Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC190015A
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00:48 Hello and welcome back to 3ABN's Fall Homecoming.
00:52 We are so glad that you have joined us. 00:54 Those of you that are joining us on the Internet or through 00:57 the radio or through satellite. We don't know which way you are 01:00 but you're watching us but we thank you. 01:02 And thank you for our local audience here as well. 01:04 It's been a blessed time at Camp Meeting, hasn't it? Amen! 01:07 It's kind of sad that we're down to the very final meeting. 01:11 Jill and I ran home real quick after the afternoon meeting 01:15 and our little cat... her name is Pebbles... 01:18 she seemed really upset that we haven't been around the house 01:21 much. So we told her "Well, we're having a lot 01:24 of good time... a fun time at Camp Meeting. " 01:26 But she still didn't seem to understand that. 01:28 We've had just a blessed time with each one of you. 01:31 We'll be praying for God's traveling mercies 01:32 for you as you head for home. 01:34 Many of you have traveled many many miles here 01:36 to come to 3ABN, and there's something special - 01:39 isn't there? - about coming here in person. 01:41 Amen! So we would like to invite you the next time 01:43 we have 3ABN Camp Meeting for you to come here 01:46 and enjoy the fellowship which is really neat 'cause 01:49 you don't see this behind the scenes. We just had the 2-minute 01:51 break in between. There was a gentleman that ran 01:53 right across the front here to get back to his seat. 01:55 And there's people that have been talking and fellowshipping 01:58 with each other. It's a blessing! 01:59 I look forward to heaven! What a great day that will be. 02:03 This evening we'll be blessed with another message from 02:05 Pastor Doug Batchelor. 02:07 The topic is The Touch of Transformation. 02:10 But before he comes and shares the Word of God 02:11 we have a musical presentation with Ladye Love Smith 02:15 and Tim Parton at the piano 02:18 playing and singing a beautiful song entitled 02:20 Blessed Assurance... Jesus is Mine. Amen! 02:40 Blessed 02:43 assurance, 02:49 Jesus is 02:53 mine! 02:57 O what 02:58 a foretaste 03:04 of glory 03:07 divine! 03:14 Heir of 03:17 salvation, 03:23 purchase 03:25 of God, 03:30 Born of 03:32 His Spirit 03:38 and washed in 03:40 His blood. 03:50 Perfect 03:53 submission, 03:59 all is 04:02 at rest, 04:06 I in 04:08 my Savior 04:14 am happy 04:16 and blest; 04:21 Watching 04:25 and waiting, 04:30 looking above, 04:36 Filled with 04:38 His goodness 04:43 and lost in His love. 04:51 This is 04:54 my story, 04:59 this is my song, 05:05 Praising 05:08 my Savior 05:13 all the day long; 05:21 This is 05:24 my story 05:31 and this is 05:33 my song: 05:39 I'm praising 05:42 my Savior 05:48 all the day 05:54 long. 06:04 Amen! Thank you so much, Ladye Love 06:08 and Tim. That is a blessing! What a beautiful song! 06:13 How is everybody? 06:14 Amen! It's been a rich time during this Camp Meeting! 06:19 We enjoy so much... Karen hasn't been able to come 06:21 with me for several years 'cause you know, we had the kids 06:24 coming and going. So often I'd come out to 3ABN 06:27 we'd do a Thursday Night Live 06:29 which, you know, starts late for us. 06:34 And I'd get done and I'd turn around and head back. 06:37 But we knew we were staying a few days and Karen said: 06:39 "I want to come. " 06:40 And so it's been a joy to meet with everybody. 06:42 Amazing Facts and 3ABN go way back. 06:45 I don't know... any of you who have been watching... 06:47 We have one of the big dishes from the beginning. 06:50 But Danny told me, he says: "We were playing Joe Crews 06:54 24 hours a day 'cause we were trying to find Adventist 06:57 programming back then. " And there was only Faith for Today, 07:00 It Is Written, Amazing Facts... a few programs. And so 07:03 we just enjoy watching the way the Lord has blessed 07:06 and working together. And thank you! 07:09 You know, I'm not going to come here without putting in a plug 07:13 for Amazing Facts. 07:15 Pray for Amazing Facts. Amen! 07:18 It's been just a wild, exciting ride of evangelism. 07:22 And we just are... It's such a privilege for us. 07:26 I'm so glad Karen can travel with me now. 07:27 We just came back from three countries in Asia. 07:30 Last year went to Africa and India and the Seychelles 07:36 and France and Spain. We're going all over the world. 07:38 We are meeting people all over the world 07:41 that are coming to the Lord and it is neat. 07:42 We were in Spain and someone said: "You need to come here 07:45 and talk to this lady. " They're translating for us. 07:48 I speak a little Spanish. 07:49 Chinese lady. She's crying. 07:51 She said: "I accepted Jesus in China from watching 07:54 Amazing Facts. I never dreamed I'd see you in Madrid! " 07:58 And I got her picture. 08:00 So we hear these wonderful testimonies. 08:03 And so keep the ministry in your prayers. 08:05 It all belongs to God just like this 08:07 and belongs to God's people really. Amen! 08:13 Well, we're talking about Living Above the Crowd. 08:16 And tonight's message - our final message in this series - 08:20 is A Touch of Transformation. 08:24 So often when Jesus healed people 08:27 He touched them. 08:30 He didn't need to. 08:32 You know, we sang a little song that was sort of impromptu 08:35 a few minutes ago. Karen didn't know we were going to do that. 08:38 And she was probably back there fasting and praying. 08:42 And there's a word in there. 08:47 It says: "Your touch is what I longed for. " 08:52 To have the touch of God! 08:54 Amen! A leper came to Jesus 08:57 and Luke tells us, the physician said he was "full of leprosy" 09:01 and that, of course, renders him unclean. 09:03 And everybody saw this man full of leprosy 09:06 coming towards Jesus and he's violating the law 09:08 that says you're supposed to keep your distance. 09:10 But he knows his only hope is Jesus, and he comes and says: 09:13 "Son of David, have mercy on me. " 09:15 He says: "Lord, if You will You can make me clean. " 09:17 Falls down at Jesus' feet, and all the crowd is shrinking back. 09:20 They think he's hopeless. 09:23 The crowd. They seem to factor into each one of these stories. 09:27 But Jesus didn't run 09:30 and He said: "I will. Be thou clean. " 09:35 And He touched him. He didn't NEED to touch him. 09:37 He could have just spoken the words. 09:39 It's like that centurion. He said: "Lord, You don't even 09:41 need to come. You've got authority. Speak the word 09:43 and my servant will be healed. " 09:45 Jesus didn't have to touch that leper 09:46 but He touched him. 09:48 Now one of two things was going to happen. 09:49 Either Jesus would become unclean by touching him 09:52 or the man became clean from touching Jesus. 09:56 So if you get the touch of the Lord 09:58 it's reverse polarity. 10:01 He does not become defiled 'cause He's already taken 10:04 our sins. He gives us His righteousness. 