Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000818
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01:01 I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me
01:03 as I kneel before the Lord 01:04 and ask Him to lead in His message. 01:06 Let's pray. 01:10 Our Father God, in heaven, we thank You 01:11 that You are all supreme, and that in every situation 01:16 Your purpose is going to be accomplished. 01:19 We pray even now 01:20 that as our hearts are wondering 01:23 what this message really is about, 01:26 that our hearts also can be made supple, 01:29 that they could absorb the words 01:31 that Christ will communicate to each life in each situation. 01:36 Speak to us, Lord, 01:37 that Your will may be accomplished, 01:41 and that we can go forth from this place 01:43 reflecting the glory of God with hope and encouragement, 01:47 and these things we ask to honor 01:50 and glorify Your holy name. 01:52 In Jesus name we pray. 01:54 Amen. 01:57 If you have your Bibles, you can open it 01:59 to the book of Luke chapter eight. 02:02 What book did I say? Luke. 02:05 Luke is a doctor, 02:06 for those of you who don't know it, 02:07 and Luke has some wonderful insights 02:10 that sometimes Matthew, and Mark, and John may miss. 02:15 Luke is the guy 02:16 that if you study the history of Luke, 02:18 he's always for the underdog, the person who's falling 02:22 behind in the crowd, 02:23 the person who's often overlooked. 02:25 Luke pays special attention 02:28 that often brings stories to life 02:30 in ways that Matthew, Mark, and John often don't. 02:34 But in this account, Matthew, Mark, and John also registered 02:39 their views about this particular situation 02:43 that I entitle "The women with an issue." 02:45 Now I was raised in New York City, 02:47 and when I say that people feel quite differently, 02:50 it depends on where you were raised, 02:52 if you were raised in California, 02:53 you can understand that to some degree 02:55 mindful of the fact that if you were raise in LA, 02:58 you may have a better understanding 03:00 of when I say New York City is huge. 03:03 If you are Colorado, maybe Denver, Colorado, 03:06 or Chicago, Illinois, or any major city, 03:09 Miami, Florida, and now the growing Orlando, 03:12 Florida area, any major packed city 03:16 you can have an understanding what I mean when I say 03:18 I was raised in a crowed city called New York City. 03:22 My wife and I, 03:23 when we go back to New York sometimes, 03:25 we go back to Times Square, and we like to amaze people 03:28 by taking them down to Times Square 03:31 at about 11 o'clock at night. 03:34 Now in most cases, nothing is happening 03:36 in any city at 11 o'clock at night. 03:38 But in New York City at 11 o'clock at night, 03:41 they're just waking up. 03:43 I mean, there are people everywhere, 03:45 you are rubbing shoulders, 03:46 you are bumping into individuals, 03:48 you're still playing dodge at 11 o'clock at night. 03:52 I remember one instance when we were... 03:54 I think it was around Christmas time, 03:55 forgot the year, not too long ago. 03:57 But my wife and I were on Broadway. 03:59 We went to visit New York City, went to visit my dad. 04:02 And it was almost midnight and I saw this long line 04:07 about three blocks long, wrapping around the corner, 04:11 and I wondered what on earth could people be lining up 04:14 for at 10 minutes to midnight in New York City? 04:19 It could be anything. 04:21 Then I discovered that Toys R Us was opening up 04:25 at midnight to debut the brand new Xbox 360. 04:31 And people were standing in line for hours, 04:34 some had come the day before, just to get this 04:37 brand new gaming system, the Xbox 360. 04:41 And I thought to myself, 04:42 "Were to God that we would stand in line 04:44 like that to get to the church?" 04:47 Just recently, I think last Christmas, 04:49 there was almost a fight that broke out 04:51 at the Best Buy in Carbondale, Illinois. 04:55 They announced that they only had 36 04:57 of these new gaming systems available, 04:59 when the doors opened, pandemonium broke out. 05:02 People jostled and wrestled they said 05:05 that there was even a fistfight at the counter 05:08 as two men, 05:12 who should have been sleeping 05:13 so they can go to work for next day, 05:16 two men fought over this new gaming system 05:18 saying they had to have it. 05:20 And one guy took pride in saying, 05:22 "Every gaming system that ever came out, I got it. 05:24 I always stand in the crowds, I always make sure 05:27 I get it as soon as it comes out." 05:30 Crowds, people often gather in crowds for the wrong reason. 05:35 My wife and I never forget that in New York City 05:37 when the New York Yankees won the World Series, 05:39 I forget what year it was, 05:41 but the most recent world series they won, 05:43 we were there north of the World Trade Center, 05:45 right on Broadway, and there was so many people 05:48 packed on that Broadway street that we couldn't fall 05:52 and hit the ground if we wanted to. 05:56 I mean, I had to hold on to my wife's hand 05:58 and literally, I'm gonna use the word, 06:00 extricate her through the crowd. 06:02 I had to rescue her. 06:04 There was a tussling and a task just holding on to her hands. 06:10 All these people packed just to celebrate 06:15 the winning of the World Series in New York City. 06:18 Then I'll never forget, every morning 06:19 when I went to work in New York City, 06:21 I worked at the World Trade Center, 06:22 I worked on the Wall Street` 06:24 I worked at Downtown Manhattan. 06:25 And when rush hour came, it was serious. 06:28 It was not like rush hour here in Thompsonville. 06:33 See, rush hour in Thompsonville means 06:35 you have to wait two minutes for one car 06:37 or another truck in front of you. 06:39 Not in New York City. 06:41 It's kind of like Tokyo, Japan. 06:42 Have you seen those where the subway attendants 06:46 have white gloves and they literally 06:48 sardine can the people into the trains, 06:50 such is the case of New York City. 06:52 Some mornings gone to work, you could sleep standing up 06:57 and not have to worry about falling. 06:58 The only thing you have to keep your eye open 06:59 for is pickpockets 07:01 'cause when you wake up, what you have may be gone. 07:04 So when I read in Luke 8:42 that the Bible said that, 07:08 "Multitudes thronged Jesus..." 