Let's read those two other portions of Scripture that also record the events of this woman who was healed. Mark chapter 5, turn there please. Mark chapter five, verse 37. Now, let me see. Verse 24 is actually the record of the woman. Let's go back to verse 22, please. So Mark 5, 22. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, whom we know as Jarius. by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, he fell at Jesus' feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed and she shall live. And you know, when you read that, you can see little differences there. So here, she's not said to be 12 years old. She's just called here a little daughter. And so this is how you understand scripture. You take them all together. So young or little can describe someone who's about 12 years of age. Okay. Verse 24, and Jesus went with him. And much people followed him and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. And she said, If I may touch, But his clothes, I shall behold. And straightway, the fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body that she was hailed of that plague. And Jesus immediately, knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, who touched me? Now listen, the Lord didn't ask that because he didn't know. The same with Adam and Eve. When the Lord said to Adam and Eve, Adam, where art thou? It's not that the Lord didn't know, but he was looking for confession. And the Lord was looking for this woman to confess. It was me. So, verse 31. And his disciples said unto him, thou seest a multitude thronging thee, and seest thou who touched me? And he looked round about to see her. that had done this thing. Now don't miss that verse. He looked round about to see her. He just asked a moment ago, who did that? But never gave him any clue that he knew because he turned round to see, not who it was, but her. All right? Verse 33, and the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, she's overwhelmed, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. She didn't know much about the Lord, didn't know what was going to happen now. She knows she's cured, but doesn't know how he'll respond. Verse 34, and he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. Going to stop there. We know those following verses that Christ went and cured the ruler's daughter. But go with me also to Matthew, please. Matthew, the chapter 9. Now, Matthew 9, just a couple of verses here. We'll not read about the bit about Jairus. We've got that now. Verse 18-19 records that ruler of the synagogue. Verse 20 then is the bit about the woman. And behold, a woman which was diseased, So elsewhere it was called various names. Now it's a disease. What is a disease? Well, look at the word. You see the word ease there. When you're at ease, it means you're well. It means you're comfortable. But when you put the word dis in front of it, it means you're not comfortable. You're not at ease. You are diseased. And that was the problem of this dear woman. And behold, Many of you are sitting here tonight thinking, well, I don't feel very eased. I mean, I'm diseased, sore back and sore knees and whatever. But anyway, that's a different problem with this lady. And behold, a woman which was diseased, with an issue of blood 12 years, came behind him and touched the hem of his garments. For she said within herself, if I may touch his garment, I shall be whole. And do you see? how the Word of God knows what's in her head, what she was even thinking. She didn't say this out loud. No one, you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they're recording what they saw. But remember, they're moved by the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost directs them to what she was thinking as well. I think that's brilliant. I think the Scripture's amazing. Okay. Yeah, verse 21. For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall behold. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole, and the woman was made whole from that hour. Amen. Let's bow together in a word of prayer, please. Our Lord and our God, as we assemble tonight with thy word open before us, we just pray, Lord, for a word and seize and help us now. As we consider thy word, as we consider truth, we pray, Lord, that it'll open up to us, that, Lord, it'll strike a chord in our hearts. Lord, we all know what it feels to be diseased, to be unwell, to be sick, this woman habitually so for 12 years. Lord, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for how you dealt with this dear lady. There's others, Lord, this meeting tonight, and they're diseased with sin. Oh, Lord, tonight, that they would touch thee and that they would be cured immediately. Lord, answer prayer tonight for young and mature in Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Now, I want you to go back to Luke's gospel. That's where we're going to focus on this evening, the gospel of Luke chapter eight. What you have here is a story of a woman who has a disease. But that story of the diseased woman is sandwiched between a larger story. So before we read about the woman with the issue of blood, you read about this wee girl who has died. At the end of it, you read how she's cured, okay? So that's the picture. But in the middle of it, you have sandwiched this record of