Knowing Our Need
The sermon highlights the necessity of recognizing our need for God and approaching Him with humility and faith for healing and redemption.
Smith Wigglesworth emphasizes the importance of recognizing our need for God, illustrated through the story of the woman who touched Jesus' clothes to be healed. He highlights that true humility and brokenness are essential for God to work through us, as seen in Jacob's journey. Wigglesworth encourages believers to come to God in their emptiness, as it is in our helplessness that we find His strength. He reminds us that our self-sufficiency can hinder our relationship with God and our ability to receive His blessings. Ultimately, we must yield to the Spirit and embrace our calling to serve others.
Text
If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.
--Mark 5:28
Scripture reading: Mark 5:25-6:6
What a privilege to care for the flock of God, to be used by God to encourage the people, to help stand against the many trials that affect the needy. What a holy calling! We each have our own work, and we must do it, so that boldness may be ours in the day of the Master's appearing, and so that no man can take our crowns (Rev. 3:11). Since the Lord is always encouraging us, we have encouragement for others. We must have a willingness, a ready mind, a yielding to the mind of the Spirit. There is no place for the child of God in God's great plan except in humility.
God can never do all He wants to do, all that He came to do through the Word, until He gets us to the place where He can trust us, and where we are in abiding fellowship with Him in His great plan for the world's redemption. We have this truth illustrated in the life of Jacob. It took God twenty-one years to bring Jacob to the place of humility, contrition of heart, and brokenness of Spirit. God even gave him power to wrestle with strength, and Jacob said, "I think I can manage after all," until God touched his thigh, making him know that he was mortal and that he was dealing with immortality. As long as we think we can save ourselves, we will try to do it.
In Mark 5:25-34, we have the story of the woman who had suffered many things from many physicians and had spent all that she had. She was no better but rather grew worse. She said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." She came to know her need. It is when we are empty and undone, when we come to God in our nothingness and helplessness, that He picks us up.
Thought for today: Our full cupboard is often our greatest hindrance.
Sermon Outline
- I points: - The privilege of caring for God's flock - Encouragement in trials - The importance of humility
- II points: - God's desire to work through us - The necessity of trust and fellowship - Illustration from Jacob's life
- III points: - The story of the woman with the issue of blood - Recognizing our need for God - Coming to God in our helplessness
- IV points: - The hindrance of self-sufficiency - The power of faith in desperation - The transformation through touch
Key Quotes
“If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” — Smith Wigglesworth
“It is when we are empty and undone, when we come to God in our nothingness and helplessness, that He picks us up.” — Smith Wigglesworth
“Our full cupboard is often our greatest hindrance.” — Smith Wigglesworth
Application Points
- Acknowledge your weaknesses and bring them to God for healing.
- Practice humility in your daily life to align with God's purpose.
- Trust in God's provision, especially in times of desperation.