I'm looking for a harvest for my God, He's real. Hi, I like looking everybody back to the spiritual impact today. I'm Associate Pastor Steve Rose and normally I'm joined by my pastor Tim Parton, but today I have a special guest in the studio with me and he's our church ambassador and that's Bob Bradley. So Bob, would you like to tell them hello this morning?
Good morning folks. It's great to be here on the program and of course it's great to be serving a great God that has been so, so good to me. He's blessed me in so many ways I couldn't begin to tell you. So it is great to be sure Steve and it's great to be a part of a Monday Life Warship Center and Brother Tim Parton.
So I'm glad to be here this morning. Yeah, I'm glad to have you here. We're going to talk about today. I'm going to call it an issue of faith.
Now the Bible's going to call it an issue of blood at first, but I believe it's an issue of faith because I'm going to talk today about the woman who had an issue of blood and I'm going to talk from Mark chapter 5 verse 24. And there's some things that we see here in talking about doing things by faith and there's several things that she did. First of all, she heard, she heard about Jesus and then she said, she said, I know what if I can but touch and she did. She went out and she put her faith into action and then she received from God and then it says she testified about what God had done.
So that's what we're going to be talking about this morning and we're going over to Mark chapter 5 and verse 24. In Jesus we went with Him and much people followed Him and thronged Him and certain women or certain women which had an issue of blood 12 years and it suffered many things and many physicians and it's been all that she had and was nothing better but rather grew worse. This one was in a bad shape because she tried everything this world had to offer to try to help her with this problem but it hadn't helped her. But I like this.
Here come the promise. Jesus got promises in the Word of God to house. Jesus can touch us and heal us and He can deliver us. But it says here, Jesus is walking through and the people were thronging Him.
Now I want to make sure that people understand what thronging means. The thronging somebody means they're basically reaching over and grabbing and tugging on Him. So there's a lot of people, there's a crowd around Him so He's walking through the crowd that day and people are tugging on Him and pulling on Him. But there was one woman there that was a little bit different from the rest of that group there that day.
But in verse 27 it says, when she had heard of Jesus came in the press but she had heard. Now where do we hear today? Where do we get the word? Where do we hear about Jesus?
You hear the word from, well first of all from the Word of God the Bible itself. But I think today that we live in a world where a lot of people don't read anymore as far as sitting down and reading books someday. But most people read the lives of people that claim to be saved by the grace of God. Those people just like you and I were in open book and they watch our lives.
I just went through an experience and I'm not going to go into that much. I had a calm Facebook come on and He made the statement and I had never heard of this guy before. He said, you're a godly man and I've been watching your life and other people are watching your lives. He said God will bring you through this situation.
He just floored me that somebody would say that because He'd been watching my life and I've never met the man. So we're an open book. Absolutely. But can I back up just a minute here on what you were talking about this woman with the issue of blood here?
If you have never sit and watched and most of us have I'm sure and experienced and been through the experiences of watching someone suffer through sickness and through the things that they go through I have several times and I'm telling you to sit and watch someone go through a sickness or through a disease or something like that and you really care about that person. It hurts you inside as much as it hurts them that you can't do nothing about it. But in these situations we can do something about it because we've got something that we can tell these people about and a person we can introduce them to that can take care of those problems. Yep.
And so you're getting to the next part of that. Really the last part you're getting into what I think right there you're getting ready to touch on something that we're going to touch on here in just a minute. It says that when she had heard Jesus came to the press behind so now she'd heard about Jesus and I'm sure she'd heard about all the things that Jesus has done because we know that Jesus is the word. It says in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God.
So here the word was coming and she had heard about Him. And it says here but she went through and it says came in the press and touched the hem of His garment. Well actually right there I looked at that and you know I'd always talk to him of His garment. I was looking at King James I never thought of the family she touched the hem of His garment but it says he touched his clothes or touched his garment.
But I did find here in Luke chapter 8 verse 44 it says came behind him and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her issue of blood staunched. The border of the garment translates zit zit zit. That is part of this prayer shawl that they wore.
Now the prayer shawls we have now seem to be a little bit short than they was then. The zit zit which is the corner and the zit zit represents a certain thing. It represents the name of God. It represents the fullness of God's promises.
And there's seven white strings and one blue string and blue string called the servant thread and that's symbolic of Christ. But the number eight there's eight total is the number of new beginnings. So when she got ready to touch the hem of His garment, touch the zit zit of His prayer shawl then she was getting ready to be changed forever. But now if that garment was that long chances are we've always looked and seen her come through and touch the hem of His garment but she was probably on her hands and knees pushing through the garment to reach out to be able to touch the zit zit of His garment.