a woman with the issue of blood. And it feels to me that the whole of God's word has paused for one moment just to think on two female characters, a young girl and a mature woman. She's mature because the nature of her disease would indicate that. And I want to pause with that for a moment this evening. Because dear ladies and girls, you could be a wee girl tonight, or you could be a big girl up in years. But the Lord's interested in you. I want you to know that tonight. Ladies, very often you read the scriptures that talks about what the Lord does for man. That means mankind. The Lord's interested in both the male and the female. He made Adam and he made Eve. And the Lord, in scripture at times, emphasizes his affection, his interest, and his love for women, and this is one of those portions. And so like I said, it feels the whole of the scripture has stopped to pause and focus in on two ladies, young and old, a wee girl of what age was she? Read the verse 14, sorry, verse 42. What age was she? 12 years of age. How long was the mature woman sick? Look at verse 43, and a woman having an issue of blood, 12 years. Okay, so there's similarities here. Both female, both disease, well, both they have the picture of 12 years. And by the way, the number 12 in the Bible, it's complex, but it seems to carry the idea of completion. It carries the idea, perfection is the wrong word to use, but complete. And sometimes it points towards a complete government. It suggests that here's the completeness of time. Here you have a governing God, who at the right moment, who has been watching all of this, and for 12 years, he has known what's going on, and on this 12th year, he did is with the wee girl, and with this woman. This is not a coincidence. This is an appointed time. The Lord is saying, your time has come. Your time has come. Both women, both featuring the number 12 here, both were suffering because of illness. One has, well, one's about to die and did die. The other one has been suffering for 12 years and as a consequence has come for help, but they're both suffering. Isn't that beautiful? But you know what thrills me even more? What was the young girl called? I don't know, we're not told. What's the woman called? I don't know, we're not told. But look at how Christ addressed them. Look at verse 48. And he said unto her, daughter, daughter. It's one thing for someone to call you by your name. It's another thing for someone to call you daughter. Not everybody can call you that. Not everyone can call you son. Not everyone can call you daughter. The only person who can really say that is a father or a mother. And the Lord's indicating to this dear woman who's been distressed for 12 years, in some ways an outcast from the church. He says, you're no outcast. You're my daughter. To the wee girl. Now, I don't think it's in this portion. It's in one of the other verses, but he also goes into this girl's home. And he calls her daughter as well. Isn't this beautiful? Two unnamed women, both featuring number 12, both with illness, sicknesses, and the Lord calls them both daughter because he's affectionately interested. Men folk, I'm not saying you can go for a wee sleep tonight. This is for you and me as well. What we see tonight is the Lord's interest in people. That's lovely to see. So, without any further ado, let's focus on this woman in verse 43. So verse 43, and a woman, dear, dear woman, in awful trouble, having an issue of blood, 12 years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any." She's in an awful way. It says there she had an issue of blood. The word issue there, the full word is a flowing issue. And so it's a woman's problem, it's a woman's issue that has got out of control with her and she's wrecked by it, no doubt emotionally as well as physically. And the problem was because of this issue of blood, and it was a bleeding, sometimes the word can be translated as hemorrhaging, because of this she was seen as being on claim. She couldn't enter into the house of God, for example, because she was unclean, because of the ceremonial law in that day. No one could touch her, because if anyone touched her, they would be classified as unclean as well. So I want you to understand the turmoil of this woman's heart. She would have been, to some degree, isolated. Because if she'd have went somewhere, people, no doubt, oh, I hope respectfully at least, would have sidestepped her. they would have avoided her because of her condition, because they didn't want to be unclean as well. In the Old Testament, you see, there are all those rules and laws. If you're going to bring a sacrifice to the house or if you're going to be involved in the work of God, you have to wash yourself and you have to be clean. So if you're stained by blood or you've touched someone who's affected by blood, you were described as unclean, therefore not fit to be in the house of God. So for 12 years, Probably this woman wouldn't have made it to church, to the house of God. Probably. I'm not saying that dogmatically, just inserting that as a likelihood. Avoided by other people. We're also told here, and those have been 12 long years, We're also told here she had spent all her living upon physicians. She took this seriously. She wanted to be cured. It's not that she lacked a