10:05 Amen! You know, there was a very... It's a cool experiment 10:12 that was performed in 1958 10:15 on affectionate response by a Dr. Harry Harlow. 10:19 And they were trying to understand something about 10:21 how creatures respond to physical touch. 10:25 So they took these baby Rhesus monkeys - 10:28 cute little monkeys - and as soon as they were born 10:31 they separated them from their mothers and the put them 10:33 in these cages. And in the cage, in one experiment anyway, 10:36 they had a wire monkey. It was kind of like sculpted 10:39 chicken wire monkey. And right about chest level 10:43 it had a bottle so the monkey could nurse. 10:46 And they kept the room warm enough so the monkey would not 10:49 be too cold. And then on the other side of the cage - 10:53 in the same cage - they had another wire monkey, but it had 10:55 like a terrycloth covering to it. 10:59 So they thought: "What's the monkey going to want more? 11:02 Is he going to want the food or is he going to want 11:03 the touch? " And the monkey first would go to the one 11:07 "wire mother" and drink, but whenever there was any threat... 11:12 They put a little mechanical bear in the cage 11:14 and the little monkey screamed and he ran over to the cloth 11:16 monkey. And whenever they introduced any kind of concern 11:20 or fear the monkey ran to the cloth monkey. 11:21 It was the touch that it wanted. 11:24 Well you know, as you might imagine, those monkeys... 11:26 As they got a little older they tried to introduce them 11:29 to normal monkey populations and they were totally mixed up. 11:33 They just hugged themselves and walked back and forth 11:36 and didn't want to interact without growing up with 11:39 that sense of touch. 11:43 So we're going to look at a story. 11:45 One of the most important stories I believe in the Bible. 11:48 If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of 11:51 Mark chapter 5 and we'll be starting with verse 21. 11:55 Mark 5:21. 11:57 And you find various editions of this in some of the other 12:03 synoptic gospels. 12:05 "Now when Jesus crossed over again... " Here He is still 12:08 ministering around Galilee... 12:11 "by boat to the other side a great multitude gathered about 12:16 Him. " There is the crowd. 12:19 "And He was by the sea. 12:21 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue 12:24 came, Jairus by name. 12:28 And when he saw Him he fell at His feet. " 12:30 He may have even reached out and grabbed Him by the feet 12:32 like Mary when she saw Him resurrected. 12:35 And Jesus said: "Do not detain Me! " 12:37 "Do not cling to Me. " "He fell at His feet and he begged Him. " 12:42 You remember the story of that 12:44 Shunammite woman. And the Bible says that Elisha... 12:49 Through a miracle she gave birth, she had a son 12:51 but then the boy died. 12:54 And she rode a donkey furiously across country 12:58 to get to Elisha's house. And she came to Elisha 13:00 and she fell at his feet and she grabbed him by the feet 13:03 and would not let go. 13:05 And when you have a child that is desperately sick... 13:10 His father normally would have been... He's the ruler of 13:13 the synagogue, you know, had a little dignity. 13:15 He falls down at Jesus' feet. 13:19 "And he begged Him... " He's pleading earnestly 13:23 with all of his heart. He's desperate 13:25 and he said: "My little daughter is at the point of death. " 13:30 She's going through labored breathing; she's been fading. 13:33 She's one breath away from her last breath. 13:38 "He begged Him: 'Come, lay Your hand on her... ' 13:43 Touch her... 'that she may be healed and she will live. ' " 13:47 So he's got faith! Now how does Jesus respond 13:50 when someone comes with faith? 13:54 I can't overstate - mentioned it earlier today - 13:56 the importance of coming to Christ in faith. 13:58 Even as Jesus hung on the cross flanked by two other thieves 14:02 both of those thieves asked to be saved. 14:06 One will be; the other will not. 14:10 What's the difference? 14:11 One thief said: "If you are the Christ... " 14:14 "IF You are the Christ, 14:18 save Yourself and us. " 14:20 And the other one, he said: "Lord, remember me 14:24 when You come into Your kingdom. " 14:25 You know how much is packed up in that? 14:27 Did Jesus look like a Lord and a King that day 14:29 hanging on the cross beaten and nearly naked? 14:33 They called Him Lord. 14:35 They saw the sign above His head: "This is the King 14:38 of the Jews. " He remembered Psalm 22: 14:42 "My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me? " 14:45 His mind was quickened by the Holy Spirit. 14:47 He heard Jesus say those words. He thought: "This is the Savior! 14:49 This is the King of Israel! " 14:52 And then it says in Psalm 22 "They gambled for My clothing 14:56 and they parted My garments among them. " 14:57 He saw them gambling for His clothing. 14:59 It all came together for him 15:01 and with total confidence he said: "Lord, 15:03 remember me when... " Not if! 15:07 "You come into Your kingdom. " 15:08 Jesus turned to that thief and He said: "Verily 15:11 I say to you today, you will be with Me in paradise. " 15:15 Amen! 15:16 Now they both wanted to be saved. One said "if. " 15:21 There was a father that brought a son to Jesus 15:23 who was paralyzed... or he would go through fits 15:27 of paralysis and the devil sometimes 15:29 possessed him where he would have an attack and he would fall 15:32 in the fire or he'd fall in the water. 15:34 And he came to Jesus and said: "Lord, I brought him to Your 15:36 disciples but they can't do anything. If you can do anything 15:40 help us! " And Jesus: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! " 15:44 "You said a dirty word. " 15:48 You know how Jesus identified the devil? 15:51 When He came into temptation he said: "If you're the Son 15:54 of God... " 15:56 Father says: "Lord, if you can help me... " 15:58 Jesus said: "Wait! Wait! If you believe, 16:01 all things are possible. " And then he said: 16:02 "I do believe... that's why I'm here 16:04 but I do have some doubts. Lord, help my unbelief. " 16:07 And Jesus healed his son. So at least if you come and confess 16:10 your limited faith... if you've got faith like a grain 16:13 of mustard seed you can move mountains... 16:15 and that includes mountains of sin. Amen! 16:18 The Bible says: "You can say with faith to this mountain 16:21 be plucked up and cast in the midst of the sea 16:23 and it will be done. " And the mountain we wrestle with 16:27 is not Mt. Shasta or Mt. Whitney or Mt. Everest. 16:30 It's a mountain of sin. 16:32 God'll take our sins and cast them into the depths of the sea 16:36 but you need FAITH. 16:38 So the father came. You know, what I love about this story 16:40 as with many stories in the Bible 16:43 I don't see too many examples in the Bible where 16:46 Jesus was asked anything and He said "No. " 16:51 One occasion someone tried to get Jesus involved in 16:54 some dispute over a will with their brother. 16:58 "He won't divide the money with me! " 16:59 Jesus said: "Look, I'm not a lawyer. " 17:04 And He didn't... no record that He helped that guy. 17:08 But everybody else that came with a legitimate concern 17:10 Jesus heard their prayer. 