Wayside miracle is how Spurgeon described it. And a wayside miracle it most certainly was. Our Lord here had just been arrested by the urgent cries of one of the rulers out of the synagogue at Capernaum. Jairus had come and breathlessly, he had slumped down at the feet of Christ, he had squeezed out a pathetic plea out of a troubled heart, and he had said, 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 we find here in the incident before us, Christ responded immediately to his cry. He stepped out in the direction of Jairus' house, bound for the place where this young girl was. And then, presumably only a short distance, From that house where the dying daughter lay, Jesus stopped. Why? Straightforward answer. A miracle, en route, had just been performed. It has been explained here brilliantly in these terms. The Savior was on the road to restore the daughter of Jairus. This woman's healing was an extra. of Greece, a sort of over-splash of the great fountain of mercy. The cup of our Lord's power was full, full to the brim, and he was bearing it to the house of the ruler of the synagogue. But this poor creature did but receive a drop, which he spilt on the way." And I think that's a fascinating way to describe it. And that's a miracle. that we're going to center our thoughts upon this evening. Notice in the first instance concerning the woman, the search in which she had been engaged, the search in which she had been engaged. This woman who came to Jesus en route to Jairus' house, she was in a most dreadful state, to say the very least about her. She had been literally dying for a period of 12 years. It was a long time, it was a lamentable condition, and how wasted and wearied she must have felt that she is forcing herself into the presence of the Savior and pressing herself at the same time onto the page of the Bible record. But the question has to be asked, What had she been doing over those twelve years of her infirmity? Had she merely and meekly submitted to her fate? Had she looked upon her disease as something insignificant, something inconsequential? Neither of those, for with great determination, with tremendous hopefulness, Knowing that this disease as well, if it wasn't going to be arrested, would most surely claim her life. She had resolved within herself, I'm not going to give in to it. If there's any chance of a cure, I will have it. No matter what pain it involves, no matter what payment it will include, I will do it all the way I'm prepared to go. And the proof of that determination was seen by her calling on physician, after physician, after physician, after physician, wherever she heard there was a doctor and his name was passed on, and the locality where he practiced was made known, she was at his door. Mark 5 and verse 26 makes it clear she had contacted many physicians. How aware she was of the nature of her condition, how anxious she was to find a cure. Wouldn't it be tremendous if poor lost sinners in this locality and right across the globe tonight would have this appreciation within their soul, I am a guilty, poor, lost, undone sinner, headed for the damnation of hell. I have a hard heart, and I know it. I have a hideous nature, and I know it. But if this guilt and if this hardness and if this hideousness and if this wickedness can be removed, I long to have it soon, and I'm going to leave no stone unturned until I find it. So, sadly, that's not how it is with most sinners. They may be sick with dire spiritual disease, but they have no determination to find a cure. Rather, they constantly trifle with sin and with death and with heaven and with hell and stay in this tragic state. Now back here, calling on various physicians, I'm sure the responses would have been interesting and the prescriptions would have needed very intriguing reading. Medical science was not very specialized in the era when she was living. One has said, surgery was murderous. Medicines were poisonous. Many of the prescriptions of those days are sickening and yet ridiculous. One said I read a prescription dating to her savior's time, warranted to cure many diseases which consisted of grasshopper's eggs. The tooth of a fox was said to possess special powers, but I noticed that one of the chief drugs of all, the most expensive, but the surest in its action, it was claimed, was a nail from the finger of a man who had been hanged. I'm sure that would be nice. Ridiculous remedies. insane solutions. But no worse, I assure you, no worse than what many men and women today will resort to as an answer to the abominations of the human heart. Dr. Reformation is regularly called upon. Anyone familiar with John Bunyan's classic book, The Pilgrim's Progress? Well, recall how Mr. Worldly Wise Man sent Christian round to the business of doctor legality, and he told Christian, you know, the old doctrine, he's very skilled in delivering men from their burdens, and that even if you find when you go the old gentleman himself is not at home, his young assistant, Mr. Civility, will be almost as good. Now that partnership is still in operation, still very much in vogue, still attracting, still retaining many clients. Do this, they say, and do that. Abstain from this and take yourself away from the other. Be sure to keep the commandments and try to make as many changes to your outward conduct as you possibly can. That's what's written on their prescription. But it's not worth the paper it's written on. Turning over a new leaf, doing the best you can, is not enough. A mere veneer of morality is not the solution to the deep-seated problem of human sin that can never save the soul of a man or a woman. I'm sure you've read the verdict that God gives on our self-righteousness. And we're not talking about all of our badness, all of our wickedness, all of our vileness, whenever we turn to Isaiah 64 verse 6 and there we read, but we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses Or as filthy rags, it's our good deeds God has in mind here, our choicest works, the very best that we are and that we have, the highest, most praiseworthy items that we can pull into the view of man, all of these in the pure sight of a holy God are filthy rags. Or if we go