desire for a cure. She has went to every length. Everything she had, she put it on the table for the cure. Now, read with me the gospel of Mark here. Look what Mark says about this. And maybe you want to put a marker in each of these portions for easy turning. But in Mark 4, And isn't the verse 24, is that right? Let me go back to it again there. Okay. Matthew 5, is that it? We'll get this, yeah. Yeah, Mark 5 and the verse 26. And we read here, and had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had. Now we know that she's been suffering. No physician has been able to help her. But this verse goes on to say that nothing was bettered, but rather she grew even worse. She was getting worse and worse and worse. And no doubt, again, not only physically, but that would have been her case mentally and emotionally as she plunged into a more dreadful version of her condition. So go back then to verse 43 of the Gospel of Luke. Luke 8, verse 43. You feel for her, don't you? And this almost feels like a last Ditched effort just to do something. She is going to meet with Christ. He's nothing else. She's nowhere else to go to. She cannot find the cure of anyone. And when she hears of Christ, she throws herself at him. There's no reservation here. There's no stuff up her lip. There's no kind of reserve. She is throwing everything upon just touching the Lord. She's so desperate. And I read all of that. And I can't help but think about the disease of sin. You see, tonight you have a disease as well. Obviously, that's very clear. Look at your hands tonight. Look at your hands. Your hands show, your hands tell a lot about you. If your hands are soft, maybe like mine, because I'm a bit of a pen pusher now. That's embarrassing to say, but it's true. I haven't those hard hands of a man out in the tools or whatever anymore. Those days are gone for me, but your hands tell a lot about you. But the more you look at their hands, the more you will see your hands are dying. So is the rest of you. We're dying tonight, every one of us. Your hands are getting old. Your whole body is getting old. And that's the hands that you can see. You can't even see the organs within. They're dying too. And so we, like this woman, we all have a condition and we're all dying. That's the reality. And like this woman, her condition, it affected all of her. It had an impact upon her mentally and emotionally and physically. Because of the condition, she was isolated. She hadn't many friends. People kept their distance from her. And doesn't sin do that? When we're known for particular sin, you maybe lose friends. You lose acquaintances. And the reality is that this woman's condition, like the young girl, if left unchecked, could have taken her life. And sin's the same. Sin can take your life, and sin does take your life. We all die because we're all sinners. The problem is this. This woman's condition would bring her to the grave, and that's all it would do. But sin takes you to hell. That's the difference. The second, death. Sin is much more serious than any flowing issue of blood or anything else. That's a dear woman. I can't help but feel sorry for her. But she touched him, and that's the encouraging thing. Verse 45. And Jesus said, who touched me? It was her. She had reached out and said, just stroked him I suppose. Didn't grab him, but stroked him. Verse 44 reads that she came behind him and touched the border of his garment and immediately her issue of blood started. She was immediately cured. And that's like sin again. When you come to Christ, Christ immediately cures you. You're justified. Like I said this morning, last Sunday morning, you're justified. You are regenerated. And then you begin the process of sanctification. And someday you'll be glorified, but you're a new creature in Christ Jesus. Salvation's good. And you know that something's changed within. She knew that. She knew herself that something changed. What I want to ask Willie tonight is this. Why did she touch him? Why? What was really going through her head? Well, you know the answer why. It's very obvious, isn't it? She touched him because she knew she had a problem. That's why. She knew she had a problem. She was aware of the presence of a disease. And because of that awareness, she knew that she could do something about it. No man could help her. She'd been to plenty of men. Been to plenty of physicians. None could help her. Maybe that's like you tonight. You know full well you're a sinner. You know that. I don't need to tell you that. It would not be an education for you to find out that you're on a sinner on your way to hell. That's not news to you. You know that. And you're aware of it. And maybe you've been going to other physicians. You've been going to churches. Hasn't cut it for you. You've been listening to sermons. Hasn't done it for you. You've been talking to people who are Christians, but nothing's happened. It doesn't matter what you do, where you go, what you read, nothing's happening because you're going to the wrong position. Don't go to a man. Don't go to church. Go to Christ. The only thing that I or a church or any believer can do is point you to the one who can help you, the Lord Jesus Christ. And for 12 years, she wrestled with this. You could be wrestling with this for 12 years, for 