07:12 They crowed around Him. 07:13 I can envision what that must have been like. 07:16 I can imagine how people can just come 07:19 for all the right and sometimes wrong reasons 07:22 to surround Jesus, 07:23 seeing what Jesus has in store for them. 07:27 The Bible says in verse 42, 07:31 "Speaking about disappointment that Jesus had..." 07:34 By the way, Jairus was begging Jesus to come to his house, 07:38 Jesus was on His way to Jairus' house 07:40 to heal his daughter, his daughter near death. 07:42 And the Bible says in verse 42, "For he had one only daughter, 07:46 about 12 years of age, and she was a dying. 07:49 But as He..." 07:51 that is Jesus "Went the multitude thronged Him." 07:55 They surrounded Him. 07:58 In the midst of this mission that Jesus was on, 08:03 a woman stopped Jesus. 08:07 I said long ago on Sabbath, a woman stopped Jesus. 08:12 Jairus wanted Jesus to go to his home 08:15 and save his daughters life, but a woman stopped Jesus. 08:19 Have you had an emergency that you wanted Jesus 08:21 to take it right away? 08:24 And somebody else came up with an issue? 08:27 Have you ever had those moments 08:29 where you really didn't 08:30 care about anybody else's issue? 08:31 Come on now, talk to me. 08:33 Where yours was number one on the list, 08:37 where you had one of these moments like, 08:39 "Jesus, I asked You first." 08:42 Jairus was standing still 08:45 as a woman came out of the crowd 08:48 and the Bible introduces her in verse 43. 08:51 The Bible says, and I am reading this 08:52 from the King James Version, 08:54 this is in fact a King James Version sermon. 08:57 Now I've got a New King James Version right in front of me, 09:00 but I have King James Version written down on the paper 09:03 because in order to me to get my sermon title, 09:05 I couldn't get it in any other translation, 09:07 they became too modern for me. 09:10 But in the King James Version, the Bible talks about 09:12 this woman introducing her in the midst of this crowd 09:15 with these words, verse 43, 09:18 "And a woman having an issue of blood, 09:25 12 years, which has spent all her living upon physicians, 09:31 neither could be healed of any." 09:35 Now you know I got my sermon title 09:36 from a woman having an issue. 09:39 Now I want to say this. 09:40 Lady, I beat up the man yesterday 09:42 and I want to say this, 09:44 please don't throw anything at me, 09:45 but it's hard to find a woman without an issue. 09:49 I'm married to a woman that I love very much, 09:52 but there are sometimes when I think 09:54 I have her figured out, she come up with something 09:56 I haven't seen in 24 years. 09:59 Am I telling the truth? Husbands, come on say it. 10:01 Be nice when you say it. 10:04 I mean, women, like somebody once said, 10:06 "For those who think they can figure out a woman, 10:08 they don't know math and they don't know women." 10:13 It's never 50-50. 10:15 You can't say to women, 10:16 "Do your part, I'm doing my part" 10:17 because she'll always come back guys 10:19 with something that kind of level you 10:21 and you'll have no answer for. 10:24 Jesus in the midst of His emergency 10:27 is stopped by a woman with an issue. 10:32 And over the excitement of the pressing multitude, 10:35 Jesus has the nerve to ask a ridiculous question, 10:39 kind of like me asking 10:41 in the crowded streets of New York City, 10:43 "Who touched me?" 10:45 Can you imagine how ridiculous that is 10:47 in a Yankee stadium or in a shopping mall 10:50 or standing there on 42, 10:52 waiting for Xbox to be released, 10:53 "Who touched me?" 10:55 Rushing to the restroom in a crowded baseball stadium, 10:59 "Who touched me?" 11:01 Reaching for that last drink just before you went back 11:03 to your seat to see the last quarter 11:05 in a basket ball game, 11:06 "Who touched me?" 11:08 Jesus asked what seems to be a ridiculous question, 11:13 "Who touched Me?" 11:14 How can anyone in a pressing multitude 11:18 ask such a misplaced question like, 11:23 "Who touched Me?" 11:26 As I read that and I began to let that soak in, 11:28 I'm becoming more and more convinced 11:31 that who we are and who we become 11:35 can be determined by something as simple 11:39 and yet as life-changing as a touch. 11:42 I read an article about a young girl 11:43 who is in the hospital, 11:45 and the doctors and nurses did not know 11:48 what to do with her condition. 11:50 I mean, they diagnosed her, physiatrists were there, 11:54 family practitioners were there, 11:56 child physiologists were called to the situation. 11:59 People that were experts in their field 12:01 were brought to the situation and they could not figure out 12:04 what was wrong with this eight-year-old girl. 12:10 But a very humble nurse was assigned to tend her bed 12:13 and make sure that she was changed 12:15 and she had all the food she needed. 12:18 And that nurse took a particular interest 12:20 in this young girl. 12:22 And every now and then when she'd hear a sound, 12:24 she'd cradle her and say, "Don't worry about it. 12:27 It's okay." 12:28 And she noticed that day after day, 12:30 after just cradling this eight-year-old girl, 12:35 leaning her up on the bed as she positioned her pillow 12:38 that the girl began to respond to her touch. 12:43 And then she did her own experiment. 12:47 She decided to hold this child and start to talk to her 12:51 comfortably and softly. 12:53 And after three days, 12:56 she was able to call the doctor 12:57 and say, "You know what? 12:59 I understand, doctor, you're really over me. 13:01 But I think the problem with this child 13:03 is she's suffering from a lack of touch." 13:08 On that suggestion, 13:10 they followed the nurse's recommendation 13:12 and they discovered 13:13 that this girl was living in a home 13:15 where her mother never touched her, 13:17 never hugged her, never said she loved her. 13:19 She was always ostracized and pushed off to the side. 13:22 She was suffering from a lack of touch. 13:24 I am convinced that who we are 13:28 and what we are becoming can sometimes be determined 13:31 by something as simple 13:32 and yet as life-changing as a touch. 13:34 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 13:36 Touch is so important. 13:37 I mean, God gave us one of those senses, 13:39 can you imagine that sense becomes 13:41 undeveloped if it is ignored. 13:43 And I also want to say 13:47 even though this woman 13:48 met Jesus in a crowd where he asked the question, 13:50 "Who touched Me?" 13:52 how you meet Jesus... 13:53 If you want to write this down, you can. 13:55 I didn't give you an outline today, 13:56 but how you meet Jesus is not as important 14:01 as that you meet Jesus. 