The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-05-23
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
PRE4CHED At THE BROOKLf ii
EENICLE LIST SUNDAY:
From the Text ''Nho Touched NC! y" ne"
Won Touch the Savior lie Touches aou'
The W oman who Faith that he''io"'

IL.
rnIr.r., today chose fer the subject OF his
disconrse. the inquiry addressed by 'ile
S,,ior ~ those who surrounded hlnl' "heh'
tho invalid woman having touched ms Eli
mont he asked, WHO Touched NE!
yra,t crowd of excited people elbowlns
each other this way and that' anu Nnii''
in the midst of the cominotlon. Inc! "cic
on the way to see him restore 10 colilpiJ i
health Il dying person. some ''o"7"' ~,
corIJ ,ffect the cure others that he could
not. At any rate, it would De an interest
in,, cxperimcnt A very SICK woman OIL
twelve wears invalidism is in the crowd.
Some say her name was Martha. others say
If WAS Veronica l do not know what her
name WIS but this is certain: she had lrieu
Eli STYLES of cure. Every shelf OF hef iiuiii-
bic home had medicines on It, she had ell
ployed many of the doctors OF 'iat tllliI
when medical science was more rudc anu
rough and ignorant than we can iihaShe III
this time when the word physician OF sur
gcon stands for potent ana educitted shii.
Professor Lightfoot gives Il list OF what ne
supposcs may have been the rehe'iieS sne
had applied | suppose she hid ptcl pis-
tered from head to foot, and had tried the
compress. and had used all styles oil aStrih,
gent herbs, and she had been maucd ana
hacked and cut and lacerated uhtii ne 10
her was a plague. Besides that the IlDie
Indicates her doctors DlllS UitI lui w Ii'S7i.
fully. and she had paid money tor me.l-
cincs and for surgical attendance and Tor
hvgienic apparatus until her purse was rs
exhausted as her body.
What poor, woman. are you DONG IN
that iostling crowd? Better go home ana
10 he'd and nurse your disorders. NO! wan
and wasted and faint she stands there, her
face distorted with suffering and ever ana
anon biting her lip with some acute pun
and sobbing until her tears fall from the
hollow eve upon the faded dress; only able
to stand because the crowd IS so close 10
her pushing her this way and that. STANG
back Why do you crowd mat poor pou!
Have YOU no consideration for dying Wo-
man? But Just at that time the crowd
parts and the invalid comes almost up to
Christ. but she is behind him and his human
eye does not take her IN. She mas hearl
so much about his kindness to the SICK
and she does feel wretched, she Things
If she can only just touch him once 1t VIII
do her good. She will not touch HIM on the
sacred head, for that might be 1rreVcfeii'.
She will not touch him on the hand Tor that
might seem too familiar. she saws:
will, think, touch him on his coat, not on tue
ton of il or ON thcbottom of the main fabric,
but on the border. the blue border; ihe ichS
threads of the fringe of that blue border, there
can be no harm in that. | don thlhk ne
will hurt me. / have heard so much about
him Besides that, | can stand tins no
worn me out This is my last hope.
And she presses through the crowd stiil
further and reaches for Christ, but cannot
quite touch him. She pushes still further
through the crowd and knecls 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 withcred muscles, health, beautiful
health. rubicund health, God-gYen
and complete health The twelve years
march Of pain and pang and suffering over
suspension BRUCE of nerve ami through
tunnel of bone instantly halted.
Christ recognizes somehow that magnetic
and healthful influence through the medium
of the blue fringe of his garment had shot
out He turns and looks upon that excited
crowd and StdrtlcS them with the ltnerro..
atory of my text: What touches me ::
The iDseIen.t .Gro8t6n you Know we cannot
answer. lfut the rOSeate and rcjuVenated
woman came up and knelt i'll 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
Ieace. 50 Mark gives us a characterization of
the gospel. Oh, what doctor Christ is
J. every one of our households may be the
iamily physician.
Notice that there is no addition of help
to others without subtraction of power
from ourselves. The context says that as
soon 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 or delivered an exhorta-
ton, or offered a burning prayer, and then
felt atterward that strength had gone out
of you? Then you have never initiated
Christ.
Are you curious to know how that gar
ment of Christ should have wrought such
a cure for this supplant invalid? l suppose
that Christ was surcharged with vitality.
l.. f., n,-.,,1
from city to city by gstl s.,tnts as in case of
epidemic, and so | suppose that garments
may be Surcharged with health / suppose
that Christ had such physical magnetism
that it permcated all his robe down to the
last thread on the border of the blue fringe
But in addition to that there was Il divine
thrill there was Il miraculous potency. there
WAS an Omnipotent therapeutics without
which this twelve years invalid would not
have been instantly restored
Now, II omnlpotence cannot help others
without depletion, how can we ever ex-
pect to bless the world without self-sacri-
nee! a man who gives to some Christian
object until he feels it, a man who in his
occupation or profession Overworks that he
may educate his children, a man who on
Sunday night goes home, all his nervous
energy Wrung out by active service in
church, or Sabbath school, or city evangcl-
ization, has Initiated Christ, and the
strength has gone out of him. A mother
who robs herself of sleep in behalf of a
under domestic misfortune that she may
encourage her husband in the combat
against disaster, Il woman who. by hard
saving and earnest prayer and good coun-
sci, wisely gwen. and many years devoted
to rearing her family for God and useful
ness aud heaven, and who has nothing to
show Tor 1t but prema ture gray hairs and
profuSlon of deep wrinkles, is like Christ,
and strength has gone out of her. That
strength or virtue may have gone out
through a garment she has made for the
home, that strength may have gone out
through the sock You knit for the barefoot
DESTITUTE that strength may 90 out through
the mantle hung up in some closet after YOU
ere dead. So 4 crippled child sat every
morning on her fa1h"rrf front step so that
when the kind Christian teacher passed bv
to school she might take hold of her dress
md LEI the dress slide through her pale fin
gers She said it helped hor pain so much
md made her so happy all the day Ave.
have we not in all our dwelling garments
E.orS7ys &C. 1'sesec,SSsSS; sc,;ssso0e<o~~~H
WGxsTEz a GUINEA A BOX,"S
syx w. EGyyssTI n yT Fey y~