The Hem of His garment

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

 Beloved, before we start this message, I want you to pray the following prayer points:

1.  Oh Lord, let your   anointing fall upon me, in the  name of Jesus.

2.  Every agent of infirmity, fall down and die, in the  name of Jesus.

Matthew 9: 20 – 22: “And behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. (What a positive confession.) But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

We have another version of that story in Mark 5: 25 – 34: (When you see a story repeated in many places in the Bible, know that it must be very important.) “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment, for she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be made whole. And straightway, the fountain of her blood was dried up; (the fountain of your sickness will dry up, in Jesus’ name.) And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague 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? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith had made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”  

This is a very interesting story from which we can draw a few lessons:

Lesson 1: This story is the simplest illustration of faith in the Bible. The woman acted, virtue came out of the Lord and a miracle took place. She felt that she did not need to bother the Lord. She believed that once she was able to touch the hem of His garment, she would be made whole. With this simple child-like faith, she went ahead and touched Him and that was it. We could say that she drew power from Jesus without permission.

Lesson 2: Longstanding problems yielded to the power of Jesus Christ. The woman had the problem for good twelve years. Meaning that no matter how long a particular problem has been in place, the hand of the Almighty can go to the foundation and dry it up in one second. This was what happened here. Many who are suffering from long-term sicknesses will be delivered if they can reach out to the Lord in faith.

Lesson 3: The doctors can only care but they cannot heal. The woman had been to many doctors, yet she did not receive her healing. She discovered that only Christ could save her. Perhaps your case is like that, as you are reading this message, the Lord shall deliver you, in Jesus’ name. People’s cases get worse when they go to satanic doctors for healing, so avoid it.

Lesson 4: It does not matter if you come from behind, as long as you can touch the hem of His garment, you will be healed. You do not have to be in front to get your healing. This woman did not know about Christianity. Her father was not a reverend gentleman, likewise her mother. So, no matter who you are, once you reach out to the Lord in faith, He will touch you.

Lesson 5: The virtue of healing comes from only our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lesson 6: The Lord insisted that the woman made an open confession. Until she made an open confession, her healing was not complete. It was after her confession that Jesus said to her: “Daughter, thy faith hath made you whole.”

Lesson 7: The woman got rid of all her obstacles to get to Jesus.

Let us consider this last point.

Faith can break down the barrier between a person and the person’s desired miracle. There were many things that would have prevented the woman from receiving her healing but she refused to be stopped. She kept going despite all the obstacles.

WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED HER

FROM GETTING HER BREAKTHROUGH?

1. THE WRONG CROWD: Jesus attracted the wrong kind of people and that could have been a barrier to the woman. Those who followed Jesus were people from Galilee. They were not educated people. They were not fine people. They were not the kind of people you would refer to as civilized. They were a pack of fishermen, poor, sick, despised and ignorant people.

The woman could have gone back because of this and died with her sickness.

The reason many people die in their sicknesses is that they allow the pride in them to make them miss their healing even in the land of healing. They choose whom to listen to by outward appearance. For example, some society men and women would prefer to go to Cathedrals on Sundays instead of a living church where the sound word of God is preached. They prefer to die in Cathedrals or society churches to receiving healing where they think are meant for the low class. Naaman, the captain of the Syrian army would have missed his healing for this reason but God helped him. The woman did not think about the kind of people that were following Jesus.

2. FEAR: She could have said that the big crowd would make her nervous. She could have complained about the noise and the pushing as a result of the surge of the crowd. A certain sister had a problem and came to the church. As we began to pray, it was discovered that she had a stone in her stomach which the scanning machines could not detect. After praying for sometime, the stone disappeared and that was the end of her problem. Then after a few months, she stopped coming to church. Her reason was that she preferred a small fellowship where she would be popular among the people. She went to a smaller fellowship where she became popular and the problem came back.