14:04 There's some people that say, "You know what? 14:07 I was at the bar drinking my last drink 14:11 before I decided to commit suicide, 14:14 and I heard a voice, 14:17 and I think it was Jesus." 14:18 And somebody else will say, "Jesus is not in the bar!" 14:21 Now, brothers and sisters, let me tell you something 14:23 Jesus will chase you anywhere if He wants to save your life. 14:28 He may not go in there and drink with you, 14:30 but Jesus is just as concerned about the drunk, 14:33 and about the person who is on his last dime, 14:37 and the person who is taking drugs 14:38 and trying to overdose, 14:40 and the person standing on the chair 14:41 trying to take their lives. 14:42 Jesus meets you in the oddest places, 14:46 but every time He meets you is for your salvation. 14:48 Amen. 14:49 So no matter how you meet Jesus it is never by accident. 14:54 I don't believe that Jesus has ever anywhere by accident. 14:58 I don't believe that Jesus 14:59 ever had a coincidental rendezvous. 15:03 I don't believe that Jesus shows up in your life by luck. 15:07 I always tell Christians, 15:08 "Please don't ever say to me good luck. 15:11 You know what 'cause my life is not luck, 15:13 my life is not the roll of a dice, 15:14 my life is a divine plan." 15:16 What do you say? Amen. 15:17 Before I came out of my mother's womb, 15:21 I believe, that all my days were ordained before me 15:24 before any one of them came to pass. 15:27 That's the only reason I can come up 15:29 with the idea that when I was help up 15:30 at gun point twice in New York City 15:31 that I didn't get shot 15:33 because God had a plan for me to be here 15:36 preaching this message today. 15:37 Can you say glory to God? 15:39 So God is not an accident or a coincidental God, 15:43 He doesn't just meet you because you happen to be 15:46 where He is, any place that Jesus is, 15:50 He shows up when we need Him the most. 15:55 He is closest to us when we are farthest away 15:59 from Him spiritually, 16:00 and He never let's our circumstances, 16:02 I like this part, He never lets our circumstances 16:06 have the final word about our destiny. 16:10 Let that sink in. 16:12 Lot of people say, "I'm broke. 16:14 What am I gonna do?" 16:16 Get that right, you are not a broke person, 16:21 you are a person who's broke. 16:24 Jesus always sees the person. 16:26 Can you say amen? 16:27 He doesn't see your money first. 16:29 He sees you first. 16:30 You are not a sick person, you are a person who is sick. 16:36 You are not a lost person. 16:38 In Jesus' eyes, 16:39 He sees that you're a person at first. 16:41 You're a person who needs direction. 16:45 Oftentimes we see broke people, when Jesus see people 16:48 who just are temporarily strapped. 16:52 As one person once said, "I'm not broke. 16:55 I'm just financially disposed right now." 17:00 Brethren, Mark 5:25 gives us another view of this woman. 17:06 Jesus always sees us first and not our situation. 17:11 He doesn't see wealthy people and poor people, 17:13 He sees people with money and people without money. 17:16 He's not coming back for our bank account, 17:18 He's coming back for us. 17:20 Look at Mark's view of this woman, 17:23 verse 25 of Mark chapter 5, 17:26 "And a certain woman," 17:27 he says, once again King James Version, 17:30 "which had an issue of blood, 12 years, 17:33 and had suffered many things of many physicians." 17:38 Luke talked about physicians. 17:40 Mark also notices physicians 17:43 and had spent how much that she had? 17:46 How much did she spend? 17:48 "All that she had and was nothing better 17:52 but rather grew worst." 17:54 Have you seen 17:57 the cost of medical care? 18:01 It's not going down, it's what? Going up. 18:03 I remember one of the pastors in California, Filipino doctor, 18:07 one of our Filipino pastors, he showed us his doctor's bill 18:11 for a surgery he had for a heart bypass. 18:15 Now he was only about 5'6, but he stood on a high chair 18:20 and he held his hands up and rolled out his bill 18:22 and he still wasn't high enough up, 18:25 and the bill just kept rolling out along the rostrum. 18:29 This woman was kind of like that. 18:33 She had years of doctor bills but nothing to show for it, 18:37 circumstance after circumstance, 18:40 yet there was no remedy to her situation. 18:43 Ellen White says in Desire of Ages, Page 343, 18:46 listen to this, "She had spent all her means 18:50 upon physicians and their remedies 18:52 only to be pronounced incurable. 18:55 But her hopes revived when she heard of the cures 18:59 that Christ perform." 19:01 Amen for Jesus, the master physician. 19:04 She felt assured 19:06 that if she could only go to Him, 19:09 she would be healed. 19:10 Twelve years of doctor bills, nothing to show for it, 19:13 appointment after appointment, no progress. 19:16 Prescriptions were prescribed, 19:18 medications were embibed, no change. 19:21 That's why when I meet people that have problems, 19:24 that want to tell everybody about their problems, 19:27 I say, "Tell us only to ask for prayer, 19:29 but if you just tell us about your problems, 19:31 we can't do anything. 19:32 Take it to the Lord in prayer." 19:35 And I discovered in my difficulty of life 19:38 that when I come to Jesus with my problems, 19:39 He doesn't say, "I'm on the line 19:42 with somebody else." 19:44 He always has time to listen 19:48 to the pleadings of His children. 19:49 What do you say? 19:51 Always has time. 19:52 This woman just could not get any responses. 19:55 She was under the investigative minds 19:57 of physiatrists, 19:58 the skillful hands of family practitioners, 20:00 nothing, absolutely nothing. 20:03 Twelve long years compelled her to this moment. 20:08 You know what I believe? 20:10 You got to get to the place in life sometimes 20:11 where you are tired of your way of living. 20:16 I meet some people that are like 20:18 they've been smoking since they were 16 years old, 20:22 and here they are 48, I went to the hospital down 20:24 in Marian the other day. 20:26 And outside of the hospital, 20:28 you know, you can't smoke inside, 20:29 but I saw in the exterior foyer, 20:32 a lady sitting on a wheelchair, 20:35 big oxygen bottle on wheels and she was smoking 20:38 with the tubes of the oxygen bottle 20:40 in her mouth. 20:42 And I saw this big No Flame sign 20:44 on the green oxygen bottle. 