Your Faith Has Healed You Mark 5:25-29, NIV And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Hallelujah! I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Your Faith Has Healed You,” which is based on Mark 5:25-29. Please repeat after me: Your Faith Has Healed You - Your Faith Has Healed You. The Christian life is a life of faith. Our Christian life starts when we believe in Jesus. We grow in our Christian life through our faith in Jesus Christ. We will go to heaven because of our faith in the Lord Jesus. This is why our Christian life is a life of faith. After believing in Jesus, we must live with great faith. God will bless us abundantly when we think, hear, see, speak, and act based on our faith. Let us march forward in faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus who is the unique center of our faith. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Scripture tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. When we march forward in faith, marvelous things will happen to us. Wonderful blessings of God will come to us. There is a big difference between Christians with faith and Christians without faith. Those who live by faith will grow in faith, enjoying great grace and blessings from God, while those who live without faith will remain at the same level of faith even if they have attended church for a long time. Therefore, I suggest that you pray to the Lord, “Lord, make me live as a man of great faith.” I also pray that you will make a new resolution to live in faith by accepting the Word of the Lord into your heart. I pray that you will change into a great person of faith in the Lord. Today’s Scripture speaks about a woman who had an incurable disease. She came to Jesus and was miraculously healed. This woman was living without any hope because she had an incurable disease. First, I will speak about a person in despair. Mark 5:25-26 says, “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.” This woman was subject to bleeding. Bleeding was a gynecological disease manifested through a non-stop flow of blood. Leviticus 15 describes it as a discharge or flow of blood. Leviticus 15:19 says, “When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.” In those days bleeding of this nature was considered incurable. Woman who might have this disease today are not without hope because of medical advancement. They can remain encouraged that some specialist will cure their disease. However this woman we read of in Gospel of Mark, chapter 5 had to that point spent all her money and found that she was not getting better, but worse. She must have become extremely frail because she had been bleeding for twelve years. There would have been many side-effects to her twelve years of bleeding. She would have suffered from anemia: her complexion would have been pale; she would have suffered from dizzy spells and weakness, many times to the point of fainting. Her life would have constantly been one of pain. She tried everything to be healed from her disease. She went to many doctors and spent all she had; but instead of getting better, she grew worse. Indeed this woman must have despaired. Her incurable physical disease would have eventually pushed her heart into a state of fatal hopelessness. According to the Jewish law of her day, women who were in their time of blood flow were to be separated from any direct contact with their congregation of believers. This would mean that this woman would have been marginalized for twelve years. She would have had to leave home to live alone. She could not have gone to the places where many people gathered. She could not have gone to the Temple courts. She could not have gone to a synagogue. Her condition of hopelessness and aloneness would have left her with intense psychological pain in her heart. Her disease separated her from her loved ones. She had to leave her husband and children to remain alone. Who could understand, comfort, or heal the pain of both her heart and her body? This woman symbolizes humankind who is destined to be born to live only in despair. All human beings who are born only to live in despair desperately try to solve their problems of hopelessness; which only grow deeper with time because their hopelessness begins to conspire with loneliness to cripple and destroy their hope in God. There is no doctor in the world which can solve the problem of our sin and hopelessness we feel when sin separates us from God and others. No one in the world can comfort our loneliness or give us true peace of heart. Only Jesus Christ is the ultimate hope for all humankind. Only He can solve our problems. There is no other person other than Jesus who can console our loneliness of heart or heal the diseases of our bodies. Adam and Eve quickly began to degenerate and suffer from the point they committed the original sin. And because all (excepting Jesus) of human kind comes from Adam and Eve, all then suffer from sin. This is why the Apostle Paul lamented about the sinfulness of man. Romans 7:24 says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Philosophers are able to identify the many problems of mankind very well, but they are not able to solve a one. Kierkegaard said the following in his book The Sickness Unto Death. “Everybody has a sickness unto death. This sickness is despair.” According to Kierkegaard, an individual is “in despair” if he does not align himself with God or God's plan for him. It is true. We cannot have hope in life if we do not have Jesus. We may have all possessions and sentiments this earth may offer; but if we do not have Jesus we cannot be truly happy. Only Jesus in our hearts can generate true joy, true satisfaction, true blessing, and true happiness. Christians are the happiest people on earth. We are truly happy because we have Jesus in our hearts. Sung-Soo Park is the CEO of E-Land Group in Korea. He is an elder of his church. In 1990, in a series of consecutive articles, Kookmin Daily news carried his