for the New Testament equivalent, Paul, we could argue, was slightly more template in his language, but no less definite. When in Ephesians 2, the verses 8 and 9, he says, by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. He repeats it in Galatians 2, in the verse 16. Again, in Galatians 3, in the verse 11, man is not justified, not saved, by the works of the law. No man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It's very clear, away with all of this doing, doing, doing, doing. Sin has so poisoned our entire being that works and morality and legality and reformation or anything else that we can do cannot provide a cure. And why should we be looking to these things? God has laid out the plan, prescribed the cure, made it clear and available in his word and through his person of his beloved son, the living word, for he tells us Christ did all that needed to be done for our salvation at Calvary. Stop doing and simply believe. Cut out the visits to Dr. Reformation because they're a waste of time. Another popular doctor. In these days, it's Dr. Ritualism. Spurgeon minded a sharp and warranted attack on this character by saying, he's the vilest of quacks, he's a transparent deceiver, his drugs are worthless trash, and his moods of operation are rather the tricks of a merry Andrew, or the antics of a dancing master, than the super teachings of thought and judgment. This doctor has patented a lotion for producing regeneration in little children by the application of a few drops to their foreheads. He puts his hands on the heads of boys and girls and by what he calls influence confirms them in grace. He professes to be able to make a piece of loaf and a cup of wine to be actually divine and in themselves a channel of grace. to the souls of men. I like this line. Spurgeon says his pills are huge but men have wide swallows and can receive anything. And this doctor keeps them coming on conveyor belt style. His weaving room is always full and he's getting men and women to spend what they have. Then he laughs up his sleeve to think that human beings can be so silly as to believe what he's doing. These foolish dupes of people who think these things I prescribe are actually working. The amount of people in this age who are depending on the rituals. associated with what travels under the umbrella of religion. They believe as their automatic passport into heaven, baptism, confirmation, partaking at the Lord's table, church attendance, contributions. It is sad. Oswald J. Smith noted, the so-called Christian religion, apart from Christ, has no more power to save than Buddhism or Mohammedanism. It is a dead, cold, lifeless thing and becomes a curse to thousands of souls, the devil's strongest and most dangerous delusion. And our many people are frequenting today this practice. Dr. Rigorous is, again, in the world's eyes, another important spiritual physician. Just witness the number of monasteries. I know they're declining in numbers, but they're still there and still being promoted at convents and other retreat centers dotted around the globe, be it in Roman Catholicism, be it in Buddhism, be it wherever. Witness a number of pilgrimages embarked upon, and you have it in Islam as well, by thousands, even there are millions of deluded souls It has been said men, realizing something of the burden of sin and despairing of salvation in any other way, decide to enter upon a life of constant self-denial and meritorious deeds in an effort to save themselves. They live apart in a cave or a monastery. They endure all kinds of physical privations in order to obtain salvation. Many go on long pilgrimages. Crookpatrick springs to mind, Lourdes springs to mind as well, to so-called holy places, thus exhausting their bodies. Others wear irons or feed on wafers in an effort to get rid of sin. This, they think, is pleasing to God. What they need is to bring out the book of Colossians. And read at chapter 2, beginning verse 20 through to the verse 23, and Paul is labeling it all. It's only a show of wisdom and will worship and humility and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. But all of them brought together, these doctors, line them up, working out the inventions of men they ought to be avoided, like the plague. They'll do nothing to alleviate, never mind to remove or cure him the foul disease of sin. Dr. Reformation, Dr. Ritualism, Dr. Rigorous and many other quacks out of the same school of studies with their pernicious prescriptions. You see, the heart of man is depraved and they're not treating that. The will of man is obstinate and they're not treating that. The understanding of man is darkened and they have no ability to go there. The desires of man are polluted and they can't reverse it. The conscience of man is seared and they're helpless there. What benefit is consecrated wafers, consecrated water, sacraments, or good works, or severe penances, or moral spring cleaning, or any other outward treatment? What good are these when the real problem is internal, is inherited, is infernal, and is by human method incurable? The woman with this issue of blood could have vouched for that. No one could doubt her perseverance in search of a cure. She tried. Many physicians, you can imagine, one suggested one thing, away she went. Somebody else, something else. Someone else recommended another solution and someone else yet another. And she went there and here and everywhere. What resolution she had, what perseverance she displayed to endure 12 years, not only of disease, but of doctors. The result? I'll think that only of the search in which she had been engaged, but of the situation which she now experienced. The situation which she now experienced. It's accurate to say that her moments had been wasted. 