20:45 I'm thinking, "Man, 20:47 if there's an explosion outside, 20:48 I know exactly who it is." 20:49 But there are some people that are hopelessly... 20:51 It appears they are hopelessly bound 20:53 to their circumstances 20:54 and physiatrists and AA, AAA, 20:58 and AAAA have no answer. 21:02 But I know that Jesus always has the answer. 21:05 Can you say? Amen. 21:07 See, the woman spent her life trying to remedy her situation, 21:12 trying to recover her respect, trying to stop being ostracized 21:18 from crowds because I tell you what, 21:19 if you're bleeding all the time, 21:22 you know, people don't really want you around, 21:28 especially in those days. 21:30 There were laws, in the Levitical law 21:31 that if a woman was bleeding, she was considered impure, 21:35 she could not be in general assemblies. 21:38 Can you imagine? 21:39 Happened to go to church and you have your own chair 21:42 far away from everybody else, 21:47 and people say, 21:48 "Yeah, she's here again." 21:49 "Why is she so far?" 21:51 "She's been bleeding for nine years." 21:54 The pastor's preaching his heart out 21:55 and she goes home still bleeding. 21:57 I believe that people had to come to church 21:58 and find answers to their dilemma. 22:00 Amen? 22:02 Nine years had passed, ten years had passed, 22:04 struggling and finally she's at her journey's end, 22:08 which takes me to the point that I'm excited about. 22:10 Brothers and sisters, 22:12 when your journey is about to end, 22:16 Jesus has a journey for you that's about to begin. 22:21 Amen. You didn't get that one? 22:23 Some people got that. 22:24 When you're at the end of your rope, 22:27 you'll hold on, when you get to the end of your rope, 22:29 Jesus is right there. 22:30 Amen? Amen. 22:32 He's always got something better for us 22:33 at the end of our journey. 22:35 I've seen people that come to Jesus 22:37 after 25 years of drug abuse and alcoholic abuse. 22:40 New York City is filled with people like that. 22:42 Some people come to church 22:43 after the world has drained them 22:45 and they look like they're 75 when they're only 32. 22:49 There's some people that are 75, 22:51 they look better than them. 22:52 Some people that are 90 look better than them. 22:54 The world has really walked all over them. 22:57 They don't have teeth, they're strung out, 23:00 they look emaciated, they don't even look unhealthy. 23:02 They just look like their lives are over. 23:04 But amazing what Jesus can do in just one year, 23:08 when He turns your lives around. 23:09 I know that about my mother. 23:11 When my mother met Jesus, she was barely 98 pounds. 23:17 If she was size one, that was large. 23:20 She had walked the streets 23:24 not as a prostitute, 23:26 not as a woman of the night, but her mind was messed up. 23:31 And there in the small town of French town 23:33 in the Virgin Island, 23:35 she walked the streets, unstable life. 23:37 Why? 23:38 Because she abandoned her children, 23:39 left them somewhere. 23:41 You never know what the circumstances 23:42 of the life are that get people where they are, 23:44 but no matter where they are, 23:45 Jesus can find them where they are. 23:47 Amen. 23:49 When the Lord came into her life, 23:51 my mother's life, it's in my book, 23:53 you ought to read the story, 23:55 when the Lord came into her life, 23:58 she went from a size zero to a size ten. 24:03 And she told me, she said, "Now you know what? 24:05 I prayed, I asked God to deliver me." 24:09 And the day that she prayed to be delivered 24:11 form alcohol and cigarettes, from that day forward, 24:15 she never even had a desire. 24:17 Is that Jesus or what? Amen. 24:19 So Jesus doesn't need the... 24:22 He doesn't need the council of a doctor 24:25 to remedy a situation, 24:28 there's nothing wrong with physicians. 24:29 God bless them. 24:31 But when all the doctors are no more, 24:32 there's still Jesus. 24:34 Amen. 24:36 This woman got to the place 24:37 where her journey was about to end 24:39 and Jesus was waiting for her. 24:40 And Mark in verse 28 says, here's what she proclaimed. 24:43 Here's what she said, verse 28, 24:48 "If only I could touch the hem of His garment, 24:55 I'll be made well." 24:59 She didn't ask for a whole lot, did she? 25:04 If I could only... 25:08 You know what I like about that text? 25:10 Jesus makes recovery and revival and renewal simple. 25:18 Oftentimes we make salvation cumbersome. 25:23 Jesus makes it simple. 25:26 "Just get in touch with Me and you will be all right." 25:29 Come on, let's say amen. Amen. 25:31 Just reach out to Jesus and you'll be changed. 25:35 Somebody will say, 25:36 "What do I need to do to be saved?" 25:38 Just reach out to Jesus. 25:40 All the 28 fundamentals, they're good, 25:42 there need to be some guidelines 25:43 to the way we live. 25:45 But have you noticed that when Jesus called 25:47 the children of Israel out of Egypt, 25:49 He gave them no prerequisites. 25:52 He said, "Come on out, and as you journey, 25:54 I'll teach along the way." 25:58 She says, "If I can only touch Jesus." 26:01 Now we run back to Dr. Luke 8:45, 26:04 Luke says it this way and she said, after Jesus said, 26:07 "Who touched Me?" 26:09 When all denied, Peter and those with him said, 26:12 "Master, the multitude thronging You 26:14 and pressing You, and ask, who touched you?" 26:21 But, brothers, I would say sometimes you got to be 26:24 intentional about wanting to meet Jesus 26:28 because this was no casual touch, 26:30 this was a touch of intent. 26:33 This woman intended to touch Jesus. 26:37 That was all she came there to do was to touch Jesus. 26:41 And she did not disrespect this person, 26:43 she just simply touched His garment, 26:46 she touched the hem of His garment. 26:51 By the way, if you look at the Levitical law, 26:53 around the hem of the garment, there were tassels there 26:55 that represented the law of God. 26:57 She got in touch with not only with the Lord 26:59 but with the law of the Lord. 27:01 She got in touch with everything that she needed, 27:04 and she went from a who to a somebody in one touch. 27:08 Look at Luke 8:46, 27:11 Peter said, "Lord, why do you ask, 27:13 'Who touched me?' 27:15 " But look at Jesus, dignity already restored. 27:17 Look at this, verse 46, "But Jesus said, 27:20 'Somebody touched me 27:22 for I perceive power going out from Me.' 27:31 " I'm so glad to know that Jesus has enough power 27:33 for every one of us. 27:36 I remember when we got on line the other day, 27:38 we had an employee appreciation day 27:41 here at 3ABN, and it was held over 27:43 at the gymnasium, there was a lot of food. 27:47 But you know what? 27:48 When there's a lot of food, do you want to be on the 27:50 back of the line or the front of the line? 27:53 Come on, tell me the truth. 