17:12 Jesus is infinitely more willing to answer your prayers 17:15 that we typically are to pray them. 17:18 I think when we get to heaven the angels are going to take us 17:20 to a warehouse that's just bursting over. 17:25 When we say: "What's that? " 17:26 they're going to say: "That's all the answered prayers 17:28 we wanted to send but no one asked for them. " 17:31 Wasted! 17:33 Karen and I just came back from Taiwan. 17:35 I mentioned in... You know, when you get there you sometimes 17:39 convert your money. So we converted some money 17:42 so we could get around. And then as we got 17:45 out of the airport we thought: "Oh, got 200 Taiwanian 17:48 dollars we forgot to convert. " 17:51 Brought it back to the office. He said: "It's worthless. " 17:53 He said: "The banks won't take it. " 17:56 I felt so bad! You know, I'm half Jewish. 17:59 I'm holding all this money; what am I going to do now? 18:02 What a waste! I hate waste, don't you? 18:08 And - I haven't told Karen yet - but I threw it in the garbage. 18:14 It's only 6 dollars and 50 cents. I know, but that's a 18:16 lot for me. 18:19 Just think of everything we could have done with that. 18:25 It sat on my desk for 2 weeks. I thought: "What am I going to 18:28 do? " I took it to the office. I said: 18:32 "If we've got anyone else going back to Taiwan, 18:34 make sure and tell them about this $6 we can give them. " 18:38 The treasurer said: "Doug, just throw it away. " 18:42 I hate waste. Think of all the prayers that are wasted 18:44 because we don't pray them. 18:46 How many miracles God wants to perform for you 18:48 but you won't take that step of faith. 18:51 This man came and said: "Lord, help my daughter... 18:56 my little daughter. " Turns out she's 12 years old. 19:00 "Touch her; she'll live. " 19:02 "So Jesus went with him... " And it mentions now for a 2nd time 19:05 for a reason: "a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. " 19:11 He's being pressed in on every side 19:15 and jostled and crushed. 19:18 I hesitate to say this, but when Karen and I went to New Guinea 19:24 a few years ago - I don't even remember what year that was - 19:27 three or four years ago 19:29 and 60,000 people met us at the airport. 19:36 Wow! That was in their newspaper. 150,000 people! 19:40 We couldn't get through the crowd! 19:42 And they had... It's amazing to me that, 19:45 you know, here's so many poor people 19:46 but they're watching on their phones on the Internet! 19:49 They live under a leaf somewhere but they've got a phone 19:52 and they're watching the programs. 19:54 Amen! Seriously! Amen! 19:57 And we couldn't get through the crowd. 20:00 They had police cars and then they had deacons. 20:02 I've never seen deacons that have the assignment... 20:04 I want to say "hi" to my friends in New Guinea. 20:05 They're going to be watching this, you know. 20:07 And they had deacons that were assigned. 20:09 They had switches to whip the church members 20:12 to get out of the way. 20:14 New job description! 20:17 Husband of one wife. 20:20 Good with a whip. 20:23 They're going like this and the people are smiling 20:26 and they're kind of gettin' out of the way. 20:28 I've never seen anything like this. Isn't that right? 20:31 We've got it on tape! 20:34 And so when I hear these stories. I mean... 20:37 At one point as we're going by we had the window down 20:39 'cause I want to greet people as we're going by. 20:41 And they are just running up to the car 20:43 and they're singing. We were in tears, I'm telling you. 20:46 It was really really exciting. 20:47 Even our camera guys were in tears. 20:49 And we'd never seen anything like it. 20:52 And they're coming up to the car and I'm trying to put out 20:53 my hand so I can touch them. 20:55 But so many of them grabbed my hand at the same time 20:58 and nearly took it off right at the elbow! 21:01 Finally... the president's in the car with me. He said: 21:03 "Don't do that. " Said: "Open the window that much. " 21:10 Touch! "Come and touch her... she'll live. " 21:12 But you've got this great throng. 21:14 Now there's a certain woman... This story has another story 21:18 buried in it. "There is a certain woman that 21:21 had a flow of blood for twelve years. " 21:24 This is that flow of blood that Leviticus 16 or 15 21:27 says would render you unclean. 21:30 You could not go to the temple. 21:34 You'd be considered cursed by God and separated. 21:39 And she had this problem for 12 years: 21:44 a continual flow of blood. 21:47 And in her efforts to find some healing 21:51 she submitted to the treatment of many doctors. 21:54 And I expect that sometimes that must have been humiliating. 21:58 And she didn't get any better but she grew worse. 22:03 "And she spent all that she had. " 22:08 She was drained in every way. 22:12 She was anemic, she was discouraged; she was weak; 22:16 she was broke. 22:19 And she heard that Jesus was passing by. 22:22 And she thought: "If I can just get a touch from Him 22:27 I can be healed. " 22:29 "I can be reunited with my family. " 22:30 "I can go back to church. " "I can come back into the 22:32 presence of God. " But there's a problem: 22:36 that old crowd again is in the way. 22:39 And she just can't get through. 22:41 She'd like to talk to Jesus and kind of explain what the 22:43 problem is, but she had a kernel of faith. 22:46 She said: "I'm obviously not go- ing to get a private audience. " 22:48 "Too much going on. " 22:51 But Jesus knew that there was someone in that crowd 22:54 that had a special need. 22:57 You know, it's always amazing to me. I remember when I was 22:59 a kid my mother tried to teach me to read Hebrew. 23:01 And she sent me to the temple. I said: "I can never read 23:02 backwards. " But I remember asking the Rabbi: 23:05 "How does God hear everybody's prayers at the same time? " 23:08 You know, I was kind of an agnostic smart aleck back then. 23:12 And the only reason my mother sent me to synagogue 23:15 was to get back at my father 'cause he sent me to Catholic 23:17 school. So you know why I'm so mixed up, don't you? 23:23 It wasn't 'cause either of them were religious. 23:26 And so I thought: "How does He hear prayers? " 23:30 But you know, God hears your prayer as though you're the only 23:32 person that ever prayed. That's right. 23:34 You have His undivided 100% attention when you pray. 23:38 And Jesus, in spite of all that was going on 23:41 and all the distractions of the crowd that day 23:43 He heard the plea of that woman's heart 23:46 and it especially touched Him. It's kind of like when He went 23:49 by those five pools and there were all kinds of sick people 23:52 but there was one man that had been there 38 years. 23:54 And he could not get anyone to even help him 23:56 into the pool. Jesus knew about that man... 23:58 an especially desperate case. 24:02 Perfect opportunity for Him to demonstrate His mercy. 24:06 So she's trying to get through the crowd. 