Download... July 31, 2011. Sunday Morning Service. Bro. Dave Goble.
Why do you worship God? It's a worthy question! There are so many benefits in God revealing Himself to us. When one is saved,..Eternal life starts. It is knowing He loves us,.. is keeping us,.. and enveloping us in His arms. If instead of being saved, one is guilty,.. they are not free. After salvation, you no longer carry guilt! This only comes after one in faith accepts the benefits of God,.. saving them out of sin. Why do we worship God? Let us count the ways........
TEXT: MARK 5:25-34
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
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.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Can your faith touch God? God has a plan for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God wants us to live in the “right now.” We can’t live yesterday,..God has a plan for Today. Tomorrow has its own set of problems. But I’m not living tomorrow,..but Today! Can Your Faith Touch God? It is a today question!
When Peter got out of the boat, (Matthew 14:22-31) when Jesus said “Come,”.. he was not thinking of past or future,..but only in that moment. Then when he did think ahead, he started to sink,..while walking on water. He had been trusting God for Now. But when doubts came for the impossibilities, he lost touch of God’s keeping power. Mark 5, again... This woman was living in the present in order to touch God. She had been suffering for 12 years with this issue of blood.
Bro David commented how it is being wondered about how our first president, George Washington ..actually died. No doubt many things were wrong. In those times it was quite common for a doctor though, to “bleed a patient.” This of course would have made matters worse in light of today’s more educated knowledge. The woman spoke of here, had from this account already suffered many things, additionally from her physician’s including spending all of her living,..only getting still worse. It would not be a stretch,.. that perhaps her physicians had made her condition worse.
This is an illustration of the limitations of men,..and how only living for God in faith, is the way for eternal life. Eternal life can be now, consciously, deliberately,.. made from our choice to enjoy it, through Salvation in Christ, out of our sins. Otherwise you will be afflicted with the past. The past is what it is,..we can’t change it. God bestowed us with Salvation for grace,.. to let the past go,..and live eternally,..now. We each are responsible for our decisions and conditions. God has a remedy for the spiritual conditions that man and religion cannot help you with. It is a place where only God can help.
The woman spoken of here in our text, was in a crowd,..and in the “underprivileged position” of not being in the front,..closer to Christ. She had to press.. to touch Him. Today still, ...we can press in faith to touch God. God healed this woman when she pressed in faith,..actually enabling her to touch Christ for her healing.
Some folks “see” faith as a “gap filler” for the unknown. In prior centuries, all the newness of discoveries, it took “faith” ..to invent. Many of the past centuries found it wrong to delve into the unknown, ..for they were essentially afraid. Things such as the knowledge of how the heavenly bodies/planets actually orbited,..were yet unknown. Later man learned about the atoms, by learning/discovering ...about the temporal world around them. Science often allows God to be crowded out of the “facts.” Philosophy also contributes to this false understanding. Faith is vital to avoid a vacuum in your heart. Belief without active faith, is not enough. Philosophies will then be able to vainly “fill the gap” that should only be filled by faith and belief in God’s supremacy.
Many people have many ideas about faith. But it is only the faith towards God..not a New Age believer, etc, ..only faith towards God, ..will touch Him! It has to be an exclusive faith towards Him only. It doesn’t have to diminish my respect for my fellow man. We don’t know much about this woman’s “personal” beliefs,..but she did ultimately, trust completely in God’s power for her life. Real faith is to know everything is from, and centered, on God and His revelation.
Electrons flow through a conductor, causing it to flow to empower, ..”say,”.. a light bulb. Everything reveals God. But my faith does not have to be in the unknown,..but in the known power of God! Does it seem that this woman would turn away from God,...who healed her? First she believed,..then in faith pressed to “touch His garment.” She believed Jesus could heal her. It is said she pressed her way from the back. She had to ..start.. to believe, to then have faith. With a kernel of faith,.. God could heal her.
When we go to the doctor, we often forget him,.. until we need him again. We go to the store often in anticipation for our desires,..then upon fulfilling it, ..we often forget it. We don’t think this woman forgot what had transpired when by her faith in touching Christ, she was healed! Faith is touching God,.. and then our life is never the same! It is prayed that those souls that have backslid from a redemptive faith, will again in faith still receive mercy to be restored.
