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[0:00] I'm not going to read it again because we've just read it. If I was to pick out any verse, it would be about this woman who, she says in verse 28, this woman who had this illness, this hemorrhaging for 12 years, she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

[0:41] Previously, we saw how Jesus, on the other side of the lake, that he had displayed his power over the powers of darkness. And now we find here that Jesus again is displaying his power, this time over the power of disease.

[1:00] In fact, at the end of chapter 4, we see Jesus displaying his power over nature, where he calms the storm. And again, very often the gospel writers, they're highlighting in the experience of Jesus great contrasts.

[1:17] And again, you could look at the contrasts because we found that, if you remember the last time there, that over on the other side of the Gadarenes, that they, verse 17, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from the region.

[1:36] And then when we come to verse 21, and when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. So we see straight away this huge contrast.

[1:49] And the one community, they're pleading with Jesus to go away. They don't want him. And yet when he crosses to the other side, there's this great crowd waiting for him. And we see here this extreme contrast.

[2:03] And I suppose that's how it still is to this very day, that there are those who want Jesus, and there are those who don't want Jesus. We highlighted last time how Jesus' great mercy, even although they asked him, they pleaded with him to go away.

[2:19] He left the missionary behind. He left the legion who had been healed. He left him behind. And he said, go home and tell what great things the Lord has done for you.

[2:29] Imagine if Jesus had said to legion, yeah, when legion said, can I come with you? Please, can I come with you? If Jesus had said, right, you come with me, then there would have been no voice.

[2:41] And it would have been a fearful judgment that would have been left upon that place. But that's not what Jesus did. His mercy is beyond anything that we can understand. He leaves legion behind, or the healed legion, to tell what great things the Lord has done.

[2:58] So here he is on the other side now, back over in the land of Palestine. And there's this huge crowd waiting for him. And right away again, we meet two people come forward.

[3:13] And they're out of the huge crowd, really the two who are most eager to meet with Jesus. And one was an influential ruler in the synagogue, somebody who would have been of great standing within the community, who would have been a wealthy man.

[3:30] And the other is this woman who, in many ways, we could say is anonymous. We don't know her name. We don't know really much about her. But both these people are focused upon.

[3:43] And it's particularly this lady that I want us tonight to focus upon. And the beauty of Jesus is that he deals with all situations.

[3:55] Such a variety, it doesn't matter what a person's problem is. We find, when you go through the Gospels, Jesus deals with every kind of situation.

[4:07] And anybody who comes to him never gets turned away. Jesus, we don't find Jesus turning people away. Sometimes he tested people to see the reality.

[4:18] It was only in order to strengthen their faith. But he doesn't turn people away. And so we find Jairus. And Jairus is in desperation, as any parent would be with a dying child.

[4:34] His daughter is 12 years of age, and she's dying. And Jairus is beside himself with urgency, with desperation, as any parent would be, pleading with Jesus that he would come and that he would come and heal his daughter.

[4:52] And, of course, it just shows us that all the religious leaders weren't opposed to Jesus. Because this man, who was a leader, a ruler in the synagogue, would have heard Jesus.

[5:03] Because Jesus often went into the synagogue and taught. So this man would have heard Jesus. And there's no doubt whatever, believed in Jesus. He accepted Jesus. So here he is.

[5:14] He's coming. And he's displaying this faith, knowing that the only hope for his daughter is the Lord Jesus Christ. But as they're on their way, and Jesus goes with Jairus.

[5:32] And the crowd, of course, are always following. It must have been very, very demanding. You know how Jesus said on one occasion? He said, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere where to lay his head.

[5:45] It was one of the extreme demands of Jesus is that he was under perpetual strain. Always. There were crowds. Always. Wherever he went, there was always something.

[5:57] And you can understand something of the incredible tensions that must have been upon him, the pressures that must have been upon him. Anyway, he makes his way, and there's this huge crowd following on.

[6:11] They're always following. But then we find that the incident that we're going to focus on tonight, we find that in this crowd, and we've got to remember, here's a crowd, and you know yourself, when a crowd is moving, there's always pushing and shoving and jostling and pressing, and there's always a sense of movement and bustle.

[6:33] And all of a sudden, Jesus stops and says, who touched me? And I'm sure the disciples at that moment thought, what's he talking about?

[6:43] Who touched him? Because loads of people are touching him. People are pressing in because he's there in this crowd. People will be pushing against him and bumping against him because that's the nature of a crowd.