24:08 Everyone's jostling, and Jesus has got His disciples around Him 24:11 and there's the inner circle of His apostles 24:15 that are doing "block" for Him. 24:16 And Jesus told Jairus, He said: "OK, I'll go to your house. " 24:20 And they're painfully making their way up the street. 24:23 And every now and then people are coming out 24:25 and they're asking Jesus for a photograph or they're 24:28 you know, wanting a signature. 24:29 Or they're saying: "Could You please? You know, I've got this 24:32 prayer request. " Or whatever it is... 24:34 You know, He's... I used to wonder sometimes 24:36 how Jesus was so graceful with so many people 24:41 and that He didn't finally get "OK guys, I'm tired now; 24:44 I'm goin' home. " 24:45 It just seemed like He worked until He fell over in the boat 24:49 and fell asleep. 24:51 He loved people. 24:54 And she thought: "I may not get to talk to Him 24:58 but I believe that He's such a holy man 25:03 that if I could just touch the hem of His garment. " 25:07 Amen! Now a lot of Rabbis back then... 25:10 there's no proof of exactly what Jesus wore 25:12 but a lot of the Pharisees, a lot of the Rabbis, 25:14 a lot of the scribes and the holy men 25:16 they would wear a border of blue. 25:18 You didn't have to be a pro- fessional. Any loyal Israelite 25:21 could do it. A border of blue on the garment that 25:23 was to remind them of the Word and the law of God. 25:27 The loyalty to the law of God. And so it's very possible 25:30 that Jesus on His garment He had a border of blue 25:33 that's symbolizing for the Word of God, the promises of God. 25:37 And so she decided: "I'm not letting Him get away. " 25:40 She's pushing through the crowd and she's trying to make her way 25:43 to the front. Others are pushing her back. 25:44 They said "We were here first. " And you know, women didn't get 25:47 the same kind of respect that they get today. 25:51 And so she jostling through the crowd and finally 25:55 she sees an opening. And she sees Him and she sees 25:58 His clothes. And she gets there through all this forest of legs 26:02 and He's passing by. Because the Bible says 26:05 that when she finally touches Him she evidently... He's on 26:08 His way past her. She reaches through the crowd. 26:12 She lunges and she just gets the hem of His garment. 26:15 But that's all it takes. 26:17 You know, there's a place in the Bible. 26:19 It says that when Peter was healing 26:22 they would take handkerchiefs from Peter 26:27 and he would bless them... Now I wouldn't recommend this today 26:33 but that's right. They would take "hankies" from Peter. 26:37 He'd bless them and they'd bring it to the sick person 26:40 and then they were healed. 26:42 I was once... I don't know how I got on the mailing list... 26:46 But this televangelist... he sent out 26:50 this envelope to me asking for a donation. 26:52 He says: "I've sent you a holy prayer cloth 26:54 that I blessed. " 26:57 I thought: "This should be interesting. " 26:59 So I opened it up. I won't say his name. 27:02 I'm real tempted. 27:03 And he said... So I opened it up. 27:08 There's a letter in there and it says: "I've sent you 27:11 a holy prayer cloth that I prayed over 27:14 and God is going to answer your prayers. All you have to do 27:17 is by faith now reach in your wallet or purse 27:19 and take out the largest bill you have. 27:21 Wrap it up in the prayer cloth 27:23 and send it back to me. " And so I'm looking through 27:25 the envelope for the prayer cloth. I saw this extra piece of 27:27 paper and I'm going: "Where's my prayer cloth? " 27:29 And then I looked and I saw they had "Xeroxed" 27:33 a piece of tapestry on a piece of paper 27:35 that said: "This is your prayer cloth. 27:37 Place your money here. " 27:39 I thought: "Man... some people believe that. " 27:43 I used to think televangelists were the lowest form of life 27:46 in the world because of things like that. 27:47 But then I became one! 27:50 But hopefully we don't go that far. 27:53 But it does say in the Bible they would take these cloths 27:57 from the apostles and people would through faith 28:00 they'd be healed. 28:03 So she thought: "If I can just get the hem of His garment. " 28:06 And she reaches out and it says: "If I could but 28:11 touch it I'll be made well. " 28:12 And immediately 28:14 power and virtue goes surging through her body 28:17 and strength. Her color returns. 28:19 She knows instantly within her that she has been healed. Amen! 28:24 "She felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. 28:27 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that 28:31 power, dunamis, dynamite, virtue 28:33 had gone out of Him... " 28:35 He turns around in the crowd 28:38 and He said: "Who touched My clothes? " 28:40 Now you've got to really picture what's going on here. 28:44 The Bible just said twice there's a "great multitude" 28:46 and He's being thronged and the streets are narrow. 28:49 And they're pushing and jostling Him, so they're probably nearly 28:51 lifting Him off the ground. 28:53 And for Him to look around at the apostles and say: 28:56 "Who touched my clothes? " 29:01 They're thinking: "We knew He'd snap eventually. " 29:04 "The pressure's finally got to Him. " 29:06 "It could be the heat; it could be low blood sugar. " 29:09 But when Jesus said: "Who touched My clothes? " 29:11 the disciples are kind of mystified by what He's saying. 29:16 "And they said to Him: 'You see the multitude 29:19 thronging You and You say "Who touched Me? ' " 29:22 And Jesus stops. He's moving up the street 29:25 and all of a sudden He stops and it's like this, boom, where 29:27 everybody stops and they all have rear-end collisions 29:30 with each other going up the street. 29:31 And He's like, He said: "Look, I'm not going any further. " 29:33 And He said it loud enough she hadn't gotten away yet. 29:37 I think just after she touched Him... notice how quickly 29:39 this happens... she immediately receives a miracle. 29:43 Amen! Because she said: "If I could but touch Him. " 29:47 And He stops and says: "Who touched Me? " 29:51 And knowing that someone did... And she hears the conversation. 29:54 He said: "No, someone has touched Me. " 29:56 And this is the voice of God and when God says: "Adam, 29:58 where are you? " you'd better answer. 30:01 And when Jesus said: "Who touched Me? " 30:04 she was probably terrified. 30:07 It says: "But the woman fearing and trembling... " 30:10 She was terrified 30:13 knowing what had happened to her. She said: "Oh, no! Maybe 30:15 I was supposed to get in line? Get a number? " 30:18 "He might take it back! " 30:21 "Did I do something wrong? " 30:23 She's terrified! She's also not real excited about explaining 30:26 the whole story. "You weren't supposed to be in this crowd 30:30 because you're unclean. What are you doing here? " 30:33 See what I'm saying? 30:38 "Fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her 30:41 she came and fell down before Him 30:45 and she told Him the whole truth. " The reason you've got 30:47 this story in the Bible is 'cause she shared her testimony. 