27:55 You want to be on the front of the line, you know why? 27:57 Because you want the best. 27:59 And you know that the first is always the best, 28:01 you have more choice. 28:02 Now, my brothers and my sisters, 28:04 whether you're in the back of the line 28:06 or the front of the line, 28:07 the power of Jesus is never diminished. 28:10 Can you say amen? 28:11 He's got enough power for the entire world. 28:13 He does not say, "Oh, wait, 28:14 I'm gonna have a power overload or a power outage." 28:17 He had enough power to heal the entire multitude 28:21 had they had the desire to touch Jesus. 28:24 But a woman came there with intentions in her mind, 28:26 she didn't come there to mess around like 28:28 the people in the multitude did, 28:29 she didn't come there just to see Jesus, 28:31 she came there for an encounter with Jesus. 28:35 The Bible tells us in verse 44, "When she came 28:38 from behind and touched Jesus, 28:41 immediately her issues ceased." 28:49 Immediately all the problems she had came to an end, 28:55 immediately the issue of her blood stopped. 29:00 Immediately she needed no more doctors. 29:05 From that moment on, she was accepted. 29:09 Are you following me? 29:10 From that moment on, she was no longer ostracized. 29:14 From that moment on, 29:15 she was not labeled as that woman. 29:17 She was labeled as... 29:18 Everybody, she's in the congregation now. 29:20 Can we say amen? 29:22 She's accepted now. 29:23 Her dignity is restored. 29:25 She's no longer an outcast. 29:27 God does not change you and leave you on the outside. 29:29 When he changes you, He brings you on the inside. 29:34 She was not singled out, she was now included 29:40 because she had a desire to find Jesus, 29:43 to follow Jesus, 29:44 and to have an encounter with Jesus, 29:48 which brings me to my point, my third point, 29:51 and then my forth point. 29:55 We've got a lot of institutions 29:56 in Seventh-day Adventist Church, 29:58 you know that? 29:59 Got a lot of institutions, got a lot of schools, 30:01 lot of hospitals, lot of churches, 30:03 lot of conference offices, lot of leaders and followers. 30:06 But I want to say that there is more power 30:08 in the hem of Jesus' garment than there is 30:11 in all the institutions of the world. 30:15 We don't need another institution, 30:19 but what we need is a greater desire 30:21 to get in touch with Jesus. 30:24 We don't need another theological debate, 30:26 what we need is a desire to get in touch with Jesus. 30:30 We don't need some new view on 1844. 30:33 We need to take care of 2007 30:36 'cause what they failed to do then, 30:37 we can still do now. 30:39 That's why I've never bought one of those books. 30:41 Reinvestigating of 1844. 30:42 If I've got my Bible, I can investigate 30:44 God's righteousness today. 30:50 I'm not concerned about what they rejected, 30:52 but what I have the chance to accept still today. 31:01 That's why our rendezvous with Jesus is not based on us 31:04 pursuing Him but Him pursuing us. 31:09 I like to know that wherever I am, 31:11 Jesus is concerned about where I am. 31:15 He comes after us. 31:16 He's that... 31:17 As somebody once respectfully said, 31:19 "He's like the hound of heaven. 31:21 He pursues us. 31:23 And the faster we go, the faster Jesus goes." 31:27 He can always catch us. Can you say amen? 31:30 That's how it is. 31:31 Salvation is not complicated. 31:34 It's not as hard as it may seem. 31:38 In the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve fell, 31:40 Jesus came looking for them. 31:42 They didn't go looking for Jesus. 31:45 But the problem nowadays 31:47 is sometimes we get lost in the crowd 31:49 with the obvious meanings. 31:50 But I would say that in every message 31:53 that Jesus preaches, 31:54 there is an obvious message and there is a subtle message. 31:59 Sometimes we get so obsessed by the obvious 32:03 that the spiritual message remains obscure. 32:06 We don't see what Jesus really is saying. 32:08 And I don't believe that this was just a sermon 32:10 about a woman who was bleeding. 32:16 I believe that there is another meaning 32:18 behind this message 32:19 about this woman in Luke's life, 32:23 in Matthew's life, in Mark's life. 32:25 I believe that there is a hidden meaning 32:28 behind this. 32:30 And that's why, before I transition, 32:31 I'm going to say this, 32:33 "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks 32:34 about any of us because, in the eyes of Jesus, 32:38 everybody is somebody." 32:43 No racial barriers, no financial barriers, 32:47 no neighborhood barriers. 32:50 You can have a gated community or a not-gated community, 32:52 Jesus can find His way in anyway. 32:56 In the eyes of Jesus, everybody is somebody. 32:58 And when you get in touch with Jesus, 33:00 He is not just the restorer of health, 33:03 but He is the restorer of dignity. 33:08 Quite different altogether, 33:09 health and dignity are quite different. 33:13 When Jesus touched this woman's life, 33:15 not only did her issues cease. 33:19 But she began to testify about the goodness 33:23 of being touched by Jesus. 33:24 Look at verse 47, "Now when the woman saw 33:27 that she was not hidden..." 33:29 When the Lord changes your life, 33:31 He doesn't hide you. 33:32 Amen. 33:34 He makes you public, why? 33:35 Not to boast about what happened to you 33:37 but boast about the one who changed your life. 33:40 "When she saw that she was not hidden," 33:41 the Bible says, 33:43 "She came trembling and falling down before Him." 33:45 Luke 8:47, "She declared to Him 33:48 in the presence of all the people 33:51 the reason that she had touched Him 33:54 and how she was healed immediately." 33:57 Mark says she told Him the whole truth, 34:02 she became a witness. 34:04 Brethren, we cannot become an experienced 34:06 and a qualified witness unless we, 34:08 first, are touched by Jesus. 34:10 Can somebody say amen? 34:12 Now I'm not talking about a touch on a shoulder. 34:15 But the reason why I think 34:16 that so many people are ineffective witnesses 34:18 is because they read His word, but they don't know 34:20 the God of the word. 34:23 They go to His churches, but they don't know yet 34:26 the God of the church. 34:28 The people in the crowd were there 34:30 for a different reason than this woman. 