Mark 5:25-34 - And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

This story happens in the middle of another miracle. You may be one that is in the middle between two events as far as God in concerned. But at least you are in the middle, and you receive the blessings of God.

The one point of this message – to show that it is one thing to know what to do, but it is quite another thing to actually do what you know to do. I have three examples: (1) The woman healed of the issue of blood, (2) The two blind men who are healed, (3) The leper who is healed.

The woman had spend all she had on physicians, but none were able to cure her. I don’t know when she heard of Jesus, but she tried that which she believed would help her. Perhaps she got advice from friends, neighbors and family members. All this advice is well intentioned, but none of it will work.

Methods of salvation:  None of these methods will work.

1. Work it out yourself.

2. Work it out like somebody else.

3. Join the church.

4. Get baptized.

5. Give tithes and offerings.

6. Teach a class.

7. Surrender to the ministry.

8. Be a missionary.

I Cor. 3:6-8 – "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour."

The first ray of light the woman had was when she heard of Jesus. No doubt she heard the message from many sources. All her friends would want her to be well, and would willingly tell her about the many people Jesus had healed. We hear the gospel message from many sources.

James 2:17 – "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

James 2:20 – "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

James 2:26 – "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

She put actions into her faith in Christ and did something. All your believing will do nothing, but condemn you to hell. Real faith will cause you to act.

John 5:39 – "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

Learning the scripture isn’t enough. The Pharisees thought they knew a lot about the Scriptures, but they missed it all because they didn’t know anything about Christ. It is necessary to have a head knowledge about Christ, but a head knowledge without a heart knowledge is not salvation. It is to remain lost and condemned to an eternal hell.

Matthew 20:29-34 – "And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. 31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. 32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? 33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him."

If these two blind men had remained silent, it would have showed they didn’t really believe Christ could or would heal them. Their crying out, and not being restrained showed they truly believed only Christ would help them, and they would settle for nothing less.

Matthew 8:1-4 – "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."

If this leper had remained silent, he wouldn’t have been healed of his leprously. If he hadn’t come to Christ, worshipped him, and asked to be healed, he wouldn’t have been healed.

There are many examples just like the ones given above that reflect that people who discover they are in a bad condition come to Christ to be healed. Indications are that if those people hadn’t come to Christ, they wouldn’t be healed. So it is with the lost. It is not their coming to Christ that saves them. It is not just the lost recognizing that Jesus can save them. It is them believing it enough to finally come to Christ and ask Him for salvation.