30:50 Now after... After the Lord performs a miracle for you 30:56 you've got your first sermon. 30:59 Everybody ought to be able to share a story. 31:04 If you've been saved, then you've got something to say. 31:10 And it might be: "I was lost and now I'm found. " 31:13 "I was dead and now I'm alive! " 31:15 "I met Jesus and He saved me. " 31:17 It might be short. In our evangelism training program 31:20 we tell everybody: "First sermon you can preach... 31:23 everybody can preach... is what did Jesus do for you. " 31:25 Doesn't matter if you've been in the church all of your life 31:28 you need to have a testimony. 31:30 You know you're saved and that you've had an experience 31:33 with the Lord. Now some say: "Well Pastor Doug, 31:35 I never saw light on the road to Damascus. " 31:37 It doesn't mean that. You made a decision 31:39 to be saved by Jesus. Have you accepted that forgiveness? 31:41 That should bring a peace into your life and give you a purpose 31:44 and a power. And you just tell them 31:47 that you've got the joy. And if you don't have that story 31:50 well you need to get on your knees and ask Him for it 31:53 because Christians should have a story to tell. 31:56 And Jesus said: "Don't you go slinking off! " 31:59 "Tell, give glory to God! Tell what He's done for you. " 32:02 Jesus heals the demoniac. He says: "O Lord, I want 32:04 to ride around with You in the boat. 32:06 You and the apostles... just sail around. 32:08 You, me, and the apostles. " 32:10 And Jesus said: "No, I didn't save you to do that. 32:15 I saved you so you can go tell what God has done for you. " 32:19 And so he went everywhere 32:21 telling what Jesus had done for him. 32:23 Amen! After Peter is saved from prison 32:25 Acts chapter 12, you know the first thing he does? 32:27 He goes to church and he tells the story 32:30 of how God saved him from prison. 32:32 Have you been saved from prison? 32:35 How many of you will admit you're sometimes afraid to share 32:38 your faith? My hand's up. 32:42 You know, I am not as afraid of talking to you in a setting 32:46 like this. If you ask me to go knock on doors, 32:49 I'm scared. I mean I like to be liked. 32:53 I'm always afraid of rejection. I used to do door-to-door 32:55 sales. I wasn't selling Christian things. 32:58 I was selling meat. 33:01 Doug Batchelor's Prime Beef Steaks. 33:03 And did cold knocking on doors and have the door slammed 33:06 in your face... and I was scared! 33:09 And I really respect... I've got great admiration 33:11 for some of these people that are fearless. 33:14 We've got people that teach that part of our program 33:16 that do better than me. 33:17 Knocking on doors! These colporteurs. 33:19 They're fearless. How many of you remember Ingathering? 33:24 I don't know whatever happened to it... 33:25 it doesn't happen much any more... but 33:27 I've been out Ingathering with some saints 33:31 that were out... Karen's Grandma. 33:34 She was bold! 33:36 She'd knock on the door 33:38 and she had a little plastic purse so they could see 33:40 through it. There was money in the purse so they'd know why 33:42 she was there. She'd stand there - sweet old lady. 33:44 She'd knock on the door and they'd come to the door. 33:46 She'd put her foot in the door. 33:48 She'd say: "We're here to sing Christmas songs for you 33:50 and we're taking donations. " And she was... 33:52 I knew one dear lady... she lived to 105. 33:56 She'd look through the window to see if anybody was home. 33:59 And we say: "Don't do that! " 34:01 You know, this was in country where they've all got shotguns. 34:05 She'd knock on the door, and if they didn't answer the door 34:07 she'd try the doorknob. 34:10 She was brave! 34:12 She's: "I know they want us to sing for them. 34:14 Who wouldn't want that? " 34:17 God's given some of these people courage! 34:21 "She came fearing and trembling. " 34:23 You don't need to be afraid. 34:25 Jesus didn't want to take it away from her; He wanted to 34:28 bless her. "She fell down before Him and told the whole truth. " 34:32 He said: "Daughter... " You notice 34:35 again: immediate adoption. 34:37 Amen! "Daughter, your faith 34:40 has made you well. " Amen! "Go in peace. " 34:44 Don't be afraid. "Be ye healed. " 34:47 Now when God says be anything... You know how the world 34:49 came into existence? God said: "Let there be light. " 34:54 And when that leper came to Jesus he said: "Lord, 34:56 if You want to make me clean You can make me clean. " 34:58 He says: "I will. BE thou clean. " 35:01 Amen! And when God said: "Let there be land; 35:04 let there be a firmament; let there be... " 35:06 And Jesus said: "Be. " That was sealing it. 35:09 Amen! The Word of God declared that she was clean. 35:13 And He also said: "I am calling you a daughter 35:16 and this has all happened because of My great faith. " 35:19 Is that what Jesus said? No! 35:21 Show me where in the Bible Jesus healed someone and He said: 35:23 "My faith has made you whole. " 35:25 Nowhere. The Bible tells us that God has dealt to all men 35:31 a measure of faith. Amen! 35:34 And it is absolutely crucial 35:37 that you learn to trust God. "For God so loved the world 35:40 He gave His only begotten Son 35:42 that whosoever believes in Him... " 35:45 Believe! Have faith in Him! 35:48 "should not perish. " If you have faith in Him 35:51 you will not perish "but have everlasting life. " 35:54 It's crucial. He said: "Your faith... " 35:56 Now I tell you: faith is an amazing thing. 36:00 There's a power. Even the world has understood 36:04 that there's something to be said for what you might even 36:07 call positive thinking. I'll tell you it's true. 36:09 If you believe... So often when a person experiences 36:11 success then like Christ said: "Be it unto you 36:15 according to your faith. " 36:16 I think God honors faith in people. Some may not even 36:20 be Christians but they move forward with a certain amount of 36:22 confidence and belief and purpose 36:25 and the Lord says: "I'm going to bless your faith. " 36:27 Even though they may not have everything else right 36:29 I believe there are some people that have gone to healing 36:33 services and the evangelist might even be a sham. 36:37 I know someone that I believe was sincere. 36:39 They said: "I went to a healing service of an evangelist... " 36:42 I won't say their name... They were later exposed as 36:44 just a real scoundrel. 36:46 But this person says: "I went in faith and I came forward 36:49 and I was healed and I'm still healed today. " 36:51 Amen! That wasn't the evan- gelist's faith. That's right. 36:55 God can speak through a donkey! 36:57 That's right! Isn't that right? Amen! 36:59 It was their faith in Christ. 37:03 So some people think: "I've gotta go find the right 37:05 preacher to heal me. " No you don't. 37:06 Jesus is the preacher... you need faith in Him. 37:11 I learned a lesson about this years ago: 37:14 the power of faith. 