Your Faith Has Made You Whole

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Welcome

If you missed Pastor’s message Wednesday night, GO BACK AND WATCH!

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Mark 5:34 KJV 1900

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

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Lesson Connection

I thank the Lord for giving me a wife who is willing to tell me what I need to hear! (Even though I’m still right)

Here lately, I have had somewhat of an upset stomach. And yesterday, we were in town, about to eat lunch, and I was talking about what my stomach had been doing. And Sis. Kierstin said, “You know, hun, you can’t really complain about your stomach hurting if you continue to eat the type of things you eat.” She was right.

We went to a wing place. I ordered some hot wings. And I remember being told, “I don’t want to hear about your stomach later!”

So later, yesterday evening, we’re eating dinner. And I didn’t eat a whole lot. We were done, and it had gotten quiet (which is now uncommon in our household). And I said, “I’ll tell you what, my stomach just hasn’t felt great.” And when I looked up to see the look that was being sent my direction…

You know, there are some things that are a common sense sort of fix. Change our own behavior, and things will change for us. There are some things we pray for that God is like, “You’re praying for me to do a miracle, but really, your actions are what need to change.”

But then… there are many situations in which there is nothing we or anyone else can do to help the problem. I’m talking about needing a miracle. That’s what this woman in our text needed…

The Woman with the Issue of Blood Suffered for Twelve Years

We know her as the “woman with the issue of blood.” Jesus called her “Daughter.”

She was dealing with this consistent flow of blood from the womb. And that made life outside of her home almost impossible. And that goes for a woman if any culture in that day, but it was especially hard for Jewish women.

For Jewish women, the flow of blood over the course of many days meant she was unclean for as long as it continued. During that time, she was considered a potential threat to the Tabernacle, which was to be kept free of any uncleanness.

So, she had to remain at home. And anyone who lived with her or even touched where she sate could also be considered unclean.

She Sought Many Cures Without Improvement

Now, understand this… there were prescribed cures for her disease - if she was willing to pay for them.

And so, each doctor responded about the same way: “I know exactly what to do for you. The Talmud has listed over fifteen potential cures for your disease!”

So, surely out of those fifteen plus potential cures, one of them would be the answer and do what she needed.

Here are a few of the cures that the Talmud recommended. And I quote:

Take of gum Alexandria, of alum, and of crocus hortensis, the weight of a zuzee each; let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that hath an issue of blood. But if this fail,

Take of Persian onions nine logs, boil them in wine, and give it to her to drink: and say, Arise from thy flux. But should this fail,

Set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her hand; and let somebody come behind and affright her, and say, Arise from thy flux. But should this do no good,

Take a handful of cummin and a handful of crocus, and a handful of faenu-greek; let these be boiled, and given her to drink, and say, Arise from thy flux. But should this also fail,

Dig seven trenches, and burn in them some cuttings of vines not yet four years old; and let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let her be led from this trench and set down over that; and let her be removed from that, and set down over another: and in each removal say unto her, Arise from thy flux.

And if none of those worked, there were at least ten other remedies that could be given for this one condition. But, of course, that would be ten more doctor’s visits and ten more doctor’s bills.

After her last visit, she reached into her purse and realized that she only had just enough for this cure and no more. And after she went through with it, she was no better. In fact, he was getting worse.

I Will Reject Hopelessness in Favor of Faith

You know, it’s really easy to feel hopeless when all the cures and prescriptions we try just don’t work.

We are still sick. We’re still addicted. Still broke.

But we don’t have to feel hopeless - we can still have faith!

Our faith is not grounded in what we can do, but in what our God can do! Jesus proved all throughout the Gospels, and even here in the Gospel of Mark, that He is greater than nature, the devils, disease, and even death.

The Woman Did Not Touch Jesus, But She Touched His Clothing

Now, we’ve hovered around this topic a little bit already in the last couple of weeks, but people sometimes find themselves “canceled” by society, as if they are a potential plague needing to be isolated from society.

“Well Bro. LaRue, you don’t understand all that they’re into and what all they’re addicted to and doing behind closed doors and you don’t know their history!”

Alright then - you want to talk about history… LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR HISTORY!

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I could set the mic down right there… but I won’t, because God’s going to keep working on some hearts right now until they finally break...

You HAD a history yourself, but thank the Lord He wiped it all away. But I’ve got a question for you: If Christians always allowed someone’s history or reputation to block them from reaching out to them, would there be ANYONE filled with the Holy Ghost? I can tell you that this church wouldn’t be having service right now, because we wouldn’t be here!

I knocked on the door of one person’s house this week, that I have no doubt that they were bound by drug addiction. 100%. But I’m not going to let that define them! I’m not going to let it drive how I treat them or if I even interact with them at all. I stood with them on their front porch and had a 15-minute conversation about God!

And there is a resistant spirit that I have felt before regarding reaching people who are lost! I REBUKE that spirit IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST! You better drive it out of your mind today!!!

QUIT ALLOWING THAT SPIRIT OF DOUBT AND FAITHLESSNESS TO GET YOU TO OVERLOOK THE STATE AND THE NEED OF SOMEBODY’S SOUL!

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This woman was considered a danger to the community because she pass that dangerous uncleanness to anyone she touched. But in faith, she boldly left her isolation and determined within herself to touch Jesus.

