess openly and publicly what he had done. He
said, it's just like right now, this morning, salvation is not
done. We got it backwards. We have the confession and then
the gift. We have the confession and then the salvation. We come
down here and we make, we accepted Jesus, and then we're supposed
to be fixed up. We're supposed to go home and
say it's done. But that's not the way this was
done. The Lord made her whole. Something happened in here. And
then he called on her to publicly tell what had been done. That's
what she did. Look at that verse. A woman fearing, trembling, knowing
what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told
all the truth. I pray, perhaps this morning
somebody here, defiled, diseased by sin, dead in trespasses and
sin, you know your needs. And while I preach, Christ, in
his word and in the gospel, has passed by. And you, like this
woman, have tried, you've gone here and there and yonder, and
they've told you to try this, that, and the other, and you've
tried all these things, and you know better, your only words, that the quacks
have taken everything you've got. And this morning you've
seen him. The Savior of sinners, the one
who died on the cross for our sin, who put away our guilt by
his sacrifice, in whom we're complete, everything's in Christ,
not in the church, the baptism, the rituals, the sacraments,
the communion, the Lord's table, even the Bible, prayer, it's
in Christ. I can but just touch him, I shall
be made whole. And you've reached out. Not with
these natural hands, but with the hand of faith. You've reached
out from your heart. Lord, make me whole. Let life flow from you to me.
Let righteousness flow from you. There's no righteousness in here.
No righteousness in here. You've got to put it in here.
God's got to put it in here. We've got to have His righteousness.
We've got to be robed in His righteousness, reach out and
receive everything from Him, not with this hand, but with
the hand of faith that reaches out, our faith that seeth the
sun. And you know that something's
happened. God's done something for you. Has God done something
for you? And Christ says, Who touched me? Who touched me? Well, Lord, everybody's using
your name, everybody's talking about Jesus, everybody's talking
about him, everybody's talking about salvation, everybody's
talking about religion. Yeah, I know that, but somebody
got in touch with the Master. Somebody got in touch with the
Master. Was it you? Was it you? Is there anybody here who got
in touch with the Master? And he wants to hear from you.
That's right. I really believe that. Turn to
Romans 10, this is what this woman did. She was a bashful,
shy woman, but she knew something had happened. She had been in
touch with a king, a person, and she was made whole. And he
turned, I believe he looked at her, I believe he did, who touched
me. And bashful and shy and reserved
as she was, because she had been in bad shape for 12 years, but
she said, I touched him. And oh, I can't tell you what's
happened. I touched him, and he touched
me. And oh, what a joy. Romans 10,
9 says, "...if you shall confess with your mouth Jesus to be Lord,
and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation." Don't tell anybody anything if it hadn't happened,
because that won't make it happen. If some fellow down the street
said, I touched the Lord! No, you didn't either. You weren't
even there. But this woman did. Out of the
whole multitude, this woman. Out of that whole crowd, Zacchaeus.
Out of the whole population of Jericho, Bartimaeus. Somebody
touched them. And they were made whole. And
I'll tell you this, that life keeps flowing. You haven't seen
anything yet. That joy and peace keep flowing.
from Christ to the believer. He's our whole source of life
and nourishment. Our Father, may Christ pass by
in this hour how men and women, boys and girls, have suffered
and are no better but just worse under the false positions of
religion, do this, do that, do the other, give this, give that,
come to this, come to that. Oh, if I can but touch Him, I
shall be made whole. If they can just be brought in
this hour into a vital, living, personal union with Christ, to
touch Him, they shall be made whole. He is the physician. He heals
our diseases. He satisfies our mouth with good
things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. We fail, but he has not failed. We are
filled with unbelief, but he remaineth faithful. We are full
of sin, but he is perfect, and our righteousness is in him.
Use the message for thy glory, the good of thy people. In the
name of Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

The Touch of Faith

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