[6:54] You cannot walk as you would on your own when there's a crowd. You're bumping into one another. And so it seems the most, it's such a strange question.

[7:05] Who touched me? And you can almost feel a sense of exasperation within the disciples because they don't understand what is going on. But Jesus knew that this touching wasn't the touching of bumping into or just putting your hand on.

[7:24] Jesus knew that there was something of deep spiritual significance. He knew that that touch was a touch of faith. He knew that this touch was a touch of urgency.

[7:37] That this was somebody who had reached out to him. As somebody, maybe that faith wasn't strong. Maybe it was weak, trembling faith. But he knew it was faith reaching out to him.

[7:50] And Jesus does this for the sake of the woman. And he says, who touched me? Because Jesus is wanting to get a response from this particular woman.

[8:07] And you can almost see all the heads turning in different directions. Who touched me? And wondering who would come forward. And it's at this point you can almost feel the absolute, I don't know what it would be, but just desperation in Jairus.

[8:25] Can you imagine that it's your child at home dying? And here's this woman. Jairus might not have known, but he may very well have known.

[8:36] And for 12 years she's been hemorrhaging. For 12 years she's had a really, really difficult time. And why on earth will Jesus stop now?

[8:49] Because it is so important not a second is to be lost. They have to get back to Jairus' house as soon as possible if there is any hope of saving his daughter.

[9:01] And yet Jesus is stopping and saying, who touched me? And he's not taking no for an answer. He's waiting to get a response.

[9:12] You can almost hear Jairus, you can almost hear him just bursting in desperation to get moving. And it's here we see something that the Lord does so often.

[9:24] Because his ways are in the deep. And the Lord often delays. The Lord often works in ways that we don't understand or expect.

[9:35] And maybe some of you here have an understanding of that. Because maybe God has dealt with you in ways that have baffled you. And ways that have broken you.

[9:47] And you just cannot understand. And you're saying to yourself, what is God doing with me? Why is this happening? Why is this happening? But you know us, we have just now the privilege of, as it were, the screens pulled back.

[10:03] We are able to see the full picture of what was happening there. But we don't see that in our own lives. But let me say this, that the Lord waits.

[10:15] This is what he says. The Lord waits. His delays are in order that he may be gracious. That's what it says. The Lord waits that he may be gracious. The Lord stops in order to bless you later on.

[10:33] It's not the Lord just waits and that's it. And the Lord allowed Jairus' daughter to die. That's a mystery.

[10:44] When he got news of Lazarus being ill, rather than going straight away to his friend, Lazarus was his friend. Martha and Mary were his friends. In fact, the house in Bethany was probably his favorite home in the place.

[10:58] When he got word of that, what did he do? He stayed where he was. Until Lazarus died. And so you see so often, God's ways just to us often don't make sense.

[11:13] But we have the privilege here of being able to see that the story didn't end. The Lord raised Lazarus. The Lord raised Jairus' daughter. Now he might not, in the physical sense here in this world, raise.

[11:29] But let me tell you, if you've gone through painful circumstances that are baffling you, and you are bewildered and broken, let me tell you, the story is not finished.

[11:40] Because God has a purpose. And he doesn't, God doesn't deal randomly. God doesn't hurt his people willingly.

[11:52] God has a purpose in things. As I say, it's in the deep. But one day you will see. One day you will understand. And one day you will actually be able to praise him.

[12:05] And say, Lord, if only I had known. That doesn't take away the hurt. It doesn't take away the pain. That is here. But please, we need the faith. We need to be able to put our trust in the Lord to know that the story isn't over.

[12:22] And that's one of the things that has been taught so often as we follow the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyway, here's this poor woman.

[12:33] And for 12 years she has been hemorrhaging. Now for her, this was a fearful problem. Because not only was there all the impact or the effect of loss of blood which would have left her living in a weakened state.

[12:48] Because she was still living under the sort of the Levitical law. It meant that she was living in a state of uncleanness nearly all the time.

[12:58] Which brought her into a state of separation. Because the Levitical law said this. If a woman has an issue of blood many days. All the days of her issue of blood, her uncleanness, shall be the days of her separation.

[13:13] She shall be unclean. So this is part of the old Levitical law. So that meant that for this poor woman. Not only did she find that she had this terrible loss of blood.

[13:28] And all the weakness that that brought within her. But that in a ceremonial way she was in an unclean. Which brought her to be kind of separate.