34:32 They came to see Jesus. 34:33 She came to have an encounter with Jesus. 34:35 They came to listen, she came to receive power. 34:38 They came to observe, 34:39 she came to be changed by Jesus. 34:44 So why did you come to camp meeting? 34:46 To observe? To listen? 34:54 Did you come to meet Jesus? 34:57 Did you come to get the power available? 34:59 Did you come to be changed? 35:01 Because, brothers and sisters, if that's the reason 35:02 why you are here, the Lord is qualified 35:05 and more than able to change 35:07 any one of us by a simple touch. 35:09 Can you say amen? 35:11 Camp meetings are great, but why you're here 35:14 is all the reason why you can go home 35:16 just as spiritually hydrated or dehydrated, 35:20 I should say, as you came here. 35:24 Ellen White says, "Every camp meeting 35:26 ought to be a place where the gospel is preached, 35:28 where revival is focused on, 35:30 where people leave thirsting for a relationship with Jesus 35:34 and a touch with Jesus." 35:35 And I believe that when you come for right reason, 35:38 when you come looking for something 35:40 that only Christ can give, you'll always find it 35:42 because Jesus never disappoints. 35:44 He always delivers. Amen. 35:48 "Desire of Ages" page 347, Ellen White says, 35:52 "So also in spiritual things as in physical things." 35:55 Listen to this, 35:56 "To talk of religion in a casual way, 35:59 to pray without soul hunger and living faith 36:02 avails absolutely nothing." 36:04 I put the word absolutely there, 36:06 "Avails nothing a nominal faith in Christ, 36:11 which accepts Him merely as the Savior of the world 36:13 can never bring healing to the soul." 36:16 It is not enough to believe about Christ, 36:18 we must believe in Christ. 36:23 I know Jesus exist. 36:25 I don't need a degree for that. 36:28 But when Jesus changed this woman, 36:30 he sent her off and gave her a mission. 36:34 Now, brethren, here I'm gonna transition 36:36 for my next few minutes before I close. 36:38 That's the obvious message in the sermon. 36:41 Jesus healed the woman who was bleeding for 12 years 36:44 and the church said... 36:45 Amen. 36:47 He can do that anytime. 36:48 But there is another message here because 36:51 this is not an isolated woman. 36:54 In the Bible, the woman is used in symbol 36:58 to give a picture of the church. 37:02 The number of years that she was bleeding 37:04 represents the kingdom number. 37:07 Twelve tribes, twelve foundations, 37:13 twelve gates. 37:15 It's all kingdom symbolism. 37:20 Old Testament and New Testament, 37:21 woman with 12 stars around her head. 37:25 There's a hidden message here that Christ is saying 37:27 to the church of 2007, the woman had an issue 37:31 but also the church in 2007 is still fighting over issues. 37:38 And the reason 37:39 why her blood is being poured out 37:40 and the reason why she appears to be lifeless 37:43 is she is spending more times 37:44 in trying to find a physician with a remedy 37:46 than trying to find Jesus. 37:49 The woman's got an issue. 37:51 I suggest to you today that the predicament 37:56 of the woman in this story represents the predicament 37:59 of last day church. 38:00 Revelation says, "That the last day church 38:03 is worse off than she was." 38:05 We are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 38:12 She knew she was bleeding, but, church, he says, 38:15 they don't even know it. 38:18 The conditioned had worsened. 38:20 And the life blood today of the church... 38:22 I also suggest to you that the doctors 38:25 that the woman sought represents the substitutes 38:30 that the church continues to adopt. 38:34 The reason why the church seems lifeless today 38:37 is because she has accepted the prescriptions of doctors 38:41 rather than the touch of Jesus. 38:44 Amen. 38:46 I also suggest to you 38:51 that the church of the last days 38:53 is a woman with an issue. 38:59 Here are some of the issues. 39:01 Here are some of the physicians that she went to see. 39:04 Here are some of the physicians that the last day church, 39:07 a lot of churches included in this, 39:08 but I'm particularly concerned 39:10 about the Seventh-day Adventist church 39:11 because this is the woman that God wants to be healthy 39:14 so that everybody else can be healthy. 39:15 Amen. 39:17 Here's one of the physicians that this woman went to see. 39:20 It began a long time ago in the Garden of Eden. 39:24 The first encountered that she had 39:26 with the wrong physician was a physician 39:29 by the name of Satan, a deceptive physician. 39:33 He led her to disbelieve the Word of God. 39:37 There are people nowadays 39:40 that are still trying to figure out 39:41 which translation is the safest one. 39:44 Now, my brother and my sister, it ain't the translation 39:47 that's your problem, it's your heart's condition. 39:48 Come on and say amen. 39:50 Somebody said, "Oh, I got the NIV now. 39:51 I'm gonna be saved." 39:53 I got the King James, I'm gonna be saved." 39:54 And so this is battle, all this paperwork, 39:56 and spending money on don't buy that translation, 39:58 buy this one. 40:00 If you use that one, you'll be in dark, 40:01 use this one, you'll be in light. 40:03 You get me now? 40:04 Lot of issues over the translation. 40:06 The translation of the Bible is not the issue, 40:08 the translation of your heart is the issue. 40:13 The church is torn by all the doctors 40:15 that are questioning the integrity of God's word. 40:18 Read Time magazine, Newsweek magazine, 40:21 archeological magazines. 40:23 They're all trying to figure out, 40:24 "Do we have enough evidence 40:25 to accept the fact that we enough of proof 40:29 that the Word of God is true?" 40:31 Somebody said on CNN, "If you had proof 40:33 that the Word of God is true, you'll no longer need faith." 40:37 CNN. 40:39 Brethren, we are saved by grace through faith. 40:41 What do you say? I don't need proof. 40:43 The proof is my life is not the way it used to be. 40:45 Come on and say amen. 40:47 That's the proof we need. 40:48 And the issue is not the integrity of God's word, 40:52 it is the lack of integrity in those who are handling 40:55 and misrepresenting the Word of God. 40:57 He says, "When my word goes out, 40:59 it will not return to me void, it will accomplish 41:02 what I've designed for it to accomplish." 41:04 So God's word is safe. 41:06 Amen. Amen. 41:09 They are those who don't know 41:10 whether or not the Word of God is necessary. 