13 years, for 20 years, for 40 years, I don't know. But you've had the disease of sin and all you need to do is go to Christ and he can immediately make you whole. Tonight. Tonight. And you'll know it. You'll know it. She was aware of the presence of the disease and therefore she did something about it. I want you to understand that your disease of sin will take you to hell. I want you to know that tonight and don't forget that. You see, a moment ago I said to you about looking at your hands. Your hands are getting old, they're dying, so is the rest of you. I say your hands because you can't see much else of your body, all right, but you can see your hands tonight. Look at those hands again and understand this. If you're to die without Christ, those hands will be in hell. Those hands. Some people get the idea of hell being some kind of outer body experience where you're in this mystical form and there's some kind of survival forevermore in a place called hell and listen to me, listen to me. The word of God makes it very clear, you will be resurrected, but unseethed as well. Resurrected, your body, your physical body and soul will be reunited and cast into the lake of fire. Revelation teaches that. These hands, if you're not seethed, you'll be looking at them in hell forevermore. That's serious stuff. But I say that to grab your attention, make you think seriously. Do you want to call these hands to hell? Why not reach out for Christ? And he will cure you. This woman knew she had a disease, therefore she went. She knew that nothing else and nobody else could help her, only Christ. Maybe tonight you might know full well you're standing in the queue for hell. You know that. You know if you were to die tonight, you might just happen to be, well, you're in the queue, and if you die tonight, well, you're bypassing the queue and you're going right in there. You know that. I want to ask you tonight, why would you be happy to stand in a queue and just wait until life's taken and through hell's door you go that you may have no exit ever again? Isn't it a reality, men and women, that there's many people in life who have a Christian upbringing? I know of several celebrities, and they talk about having a Christian upbringing. Sometimes their parents are devastated. Their name escapes them, but some that are well-known today. It's almost as if the devil's giving them everything they need to forget that they're heading to hell, just distract them enough, get their attention enough, so that they can sing or perform or act their life away and then end up in God's hell. It's not because they don't know the truth. It's not because they're ignorant to the reality. It's not because they're ignorant of what the Bible teaches. It's because they love the things the devil gives them to distract them on their way to hell. That's sad and serious stuff, but it's a reality. This woman saw a need and she dealt with it. She got to Christ. She saw her need. If you see your need tonight, do something about it and get to the Lord. Secondly, she knew what the result would be. She knew, because she says this, we read that in the Oratory Portions of Morgan Matthew, that she said within herself, if I can but touch him, if I can just touch him, I will be cured. She knew that. And that's interesting, you know, how did she know that? How did she know about this, okay? Well, she would have heard about the Lord in several ways. One will go the text, but certainly Mark 1, 40 talks about the leper who was cured. If you cure someone of leprosy, that'll spread like wildfire, all right? There was a man in Mark 2. He was sick of the palsy, and the four caritim brought him to Christ, and the sick of the palsy walked away. She would have heard about that. Those things will be spread abroad, all right? What about the demons that were cast out of Legion in Mark 5? So she'd have seen from the examples, the testimonies of other people, of what's done. Well those were examples really, weren't they? Of what the Lord had done for other people. She'd have known about those. She also would have heard the preaching of other men. In Luke 9, it speaks about how people have laboured and preached the word, and that was the case that he was sounded abroad. People knew about this rabbi who was claiming to be God, and he's walking amongst men, he's stilling the storms, he's preaching a message that nobody can confound him. She would have heard the preaching. Maybe not first-hand from Christ, but she's aware that it was going on. She also would have been familiar with the scriptures to some degree. She would have been completely ignorant. She would have known what the Bible, well, the Old Testament. She would have known what the Old Testament was. She would have heard of Moses and David and the prophets. So by example, preaching and scriptures, she heard about Christ and knew what he could do. All right. She touched him then because of his power, because of his mercy, because of what happens when someone meets Christ. Now, let's think that through for a minute here tonight. Like this woman, you know full well what happens if you were to get saved tonight. If you were to pray, if you were to stay behind maybe for counselling or go to your own home or whatever way it happens, if you were to bow down