12 years doggedly pursuing a cure, but not receiving one. Such a long time, such a long time to waste. An unconverted person in this building tonight, who can estimate the real value of a day? Who can calculate the costliness of a year? Paul exhorted 2 Corinthians 6 and 2, behold now. is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Then he warned in Hebrews 4 and verse 7 again, he that is God limited a certain day, saying indeed, but today, after so long a time, as it is said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Paul wasn't the only biblical writer to pick up his pen and warn and exhort concerning the value, the vitalness of using the time and opportunity that is currently available for seeking the Lord and looking for his salvation. The psalmist repeatedly urged that the prophets had the same message, and they thundered it out, most notably in Isaiah 55 and 6. Seek ye the Lord, the evangelical prophet Isaiah proclaims, while he is near, call upon him while he is near. And yet while you're surrounded by all of these encouragements, all of these exhortations to repent of your sin, to rely upon the merit of Jesus alone for cleansing, now you drag your feet You procrastinate. You put it off to another time. You feel no reason upon you to hurry. The soldier was cut down, but not fatally, in an old conflict. They called in the medic, but he said, I think I have more need of a chaplain than I have of the medic. Didn't believe anything could be done for him. But the medic got there, told him, oh, we can stabilize you. We can get you sorted. This will be okay." And assured by that doctrine, he called back to those who were going to contact the chaplain. Oh, it's all right. Another time, I don't need him yet. Is that not a precise reflection of what you're doing? As one preacher said, you've been all this time outside the banquet door. All this time unwashed, and the phantom is full. All this time unhealed, when the restoring hand can save you in a moment. All this time in danger of your soul, while the gate of the city of refuge is open, like the woman. afflicted here with the issue of blood, your moments have been wasted in the pursuit of sin and pleasure. Another feature of this woman's case, after twelve years of looking for a cure, was her malady had worsened. Her malady had worsened, verses 25 and 26 of Mark 5 tell the story in this one, and a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. If only she had detected somewhere along the line improvement. If only she felt, well, Do you know what was here when it began? I'm now slightly above that level now. If only! Some little issue had improved in her condition. She'd have felt well, at least. All the money hasn't been spent in vain all the time. All the effort hasn't been expended to no purpose. But no, her peeing was not mitigated. The progress of disease in her body had not halted. She actually grew worse, having suffered many things of many physicians. One has said, with some irony, should actually gain the loss. Those various doctors may have blistered here and torn there and lanced somewhere else and prescribed a wicked poison here and a hideous drug there. The end result, nothing but added pain and added misery. The gospel has been preached time and time and time again. But more sin you have added to your account, therefore the spiritual state is worse today than it was at the beginning. Save yourself the terrible experience of piercing yourself through with more sorrows and more suffering. Save yourself despair here and damnation hereafter by resorting Jesus at once because, as the hymn writer put it, none but Jesus, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. Her moments had been wasted, her malady all the time had worsened, her means had been wearied. Mark 5 and 26 contains the information that here this woman with the issue of blood she had spent all that she had. No more doctors would see her appearing at their door. Unless whatever they were giving, that would have been very unusual, for the day would be gratis. No more medicines. She just couldn't afford them now. She was at the end of the line. How it must have grieved her, how it must have caused her, if her pain didn't already, sleepless nights. Yet this was the best thing. That could have happened to her. A tremendous blessing in disguise. How come? Simply because at the bottom of her purse she found the answer. Christ! The last shekel, one preacher said, binds us to the pretenders. But absolute bankruptcy sets us free to go to Him who heals diseases without money and without price. When we come to an end of self, we come to the beginning of Christ. And what a wonderful truth that is. No wonder the same preacher went on to say, glad enough am I when I meet with a man who is starved out of his self-sufficiency. Welcome, brother, I say to him, now you are ready for Jesus. And you know what these self-righteous people, working, working, working, doing all they can, trying to get their own way to heaven, operating the basis of a DIY salvation, they will never be saved until they come to the end and find it's not working. Everything I've tried, no avail when you're brought to this extremity of personal emptiness, when your resources have been exhausted, when the very last hope you've been trusting in has evaporated and you're left clutching thin air, a truly helpless, hopeless, deserted, undeserving sinner, and you feel that you are such, Then, and only then, will Jesus step in. When you come to the place where that hymn writer did when he later testified, nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look to thee for grace. Foul I to thy fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. the search in which she had been engaged, the situation which she now experienced naturally. And finally, we come to think of the Savior whom she then encountered. The Savior whom she then encountered. The whole incident revolves around this woman's meeting with Christ. There was a reliance, you can mark it, in Mark 5 verse 28. For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. Now that was faith, it was poor faith, it was poor, trembling, imperfect, ignorant faith. And scientifically, you could tear it apart and you could say, well, there wasn't a lot of faith in that. But this woman was sure of this, that Jesus could and would heal her. Now, she did imagine it could only be done by physical contact. She didn't seem to be switched on to the truth that the will of Christ, never mind the love and the compassion of Christ, was the all-important thing in the act of his healing. But she thought she could