41:12 People come to church without their Bibles. 41:14 Sabbath morning, I see people coming to church and I say, 41:17 "This is not a fashion show. 41:18 This is a place to worship God." 41:20 Amen. 41:21 How are you gonna go out in a battle without a sword? 41:24 We're in a battle. 41:26 The devil is... 41:27 Matter of fact, think about this, 41:29 imagine going to Iraq. 41:30 You got your whole uniform on. 41:33 You see where I'm heading with this? 41:35 And you see an enemy brigade 41:37 approaching you and you go, "Get back! 41:39 Get back!" 41:41 And then look for you weapon and they stand 41:43 and laugh at you because you have no weapon. 41:46 I am suggesting to you that the only way 41:49 that we can be safe in these last days 41:51 is learn how to use the sword of the spirit, 41:54 which is the Word of God. 41:57 The remedy is right here. 41:59 Here is the prescription. 42:01 The Word of God never returns to Him void. 42:05 That's the deceptive physician. 42:07 But then there is the worldly physician. 42:09 You see, the woman went to doctors all her life 42:12 and they couldn't give her the answer. 42:13 Now there's the worldly physician. 42:15 You know, when Eve fell in the Garden of Eden... 42:17 You got to follow me on this one. 42:19 When Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, 42:21 she replaced the glory of God 42:24 with an apron made of fig leaves. 42:30 Don't go there before I get there. 42:33 Today, I will suggest to you that when you go 42:36 to some Adventist churches, the way that women dress, 42:41 it looks more like the Eve after the fall 42:43 than the Eve before the fall. 42:45 Amen. 42:47 Am I telling the truth? 42:48 Yes. 42:49 Yes. 42:51 It's a spiritual indication 42:58 that there's something wrong 43:00 with the woman. 43:01 She's got an issue about God's standards of dress. 43:05 I will suggest to you that there was an era that, 43:10 when it really did matter how you looked 43:13 when you came to church. 43:15 Some women say, 43:16 "I don't like the way men look at me." 43:18 And the men say, "I don't like the way they dress." 43:21 I will say the problem is in both camps. 43:23 Amen. 43:24 But we ought to come 43:25 into God's house as Timothy said, 43:27 "The issue is not God's method of adornment, 43:31 the issue is the method of dress prescribed 43:35 by the doctors of fashion." 43:44 So women come to church 43:45 with tattoos all over the place, 43:46 and they wanna show it. 43:48 Bellies showing. 43:51 Make sure the back of the dress is as low to the hip 43:54 as it possibly can be. 43:56 Make sure the top is as far down 43:58 so that they can't see the tattoo here. 44:00 There's got to be something wrong. 44:02 The woman's got an issue. 44:03 And if that woman who has an issue with 44:05 God's reform and dress 44:07 doesn't get in touch with Jesus, 44:09 there will be no change. 44:11 But I'm suggesting that God has come 44:13 not to change our theology alone 44:15 but the way out life's are lived. 44:17 What do you say? 44:19 Paul says to Timothy that, "There ought to be a way 44:25 that women professing Godliness dresses." 44:30 And we ought not follow the fashions of the world. 44:32 What do you say church? 44:33 Amen. 44:35 So there's an issue there. 44:37 The integrity of God's Word. 44:39 The fashions of the world. 44:41 And the woman is looking for all the issues. 44:42 She figured, "If I can dress right, 44:43 then I'll be acceptable." 44:45 Brethren, what we need is not the garments 44:46 Eve had after the fall, we need the garment 44:49 she said before the fall, the righteousness of Christ. 44:53 There's another issue, there's another problem there, 44:55 another issue. 44:56 I call this one the disguised physician. 45:00 He looks like a physician. 45:01 But He's not really a physician. 45:02 You know why? 45:04 Because this physician has prescribed 45:05 that if you get rid of the gift of inspiration, 45:08 you'll be better off. 45:10 Are you following me? 45:12 See we tell it like it is here at 3ABN. 45:14 Can you handle that? 45:16 This physician is saying that the inspirational gift 45:19 is not necessary. 45:21 So you go to some churches, some Adventist churches, 45:23 where they are throwing out Ellen White, 45:26 where they will make the... 45:28 They'll do it like they're gaining something. 45:30 They'll just drop her books in the garbage can 45:32 and that's why some places you go are getting darker, 45:35 not brighter. 45:38 But I'm saying to you today, the issue is not 45:41 Ellen White's inspiration but the lack of inspiration 45:44 in those who reject God's gift of prophecy. 45:49 Believe in the Lord your God 45:51 and so shall you be established. 45:53 Believe in His prophets and so shall you prosper. 45:58 I don't throw her writings out. 45:59 Matter of fact, I want to say today, 46:01 when I couldn't read the Bible, I opened the book 46:02 "The Great Controversy," 46:03 and it lead me back to the Bible. 46:05 Amen. Amen. 46:06 She does not need a degree in Greek, 46:08 God understands Greek. 46:10 He can tell her what it means when she writes it down. 46:12 All these doctors of theology think 46:14 that they're smarter than Ellen White. 46:16 Well, my brother the spirit that was in her life 46:18 could be in there's too. 46:19 But the lack of integrity and handling that God 46:22 has given is the reason why the church 46:24 is losing blood even today. 46:27 That's right. Amen. 46:28 There's one more physician. 46:30 There's so many more. 46:32 The music physician. 46:35 Amen. 46:37 He says, "You need more music to be acceptable to God." 46:43 The reason the Seventh-day Adventist church 46:45 is veering off course is that the doctors 46:47 have given the women a prescription for more music, 46:51 and they have been told that if you have... 46:54 She's been told that 46:55 if you have more musical instruments, 46:56 then your worship becomes more acceptable. 47:10 How can I make my worship more appropriate? 47:13 Get more musical instruments, get more music, 47:17 some places you get 10-minute sermon, 47:19 which is in fact a sermonette and 55 minutes of music. 47:23 Right. 47:24 Music is good. 47:26 It's designed to glorify God. 47:27 Can you say amen? Amen. 47:29 But a revival has never been sustained by music, 47:33 only by the Word of God. 47:35 Amen. 47:36 Jesus didn't give the people 47:37 that were hungry a song to sing. 47:39 He gave them something to eat. 47:42 Eat this. 47:43 When the women... 