Can your faith touch God? If your faith has touched God for redemption, ..you will never be the same again! Her (the woman in Mark 5) faith, was part of the process that made her whole. Jesus told her, ...“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.”...Mark 5:34b This is a good illustration why we need to pay attention to our faith today. Verse 28 She in faith determined, if she could touch His garment, she would be made whole. Our mind and body do affect our faith. This woman had to have faith to press,..to touch God. She was behind in that crowd, needed to press through them to get close enough to touch God in her faith. She said, (in verse 28 again)“If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole”....Faith! Her life was no doubt very complex, ..yet she determined she did not have to remain in her condition for it would be worth her efforts to “try.” It would be better than to accept her miserable condition. Her efforts in faith, brought that healing touch to flow through her body.
Faith includes submitting to the fact that God is sovereign,..and we are not! It means, ..whatever happens, ..healing or not, ..we ‘stay' submitted to His will. We cannot let fleshly disappointments (not being healed, etc.) crowd out our faith, ..that this also might be His will. This woman of faith brings to remembrance of another woman here in the gospels,.. also illustrating great faith. Matthew 15:22-28 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Again faith here was the key in touching God. In the woman of Mark 5, she had suffered 12 years not receiving help for her affliction. She had spent all of her living paying for many “remedies,” and doctors. Still through the testing of all these failures, ...she had enough faith to touch God! She may not have had as much faith as the centurion spoken of in Luke 7:2-10,.. as this one verse.. 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. But “she” still had enough for Christ to honor her faith and trust,..that she would be healed!
Again,..faith is more than belief. Many “say” they believe in God..but have nothing of God working in their lives. This woman’s faith was the “Verb” that caused her to “move through the crowd, to move God!” “The crowd” illustrates all “the obstacles” that would prevent us, ..also.. from touching God. We must "press” in faith to get past those obstacles. Can your faith touch God? You can believe in a lot of things, but not have true faith. Many beliefs in different things,..does not necessarily affect our behavior. This woman’s belief caused her to action,..to press through in faith to touch Him, ...past the crowd!
Pastor Goble illustrated a point in his message by asking certain ones in the congregation, “Do you have any money?” “No?” He does not have money! Another one that was asked, .. did have money,..so it provided the appearance of “temporal hope.” So,.. temporal hope was located. Christ has our Real Hope. To retrieve it,..I Must ‘go’ to Him! Spiritual contact needs to be made. We need to get to the place,..that our faith can touch Him!
Can your faith touch God? What kind of longstanding problems, have you lived with? God is still in possession of your hope! No one else, or other thing,.. can fulfill it. Don’t abandon your hope. There is a hope for your “plague,” illness, problems, etc. He only,.. can really in faith make you whole. Faith moves, touches, ..unlocks. It unlocks good, ...and locks up the evil. I cannot ignore evil,...and only pay attention to good things. Evil must be locked up. A healing from God,..is a transfer of heaven through faith’s touch. It “in force” ..is the testimony for others who are also looking for God’s touch! Does your life reveal God? Look also at the apostle Paul who in spite of afflictions, ..demonstrated faith in healing.
Faith is like the accelerator that moves your car as long as there is gas. The brakes, ...are the withdrawing of faith. Letting fleshly circumstances overwhelm the faith that you would have. Faith moves! We need to recognize spiritually the accelerator and the brakes. Can your faith touch God? Not accessing God, ..is like putting the parking brake on. Christ asked,..”who touched me?” He recognized virtue leaving His body! It was a transfer of power from heaven to the woman. This transfer of power from heaven, is for any of God’s children/church living a life in obedience, ...and of a submissive heart!
Christ possesses our hope! We generally are aware of our fleshly weaknesses. For them we must have our hope in God alone. Bro Goble told of an incident about Faith Stewart, praying in her bedroom one time at midnight, needing an answer for a serious problem. “I must hear from heaven tonight,” she prayed. It was that demonstrated faith,.. that touched God.. for the needed answer. Bro D Goble said he has also had to petition God in that manner,..touching God!
Are you certain this woman had “super faith?” Or was she like you,..maybe with just enough to receive from God’s touch? Start showing action! Step on the accelerator of faith! Can your faith touch God? Sooner or later if you in faith press, ..you in faith can touch God! Don’t cast away your confidence! Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