nip in there, seize the blessing of Christ, and carry it away with her without Jesus knowing a thing about it. So you could say, well, her faith was defective, wasn't it? A lot of gaps. You could put holes. You could draw attention to the ignorance here. You could say it's all wound up with some superstitious notions. But despite the obvious flaws, the main thing is she had faith. Faith that sprang up in her heart as soon as her ears heard the news of Jesus' healing power in other places. Faith got her up onto her feet, out through her door, down through city streets, through the vast crowd indeed that was thronging around Jesus at the time, and in spite of their hard words, and despite their vicious threats, and despite their cruel sneers, she kept going on. caused her pallid cheeks to flush with hope and her sunken eyes to flash with joy as with all of her effort she gathered up the last vials of her strength to stoop down and with one finger touch the border of the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, while it's true that physical contact with Jesus was not necessary for a cure, how many times did our Lord heal people by a word from His mouth, it's still a sweet, refreshing, comforting truth that the least drop of Christ, the least flimsiest touch of Christ, the smallest look to Christ will and does save. Come and touch Jesus. With empty hands of faith, lay hold upon him. At an end of yourself and your devices, call out like this woman. Are it those priests in the Old Testament economy? We lay their hand upon the sacrifice as a symbol of their faith for cleansing. Lay your hand upon Christ. Look away from everything and anything else to Him and live. That's how it happens. A simple action. A straightforward action. In this case as well, a silent action. And as we sit in the pew, we can reach out and touch Him, lean our entire weight spiritually. Upon him, one songwriter said, a woman tried many physicians, yet grew worse. So to Jesus she came. When the crowd tried to restrain her, she whispered these words through her pain. Touching Jesus is all that matters. Then my life will never be the same. There is only one way to touch him. I have to believe. when I call on his name." There was a reliance here. There was also a relaying or relation. The woman exercising a silent faith, wanting to stay anonymous in the middle of the crowd, she was not allowed to by Jesus. Verse 30 through 33 detail this part of the history. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in a press and said, Who touched me? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitudes thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her. that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. She related what had happened. And in Luke 8 and verse 47 you find in even more detail how she told it, what she told. Now it must be said that Christ knew who had touched him even before the woman revealed herself and made an honest relation of her action. He knew that this was going to happen in fact before he set out travelling towards the house of Jairus that day because Well, this was appointed in eternal counsels a way, way back before time ever began. He knew all about this woman. He knew her bodily complaint. He knew about her approach through the crowd. He knew about the touching of the border of his garment. Why then did he ask the question, who touched me? Why? There are many reasons. Had he ignored this incident? Pass no comment at all that a healing has just taken place. Allowed this woman to make her way to her own home that night in silence and he just went on into the home of Jairus. Had that happened, no glory would have been given to the Lord. The crowd would not have been given a reason to rejoice in Christ the Savior. Jairus, part of the crowd, would not have received the encouragement to his faith that he needed and that this incident would have given him. He would have been reasoning here even though they came and they told him afterwards, Jairus, you're right off beam, you're wasting your time, your daughter's now dead, forget the whole enterprise, abandon it. He didn't. Why? Because along the way, He had received this encouragement, if Christ can heal this poor woman by her touching the hem of his garment, what can he not do for my daughter, whom I have prayed him to come to my house and lay his hands upon her? And added to all of that is the fact that if this woman had not been compelled to give public testimony to the power of Jesus that she experienced that day, her faith in Christ would not have been corrected, would not have been cleared, would not have been confirmed, and she never would have heard the wondrous words that Jesus did go on to speak to her in verse 34 of Mark 5, and he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." There was a relit, a reliance, and quite naturally, there was a recovery. Mark 5, 29 is careful to note, and straightway, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. The word of Jesus confirmed Blessing that the empty hand of faith had stretched out and received, verse 34, and he said unto her. She sensed it, there is a change. But the word of assurance came, spoken by Christ. Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace and behold of thy plague by a term of intimacy. Daughter, This was the only time Christ addressed a single person by this term. Daughters of Jerusalem, yes, but daughter singular here by a term of intimacy, by a word of invitation. Go in peace, literally enter into peace. By a sentence of insistence, Be whole of thy plague, thy faith hath made thee whole. The word whole here is repeated twice. A sentence of insistence by these, Christ confirmed the dynamic deed of healing physical and spiritual had been done. Tonight, he's willing. ready to address you in the same manner, ready to dispense His healing power, ready to give His salvation. May you cry, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Let me not just be a face in the crowd. Let me get in there to Christ. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Trusting only in thy mercy, would I seek thy face. Heal my wounded, broken spirit. Save me, save me by thy grace.