37:16 You know what the placebo effect is. 37:19 Even science - atheists - understand 37:24 that there's something about the way that humans are designed 37:27 that if we have enough confidence what's happening up 37:30 here can affect healing other places in the body. 37:32 So whenever they test some new medicine 37:34 they found so many people got well from artificial medicine 37:37 we don't know if it's really the medicine or their faith 37:39 in the supposed medicine that's healing them. 37:41 So whenever they approve a new medicine 37:43 they do a placebo test also. 37:45 They give people a phony one to see if they have the same 37:47 degree of healing. I know for years they used to 37:51 perform a procedure called the mammary incision 37:56 where they tie off some arteries to get rid of angina. 38:00 Mammary ligation. 38:02 And Dr. Cobb I think first introduced it. 38:06 People had angina pain. They'd make an incision, 38:08 they'd tie off some arteries and it got rid of the angina pain. 38:12 The little arteries. 38:14 And then one guy got a little suspicious 38:18 and he said: "I'm going to do some placebo tests. " 38:23 "I'm going to pretend I'm performing the procedure. 38:25 Make the incision, sew them up and say: 'You should feel much 38:28 better. ' " And they found that just as many people 38:30 said they felt better from the phony process as the real one. 38:36 There's some people that had warts 38:38 and they painted their warts with just a plain old dye. 38:42 And they said: "This is a power- ful wart-removing medication. " 38:45 And the people believed it and half of them lost their warts. 38:50 I've got a whole series of tests I can tell you about 38:53 that... Oh! They did something where 38:58 they did a test of people that were struggling with asthma. 39:01 And they said: "We've got this very powerful bronchodilator. 39:05 Inhale this and it will help you breathe freely. 39:08 Your lungs will open up and you'll breathe freely. " 39:10 They told them this and they had faith. 39:11 And they had a laboratory all clean, and they had faith in 39:13 doctors. They really had faith that this was going to work. 39:15 And they'd come in wheezing and they'd give them this. 39:18 It was salt water 39:20 with some flavoring or something 39:22 so they'd think it was powerful medicine. 39:23 They'd inhale it and they'd go - breathing sounds - 39:25 "Oh, much better. Thanks! Praise the Lord. " 39:30 There's nothing in it. 39:32 And so doctors have been mystified 39:35 by this power of faith. 39:36 I learned a lesson about this. 39:38 Years ago my Dad put me on a school that was on a boat. 39:43 And it sailed around the Mediterranean. 39:46 And I was a young hippie and I was using drugs back then 39:49 and drinking... being a pretty bad character. 39:52 And when I got on board I started school late. 39:54 All the other kids were there and I kind of joined late 39:56 in the season. And they kind of frisked you 40:00 and they took all your drugs away when you went to school. 40:02 It was on a boat. Politicians and millionaires 40:05 used to send their kids there to get them away from drugs 40:07 and some of the problems they were getting in 40:09 trying to straighten them out. 40:11 And after I was there I realized a lot of the other kids 40:15 were coming from the same background as me. 40:18 And I used to use LSD. 40:24 Not a lot... so I don't want you to think that's where 40:26 my vision has come from. 40:28 But I did use LSD. 40:31 Pastor Doug joined Amazing Facts and had a flashback. 40:38 And LSD comes in one form that's called windowpane. 40:41 There's these little bitty squares about a quarter inch. 40:43 It's thin. It looks like a thin little piece of plastic. 40:45 You put it in your mouth and it dissolves. 40:47 And it's got lysergic acid diethylamide-25 in there. 40:49 It's very dangerous. It'll make you hallucinate. 40:52 And one of my friends, Eric, he was what we called an acid 40:55 head. And he said: "Doug, man, did you bring any acid with you 40:58 when you came from Florida? " 40:59 I said: "No. " And then you know what? 41:02 I realized I used to go to concerts. I'd buy it 41:04 and I'd put it in my wallet 41:06 in my little picture holders 41:08 'cause you could hide it there from the police 41:09 because it looks like plastic. 41:11 And when I went back to my room 41:13 I thought: "Oh no... I don't have any. " 41:16 I checked my wallet, but then I got an idea. 41:18 We were so desperate for good food. 41:20 The medium of exchange on this boat was Snickers candy bars. 41:25 We'd do anything. We'd trade each other for 41:27 Snickers candy bars. We were sailing around Italy 41:29 where there's nothing American except Snickers candy bars. 41:32 And you know those little picture holders in your wallet? 41:36 I got a pair of scissors and I cut two of those 41:39 quarter inch by quarter inch. 41:42 And I told Eric one day... I said: "Hey, come to my room. " 41:45 He came to my room. I waited till I was alone. 41:46 Said: "You're never going to believe 41:48 what I found in my wallet. " 41:49 Which was true... that's where I found it. 41:52 And I said: "I've got two hits of LSD. " 41:57 "The school forbids it! " 41:58 I said: "I don't want to seem too eager. " 42:00 I said: "I'll sell you one of them 42:02 for one... two... " I said: "I can only do this once. " 42:07 "Two Snickers candy bars. " 42:08 All right. So he comes; he gives me the candy bars. 42:11 And as he's leaving my room I give him this little piece 42:13 of square plastic you know. 42:15 I said: "Now this is not the kind that 42:16 dissolves in your mouth. This is the kind you just 42:17 swallow it. " 42:19 And he was just... You know he didn't know any better. 42:25 And so he takes it, and I ate my candy bars right away 42:29 because I knew it wouldn't be very long before he realized... 42:33 and I think I was a little sick. 42:35 So the next morning I hear knocking on my cabin door. 42:39 I knew it was coming. 42:41 He comes in and he says: "Doug, 42:43 that acid that you sold me. I took it last night 42:46 and nothing happened. " 42:48 I said: "Really? " And then he said: "At first... " he said 42:50 "but then I woke up and man what a trip! " 42:53 He starts to tell me about all these patterns and things 42:56 that he saw and the places he went. 42:58 I'm going: "Ah, yeah. " 43:00 And he left my cabin. I ate the other one thinking that 43:03 maybe... Who knows? 43:07 There could be some hallucinogenic properties 43:10 in wallet sweat or something... 43:13 And I guess that later 43:15 I learned about the placebo effect. I said: 43:16 "He really believed something was going to happen 43:18 and it happened! " 43:21 Now that's not the way that Jesus heals us. 43:25 But there is a power of faith. 43:28 Don't underestimate it. There's a lot of people in false 43:30 religions and they believe and things happen. 43:34 Jesus said: "Your faith has made you whole. " 43:39 So she goes in peace. 