Democratic messenger., 1893-05-27
THE HEALING TOUCH.
ELOQUENT SERMON BY DR.. TALMAGe
ATTHE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.

Inc FIRST cure at Christian Sctcnre-Christ
the Impersonation of All scnsitiveness
The Sublime Electric CIrcuit-M Medicine
For Nervous People.
BROOKLYN. May 2i.-Rcv DR. Talmags
to-day chose for the subject Of his discours.
the inquiry addressed by the Saviour to thos.
who surrounded him when, the invalid
woman having touched his garment, he
asked, who touched me" MARX v. 3Di
great crowd of excited people elbowina
each other this way and that and Christ in
the midst Of the commotion They were on
the way To see him restore to complete
health dying person. Some thought h.
could effect the cure, others that he could
not At any rate. it would he an interest
ing experiment. very sick woman of Is
years invalidism is in the crowd Some say
her name was Martha. Others say it was
Veronica. do not know what her name
was, but this is ccrtain-she had tried all
styles of cure. Every shelf Of her humble
home had medicines on IL. She had EN-
ployed many of the doctors Of that time
when medical science was more rude and
rough and ignorant than we can imagine
in this time, when the word physician OF
surgeon stands for potent and educated
skill Professor LigL.foot gives a list o
what he supposes MAJ have been the RENE.
dies she had applied. | suppose she had
been blistered from head to foot and had
tried the compress and had used all styles
OF astringent herbs, and she had been
nlauled and hacked and cut and lacerated
until life to her was plague. Besides that,
the Bible indicates her doctors bills had
run up frightfully. and she had paid money
for medicines and for surgical attendance
and for hygienic apparatus until her purs,
was as exhausted as her body.
a PooR woMAS's FAITH.
What. poor woman, are you doing in that
jostling crowd: Better go home and to bed
and nurse your disorders. No, Wan and
wasted and faint she stands there. her face
distorted with suffering, and ever and anon
biting her lip with some acute pain, and
sobbing until her tears fall from the hollow
eye upon the faded dress, only able to stand
because the crowd is so close 10 her push
ing her this way and that. Stand back,
Why do you crowd that poor body' Have
you no consideration for a dying woman,
But just at that time the crowd parts an1
this invalid comes almost up To Christ. but
she is behind him and his human eye does
not take her in She has heard so much
about his kindness TO the sick. and she does
feel so wretched she thinks il she can only
just touch him once il will do her good
She will not touch him on the sacred head,
for that might be irrcverent She will not
touch him on the hand, for that might seem
too familiar. She says: Il will, ] think,
touch him on his coat. not ON the top of IL
or on the bottom of the main fabric, but on
the border, the blue border the long threads
of the fringe Of that blue border: there can
be no harm in that don't think he will
hurt me; have heard so much about him.
Besides that, ] can stand this no longer.
Twelve years Of suffering have worn me
out. This is my last hope" And she
presses through the crowd still farther anc
reaches for Christ. but she cannot quita
touch him. She pushes still farther through
the crowd and kneels and puts her finger
to the edge of the blue fringe Of the border.
She just touches it, Quick as AN electric
shock there thrilled back into her shattered
nerves and shrunken veins and exhausted
arteries and painting lungs and withered
muscles health. beautiful health, rubicund
health. God given and complete health.
The IL years march Of pain and pang and
suffering over suspension bridge Of nerve
and through tunnel of bone instantly
halted.
Christ recognizes somehow that magnet
ic and heathful influence through the me-
dunn Of the blue fringe of his garment had
shot out He turns and looks upon that ex-
cited crowd and startles them with the in
terrogatory of my text, Who touched
me;" The insolent crowd in substance re-
piled: How do we know, You get in u
crowd like this. and you must expect to bc
jostled. You ask US IL question you know
we cannot answer" But the roseate and
rejuvenated woman came up and knclt in
front Of Christ and told Of the touch and
told Of the restoration. and Jesus said:
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.
Go in peace" So Mark gives us "A dramati-
zation of the gospel. Oh, what doctor
Christ is! In every one of our households
may he I've the family physician,
CHRISTI PHYSICAL MAGNETISM
Notice that there is no addition Of help
to Others without subtraction Of power
from ourselves The context says that as
soon as this woman was healed Jesus felt
that virtue or strength had gone out of
him. No addition of help to others without
subtraction Of strength from ourselves Did
you never get tired for others' Have you
never risked your health for others: Have
you never preached a sermon OF delivered
an exhortation or offered burning prayer
and then felt afterward that strength had
gone out of you, Then you have never inn
itated Christ.
Are you curious to know how that gar
ment Of Christ should have wrought such
a cure for this suppliant invalid; | sup
pose that Christ was subcharged with vital
ity. You know that diseases may be con-
veyed from city to city by garments. rs in
case of epidemic. and { suppose that gar
.ments may be subcharged with health.
suppose that Christ had such physical mag
netism that IL permeated all his robe down
to the last thread on the border Of the blue
fringe But in addition to that there was
divine thrill. there was miraculous po-
tency. there was an omnipotent therapeu-
tics. without which this IL years invalid
would not have been instantly restored.
Now. il omnipotence cannot help others
without depletion, how can we ever expect
to bless the world without self sacrifice, a
man who gives TO some Christian object
until he feels il, a man who in his occupa;
tion or profession overworks that he may
educate his children. man whoon Sunday
night goes home. all his nervous energy
iwrung Out by active service in church or
aSabDath scnoci or city evangeliZatlon, mas
initiated Christ, and the strength has gone
out Of him. a mother who robs herself Of
sleep in behalf Of sick cradle. a wife who
bears up cheerfully under domestic mis-
fortune that she may encourage her hus-
band in the combat against disaster, a wo-
man who by hard saving and earnest prayer
and good counsel. wisely given, and many
years devoted to rearing her family for God
and usefulness and heaven. and who has
nothing to show for il but premature gray
hairs and profusion OF deep wrinkles. is
like Christ. and strength has gone out Of
her That strength or virtue may have
gone out through garment she has made
for the home; that strength may have gone
out through the sock you knit for the bare
foot destitute; that strength may 20 out