testimony. When he was a senior at college, he was struck by Myasthenia, an incurable disease which was characterized by muscle weakness and extreme fatigue. As his disease progressed Mr. Park could not even step down on a stair. He could not cover himself at night with his bed covers because they felt too heavy. Mr. Park grew so frail and weak that even lifting a pen was beyond his ability. Eventually to alleviate the excruciating pain he felt, the doctors had to remove his spinal cord from his back. In his dark season of pain and despair, Park held on to Jesus. He trusted in Jesus regardless of his pain. He prayed, read and meditated on the Word of God. He held on to hope. He read many books while confined to a bed of sickness. Park read all the Christian books that were made available to him. He continued to read and mediate on the word. He nurtured his hope in Jesus. Finally he concluded that “Doctors cannot heal me but Jesus the Healer will heal me.” His place of hopelessness turned into his place of hope. After confinement to a disease that rendered him powerless for two years, Park got up totally restored. After his health was totally restored, Sung-Soo Park rented a small space and opened a clothing store in front of Ewha Women’s University. God blessed him so much that he now owns the E-Land Group, one of the leading manufacturing companies of Korea. When he is asked what the secret of his success is, Park replies that it was a disease which put him in a state of utter hopelessness. Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Look unto the Lord Jesus from your place of hopelessness. Come to the Lord. Rise up with faith. Then you will live successfully by the marvelous grace of God, overcoming and defeating hopelessness. Last Friday night, Nick Vujicic came to our church and delivered a speech. He is the son of an Australian pastor. He was born without arms or legs. One small foot is all that is attached to his body. However, Nick found deep hope in Jesus while bound to despair that was a constant reminder of what this world had to offer and he could not have. However, like the Apostle Paul, Nick learned to rejoice in his suffering because his suffering produced endurance, and endurance produced character and character produced a testimony of hope to a world that is filled to the brim with suffering and pain. Nick Vujicic now travels around the world reaching out to many people through his personal testimony. He praises the Lord. His speech is full of power and grace. Moreover, he is always filled with joy. Since Jesus removed hopelessness from his heart, he travels around the world, giving testimonies, praising the Lord, and giving glory to God. We spoke with each other after the prayer meeting. Nick thanked me for inviting him to give his testimony in Yoido Full Gospel Church because he had wanted to come to our church. He also thanked Pastor Cho. I was deeply impressed by his testimony. He said, “I will keep on traveling around the world to preach the gospel. I want to come to Korea again. Invite me to your church again.” He went back with joy and gratitude. When we have hope, even if we do not have any arms or legs, we can preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus with joy and brightness. On the contrary, if we do not have hope, even if we have two arms and two legs, we are bound in frustration to despair. There are so many homeless people in Korea. The word “homeless” was first introduced to Koreans at the time of the nation’s financial crisis. I recently heard that there are about 5,000 homeless people only in the Youngdeungpo area who gather around Youngdeungpo Station. They have become homeless because they have lost their hope and dreams. They can have their hope restored through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and rise up again. Nothing else can cure the hopelessness in their hearts. Only Jesus can resolve their problems of life. The wonderful blessings of the Lord come to us through the Word. Second, I want to speak about the Word and faith. Mark 5:27 says, “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.” This woman heard about Jesus. She was totally hopeless until she heard the good news. It was news of salvation to her. She heard about Jesus and that He healed all sickness. She heard that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, raised the dead, fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two small fish, and healed all diseases that were brought to Him. This woman, who used to live in utmost hopelessness, now had hope. “I can be healed if I get to meet the Lord Jesus. I must meet Him.” She hungered to meet with Him. She wanted to know where Jesus was. She wanted to go to the place where Jesus would go and speak. While attempting to find Jesus, she overheard that He was passing by and she hastily pushed through the crowds to meet Him. Her disease had left her extremely frail. While trying to inch her way toward Jesus through the crowds, she fell and was pushed back by the people who too had gathered to see Jesus. But this woman continued to struggle with all her might, and she got closer and closer to Jesus. We must preach the good news to the hopeless. Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” We must hear the Word of the Lord. We must have faith by hearing the Word. I pray that you will hear the voice of the Lord whenever you worship the Lord. I pray that you will hear the voice of the Lord when you pray and when you read the Bible. I want you to hear the voice of the Lord, meet Him, have hope in Him, and rise up with faith. Jesus is our only hope. He is the only healer. He is the only one who gives grace and joy to us. The good news about Jesus should be heard all over the world. There are yet many people who do not believe in Jesus. They must hear the gospel of the Lord so that they will change by hearing the voice of the Lord. In 1994 in Korea there were some notorious murderers called “the Most Revered” arrested. Their heinous acts of violence shocked the whole country. Six young men, filled with hatred towards the world, killed people at random. From July of 1993 to May of 1994, they murdered, burned or buried five people. They even ate the body parts of their victims. News of what they had done was outrageous. These men were all from broken homes. They hated the world, especially the rich. Innocent people became victims of their hatred against the world. If we had preached the gospel of Jesus to them, they would not have committed such horrific crimes. They should have heard the gospel. There might be some non-Christians around us today who have a time bomb in their hearts like members of “the Most Revered” gang. Their nightmarish acts against society are another reason why we must preach the gospel to those who are crooked or those who have many problems. Jae-Myung Lee, a deacon of Sarang Community Church, read a news article about these men and began to write letters to them. He wrote a long letter, more than ten pages long, made six copies, and sent a copy to each one of them. Lee did this because he believed that only the gospel of Jesus could save these notorious killers who were locked in sin and hopelessness. These men were so violent that even in prison no one went near them. Mr. Lee wrote a letter and sent six copies, one to each one of these men but three copies returned to him unread. He sent another letter and then another. In his letters, he wrote who Jesus was, that Jesus died for us, and that they would be saved by believing in Jesus. He also wrote that death was not the end but that there was heaven and hell after death. He wrote that Jesus would forgive even the most notorious sinners. As Jae-Myung Lee persisted in sharing God’s word with these men through pen and paper; each man, one by one, became to believe in Jesus. Hyun-Yang Kim first accepted Jesus as his Savior. After that Dong-Eun Kang and Ki-Hwan Kim came to Jesus. Until Christmas of 1994, 32 letters were exchanged back and forth. These violent murderers completely changed. They began to preach the gospel in prison and before their executive were able to reach 300 inmates. Each man died with peace in his heart. They were put into prison as cruel, unreachable criminals; but after hearing and reaching out in faith to Jesus Christ, each went to heaven like a gentle lamb. If they had heard the gospel sooner, they would not have committed such horrible crimes. Since they believed in Jesus before they died, they must be in heaven now. I am grateful for that. We must spread the gospel of the Lord. We must be witnesses of the gospel to the ends of the earth. When we preach the gospel, it will change those who hear it. According to Joshua 2, Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. A prostitute named Rahab hid these spies because she had heard what the Lord had done. Her heart turned toward the God who dried up the water of the Red Sea, and destroyed the enemies of His people. So she hid the two spies and, later, when Jericho was destroyed by the Israelites, her entire family was spared. It is true. The gospel must be preached. When the gospel is preached, wonderful things will happen. John 5:25 says, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Those who hear will live. Those who hear will live! The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. Those who hear will live. Only the gospel of Jesus fundamentally changes us. The woman with the issue of blood had faith. She thought, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.” Mark 5:28 says, “…because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ ” She was healed when she stretched out her hand and touched His clothes. “Jesus is the only hope. If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed. I will touch His clothes and get healed.” No one could heal her. She fell, rose up, fell again, rose up, and in spite of the crowd pushing against her was finally able to approach Jesus. She touched His clothes and was immediately set free from her suffering. Mark 5:28 says, “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” She felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Maybe she felt something like an electric shock and her bleeding stopped immediately. She was healed. She was freed from her suffering. Miracles will take place when we stretch our hands in faith. God’s blessings will come to us. Marvelous works of the Lord will be performed. We must stretch our hands with faith when we are suffering. We must stretch our hands with faith and touch the Cross of the Lord Jesus. When you are hopeless, wanting to say, “Lord, I cannot solve this problem by any of my own means. I would rather die,” stretch your hands and touch the Cross of the Lord Jesus with faith. His Cross will help you overcome all your problems. Are you so sick and full of pain that you would ready die of your disease? Then stretch out your hand with faith and touch the Cross of the Lord. Hold on to the Cross. As the woman stopped bleeding immediately, you too will be immediately healed from your disease. Your faith is the most important element to your healing. Your faith will make you stretch your hand and touch the Lord. You will experience His miracles. Without faith, you cannot experience any miracles at all. Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus never changes. What changes is our faith. The Lord will perform the same miracle as he did so many years ago for this woman; if only we stretch our hand of faith. But we are doubtful. We cannot experience God’s miracles if we do not believe something similar to the healing of this woman can happen to us. Even now if we stretch out our hand with faith, miracles will take place. God will bless us now. God will perform marvelous miracles for us when we march forward, holding on to His Word of promise. Third, I want to speak about faith that brings salvation. Mark 5:33-34 says, “Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ ” Many people were crowding against Jesus that day the woman labored to touch Him: and when she did, He realized that power had gone out from Him. He looked around into the crowd trying to discern who had touched Him. Mark 5:30-31 says, “At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” The disciples did not understand His question. So they said, “Lord, You see the people crowding against you and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ We don’t understand.” Jesus was looking for the one who stretched out a hand of faith. Today Jesus is also looking for a people of faith. I pray that you will be people of great faith. I pray that you will stand confidently before the Lord and proclaim your faith in Him, saying, “Yes, Lord! Here I am, I touched you,” when the Lord is looking for His people of faith. Even though many people gathered around the Lord Jesus, touching His clothes, this woman was the only person who touched His clothes with faith. Immediately the power of the Lord was upon her and she was healed. Over twelve years she had spent all she had going to many doctors; but her condition grew worse and worse. However she was instantly healed the moment she stretched out a hand to Jesus with faith. I want you to stretch your hand with faith and touch the Cross of Jesus. Touch His Cross in times of pain, suffering, sorrow, and loneliness. This woman looked at Jesus and confessed that she was the one who had touched Him. Mark 5:32-33 says, “But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. We must let people know about the grace we have received. We must say, “Thanks to the grace of the Lord, I am healed. I am blessed by God. I am now living with faith because of the grace of the Lord. The Lord is with me and I live in His abundant grace.” After hearing what the woman said Jesus replied to her. Mark 5:34 says, “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ ” Repeat after me, “Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Hallelujah! What does God want from us? It is our absolute faith in Him. When we trust in the Lord absolutely without doubting, miracles will happen. The Lord will say to us, “It will be done as you believe. Your faith has saved you. Your faith has healed you. Now, go in peace.” “Go in peace,” is a comforting Word of grace and blessing to us. All worry and agony from our hearts; all sadness, loneliness, weariness, pain and feelings of being lost evaporate under the authority of these words of grace and blessing from Jesus. The Lord says to us, “Go in peace. Be filled with peace, joy, and freedom. Go in peace!” I pray that you will experience God’s miracles and go into the world with power by receiving the Word, “Go in peace!” The Bible also says, “Your faith has saved you.” Your faith has saved you. One day, as Jesus went about, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on us.” Jesus stopped to touch their eyes and say something to them. Matthew 9:29 says, “Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’” Jesus said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” Then they opened their eyes. Faith is like a faucet. When we turn on the faucet, water will flow down. The answer to our prayers are right before us; but if we do not turn on the faucet of our faith and negatively confess that “Well, such things will not happen. We go to a doctor when we are sick. Prayer does not make us get well.” Miracles will not take place if we keep our faith shut up. The Bible confirms this quality of speech from the Gospel of Mark. Mark 6:5-6 says, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” Hallelujah! We cannot experience any miracles if we do not believe. If we want to get water from a faucet, we must turn it on. Miracles will not happen to us if we do not reach out to God’s blessings with faith. Hold on to the Cross of Jesus with faith. Then miracles will take place. After that, we must make a confession of faith. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” I want you to change your thoughts by the Word of the Lord. I want you to hold on to the Word and have holy dreams, saying, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.” After that, confess it on your lips with faith, “I have been healed by touching the clothes of Jesus. By His wounds, I am healed.” When we confess our dreams with faith, God will bless us abundantly. He will bless us in our spirits, bodies, and in all of our circumstances. 3 John 2 says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” Our spirits are freed by believing in Jesus. We will prosper in everything we do when we march forward with faith in the Lord. We will be healed from all diseases, and enjoy physical health as well when we march forward with faith. I pray that you will trust in the power of the Lord. The end of our hope is the beginning of God’s hope. The end of humankind is the beginning of God. Do not be dismayed. Do never give up. Do not step backward. This woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years had the faith that if she but touched His clothes, she would be healed. In the same way, we must have faith and pray, “If I hold on to the Cross, I will be healed. All my problems will be resolved.” Then miracles and blessings of the Lord will come to me. Do not doubt. I pray that you will march forward with faith-only with faith. This is my earnest prayer for you in the name of the Lord. God bless you! Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we give thanks to You for Your grace and love toward us. As this woman, who was subject to bleeding for twelve years, was healed by touching Your clothes with faith; help us to experience miracles through our faith in you and in the power of the Cross. Help us hold on to Your Word and to live victoriously by the grace of the Cross of the Lord Jesus. Make us great servants of faith. We give you enormous thanks. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 1