But it said when she heard Jesus came in the prayer she reached through and touched His garment for she said, here again, she heard, she did, she said, if I may but touch His clothes I shall be whole. That's on my faith right there. She needed that point of contact right there. She says, I know that if I can get through this crowd and I can touch the border of His garment, if I can touch the zit zit of His garment I will be made whole.
And when you get in there verse 29 says in straight way, the fountain of her blood was dried up. When she fell to her body that she was healed of that plague. And I think what she was getting ready to get into is the final part right there. It says, when Jesus immediately and the M's said that virtue had gone out of Him, turned about in the prayer and said, who touched my clothes?
Okay, but yeah, I want to get into that but there's something else I want to get into. Something I was thinking about as I read this, if you read it says she went, well you read it a few minutes ago, that she had spent 12 years, she spent all she had, and everything that she had she had given and was no better. Now there are people, and we live, I believe in the world, this issue of blood was something that made them unclean. She recognized that she was unclean.
She recognized that she had this issue of blood. But she had went through 12 years of trying to get that fixed and couldn't do it. Have you ever talked to anybody that's went through that much time? Now my wife went through, well she's been sick, she had been sick for probably 10 years.
And she got to the point that she said, I'm not spending any more money on doctors because they can't do nothing to help this. You ever talk to people that have said, well I've went to church, I've tried to do this, I've tried to do that, and I just can't get nothing out of it. I just don't trust the Lord anymore. But this woman never gave up.
She realized she was unclean and she wanted to do something about it. And if you realize that you're a human being that is in sin, whether you like to accept it or not, there's only one way you're ever going to get that changed. And that's through hearing the Word of God. Faith comes with the hearing and hear Him the Word of God.
And see when you look at that, again, she did. She had been through there for a long time. That's what we've talked to too on the show about perseverance. Just because she's going through something a long time, some of you may be facing something that you faced a long time.
But the one thing is you've got to persevere, believe by faith, trust Him. Because He said in the promise in His Word where He cannot lie, says that He'll never leave your forsaken. You know, through all the troubles and trials you had to face. You know, God was still faithful in those things.
He was still there with you. You know, it's heartbreaking to see those things. But you know, there's only one place we can go for the comfort that we need and the comfort that we need is through the Holy Spirit of God. Faith is something that unless you have experienced it, people that have never experienced faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I've had doors shut my face where I tried to witness people.
And most of the time when you're up on somebody that has never experienced, they don't trust anyone, they don't trust the Lord Jesus Christ. They just don't believe, I've had them tell me that's garbage, but they used other words to describe it. It's because maybe they've had some bad experiences. Maybe someone that they were reading their lives watching in church had a bad experience with that.
And they had got to the point that faith is something that's really hard to work with. Well, let me ask you about that. You made that statement there and that's very important. But you think that maybe the reason that they don't trust God is because they really wasn't watching God.
They were really looking at that person as the source of their faith. Could that be the problem rather than? It could be, but they're watching that person that claims to be saved. It claims to me a question.
And I've heard you and Pastor T. Elm and other people say, and Pastor's all through all my life because I've been a pastor. But I've heard them say that if you don't watch what you say, if you don't live what you say you are, then that's going to have a very negative effect on the people that you're trying to reach. Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. And so there are people today that like this woman, some of them recognize that they've got a problem, that they've got a sin problem, but they are so wrapped up in it that they just can't seem to take hold of that faith. And I think that too, when you come back, you know, you've got the rest of the flesh, the pride of the eye and all those things. You think that pride may be one of the reasons, because I've noticed that in churches a lot of times when you give altar calls, you'll have a great message.
You know God's speaking to somebody. God's wanted to change a life. God's wanted to set somebody free. You know.
And I've been in places where you can see conviction on people. I mean, you know they're under the convicting power of God, but you know, I can't go back there and pull them out and go, you need to come up and repent because that's where the spirit of God says, you know the spirit of God has to draw men, women and children into them. And when the spirit of God draws, then we know it is the right thing to do. But I think pride so many times is one of our biggest problems today in our churches, because they don't want to admit it.
And I'm going to tell you, the word says that we all fall short of the glory of God every day. It's by the blood of Jesus Christ that we're made whole and we're fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Right, pride is a lot more powerful than people want to accept and realize pride is something that will eat you alive. If you get to the point that you allow it to possess your life and to control you.
And the only person that can change that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And if you don't completely give yourself to the Lord, then you're not going to be able to take a hold of that faith. And the word of God says, and this should be forever born again believer or a person that says they are a Christian, the word of God tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. Right, it sure does.
