Luke's Gospel, chapter 8, looking at this section from verse 40 to the end. And it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him. Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house. For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a-dying. But as he went, the people thronged him, and the woman, having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon the physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him and touched the border of his garment." Luke's gospel, each of the gospel writers, none of them are exhaustive. Each of them are a selected account of the words and the works of the Lord Jesus. At the end of his gospel, John writes, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. By that, he's referring to his own gospel, but it also applies to each of the gospel writers. In fact, John in the next chapter says, there were also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. But he says, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. at the start of his account, Luke. Remember, he's addressing a man, Theophilus. He says in verse three of chapter one, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou might know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. And that helps us understand that the purpose of the Gospels are to inform you and to instruct you. They are to kindle and to strengthen faith by revealing to Lord Jesus Christ that He is Saviour. It is to, or they are, to enable you to live faithfully for Him in this world. And the focus of the Gospels are to show that Jesus Christ, that he is both God and man, that he has power and authority, that he has compassion and grace. And that's revealed through his direct teaching in the words that he spoke, but is also revealed in the interactions that he has the interactions with those who were opposed to him, and the interaction he has with those who were oppressed with the consequences of sin. The reveal that he is the one who came to deliver from bondage and brokenness of sin. And all illustrate the fact of redemption. And each account that we're given, each account is like a witness. And we're surrounded by a crowd of witnesses who all testify to the glorious reality of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Each witness has an individual experience but one common testimony, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Some of these witnesses have similar experiences, some have quite distinct and different, but they all reveal aspects of his character and also the consistency of his character. And they're all revealed so that you would know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Because the great question that often confronts us is this. Can I trust him today? Can I trust him with me? Can I trust him with my circumstances, with my burdens, with my trials? And all the witnesses that are given to us in the pages of Scripture all answer yes. Yes, we can trust Him. We can trust Him because of who He is, and we can trust Him because of what He has done and what He is doing. Two perspectives which were emphasized in the Scriptures. One is His sovereign intervention. He encounters. And that's what we considered last time, wasn't it? He crossed the sea with the disciples for the purpose of encountering this man, this man who was like living death, destroyed by these devils. The Lord crossed the sea, the Lord confronted, the Lord delivered, and the Lord departed. His sovereign intervention. But the other perspective is this. There were those who actively pursued him. Those who actively pursued him. And these two perspectives are woven together because they belong together. His sovereignty and our responsibility. The divine initiative and the divine invitation. And that's why Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord while ye may be found. Seek ye the Lord, your responsibility, while he may be found, his gracious, sovereign intervention. Here is the Lord, and he calls you to come. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. In the verses we want to consider today, there are two events which are intertwined. And it appears that one interrupts the other, doesn't it? Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, comes and he pleads for his daughter, and as our Lord goes with him to his home, this woman interrupts. The narrative of this woman with the issue of blood interrupts, so that after she is dealt with, the news comes that it's too late, that Jairus' daughter is now dead. But actually, these two events are intimately connected. You get a sense of that when you see that Jairus's daughter was 12 years old and the woman had had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had 12 years of life. The other woman had 12 years of being excluded from life. But also, it was Jairus's daughter that was dying. And when the Lord deals with this woman with the issue of the blood, you see the words that he comforts her with? He says, daughter. And so in this, we also find the events connected and brought together. That this woman, that she's not in the way, but rather she's embraced with the same tender compassion as the child with her innocence and the prospect of all life before her. Something very powerful in these words, daughter. spoken to women who had experienced shame and stigma because of her condition. She was ceremonially unclean. Socially, she was unclean. She was not welcome. And our Lord demonstrates His transformative grace and His mercy. He heals her. He welcomes her. So we have two aspects of one narrative event. They belong together, this young woman and this older woman. And the purpose, or the main purpose of this section is revealed in words we find in verse 48 and verse 50. We can read again from verse 48, The Lord said to the woman with issue of blood, daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith has made thee whole, go in peace. And while he yet spake, there came one from the rule of the synagogue's house saying to him, thy daughter is dead, trouble not the master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole. And so what is the, What is the emphasis here? What is the purpose of this narrative here? It is the significance, the centrality, the importance, the necessity of faith. Faith in coming to the Lord, faith in confessing the Lord, faith in a commitment to follow the Lord. Well, first of all, I want us to see faith. Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Because sometimes we ask, well, what is faith and what does faith do? Faith approaches the Lord Jesus Christ. Told in verse 40, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him. And the picture we have is of this great throng of people. There is a crowd which pushes in to be close to him, to see him, to hear him, to follow him. And there may be many reasons why the people were part of that crowd. Some were curious. Some had experienced his blessing. Some had heard him before. Some had heard of him. Some were maybe there because they were opposed to him, the Pharisees and the scribes. There was a great crowd of people, all with different reasons for being there. But there was something different about this woman, this woman with the issue of blood. Many pushed close, but she came and took hold. She came with a purpose born out of a sense of need and also out of a conviction that if she could but touch the hem of his garment that she would be made well. We're told that she had 12 years, this issue of blood, and she spent all her living and all the physicians who could not heal her. Here is a woman and she is without hope, but she has hope. She has no other hope other than that Jesus Christ will be able to deliver her from this condition and the stigma and the shame and the exclusion. He has delivered others. That is in part why they're so great a crowd, because he has delivered others. But she comes with the hope that he will deliver her. And that's why I say that faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Savior says to her, he says, daughter, your faith has made you whole. The faith that you have exercised in coming and taking hold of me. It was an imperfect faith. It was an imperfect faith and we see that because she was obviously uncertain of the response that she would meet with were she to stand in front of him. It seems that having touched him, she was making her way away from him. And then she was made to come back. She'd approached him from behind. the border of his garment, it means the tassel. The Jews were required to have fringes on their outer garments. That was part of the keeping of the law. And the way the robes were worn meant that a corner of the outer garment would be over the shoulder, and so it's like the tip of a hood hanging down behind a person. That's what she touched. The impression isn't that she pulled it, It wasn't a jerk which would make it obvious what she had done, but rather she touched the edge of the garment from behind and as she makes her way away, it was an imperfect faith because she was uncertain of his acceptance. But yet there was faith because she was convinced of his power. That's what the word virtue there is. It's power. He says, power has gone out from me. You know, the proximity to Jesus Christ is not enough. There was a multitude pressed in there, in the narrow lanes of this city. When Jesus said, who touched me? Peter said, who touched you? People can't help but touch you because we're all being pushed and jostled together. But that wasn't what he was speaking about. Because that touch That jostling touch, that being pushed together, that was irrelevant. That wasn't the touch that received blessing. The word thronged is the same word which is used at the beginning of the chapter when it speaks about the thorns that grew up and choked the good seed of the Word. That closeness, that intertwined closeness. But this woman's approach was different. Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's not a proximity issue. Rather, her hand reaching out. Remember last Lord's Day, I tried to speak about faith. It's being like a grasping hand. Here's an illustration of that. You know, salvation is not received from a distance. That doesn't mean a physical approach is required of you, but rather there must be a going out of your affections. There must be an approaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. There must be a movement of the soul as you call upon him. If you do not ask, you will not receive. It's very simple, isn't it? If you do not ask, you will not receive. In chapter 11, the Lord will say, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If you do not ask, you will not receive. But if you do ask, you shall receive. And so faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm always delighted to see you here in church. Always delighted when anyone comes to church. But there may be many reasons why you're here. You may be here because It's your habit. It may be here because you've learned that you like a little religion. It may be here because you like the company. It may be here because you want to learn a little. You may be here for all sorts of reasons. And I don't want to discourage you for coming at all. But friends, I long that you would come with this great reason, for this best of reason, which is to approach Jesus Christ, that you might receive his blessing. You hear the voice of the Lord in Psalm 81. He says, open wide thy mouth and I will fill it. Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must approach him because he alone can save. He alone can deliver. And that's your great need, to be saved, to be delivered, to be transformed. That sin will be forgiven, that you be cleansed and made new. But secondly, as we look at this passage, we see that faith means acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman was told her faith, it was her faith which had made her whole. And there was two aspects to her faith. One was approaching and the second was acknowledging. It's an apparently absurd question, isn't it? That's what the disciples say. Who touched you? Everyone's been pushing against you. But the Lord knows. Verse 46. Somebody hath touched me, for I perceive that virtue power has gone out of me. Friends, have you touched the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you reached out and sought Him? Have you taken hold of the promises? Do you trust and believe Him? Maybe you say, I don't even know my own heart. But you know this, the Lord knows. The Lord knows those who have touched Him. And when he asked that question there, there'd be many who had been pushed against them. When the Lord said, who has touched me? You know, there wasn't lots of hands went up. Well, yes, I pushed against you and I pushed against you and I brushed past you. All the other people knew it wasn't them that he was speaking about. They hadn't touched him. Not in that way, not in that significant way. But she couldn't say that. She couldn't say that she hadn't touched him, because she had. And she couldn't deny that, and nor could she deny him. He said, someone has touched me. He said, power has gone out from me. Who has touched me?" And she had to acknowledge that. And in this, we see the reality of her faith. She knew. She knew she had touched him, and she knew who she had touched. It says in Nahum, verse seven, chapter one, verse seven, the Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. You know, friends, not only does he know who has trusted in him, he requires that those who've trusted in him stand up and identify with him. This is an aspect of faith that we acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ. This question provokes a moment of crisis, doesn't it? She's taken hold. She's been healed. She's making her way away. She has in many ways what she desires. And now suddenly everyone stops and everyone looks around. Who is the one who has touched him? It's a moment of crisis. Will she deny or will she confess? Will she come and fall down and acknowledge why in all that has happened? It was a moment of crisis she didn't anticipate. This was the moment she wanted to avoid. That's where she came behind. And she might be saying, why? Why ask this? Why demand this? Why expose me in this way? And perhaps that's how you feel today. Why must I stand up? Why must I speak out? Why must I acknowledge that I follow the Lord? Can I not just quietly trust Him? Can I not just quietly believe? Can I not just get on with my life and just try to faithfully serve Him without drawing any attention to me? Why has this moment of crisis come? Friends, One of the reasons why that moment of crisis was forced upon her was to keep her from a lifetime of crisis. You know, without this, she would have had an ongoing isolation and insecurity, exclusion. The unclean woman, that's who she was, wasn't it? The impure woman. The woman who was ceremonially and socially excluded, who wasn't welcome. The Lord, in requiring this acknowledgement from her, was welcoming her. And by his welcoming her, he was showing that she belonged and that she had a place. She was no longer excluded, she was no longer alone. Faith means acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ, and the obedience of acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ brings liberty and blessing. Or you might say it brings the blessing of liberty before God and in society. She knew what had been done in her. and she had to acknowledge that. And maybe your concern today is this, that you see no dramatic physical change. Now this lady had a physical ailment and she was conscious of that physical ailment being healed. And you may be saying to yourself, if only I had something as tangible as that, then it would be easier for me to say, yes, I have touched him. Yes, I've been blessed by him. Yes, I've been healed by him. No dramatic physical change. But the question the Lord asks isn't who's been dramatically healed, who's been physically changed. The question the Lord asks is this, is who has touched me? Who's come knowing that I'm Lord and taking hold of me with the hope of my blessing? Let me ask. Have you here today, have you taken hold of the Lord? Have you reached out for Him? Have you called after Him? Have you sought Him? Have you prayed to be received, to be forgiven, to be delivered from your sin, to be made new? I'm not asking if you feel yourself full of power. I'm not asking if you see great change in your life. I'm simply asking what the Lord is asking here. Have you reached out and have you touched him? Isn't it true that you pray? Isn't it true that you worship? Isn't it true that you entertain the thought, the hope, that if something should happen to you, that all will not be lost? Not because you're good enough, not because you've achieved enough, but because God is gracious. Isn't it true that this is the hope that gives you comfort? That you might not be as everyone else, because maybe you see everyone else so far ahead of you, But yet, nevertheless, you have this hope that the Lord will be faithful to his word. And at the end of the day, you'll not be cast away, but embraced. Have you touched him? Faith means approaching him. but it also means acknowledging him. And these two belong together. We find that in Romans 10 in verse 9, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. To confess with the mouth and to believe in the heart. This woman came trembling. She came, but she came trembling. Why did she come trembling? Well, she came trembling because suddenly every eye is upon her, and there's a horrible feeling of self-consciousness, isn't there, when everyone is looking at you, and everyone's looking at you with their own thoughts, or who knows what they're thinking, you imagine what they're thinking. She comes trembling because maybe she's fearful, That it'll be taken from her. That what she's received will be taken from her because of who she is or what she's done. Maybe she's rationalizing in her mind why these troubles came in the first time. Maybe she feels it was the judgment of God because of this or because of that. She comes trembling, maybe because she has many doubts about herself, but she has no doubt about him. Verse 47, she came trembling and falling down before him. She declared unto him, before all the people, for what cause she touched him and how she was healed immediately. He didn't call her to shame her. He called her to strengthen her. Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace. You don't want to draw attention to yourself. Maybe that's why the communion brings you to that point of crisis again and again. To profess faith in the Lord, to go forward with the Lord's people, to draw all that attention to myself. My friends, you're not called to draw attention to yourself, but rather to stand and to point to Jesus Christ. He fell on the ground before Him. This is who you are. This is what you've done, O Lord. Are you unwilling to point to Him? Or are you unable to point to Him? Can you say that you don't reach out to take hold, that you don't pray, that you don't worship, that you don't believe? He gives himself to all who take hold of him. Let me read again the words from chapter 11 of Luke's gospel in verse nine. and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ, but faith also means acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is liberty to be found in that. And there is liberty that you will not otherwise find unless you do that. But we need to move on. Because we're told, after these precious words spoken to this woman, daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace. That even while he spoke, people came from Jairus' home and said, the girl's dead. Don't trouble the master any longer. And that's where we have these next words spoken by the Savior. Verse 50 says, fear not. Believe only. and she shall be made whole. Faith means attending upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Jairus clearly had faith. He clearly believed that the Lord was able to heal his daughter. He came to him in a point of crisis, but he came to him, just as his woman had come, with purpose and with conviction, with felt need. There was faith, but here there is a requirement for greater faith. It seems it's too late that all hope has now gone, and the Lord says, not so. Hope is not gone. It's not too late. Rather, he says, listen to me. Listen to me, not to that. Put all of that aside. Don't hear what they're telling you. Listen to what I'm saying. Fear not. Believe only and she shall be made whole. A word made whole, it means she shall be saved. Believe only and she shall be saved. He gives no explanation of how, only that it is so. Believe me, follow me, wait upon me. When he entered the house, he says, she's not dead, but she sleepeth. Not that she literally slept, there was no doubt the girl was dead, but he uses this expression because it has the sense of anticipation of restoration. Just as a sleeping child can be awoken, so with the same ease this dead child may be raised. And we're told they laughed them to scorn. That's not the mother and the father and the disciples who were with them. That's rather those who'd gathered, because when there was death, there were those who gathered to mourn. It was a profession. Matthew speaks about the people who came and they played their musical instruments and they wailed. They were the experts in death because they attended upon every death and they took over at that point. The physicians were done. The mourners were here and they laughed them to scorn and Jesus put them out. And his putting them out was a challenge and an encouragement to the faith of Jesus, wasn't it? There's no place for mourners here because this is not the end. We don't know why it was only Peter and James and John that were taken, the other disciples were not brought in. Perhaps it was simply because this was within the home. There wouldn't have been space for a great crowd. It wouldn't have been helpful to have a great crowd pressing in. Sensitivity for the family. He took her by the hand and called, saying, maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway. And he commanded to give her meat, to give her something to eat, Again, we see his sensitivity, don't we? His sensitivity to the family. Here, do something for her, give her something to eat. It also speaks of her fullness of health. She's ready, she's hungry, she's healthy, she's whole. Fear not, believe only. and she shall be saved." Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ, it means acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ, but it also means attending upon Him, following Him, awaiting Him, trusting Him. That's all they had to hope was that He had promised, I will do it, and He did. You can't be sure why he told them not to tell anyone at the end of the chapter there. Her parents were astonished, and he charged them, they should tell no man what was done. I mean, Luke's now telling us what was done. The other gospel writers, Matthew and Mark, also tell us what was done here. Maybe again it's to shelter the family a little, to give the girls some space. Perhaps it's also this, that not every experience needs to be told. Not every detail of every experience needs to be told. There are some experiences that we have which are best left untold. Some spiritual experiences, some works of God, some revelations of His grace, some deliverances. but your trust in Him, your faith in Him, your love for Him. That's not something that should be left untold. That's something that must be clearly stated. My faith is made ye whole. It's not faith, of course, is it? Faith is the instrument. It's Jesus Christ who is made whole through the instrumentality of faith. And as we look at this passage here today, we're reminded that there is no good reason for you not to believe, because here he is revealed. in His power and His authority, His compassion and His mercy, His grace. And this is the one who says, come unto me and I shall save you. And that's true, friends, at every stage of the Christian life. And I say that because there's some who've been going on and away for many years, and you're today confronted with particular situations, and you're today confronted with particular burdens. What's required is what was always required, that you trust in the Lord, you lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. Come unto me and I shall give you rest. Amen. Let's pray.