[13:41] So that so much of her life. She couldn't engage in the proper worship. She wouldn't be able to go into the temple or the synagogue in that state.

[13:51] She wouldn't be able to interact with other people in the normal way. So this poor lady for 12 years lived an awful life.

[14:03] So you can see that there's no doubt in here that she's just at the very end of herself. And rather than get better things just got worse. She had spent all that she had.

[14:14] She had gone to all the doctors. And she had spent all that she had. Hoping in some way that she would get better. But rather than that she simply got worse.

[14:24] And you know this woman. Her disease is an incredibly vivid picture of sin. Because that's what sin does. Sin just makes things worse.

[14:38] Sin will never ever make a person better. Sin will never ever point us in the direction of where there is help. Where there is hope.

[14:49] Where there is healing. Sin will only produce a downward. Spiral. Sin is never ever ever satisfied.

[15:00] And that is one of the things. And I'm sure that there's a lot of people. Not saying a lot of people here. Not saying. But in life. A lot of people have. Like that woman.

[15:11] They've lost everything. Because of sin. They've lost their reputation. They've lost their friends. They've lost their money. They've lost their family. Because sin devours. Sin works in a downward.

[15:24] Downward. Downward spiral. And it just sucks life out of a person. And the sad thing is that often a person doesn't realize it. But that's what sin does.

[15:36] It's like a leech that just sucks and sucks and sucks. And sin can never be satisfied. The more you try and satisfy sin. The harder it is to become satisfied.

[15:50] Maybe there's some people here tonight. I don't know. And for you. Life has lost its sparkle. There was a day. Life was full of fun. And you enjoyed life. And whatever you did.

[16:02] There was a kind of a buzz. Although there might have been bad days afterwards. But still there was a kind of a buzz about. But it's gone. Life doesn't have the kick anymore. Life has become flat.

[16:14] You feel empty. You feel tired. And maybe some of you are. I don't know. You might be in a never ending cycle of. Or circle of just going no.

[16:26] Well let me tell you. Sin will never point you in the right direction. Only Jesus. And I would say to you. Please tonight. Look to Jesus.

[16:37] Because there is nobody else. Can break the circle and cycle of sin. But Jesus. Because the power of sin. Is greater than. Any force of power. In this world.

[16:50] It devours. It is. It has chains. That lead all the way to hell. The chains come from hell. And they lead back to hell.

[17:01] And a person is bound. In these chains. And nobody can break the chains. But Jesus. That's what we saw. The previous time. With regard to legion.

[17:12] But anyway. Here is this woman. And she is a picture. Of the helplessness. Of sin. But she. What she's going to do. She is saying to herself. I am going to.

[17:23] Make my way to Jesus. And she has this idea. If I can just. Even just touch. His garment. That'll do. Now. The reason that she's saying that.

[17:35] Is because. Previously. We read about that very thing. Back in. In. In chapter 3. It tells us in verse 10. For he had healed many. So that all who had diseases.

[17:47] Pressed around him. To touch him. So that even just to touch him. There was a healing power. So this woman. Would have known. That even just. Even if I can just touch him.

[17:58] I know. That I can be healed. So she's making her way. To Jesus. Now I'm quite sure. You've got to remember. Here's this woman. Who is weak. This woman.

[18:08] Who is an outcast. And there's this huge crowd. And she's got to make her way. To Jesus. Now. You and I know. That when you're weak. The last thing.

[18:18] If you were weak as water. The last place. You would want to be. Would be in a shovel. Jostling crowd. Because the one thing. If you're in a huge crowd. You need to have a sort of a.

[18:30] You yourself. You have to have a kind of a robustness. To be able to stand your ground. This woman. It would have been so difficult for her. And I'm sure at times.

[18:40] She felt like giving up. But. She had. To get to Jesus. And you know. This is almost a picture. Of. You know. Once. If you begin to get interested.

[18:51] In the Lord Jesus Christ. If things are starting to happen. In your life. There will be jostling. And pushing. Trying to keep you away. Hell will give its last.

[19:02] Effort. To try and keep you back. From the Lord Jesus Christ. Be persuaded of that. And. Even. Even if you're here tonight. And you know.

[19:13] That you're needing Jesus. And there's a voice within you. Saying. I want to become a Christian. I guarantee. There'll be another voice. Saying. Hi. Just take your time. About that. Hold on.

