THE ALL-HEALING TOUCH

Pacific Press Publishing Association

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 44.

THE ALL-HEALING TOUCH.

THE wonderful power of God is manifested, not in extraordinary exercise on His part, but in the greatness of that which is accomplished. If the greatest of His works, or even all of them combined, required any conceivable exertion of physical effort, that would imply a limitation of power at some point, however remote. In the creation of the world only the speaking of the word was necessary. "He spake, and it was done." Ps. 33:9. His power is so great that only a word is necessary to accomplish any desired effect. "By the word of God the heavens were of old," that is, before the Flood; "but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store." 2 Peter 3:5-7. The centurion understood that it was not necessary for the Christ to even walk to his house in order to heal his dying servant. He said, "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Matt. 8:8.

"And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them." Mark 10:13.

THE same is true of the Saviour's touch. It is sufficient to heal; for the virtue is not in the ostentation of herculean effort or "bodily exercise," but in Him and in the power of His word.

ONE Sabbath day after a service in the synagog in Capernaum, Jesus went to the home of Simon Peter. Peter's mother-in-law was very sick of a fever; and Jesus "touched her hand, and the fever left her." So complete was the cure that she immediately "arose, and ministered unto them." Matt. 8:14, 15. The same touch that would heal a fever patient could also heal one afflicted with leprosy.

"And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed." Mark 1:40-42.

Now, IT was unlawful for a leper to come near enough to another person to be touched by him, lest the disease be transmitted. The leper was required, not only to dwell away from the habitations of other people, but he must proclaim his uncleanness to all who should approach him. "The leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." Lev. 13:45, 46.

LEPROSY was the most dreadful disease known to man, and there were many lepers in Palestine at this time. Even to touch one was supposed to mean contamination and defilement. Why, then, should Jesus touch this man at all, when a word would produce the healing?—It was the touch of divinity. Christ had no occasion to fear, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38), and God was in Him (John 10:37, 38). His power was greater than that of any disease. Inoculation could not flow toward Him; the strong current of influence ran the other way. Power to heal would naturally ward off and overcome all danger of infection. In His touch Jesus, as a man, manifested His faith that God was in Him to heal, and that the power of the word He spoke was effectual to make it safe to touch the leper as proof of the healing.

IT was because of this overpowering outflow of virtue that Christ could live a perfect life in this sin-sick world. As the power of the Word dwelling in Him could repel and banish disease, so the Holy Spirit with which He was filled was a barrier to every form of sin. Leprosy is a type of sin, and the same word which was effectual in the expression, "I will; be thou clean," is just as potent when it says, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." See Mark 2:3-12. Because they were endued with this power from on high, Christ could send forth His disciples to carry on the work begun in the earth by Himself. And He sent them with the assurance that "these signs shall follow them that believe; in My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re-

cover." Chapter 16:17, 18. Let it not be forgotten that the gifts of the Spirit are for the church till the end of time. John 14:16, 17.

THAT the divine touch is potent in the instant forgiveness of sin, and as a qualifier of laborers, is shown also by Old Testament testimony. The prophet Isaiah, in recording a wonderful vision of God and His attendant train, says: "Then said I, Wo is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." Isa. 6:5-8.

WHEN the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, informing him that he had been ordained before he was born to be "a prophet unto the nations," he replied, "Ah, Lord God! behold, I can not speak; for I am a child." Then he says, "But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Jer. 1:4-10.

SMALL as a touch may seem, the divine touch, through the mediation of Christ, is the reconciliation of the sinner to God. That which seems to the sinner to be almost, if not altogether, an impossibility, is, through persistent faith, brought to a point where only a touch removes the vast distance between the Author of the broken law and the sin-stained offender. Great as is the work to be accomplished, the simple plan of salvation, as brought about through the sacrifice of the Son of God, is reduced to this: "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." "I will; be thou clean." The faith and the touch bring the Father and the prodigal together in loving embrace. There is no defilement so loathsome as to hinder the cleansing touch of the sympathetic, all-healing Saviour. The hard-hearted, selfish men and women may flee from the possibility of contact with the dread contagion. He who came to call sinners to repentance will not turn away from the most dreadful case. Do not think that you are beyond the reach of His outstretched arm, altho it may seem to be so. "Fear not; only believe;" and "tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." The divine touch can reach and heal every one who calls for it in simple faith.