tonight and pray, you know full well what would happen. You'd be saved. And that's why you won't do it. You don't want to be saved. It's not that you want to go to hell. It's just the fact that you don't want to let go of your sin. You like it. You like the side effects. You like, as it were, the experience of what sin gives you. And you don't want to be saved from that. You want to save from the drug, whatever the drug is. I don't literally mean drugs that put you on a high, but whatever that is that keeps you from Christ, that gives you your dopamine kick, you can't let that go. And you would rather hold that and carry it and nurse it the whole way into hell. And then when you die, you won't have it anyway. Then you'll spend all eternity without it and be lost forevermore. Why? Why would you do that? I would ask you to forsake everything, whether it's your pride, your love of the world, whatever, and call upon Christ for salvation. He will change you, and you'll not regret that. You know the scriptures tonight. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. Jesus is the only saver, and you know that. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know that. You know that we're all sinners, Romans 3 23. You know that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He's come to seek for you. Come to seek for you. But you're the one who's hiding. You're the one who's saying no. She touched him because she knew what the result would be. She'd be cured. She wanted the cure. Can I say thirdly and finally this evening, She knew he was the only one who could help her. Nobody else. Nobody else. There's one way to get rid of the disease of sin, and that's by Christ. He's the only one who died for you. Listen, I haven't died for anybody, obviously. I haven't died for you. I don't deserve your worship. I don't deserve you bowing down and giving me thanks. I haven't saved you. Christ did. He's the one who died on the cross. He's the one who paid the price. He's the one who endured the wrath of God for your sin. And this woman, she very clearly demonstrates what it is to try different physicians, different cures, different methods, different religions. Let's put that one in. You could have tried different religions, different thoughts, different ways, but nothing's worked because Christ is the only one who works. He's the only one who is real. Perhaps you've tried to change a new leaf or turn over a new leaf. That hasn't worked either. Very often at New Year, we set out new expectations for ourselves and often fail them because we're the same old person. Year in, year out, the year might have changed, but we're the same. You need to go to Christ, not turn over a new leaf. But here's the thing. You may be afraid tonight, young or old. You may be afraid to get saved. You may be afraid of what happens afterward. This woman was terrified. Didn't we read that? Look at verse 47. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, She came trembling and falling down before him. This is all new to her. And she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. She was trembling. Maybe tonight you're trembling. You know how that feels. But what was Christ's response to an unclean, sinful woman who touched the Lord? What was Christ's response? Verse 48 tells us, the Lord didn't chase her. He'll not chase you either. If you were to honestly confess your sin to God, He'll not tell you to move on. He says, daughter or son, be of good comfort. That's the words you want to hear. For anyone who's saved, you'll recall that moment where you're full of sin, and you don't know what to do, and you know you're going to hell, and the burden's there, and you panic, and you worry, and you think, how do I get rid of my sin? And the only thing you can do is call on to God, and the peace just comes. And you live with that peace. Of sins forgiven, be of good comfort. That could be you tonight. Male, female, young, mature, whatever. Now, as I close, this passage, as I'm sure you have got from what I've said so far, this passage is not promising anybody that you can come to Christ and be cured of all your sicknesses. This is not promising you that if you bring your whatever it is, arthritis, headaches, or whatever it is, whatever condition you have, you might bring it to Christ. This is not, not, not, not promising you that he will cure every disease you have. What this verse, what these verses, this passage is teaching is what happens when you throw yourself in Christ, when you forsake all else, you've tried all else, and you throw yourself and you reach out for the Lord. When you touch him, you're changed. And you will leave the house of God tonight, if you get saved tonight, with comfort. And the end of verse 48 says there, you'll be made whole and you'll go in peace. No more distress about going to hell. There's a lot of things you'll be stressed about in life, but going to hell won't be one of them. Because you're saved and the Lord has touched you tonight with all of your infirmities and sickness. Would you come to Christ? Would you touch him this evening? Would you stretch out and receive the cure of the master? He will kindly and definitely bring you home to the family of God and save you forevermore. Take your hymn books, please. The hymn 222.