[19:24] Remember. There's a few things ahead of you. You've got to sort out. And things you've got to do. Can see about a Christian. Later on. But not just now. The two voices. The two powers.

[19:35] The two kingdoms. Are fighting. Over you. Maybe that's happening. Here tonight. Well anyway. Here's this woman. And nothing. Is going to stop her. She is making her way.

[19:46] Forward. To Jesus. And she leans forward. And she touches. Just touches. His garment. And of course. As we said. It's at this point. That Jesus. Stops.

[19:58] And he asks. Who touch. Now this woman's faith. There might. There might even have been. A little element. Of superstition. In it. I don't know. It was weak faith.

[20:11] It was trembling faith. But it was faith. Nonetheless. And that's all. That it takes. Is just that little. Bit of faith.

[20:22] And. The moment she touched Jesus. This. Surge. Of well-being. Went through her. The reality of. Normality.

[20:33] Came back to her. Now. I'm not saying. The moment. A person. Becomes a Christian. That. Everybody. Will experience. Something like that. Our experiences.

[20:44] Are so. So varied. That's one of the. The. The amazing things. About a person's testimony. Although. You can identify. Certain things. With other people.

[20:54] And say. Oh I can follow that. And then you'll say. I can't follow that. Because. Although there is only one way. Of being saved. And that is by. Accepting the Lord Jesus Christ.

[21:05] As Savior. The human experiences. The way. That we come. To that salvation. Are so varied. But the one thing. That does happen.

[21:16] Once we come. To an awareness. Of having been saved. By the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this sense. Of. Normality. This sense. Of rightness.

[21:28] All of a sudden. You feel. You're in the right place. In this universe. All of a sudden. You feel. That it's right. Between yourself. And heaven.

[21:39] And you know. You can't put a price on that. Because I believe. That that's part of the problem. Of this world. Is that people. Feel. We talk about people. Being displaced. In today's society.

[21:50] But you know. Outside Christ. That's where people. Are displaced. Because people. Don't have the proper. Sense of identity. The proper. Sense of purpose. But once you become.

[22:02] A Christian. There's a coming together. Of everything. There's a purpose. There's an identity. You know. Who you are. You know.

[22:12] Where you're going. Can't put a price. On these things. So there's this. Sense of. Well-being. And that's how it was. For this woman. This. Sense of well-being.

[22:24] But Jesus. Isn't finished. With this lady. He stops. And he is not. Going to move. Until she comes. Forward. To tell. That it's her.

[22:35] Who touched. My garments. And the disciples. Said to him. You see the crowd. Pressing around you. And yet you say. Who touched me. As I say. He stood his ground.

[22:45] He looked around. To see who had done it. Of course. Jesus knew. But you know. Jesus was doing something here. Verse 32. But the woman. Knowing.

[22:56] What had happened to her. Came in fear. And trembling. And fell down before him. And told him. The whole truth.

[23:07] Why did Jesus do that? Jesus could just have let that woman go. Because it was by faith. She came. It was a touch. Of faith. She received healing. But why did Jesus do that?

[23:19] Because Jesus needed. For that woman. To make a public. Declaration. Of her faith. And that is an important part.

[23:30] Because we believe in our heart. And we confess. With our mouth. And can I say to anybody. In here tonight. Who has come to the place. Where you believe in your heart. Where you've accepted Jesus.

[23:42] You say. Well you know. The Lord is my savior. Lots of things I can't tell. But this one thing I know. Is I didn't used to follow the Lord. But I do now. I didn't used to love the Lord.

[23:55] But I do now. I know I probably don't love him. As much as I should. Or as much as many others do. But I still love him. That is the most important thing.

[24:07] But the next most important thing. Is confess it. You have to tell. You mustn't hide that away. Because we believe in our heart.

[24:18] And we confess. And we confess. With our mouth. There's a communion coming. In another couple of weeks. It's a time. For confessing. Confessing.

[24:29] What the Lord. Jesus Christ. Has done. And maybe. This woman. We read there. That this woman. How did she come before Jesus? She came. In fear. And trembling.

[24:39] And fell down before him. Now I know that. Most people. When they go to the Kirk session. That's the way they go. With fear and trembling.

[24:51] I know what it's like. I remember myself. When I went. And I went with fear. And with trembling. And maybe you say to yourself. It's an unfair ordeal. Maybe for the likes of here.

[25:03] Because of the size. Of the congregation. Of the session. It might be even more of an ordeal. But let me say two things. First of all is. The session. I always love.