43:41 And just as she's leaving 43:44 while He's still speaking someone came from the ruler 43:47 of the synagogue's house and they said: 43:49 "Your daughter is dead. " 43:51 After this wonderful testimony and this miracle 43:55 Jairus is saying: "Lord, please come... 43:57 she's at the point of death" and Jesus stops 43:59 to talk to this woman. And then they come and they say: 44:02 "Don't bother the Teacher any more... it's too late. " 44:05 Now friends, I'll tell you: I know the feeling 44:07 of hearing that you've lost a child. 44:10 And there's no words to explain. 44:13 It's like a freight train hits your whole being. 44:15 And there's nothing in life that can explain the tsunami 44:19 of emotions that you feel... the utter shock. 44:23 And I kind of... I can understand 44:25 a little bit about what Jairus was experiencing. 44:29 Jesus saw the expression on his face 44:31 and his shoulders slump 44:34 and he probably began to heave and to sob. 44:37 And Jesus said: "Do not be afraid. " Notice the next words: 44:41 "only believe. " 44:43 Amen! "Don't stop believing... 44:48 even in the face of death. " 44:50 Even in the face of hopeless- ness Jesus does not want us 44:54 to lose our faith. 44:56 So now Christ permits no one to follow. He just 44:58 dismisses the crowd. 45:00 'Cause the crowd, you know, they don't always have the faith. 45:03 And He brings no one with Him except Peter, James, and John 45:06 the brother of James. 45:08 "And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue... " 45:11 and it evidently was a little distance... 45:13 From the time that the girl had died they had already 45:15 notified the local mourners in the community. 45:18 And the neighborhood has gathered to share the sorrow 45:20 with the family. It says "there's a great tumult. " 45:23 They've already hired mourners 45:24 and they come in and they play doleful sounds on the flutes 45:27 and the women are wailing. Actually paid mourners. 45:30 And they'd come in and they wanted to have a good cry 45:32 and so everyone in the community knew 45:35 that there was crying, that there was a loss. 45:39 "Great tumult, and those who wept and they wailed 45:42 loudly... weeping and wailing. " 45:46 "And He came and He said to them: 45:48 "Why do you make this commotion and weep? 45:52 The child is not dead but sleeping. " 45:54 When someone's sleeping they're waiting to awake. 45:58 Just "park" that thought. 46:01 "And they ridiculed Him. " 46:03 They said: "No, we saw the girl. She's dead; no life left. " 46:08 "And He put them all outside. " Why? 46:12 You know when Peter resurrected Dorcas 46:14 he evicted everybody. 46:17 When Elijah raised the boy he went up there to the room 46:19 by himself. He did not let Gehazi go up because 46:21 Gehazi tried... nothing happened. 46:23 He said: "I don't need nobody in this room that doesn't have 46:27 faith. " That's right! That was bad English 46:29 but you get the point. 46:33 "And they ridiculed Him. " He put them all outside. 46:36 "He took the father and the mother of the child 46:41 and those who were with Him... " meaning Peter, James and John... 46:45 "and He entered where the child was lying. 46:48 And He took the child by the hand. " 46:51 He touched her. 46:54 "And He said: 'Talitha koum! ' " 46:57 It's gentle: "Little girl, arise. " 46:59 The words that Jesus used in Greek are something like 47:02 you might say when you say to your child as they're getting 47:05 ready for school: "Honey, get up. " 47:07 It was tender. 47:09 It's like: "School's coming... time to wake up. " 47:11 "Little girl, arise. " 47:14 "And immediately the girl arose. " She pops up out of bed! 47:19 And it's not like she's going through this convalescent 47:22 recovery. She jumps up and she's walking around. 47:25 She is not only healed... she's completely healed 47:28 and she gets up and she starts to move around. 47:36 And it says: "for she was 12 years of age. " 47:39 Now I just saw that number somewhere else a moment ago. 47:43 "And they were overcome with great amazement! 47:46 But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it 47:50 and said that someone should give her something to eat. " 47:56 Now I want to talk about this story just a little bit 48:01 now that I've given you the whole panorama. 48:03 Jesus is enroute to resurrect a 12-year-old girl 48:09 and along the way He encounters a woman who has been bleeding 48:13 for 12 years. Which means at the same time that girl was born 48:17 that the other woman started with her problem. 48:20 Are you with me? 48:22 Twelve is a number that typically represents the church. 48:26 You've got the 12 tribes in the Old Testament. 48:29 You've got the 12 apostles in the New Testament. 48:31 You've got the New Jerusalem that is 12,000 furlongs 48:34 with 12 gates. You've got a tree inside 48:36 that gives 12 kinds of fruit 12 times a year. 48:39 On 12 foundations. 48:41 You have 12 judges. 48:45 And so you've got this number 12 is a symbol for the church. 48:48 Revelation chapter 12- not that that means anything - 48:50 but she's got a crown with 12 stars around her head. 48:54 That woman? It's the church. 48:57 You've got two women in this story. 49:00 You have one woman who has struggled with 49:03 a continual flow of blood. 49:07 She is the older of the two. 49:09 She represents the Old Testament. 49:12 There's another girl who's dead and there's a resurrection 49:16 and that's what brings her story to life. 49:18 The New Testament begins with the resurrection of Christ. 49:21 Amen! You realize all the New Testament was 49:25 written after the resurrection is what I'm saying. 49:28 They both touched Jesus that day. 49:31 The Old Testament is something like that woman, 49:33 In the Old Testament how did they deal with sin? 49:36 They had the sacrificial system 49:38 and they had a continual flow of blood. 49:40 I've been to Israel; I've been to the Dome of the Rock 49:43 where the temple used to be. 49:44 And years ago you could go inside. 49:46 It's a little harder to get in there now, but 49:48 right there they built this Mosque of Omar... 49:51 this Dome of the Rock... on top of the spot where 49:53 Solomon had his temple. 49:54 Solomon built this temple on the place they believe 49:56 that Abraham - Mt. Moriah - offered Isaac. 49:59 And from that holy spot 50:02 where one time David when he numbered Israel... 50:04 Jerusalem was dying off and from that spot 50:07 David saw an angel with a sword in his hand. 50:09 And he offered a sacrifice that the plague might stop. 50:12 And later he bought that place. 50:13 He said: "This is where the house of God is going to be. " 50:15 God said: "I will choose a place. " That was the place. 50:17 They drilled a hole from where that altar was 50:20 and it went from the altar down to the Kidron Valley. 50:23 Still there today.. the tunnel. 50:24 That was meant to carry the blood away 50:27 down to the Dead Sea. 50:29 There was a river of blood... a continual flow of blood. 50:32 But "What can wash away my sin? " 50:34 Was it the blood of goats and bulls and lambs and calves? 50:38 Or "Nothing but the blood of Jesus. " 50:41 That woman had spent all but she was no better... 50:43 only grew worse. 