47:45 When Jairus's daughter was raised, 47:46 He didn't say, "Here's a song to hum." 47:47 He said, "Give her something to eat." 47:49 When the multitude 47:51 was languishing in the wilderness, 47:52 He said to His disciples, "Give them something to eat." 47:55 Brethren, revival will only be sustained 47:58 if we can get in touch with Jesus 48:00 and give them something to eat. 48:02 Amen. 48:04 The Word of God. 48:05 Some people say, "Now is that instrument 48:07 inappropriate or appropriate?" 48:08 Brethren, the problem is not the inanimate instrument. 48:12 The problem is the animate one. That's right. 48:14 It's not what instrument you use. 48:17 It's the one who's using the instrument. 48:24 David the Psalmist said, "Let everything 48:26 that has breath praise the Lord." 48:27 Can you say praise the Lord? 48:29 Psalms 150:6, and I'm gonna wind 48:31 the other ones up very quickly, 48:32 "You got the doctors of diet. 48:34 They prescribe clean colons and ignore corrupt hearts." 48:37 You got the doctors of offshoots, 48:39 they prescribe the breakup of the church 48:42 will make it more sound. 48:43 You got the doctors of education. 48:45 They prescribe higher learning and lower standards. 48:48 You got the doctors of politics. 48:50 They divided the church 48:51 into conservatives and liberals. 48:53 I've never found that word in the Bible anywhere. 48:56 And I always try my best to kill that terminology 48:59 because it has no place in God's house. 49:01 It is outside in the world. 49:03 Not in the God's church. 49:04 Amen. Amen. 49:06 That's why when election time comes, 49:07 we fight with each other. 49:09 What are you, a conservative or liberal? 49:10 Brethren, you don't conserve prayers. 49:12 You make your prayers liberal. 49:15 And when come time paying offering, 49:16 make it liberal. 49:18 Amen. 49:19 When it comes to doing work for God, 49:21 be a liberal. 49:23 Give liberally. 49:25 God's not looking for people to conserve anything. 49:27 Conserving energy? 49:28 No, you don't rest till you get to heaven unless you die first. 49:33 Then there's the doctors of control. 49:35 Those who think that they can make something happen. 49:37 They forgot that God is in control. 49:39 What do you say? 49:41 So, let me ask the questions as I close. 49:43 Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? 49:47 Then reach out to Jesus. 49:49 If you're tired of 49:50 all the substitutes for Christianity, 49:54 it's time to reach out to Jesus. 49:56 Can you say amen? 49:57 If you are ready to be a strong thriving Christian, 50:00 not an insipid bleeding one, it's time to do what? 50:03 Reach out to Jesus. 50:05 If you no longer want to be known as a woman 50:07 with an issue but a woman with a cure, 50:10 reach out to Jesus. 50:12 As I sing this song, my brethren, 50:14 I'll end with this point, there is a difference 50:18 between death and life, and that issue 50:21 and that difference is not your songs, 50:24 your theology, what you wear, where you go. 50:28 The difference between death and life is first receiving 50:31 a touch from Jesus. 50:33 I pray that as you listen to this song, 50:35 the Lord can inspire you today to reach out 50:38 and get in touch with Jesus. 50:47 Are you shackled by a heavy burden? 50:54 Living beneath a load of guilt 51:00 And shame 51:05 Let the hand of Jesus touch you 51:13 And you'll no longer be the same 51:18 Let's sing that song. Are you ready? 51:20 Here we go. 51:21 He touched me 51:24 O He touched me 51:30 And oh the joy that floods my soul 51:40 Something happened 51:44 And now I know 51:48 He touched me and made me whole 51:56 If the change 51:58 since I met this blessed Savior 52:05 And since He cleansed 52:09 And made me whole 52:14 Now I will never cease 52:20 To praise Him 52:23 I'll shout it while eternity rolls 52:29 Are you ready? 52:31 Let's sing that again to God's glory. 52:33 He touched me 52:36 Oh He touched me 52:41 And oh the joy that floods my soul 52:51 For something happened 52:55 And now I know Listen, 52:59 Something happened 53:03 And now I know 53:08 Something happened 53:11 And now I know 53:17 He touched me 53:20 Oh Jesus touched me 53:25 And oh the joy 53:30 Now floods my soul 53:34 For something wonderful happen 53:38 And now I know 53:49 Jesus touched me 53:53 And He's made me whole 54:10 Amen. 54:16 I believe the hour has come 54:18 where the church needs to reach out 54:20 and touch Jesus. 54:22 I believe we've been known as a church 54:24 that has issues for too long. 54:27 And I believe when Jesus comes, they are gonna be those 54:30 that are gonna be saved because they took the time 54:32 to stand out from the crowd, to not be comfortable 54:36 with the flow of the crowd but to dare to touch Jesus. 54:42 I believe there's somebody here today. 54:45 See I came to camp meeting 54:46 so I can get a touch from Jesus. 54:48 And I want to leave here different than I came, 54:51 I want to go back fighting with all the issues 54:52 of the church 54:53 whether or not we're gonna be there or here, 54:55 whether or not we're in control here or that. 54:57 I want to go back knowing that the only one 54:59 that is making a difference in my life is Jesus. 55:04 If you're that person, if you want to be that person 55:08 that goes home whole, and somebody asked you, 55:12 "What happened to you?" 55:14 "I got a touch from Jesus." 55:16 If you want to be in that crowd, 55:18 the crowd of people that are going to be made whole, 55:20 just stand with me as we pray 55:21 and ask God, those of you at home 55:24 that have joined the program by satellite 55:26 or by television or by internet or by radio, 55:29 I'm gonna pray right now that God can change our lives 55:32 and all of us can be made whole by the touch of Jesus. 55:35 Father God, in heaven, only You have the remedy 55:39 for the last day church, help us to buy that 55:42 eyesalve that we may see, help us to get on your garments 55:46 that the shame of our nakedness will not appear, 55:50 help us to respond to the knocking of Jesus 55:53 that we can open the door 55:54 and the Great Physician can come in 55:56 and change us. 55:57 Lord, thank You for the fact that this church 56:00 is Your supreme object of love and You're gonna change us 56:04 and save us. 56:05 But, Lord, give us the gumption to reach out 56:09 and touch Jesus. 56:10 And when we do that, Father, we will praise You 56:12 and honor You and give You glory. 56:14 In Jesus name we pray. 56:16 Amen. |
Revised 2019-08-22