[25:14] To see people coming. They love. People coming. To confess. What Jesus Christ. Has done for them. But it's a biblical thing. That we are to confess.

[25:26] We are to confess. Before people. What the Lord Jesus Christ. Has done for us. It's not a theological test. It's not something.

[25:37] Sessions are never out to try. And trip somebody up. All they want to hear. Is what the Lord Jesus Christ. Has done for your soul.

[25:47] That he saved you. So that we will believe. In your heart. And you confess. With your mouth. That Jesus Christ. Is Lord. God. And that's what Jesus.

[25:58] Was doing for this woman. He knew that. She could have come. And touched him. By faith. And slipped away. But it wouldn't have been good for her. She wouldn't have been.

[26:09] She needed to have her faith strengthened. She needed to have that assurance of faith. She needed to make a public declaration. For her own good. So this is what Jesus.

[26:21] Does for her. And he brings her to this place. Where she has to make this public declaration. And so Jesus then said to her daughter.

[26:32] Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. And be healed. Of your disease. I don't know how Jairus was at that particular moment. He was probably distraught.

[26:44] But you know. As they journeyed on. Walking. Jairus would never lose sight. Of what Jesus had just done. And he'd be saying to himself. Oh well. If he could do that for her.

[26:56] He can also do. For my daughter. And tonight. There might be some of you. In here. And. You're saying to yourself. You know. I would like to be a Christian.

[27:06] But. I don't think the Lord. Would ever. Save the likes of me. Well. Just look around. Look around the church. And there are people. Who.

[27:18] Are Christians. Bright Christians. Tonight. And some years back. You would never. Ever have expected them. To be. The Lord is.

[27:29] Able and mighty. To save. And as we were saying. I'm going to conclude this now. As we're saying this morning. One of the biggest. Problems. And obstacles. That we face.

[27:40] Is that we think. We have to do something. Ourselves. Along with. Jesus. To be saved. It's Jesus plus something.

[27:53] Jesus plus. My good. Efforts. Jesus plus. Me sorting things out. In my life. Jesus plus. I have to do this. Or not do that. No. It's Jesus alone.

[28:04] Nothing. Nobody else. It's not. No traditions. No rituals. Nothing. It's Jesus Christ. And him alone. And that is.

[28:15] The liberating. Truth of the gospel. And it is. One of the most. Difficult things. For us to understand. We just. Come to him. And ask him. And receive him.

[28:27] And accept him. Nothing else. But Jesus Christ. Alone. Let us pray. Oh Lord. We. We pray that. We might know.

[28:38] The liberty. The freedom. The peace. That is found. In Jesus Christ. May we not be tied down. By all the other things. That. It's so easy for us.

[28:50] To be tied down by. But that we may discover. More and more. The freedom. And the liberty. That is in Jesus Christ. That it is. By grace. And grace alone.

[29:02] We pray to. Bless us. As we part. One from another. We pray to bless. The youth fellowship. Which we'll meet afterwards. And we pray to bless. As in all the different. Activities.

[29:12] And duties. That lie before us. Throughout this week. And that we might know. Your grace and help. Help us in the face of temptation. Help us in the face of challenge. To know your strength.

[29:23] And your help. Forgive us our sin. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Our concluding psalm. Is Psalm 147. And this is from the Scottish Psalter.

[29:36] Psalm 147. The tune is creditin'. And this is from the Scottish Psalter. We're going to sing verses 1 to 5. Psalm 147.

[29:51] That's on page 446. Praise ye the Lord. For it is good. Praise to our God to sing. For it is pleasant. And to praise. It is a comely thing.

[30:02] God doth build up Jerusalem. And he it is alone. That the dispersed of Israel. Doth gather into one. Those that are broken in their heart. And grieved in their minds. He healeth.

[30:13] And their painful wounds. He tenderly abinds. He counts the number of the stars. He names them. One every one. Great is our Lord. And of great power.

[30:24] His wisdom search can none. These verses of Psalm 147. The tune is credit. And praise ye the Lord. Amen. Amen.

[31:30] Those thoughts are broken in their hearts, and regret in their minds.

[31:45] He healeth and death in full wounds, he tenderly abides.

[31:59] He counts the number of the stars, he makes them every one.

[32:14] Great is our Lord, and all great power, his wisdom search cannot.

[32:29] Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you, now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.

[32:42] Thank you.