3. DISCOURAGEMENT:

She could have said, “Well, I have tried everything but nothing worked. So many men of God have prayed for me and nothing happened. I have gone round all the available places yet the problem remains. Why don’t I just resign to fate and sit down here until death comes?” She did not do that. She did not think about the different doctors she had seen without any answer to her problem. She could have forgotten that sometimes doctors are like apprentice repairers while God is the manufacturer. She did not begin to feel sorry for herself because all her former efforts were fruitless. She could have convinced herself that she had a good reason to be discouraged but she refused to quit. I do not know what your barrier is today but I like to encourage you to get rid of that barrier like blind Bartimaeus who threw away his garment in order to get to Jesus.

4. WEAKNESS OF THE BODY: The woman could have said, “I am too weak to push through the crowd to Jesus. I am not going to make any effort.” She said to herself; “I may be weak but I can take one more step.” She gathered herself together and moved, and that was the final step to victory. I pray that you take the final step to victory today, in Jesus’ name.

5. FEELING OF UNWORTHINESS: She could have said, “Well, I am not worthy to receive anything from this man. I have committed so many sins. I have never done anything for Him so why should He help me?” She did not allow this feeling to deter her from taking a step of faith.

6.PAST FAILURES: She could have said, “Well, others may be receiving from Jesus, but not me because I have called Him before and I did not see Him neither did He answer me.” She believed in the promise of God which says that whosoever will, may come and receive. She did not say, “Well, I don’t know this man and He does not know me, why should I go to Him?” This is why some people write prayer requests to us and include money for the prayer. We always send their money back to them and still pray for them because we do not sell prayers.

7. THE FEELING THAT IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE: She could have said that it was too late to do anything. The truth is that it is never too late with God. The Bible makes us to understand that even in cases when people were already dead, Jesus did not think it was too late. It is never too late until God says it is enough.

8. THE ISSUE OF GODFATHER: She did not say, “Well, I don’t have anyone to help me or introduce me to Jesus. This is the obstacle of many people today. She could have said, “I don’t have anybody to carry me through the crowd. I don’t know any pastor, so I cannot get help.” You don’t have to know anybody. You don’t have to see any pastor or any general overseer for Jesus to touch you where you are. This woman did not give up. She found her way to Him and touched Him. She did not waste time looking for somebody to introduce her to Jesus.

9. PROCRASTINATION: She did not say, “I know that I will be healed if I touch the Lord, but not now, may be sometime later. I will try tomorrow, not today.” When you make up your mind like that, it acts as a barrier and nothing happens. This has stopped thousands from receiving their healing.

Some of these excuses that I have pointed out are the normal barriers that people come across when they come to prayer meetings where God is ready to do anything. You have to break down these roadblocks hindering your miracle. Don’t say, “I have tried everything. Is no use trying again. I am discouraged. I am too weak and tired. I am not worthy.” Don’t make such statements. instead, remove the roadblocks and touch the hem of His garment.

Some are going around preaching that God does not heal people again. But I believe in the word of God, which says, “He Himself bore our infirmity and healed our sicknesses (i.e. He carried it on Himself,) the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. The stripes on the body of Jesus represent our sicknesses, which He had already born. So, what He had already carried should no longer be a problem to us.

Touching the hem of His garment and receiving from Him is a practical thing. I want you to release yourself and reach out so that you can touch the hem of his garment. When you touch the hem of His garment, every evil foundation will dry up. Scientists have something they call germ. Many germs are under the control of Satan. Therefore, you must declare war against the spirit of infirmity by the power in the blood of Jesus.

PRAYER POINTS

1. Let every germ of infirmity die, in the name of Jesus.

2. Let every agent of sickness die, in the name of Jesus.

3. Hidden sicknesses disappear, in the name of Jesus.

4. Every dead organ in my body, receive life, in the name of Jesus.

5. Let my blood be transfused with the blood of Jesus, in Jesus’ name.

6. Any organ of my body present on any evil altar, I recover you now, in the name of Jesus.

7. Every infirmity, come out with your entire root, in the name of Jesus.

8. Every owner of the load of infirmity, carry your load now, in the name of Jesus.

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