And so this woman had faith. She probably came to the point at that sometime that she was very disappointed in all these doctors because she had lost everything. But there's something else that we read between the lines here that I think this woman may have had that kind of an attitude. But at the same time, I'm sure that somewhere along the way she had been hearing about these miracles that Jesus was forming.
And I just wonder if she didn't think in her mind, well, I need to see that. I need to see that for myself. I need to make sure that what they're saying is true. And when she got out where Jesus was, and she saw all of these people that are following Jesus, and I believe that the Holy Spirit just spoke to her and filled her heart with faith.
And she said, if I could just touch the hand of His garment, if He says He is, I'm going to trust Him if I could just touch the garment. And she took that leap of faith and looked what happened to her. She put her faith in action. But again, there was a difference in that lady and all the other people that was there.
She said, I'm going to say, because it says in Jesus immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turning Him about in the press and saying, who touched my clothes. Virtue in the Word of God right there means power. It means power. He felt power was drained from Him.
And you know what, you said it right there just a minute ago when you talked about Hebrews. Without faith, it is impossible, please God. And Hebrews 11, 6, we're talking about right there. And it says, you know, you've got to reach out and touch Him, but you touch Him by faith.
It takes faith. And pastor said it so many times. It takes faith to appropriate and to receive the things with God. We still got to do it by faith.
But He says, who touched my clothes? He knew somebody was different. Now, right there, He knew who touched Him. He knew who touched Him that day.
But He was wanting something from her. And I believe that's confession. That's one of the things you're talking about right there when you're talking about sin, it's confession. How important is confession?
Compassion is probably the most important thing in your conversion, because confession is, you admitting that you're a sinner, that you're lost, that you can't do nothing without Jesus Christ. And so confession to me is the most important part of my salvation. And what God says, work out your own salvation. So confessing that first time and getting saved by the grace of God is nothing on the time you need to confess.
Touch on that point. Paul said, I died daily. What did you mean by that? He meant that He went to the Lord daily and talked to the Lord and Paul talked to him, I'm sure many times, and I'm sure that Paul repented daily.
And if you and I don't repent daily and we don't talk to the Lord daily, then our days are going to go bad. In addition to something that should be done daily, I have to do it many times, because I know I fail without the Lord. And brother, that's an important part right there. When we're talking about this, Brother Bobby said it can be great.
I mean, you confess every day. It's not something that's just a one-time thing. There is a confession of sin to the Lord, but you know what? We go back every day.
Because again, when we sin, we fall short of the glory of God every day, that means we go back. First John 1 and 9, he says, if we confess, that's eah, that's a conditional statement, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all in righteousness. I like that as you brought out that point right there, saying you know, confession is not just a one-time thing. It really is.
It's a daily thing. There's one more point I'd like to bring out here. She touched the Lord Jesus Christ here and he knew it. But there are other people that are throwing him and touching him.
And here's what I feel like the Lord spoke to me as I read this. There are thousands of people that are going to church and they know about the Lord and they're trying to touch the Lord and trying to reach out to him and touching him. But they're doing it for all the wrong reason. They're doing it without faith.
They're doing it for to be recognized themselves. This woman wanted to touch Jesus Christ for the healing that she knew she could give him. Our churches are filled with people that know about Jesus Christ but don't know him personally. And faith is something that will take you to the Lord Jesus Christ personally.
And that's the way you grow your faith. And see when you're talking about those throwing him here, but there wasn't a difference in the touches of that day because again, they were just playing games like you're saying right there in the churches. You're saying a lot of them are not doing it by faith or doing it for the wrong reasons. You know, you got to believe when you pray.
But he said, who touched my clothes and says in the Bible, send him to him. Thou see us the multidrawny knee and say, oh, who touched me? That'd be like you move through the cradle and you turn to me. Oh, who touched me?
I'm going, Bob, everybody's touching me. Why are you asking me who's touching me for? But it says right here, it says in verse 32, he says, and he looked around to see her that had done this thing. He knew exactly who had done it.
I like that. You know, God knows who's real and who's not. You know, people can try to, they make full every person in the church, but you know there's wonders not for one. And that's the Lord above because when he came here again, we talked about the Phariseeses.
He looked good on the outside. They wanted to keep up that public appearance. But then when you look at Jesus when he came, they were all about the law and looking good in the law. But he says, listen, it's about the heart.
He says, you're missing the point. He says, you're going out there and he says, you know, you're straining at a gnat. And what they did, they actually strained when they'd go for wine, they'd pour it through a strainer so a gnat wouldn't get in it. Because if they'd run up the gnat, they'd be unclean by law.
But he says, you're straining at a gnat and you're swelling the camel. He says, you're missing the point of this stuff. He says, it's been about the heart. And he always wants, and that's what Jesus wants today.