Faith, Not Formulas, Produce Results

And her faith led her to a better understanding of Jesus.

She didn’t need to be strong or favored; she didn’t need to say just the right words or catch Him when He was alone; she didn’t need to cause Him to pity her by showing how she suffered.

She didn’t have some magic formula to make a miracle happen - all she had was faith. And it was enough! That faith gave her insight into the power of Jesus that others didn’t have.

She only needed to touch the very fringe of Jesus’ garment.

She understood that she could be healed even if Jesus had not intended to heal her. Jesus didn’t even have to know He was healing her in order to heal her. What faith!

She Was Not Deterred Because Jesus Was Busy

Now look, she was not the only one who needed a miracle that day.

Jairus, a ruler, was desperate. His precious, 12-year-old daughter was laying at death’s door back at home. And if Jesus didn’t - as they say - “make haste,” the girl wasn’t going to make it.

And so Jesus was busy walking toward Jairus’ house to work a miracle, the woman with the issue of blood still came to the crowd because she knew Jesus was her only hope.

When you read all of this in the Gospel of Mark, you see these two stories intertwined so we can compare them. You’ve got Jesus on His way to help with the dignitary’s daughter. And any delay could mean her death. So you can imagine Jairus was getting it - walking fast! As any father would. He was on high alert against anything that would delay them (the equivalent of having your flashers on going to an emergency).

But suddenly… a lowly, anonymous woman, unclean because of her condition, had the audacity to break through a crowd of important people to touch Jesus.

And without any training, without a single Bible study… her understanding of Christ minimized the understanding of the scholars of Israel, even Jairus.

THIS is what faith can do. Faith is the greatest teacher. It opens up truckloads of knowledge in a instant!

I Will Trust in God, Not Formulas

The apostle Paul said that we are, in fact, “justified” by faith:

Romans 5:1 NKJV

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Now, the Greek word here for “justified” could also be translated as (if it were a word) righteoused. So, we are righteoused by faith. Faith in God makes us to be righteous!

Faith puts a halt to all of the influences of doubt...

The doubt that leads our hearts astray.

The questioning of God’s boundaries.

The questioning of God’s truthful Word.

Faith aligns our hearts with God’s heart and gives us a glimpse of God’s perspective.

And the thing is, it’s that faith that moves God. Not a formula or a ritualistic action that someone thinks will guarantee God’s response. There are some people who read their Bible out of a feeling of guilt or that just doing that every day will cause them to feel right. The same goes with prayer.

But Jesus was moved by her faith. And He’s moved by the same for us.

Read your Bible to be changed, and out of a love for Him and His Word! Pray because you honestly want to talk to God!

Don’t look to complete a formula or perform some sacred template. Seek Jesus with faith!

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Jesus Healed the Woman and Gave Her Peace

A dozen years of deteriorating health had really zapped her strength. But if she could just somehow get to Jesus, there was a chance that He would show compassion and she would be healed.

So with nothing to lose, she headed into the mob of people. The Bible doesn’t spell this out for us, but many believe she crawled through the crowd. As she had expected, they kicked her. The stepped and stomped on her.

But she kept crawling, focused on Him.

She Was Made Whole and Inspired Others

Finally, she reaches were Jesus was. Maybe she’s seeing the tassels hanging from His robe. And with all the faith and strength she could muster, she reached out and touched the hem of His garment…

…and suddenly, everything changed!

What was wrong was made right! Strength came to her that she hadn’t felt in twelve years! She instantly knew she was healed!

But she was snot the only one who felt the power of Jesus to heal. As soon as she touched Him, He stopped walking and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

The disciples were confused. I bet Jairus was anxious. The crowd was so heavy that someone pointed out the obvious:

Mark 5:31 NKJV

31 But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

But, this touch was different! It wasn’t rubbing shoulders and it wasn’t an accidental bump! She came to this thing, fully intending to leave differently than when she came, and she did!

Let me ask the question: When you approach Jesus, do you fully intend to return differently than when you came, because that will inform your actions!!!

Everyone knew about her sickness. And she wasn’t allowed to touch anyone, especially a holy One! How dare she make Him unclean???

She confessed, “Master, it was me.” And she didn’t know what to expect from Him here. She just knew that she came to Jesus sick, and now she was leaving healed!

She told Him her whole story, before everyone there. And told that she knew if she could just touch, she’d be healed.

And how did Jesus respond? He called her “Daughter.” And it had probably been a long while since she had been called anything that kind and that humane.

Mark 5:34 KJV 1900

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

We know that Jesus made her whole, but this scripture here is telling us that JESUS WORKED THROUGH HER FAITH to make her whole.

And he draws our attention to her faith. As if to say that this kind of faith purifies us, guides us, and in the end, justifies us.

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Because It is Never Too Late to Touch Jesus, I Will Take My Need to Him

You might have come in here today feeling hopeless because of what you have been going through.

But look, even if you’ve battled for twelve years or longer, this story is a testament to the power of God to work through our faith. We don’t always know how God will respond when we ask, but we know He will always do what’s right.

Conclusion

Internalizing the Message

“For seekers, He stops!”

He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him!

Some are content with formulas, but we need to have a seeker and hunger mentality!

Matthew 5:6 NKJV

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.