50:45 Anyone in the Old Testament that was thinking that it was 50:48 going to be the sacrificial system of animals... 50:50 That all pointed to the day when they would touch 50:53 at the cross. When Jesus said: "It is finished! " 50:58 it was during the Passover 51:01 and the temple curtain was ripped from top to bottom 51:04 indicating that it was no longer that temple. 51:08 The high priest ripped his garments. New temple. 51:11 You are a temple of God. 51:13 New priesthood. You are a holy priesthood. 51:17 High priest tore his garments; veil in the temple was rent. 51:19 That was the moment when these two great economies 51:21 were separated... the New Testament church was born. 51:25 That's that girl. He said: "Give her something to eat. " 51:28 What does God feed us? His Word. 51:30 You know, after the resurrection every time Jesus appeared 51:32 to the disciples it says: "He opened the Word, 51:34 He opened the Word, He opened the Word. " 51:36 He gave her something to eat. 51:39 They both touched Jesus that day. 51:42 You know, it... I think sometimes we under... 51:46 I'll tell you: my parents were not touchy-feely. 51:49 I remember when I first came to Sacramento Central 51:52 we had a few members there that were just really... 51:55 they just hugged and hug everybody. 51:57 They just, you know: they could see I was a little like: "Ooh, 51:59 why do you do this? " I just wasn't sure if I could... 52:04 Dad never hugged me. As we got older I started hugging him 52:06 whether he liked it or not. But growing up 52:08 he didn't have that. And they had a "Hug Doug" campaign 52:12 to try and help me get the victory. 52:17 And to this day... I still remember when I just 52:21 was starting to date Karen. We didn't even say we were dating. 52:24 But for some reason we were in my truck driving together. 52:28 And we were driving along, and we knew that we were spending 52:31 a little more than normal time together. 52:32 This might turn into something. 52:34 And while we were driving along for whatever reason 52:37 she reached up her hand and she put it on my shoulder 52:40 on the back of my neck. I nearly ran off the road! 52:44 She's a physical therapist. 52:46 So Karen, you know, she's always rubbing people's necks. 52:49 I married someone that gives me massages! 52:55 Touch. I still have that truck. 53:00 It's on our property now. 53:02 It hasn't given me near as much trouble, though, as 53:05 someone else in the story, but... 53:13 When I went to India... 53:14 Oh come on! Just come on... she can take it. 53:19 When I went to India and I would see all these people, 53:23 1999. They'd come by 53:25 and they'd stand there and they'd go like this. 53:30 I don't understand. And then my translator said: 53:32 "They want you to pray for them. " 53:34 And so I'd start praying. And he said: "No, no, no, no. " 53:38 Just at first I'm praying these long prayers. 53:40 He says: "That's not what they want. " 53:42 "They want you to bless them. " I said: "Well how 53:43 do you do that? " He says: "You just touch them. " 53:45 "Say the name of Jesus and touch them. " 53:47 They went away happy. 53:49 I'll tell you: I touched thousands of people! 53:52 They would line up, and they just wanted you to 53:55 bless them. For them it meant something. They'd go like this. 53:57 And... And I put my hand on their head 54:00 and you know it just started moving me to tears. 54:02 So many people came to Jesus and they just wanted that 54:04 touch. It meant so much! 54:09 That touch of faith. And He wants to touch you. 54:12 Amen! I remember 54:16 not too long after our son died - Micah... 54:19 I was doing meetings overseas when he passed away. 54:22 After we kind of recovered from that blow 54:24 we got involved in evangelism. I was doing another 54:26 overseas trip. And I have trouble sleeping on the plane. 54:31 And sometimes it gets pretty lonely, you know. 54:33 You're half way across the ocean. And I'd get up 54:35 and I'd walk around the plane. You see everybody's got their 54:37 little entertainment systems and they're all falling asleep. 54:39 And it's dark... they've got all the lights down. 54:42 And I sat down. I opened up my laptop 54:44 and I had a whole PowerPoint program 54:46 that I had put together of Micah. 54:49 All the pictures we had of him 54:51 from birth until the last time we saw each other. 54:55 And I was just flipping through them. A handsome young man. 54:58 Died at 23. 55:01 And we're flipping through them; we're looking at the pictures. 55:03 I'm by myself. 55:05 I didn't know the flight attendant was behind me. 55:07 She was doing a check going up the aisles. 55:10 And she stopped and I saw her there. 55:13 And she said: "Handsome young man! " 55:17 "Who's that? " 55:19 I said: "That was my son. " 55:21 And because of the way I phrased it she said... 55:23 she said something. I said: "Well we lost him. " 55:27 And she just stood there for a moment 55:29 and it created a very awkward moment. 55:31 And I thought: "I didn't mean to embarrass her, 55:33 make her feel bad. " But you know what? She just reached over 55:37 and she put her hand on my shoulder. 55:39 She didn't say anything. 55:41 And it was just to say: "You know, 55:45 I just want to put a little love into you. " 55:49 The Lord wants to touch you. Amen! 55:53 He knows how you feel. 55:55 He knows what you've been going through. 55:58 He knows about your good behavior; 55:59 He knows about your bad behavior. 56:01 And He loves you. He wants to touch you 56:03 and He wants to raise you and give you new life. 56:09 You've gotta get through the crowd. 56:11 Don't let people say you can't do it. Don't let people 56:13 make you think that He didn't come for you. 56:16 "If the Son makes you free you'll be free indeed. " 56:19 Jesus wants to touch you today. He wants to touch you 56:21 who are watching. 56:23 You've just gotta come in faith. Jesus said: "If you believe... " 56:26 "Only believe. " "Your faith has made you whole. " 56:29 That means WHOSOEVER! 56:31 "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. " 56:34 You are all qualified... trust me. Amen. 56:37 You just come like you are 56:39 and you say: "Lord, will You touch me today? " 56:42 How many of you want to have that touch of Jesus? 56:44 Amen! Can we ask Him together as we close? 56:47 Please bow our heads together. 56:50 Loving Lord, we just thank and praise You 56:53 for the promise in Your Word that first of all 56:56 the whole gospel is in this story. 56:59 We see the picture of the Old Testament church. 57:03 A continual flow of blood. Grew no better but worse 57:07 until she touched You. 57:09 We see the New Testament church. 57:11 Dead until You touched her. 57:15 And all came to life through Your touch. 57:17 Lord, we believe Your touch is still powerful today 57:20 and that You want to reach out and touch us. 57:22 Help us to have that touch of life, that touch of healing 57:25 that You might restore us that we might walk with You. 57:29 Bless us now. We thank you and pray in Christ's name, 57:32 Amen. |
Revised 2019-12-09