He wants a person's heart. And when you're watching here today, Jesus, you can look good on the outside. You may fool everybody, but you know what? You're not fooling him and really you're not fooling yourself either.
We know whether or not we've accepted the Lord and saved Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But you know, he loves you. And that's what we're coming to tell you today. And as an ambassador, I know Bob, you go out there and you tell people, you know, God loves them and he really does.
He wants them to be saved with the grace of God. And I'm telling you here today, you know, I love this time that we get to spend together on spiritual impact with the people watching us on TV. But you know what? It's nothing like getting spending time with the Lord.
And when we're looking here, he says again, they turned around and he looked around to see her that had done this thing. He knew who it was. And it says in verse Mark chapter 5 or 33 and 34, it says, the woman fearing and trembling. You remember you said that and just remember to work out your own salvation with this fear and trembling.
She comes to you and was fearing and trembling, not fearful that he's going to strike her down, but you know she had touched him. And you know, Godly fear. Yeah. And it's a godly fear.
But again, by law, he had been unclean because she was unclean. But that's the one good thing about when somebody touches Christ, they don't remain the same. They become a new creation of Christ Jesus. So many times they become and touch him by law that he should be unclean, but you know what?
They were cleansed. So he was still clean because he was the word. I like what Pastor Tim Parton has said many times and other people too. But Pastor Tim says this a lot.
Jesus Christ never made any mistakes. He was here for a reason. He knew she was going to be there. He was a head-over.
He was already a head-over. He knew she was going to touch him. Jesus Christ knows that you're lost. He's already a head-over.
He's got a plan for your life. But he's not going to force it on you. You have to make that choice yourself. You have to open the door of your heart and allow him to come in.
But he's already head-over. He loves you enough that he died for you. He wants to save your soul. He wants to give you a new life.
But you have got to allow him to. He's got a purpose for your life. Just allow him to come in. And when you're allowed to come in, it'd be like her.
He called her forward and said knowing what was done in her, she came and fell down before and told him all the trees. She just confessed. Yes, it was me that touched you. He knew it.
But then he said unto her, daughter thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole thy play. You know, if we're going to be whole from the sin plague, there's only one thing to do. And that's put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Do you like to do that right now? Would you say this prayer with me? Father, I ask you, Lord, forgive me my sin and to cleanse me from my sin. Father, I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Father, I ask you to give me the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me into truth. Father, thank you, Lord, for saving me. And Father, these things I ask in Jesus' name, amen. And one of the things the word of God says is, you know, we have to believe in our heart, but it also says we need to confess with our mouth.
That means we need to tell somebody that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. And, you know, we'd love to hear from you. If you'd like to, you can email us at an A-L-W-C-severe-Ville at gmail.com. Let us know that you accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
We'd love to reach out and just talk to you and communicate with you. You also can visit our website at A-L-W-C that's at severeville.com. But again, you know, joining me by TV is great and it's wonderful. But, you know, I'd love to meet you in person just to shake your hand, hug your neck.
And we're at Abundant Life Worship Center. We're located at 923, Dolly Parton Parkway in the beautiful city of Severeville, Tennessee. You can call us at area code 865-366-1173. But again, I want you to know above all things that we've talked about today.
We've talked about faith. It still takes faith. What is faith? Is the substance of things hoped for?
The evidence of things not seen. Well, we can't see it in the physical. We still know it's there because, you know, we've seen the evidence of it. We have had prayers at which we're answered.
And, you know, he loves you and he's no respecter person today. Glory be to God. It means, you know what? We're on level ground when we go to the cross.
And I tell you, I praise God for that. That is a wonderful gift. You serve a God today who cannot lie when he says he'll save you and you put your faith in him. You know what?
He'll save you. And I'll tell you that's a wonderful thing to eat by the bother. And I'll tell you, it's been great to have you on a spiritual impact today. It's great to be here.
It's great to be here. It's great to have you. It's great to be here. It's great to be.
You serve a great God and it's great to be saved by his amazing grace. We didn't deserve it, but he loved us. Absolutely. And I tell you, you know what you're just doing.
You're testifying. I tell you, that's one good thing when we talk about the Lord, we can testify. We'll see you next time on spiritual impact. God bless you.
Hello, everybody. This is Pastor Tim Parton of Abundant Life Worship Center. For those of you that live in the Subrieval area, or maybe you just visit from time to time, we'd like to take a moment and invite you to come visit us at the church. We're located at 923, Dolly Parton Parkway right here in Subrieval.
Our service times are Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Wednesday evening at 630. We just love sharing the word of God, and we're just a family church, so we invite you to come grow with us. God bless.
We're just a little faith. We are never alone, so this battle I won't fear, because I can hear the sound of it.